It is, let’s face it, a great hook for a story, a classic noir tale amped up to frenetic levels, although it thankfully never spirals into over-the-top self-parody or absurdism. One of the things that makes the series successful, however, is how the authors draw parallels between the blood these obsessed men shed and the violence that occurs in the rest of the world. Cooper lives in an amoral universe, one where random violence and horrible tragedies occur at an almost rapid-fire pace — little old ladies driving clunkers are run over by tractor-trailers; cars explode, killing entire families; a peaceful game of billiards can quickly deteriorate into an ugly brawl. Bad things happen everywhere and seemingly any time, and what are you gonna do about it?
