The latest season seems to have almost rushed past many fans of the “True Detective” franchise. It comes up with a highly mysterious murder case, with a spectacular backdrop – and with superstar Jodie Foster in one of the leading roles. It is Foster’s first television role since his youth.
“True Detective” has wound its way through an eventful story up to this point: Season one, with the magnificent investigative duo Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, revolutionized the series landscape with its aesthetics. Season two, with its numerous protagonists, managed to bore and confuse the audience at the same time, despite the deluxe cast. Season three therefore sensibly returned to the roots and offered high-quality, multi-layered crime entertainment with only two investigators. It was therefore exciting to wait and see in which direction the “True Detective” ship would now be steered.
The simple answer: To Alaska. And this even in the depths of winter, when the sun cannot be seen even during the day. It’s dark and frosty here, in the tiny town of Ennis. And dark and frosty, that also describes the atmosphere of this fourth season quite well. The head of the local police, Liz Danvers (Foster), snappy and aloof, has to dedicate herself to a highly mysterious case together with her first colleague, then arch enemy and then colleague again, patrol officer Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis): Seven scientists from nearby Research stations were found dead in the unforgiving icy landscape, naked and frozen into a gruesome mass of limbs. Also with burst eardrums and burnt eyes. Why did the men leave the research station and take off their clothes – and where did their mysterious injuries come from?
The investigation that follows is enriched by all sorts of personal dramas and the bitter conflict between the residents of the small town in the ice and the operators of the mine there, which creates jobs but also contaminates the drinking water. The season manages to make the resulting dichotomy tangible: without the mine, Ennis would hardly have a reason to exist in this inhospitable location. But with the mine, the residents are becoming sick and stillbirths of babies are also increasing. The police officers have to endure being caught between two fronts: although they can understand the protests against the mine operators, they have to break up unannounced demonstrations and arrest those involved. This is particularly bitter for Liz Danvers, as her foster daughter joins the protesters.
Before you can look at this season on a factual level, you may need a little information about its origins. This time it wasn’t Nic Pizzolatto, who invented the series concept in season one, who was responsible, but rather the Mexican director Issa López. From season two onwards at the latest, the collaboration between Pizzolatto and the responsible US broadcaster HBO is said to have been not uncomplicated. The 48-year-old took his time coming up with an idea for the fourth season. Apparently so much that they turned to López instead, who had just pitched her own series idea to HBO. She was then supposed to adapt this to the “True Detective” franchise.
As Issa López herself revealed, she constructed her “True Detective” version as a mirror image of the first season. Icy Alaska instead of sweltering Louisiana. Foster and Reis essentially form female counterparts to McConaughey and Harrelson. In general, the main characters here are women. Overall, this idea works well. One person, however, seemed to see it differently: series creator Pizzolatto, who is still named as executive producer in the credits, but made disparaging comments about “Night Country” in (now deleted) social media posts. López’s ideas were “so stupid”, so stupid, he said there, and you shouldn’t complain to him about the new episodes because he had nothing to do with them. Charming – not.
One can certainly argue about the season finale (no spoilers here), but Pizzolatto’s criticism is misplaced. “True Detective: Night Country” finds the right balance between crime thriller and character study, peppered with mystery and symbolism. What also makes the season good is the realistic insight into the lives of the residents of Ennis, especially when it comes to the Inuit characters and their culture. The camera work is also fantastic, impressively capturing the oppressive, dark endlessness of the snow deserts of Alaska. Towards the end, the right questions are answered and only those that are not frustrating to think about are left open.
Number four still doesn’t quite come close to season one. Firstly, because people fall into the “crime scene” trap: all the protagonists, especially the investigators, have such massive personal problems that the viewer ends up being annoyed rather than feeling empathy. This makes it difficult to really get close to the characters – especially because both Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro are constantly harsh, dismissive and tough. This is explained by traumas experienced, but it makes it difficult to develop sympathy for them, and not just within the series cosmos.
And then there is the soundtrack. Billie Eilish in the opening credits can be debated, but at least that’s a statement. In addition, showrunner López stated that “Bury A Friend” inspired her when writing the scripts. Legit. But beyond that, hardly any episode is ever really quiet. There are either strangely random songs like “Sweat” by Inner Circle, pieces by Ludovico Einaudi, the Spice Girls, Tim Buckley or a “Save Tonight” cover playing in the background, and for reasons that are not explained, of all things, the Beatles song ” Twist And Shout” has a special meaning for Liz Danvers (unfortunately quite low on the scale of the best Beatles songs, but high on the nerve scale). When there is no music playing, loud breathing complements many scenes. Maybe the spirit of the frosty tundra, maybe art. But you see this impressive and at the same time eerie ice landscape and think: it must be eerily quiet there. However, as a viewer you are not granted this silence.
And last but not least, here is a trigger warning. Several characters suffer from psychological problems. No wonder when there is no sun shining for months and traumatic experiences lurk around every corner. So it’s good that even the remote town of Ennis has a clinic with a psychiatric ward, which is also symbolically called “Lighthouse”. It’s bad that three(!) characters with mental difficulties still choose suicide as a “way out”. This may seem somewhat poetic within the season, but beyond that you could almost call it irresponsible. Even from a dramaturgical perspective, at least two of the suicides are completely unnecessary. Difficult to say the least.
If you overlook the criticisms mentioned generously, “Night Country” offers six episodes of exciting crime entertainment, an intelligent story, impressive images and great actors. Kali Reis and Jodie Foster alone make the series worth watching. And diving into the dark, icy world of Ennis has its own fascination. In Germany you can currently stream the fourth season of “True Detective” on Sky. It’s best to wrap yourself in a warm blanket beforehand!
