So here's the idea.

From the outline post:

Full paragraph of thesis idea, induced by Lovecraft's essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature": The artist-investigator is the theme uniting Chambers, Lovecraft, and True Detective. For Chambers, Lovecraft, and the writers of True Detective, the artist amplifies the powers of the investigator, changing the aesthetic of both the artist and the investigator and permitting the investigator to understand his entrance into the world of the criminal. (50)

Through the combination of the artist and the investigator, Chambers, Lovecraft, and the writers of True Detective place the first season firmly in the weird fiction tradition. (51)

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The aesthetic of redemption needs to go in here somewhere. I'm working in inventor's notebook No. 2. 

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The artist-investigator is the theme uniting Chambers, Lovecraft, and True Detective. For Chambers, Lovecraft, and the writers of True Detective, the artist amplifies the powers of the investigator, changing the aesthetic of both the artist and the investigator and permitting the investigator to understand his entrance into the world of the criminal.  Through the combination of the artist and the investigator, Chambers, Lovecraft, and the writers of True Detective place the first season firmly in the weird fiction tradition. The aesthetic of redemption in True Detective is available only via the artist-investigator. Without the artist-investigator, the community cannot be redeemed through the capture of the criminal. The aesthetic of the crime has to be investigated by someone who can recognize and understand the aesthetic; this is the artist-investigator. Only an artist-investigator, in the tradition of Chambers and Lovecraft, can catch Errol Childress.

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Man, this thesis sorting stuff is messy and recursive.

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The artist-investigator, a figure evolved from the work of Chambers and Lovecraft, amplifies the powers of the investigator, permitting the investigator to access the world of the criminal through the aesthetic of the crime. In addition to the aesthetic of crime, the aesthetic of redemption is available only via the artist-investigator. The aesthetic of the crime must be investigated by someone who can recognize and understand the aesthetic the criminal has constructed via the event and the crime scene. Without this understanding, the community cannot be redeemed, its freedom cannot be purchased, because the criminal cannot be caught. This new kind of investigator, combining the artist and the investigator through the aesthetics of crime and redemption, places the first season of True Detective firmly in the weird fiction tradition. 

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Hrm. That might work.