Season 1 - Are we supposed to root for these guys?

I agree. The only season I like of TD is Season 3 about the detective suffering with Alzheimer's. That was written well, directed well, acted well, and a very original and unpredictable story.

Well, they're far from perfect men, and that's intentional. I don't think it's "overly flawed" or "forced". In fact, infidelity isn't exactly rare, and many of the detectives on a simple show like Law and Order cheat on their wives. Arrogance and cynicism aren't uncommon either, especially for someone who's as well-read as Cohle. I'd say the only matter that's too "forced" is Cohle's over stylized dialogue, and his heavy-handed philosophy. But he's an eccentric character. Not uncommon to have either.

But if you're not digging this now, you're gonna have issues with Season 2. The four protagonists of S2 are all selfish, broken people. Personally, the person I find most sympathizable is probably the most fucked up of the four too.

And Season 3, the characters are not as flawed, but based on your being caught up over infidelity and empty arrogance, you may not enjoy that either, because the characters there are far stronger than the story. It's far more character-driven than story-driven in my opinion.

I don't think you are supposed to root for anybody. It is not a football match. People like sympathetic characters, but this does not need to be the case. The important thing for the characters is to be interesting and recreated on the screen by capable actors. Having a dark side makes a character more colorful and this is how real life often is. Think of them as some sort of anti-heroes, if you wish.

I wanted them to catch the killer(s). So yeah

The world needs bad men Marty...

Were they flawed, absolutely but were they relatively good men doing exceedingly good deeds, fucking A they were.

To answer your question, yes, we are supposed to be rooting for Marty and Cole (they’re life styles, not so much).

Personally I welcomed their flawed nature, and the fact that they grew and developed and saw things within themselves which motivated them to be better men. Marty is a broken man at the end, not from the gutting he received from Childress but from his betrayals to his wife and daughters. When they return to him at the end he comes full circle and his change is one that I personally believe. I appreciate that level of authenticity in the writing of characters.

The woman he was cheating on was way more beautiful, but anyways, are you saying if his wife wasn't beautiful, than it'd be okay? Interesting morality you got there.

They're supposed to be flawed. If they were like Cagney and Lacey the show would be half as interesting.