Summary

True Detective season 4 takes the show back to its roots with a fresh new cast and a chilling Alaskan setting. The season embraces the supernatural, with ghosts and curses playing a central role in the mystery. Night Country delivers a satisfying conclusion, leaving some loose ends but fitting well within the genre’s current landscape.

True Detective season 4 arrives with a lot of baggage. After a blockbuster first season that brought big stars to TV and also kick-started the McConaissance, the under-appreciated True Detective season 2 largely failed to live up to expectations. A third season came and went with little fanfare and each season seemed to be plagued by behind-the-scenes chaos. Now, original creator Nic Pizzolatto is attached to the new season as executive producer, with newcomer Issa López taking on showrunning, writing, and directing duties. It seems that fresh blood in front of and behind the camera is exactly what True Detective needs, as Night Country is the show’s best set of episodes since its debut season.

Subtitled Night Country, True Detective season 4 leaves the continental United States for a much colder and, as the title suggests, darker setting. The fictional town of Ennis, Alaska is saying goodbye to the sun as the new episodes begin — night is settling in for the long haul when several scientists at a local research station disappear into thin air. Captain Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) hops on the case, fighting bureaucratic pushback and local disdain for her gruff ways.

True Detective: Night Country Is Part Ghost Story & Part Mystery

True Detective season 4 is a haunted affair, leaning into the supernatural trappings the first season only hinted at, to varying degrees of success. Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis), Danvers’ former partner and begrudging accomplice in this new case, is haunted by a curse that befell her mother and her sister. The town of Ennis itself is also full of ghosts, leading to some of the season’s most striking imagery. There are enough jump scares here that, at times, Night Country goes full horror, but this, like some of the other threads tugged at, never feels fully formed. The most prominent ghost of all, though, is a cold case that haunts Navarro, one that serves as the emotional core of the season’s mystery.

There are enough jump scares here that, at times, Night Country goes full horror, but this, like some of the other threads tugged at, never feels fully formed.

The motivations behind the mystery are murky for most of the show’s run — it involves a local mining company and shady dealings, all tangentially linked by a subplot that never quite coalesces into something impactful. Still, True Detective season 4 manages to bring all its threads to a satisfying conclusion even as it leaves some things dangling. This kind of ending resulted in a lot of frustration 10 years ago, but it feels more fitting both thematically and for where the genre as a whole now lives.

True Detective: Night Country Is The Best The Show Has Been Since Season 1
Kali Reis in True Detective season 4. 

One of the key reasons why True Detective season 1 was so successful was because of its two leads, Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. Night Country offers up worthy successors in Danvers and Navarro. The pair’s prickly relationship is the result of a case gone wrong from years prior, and it makes for a fruitful dynamic as the season progresses. As Danvers, Foster makes the most of a meaty arc, but it’s Reis who shines as Navarro. She can be as tough as Danvers, but she’s hiding something much softer underneath and Reis reveals her character with grace.

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True Detective: Night Country also includes turns from Fiona Shaw, Christopher Eccleston, and John Hawkes, making for a memorable supporting cast. The world of Ennis feels fully realized and, even when some of the more extraneous elements of the season fall individually short, they come together to create a chilly world befitting of the series. There’s enough grit here to satisfy the grimier elements of Night Country’s namesake, but there’s also a beating heart beneath the ice-cold surface that makes for an emotional season filled with twists that land like a punch to the gut.

True Detective season 4 premieres on HBO on Sunday, January 14.