Same writer, yes. Pizolatto hit it out of the park, but Fukunaga an Arkapaw were responsible for all the nuance. Fukunaga has a thing for tracking shots, don't know much about Arkapaw's other stuff but my God was his vision for the show the best thing about it.
Justin Lin, (one of?) the new director(s?), hasn't done anything I'm a fan of personally, and nothing on Arkapaw's returning. How much of the first season would have been hackneyed shit had they not had that mesmerizing, consistently gorgeous mise en scene? Had they not had McConaughey and Harrelson? Not sure I could have taken the whole "Crash" thing seriously with Farrell, certainly not Vaughn. We'll see, my lowered expectations only means that another home run will be a welcome kick in the ass.