True Detective: Night Country Early Review

In early 2014, the first season of a crime anthology series known as True Detective set the world on fire, delivering an engrossing murder mystery driven by the extraordinary pairing of Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as Detective Marty Hart and Detective Rust Cohle. Setting the bar so high, additional seasons in 2015 and 2019 offered up compelling tales, however, failed to reach those same heights. In the end, what’s been missing is a dynamic that at least comes close to that of Harrelson and McConaughey. The anthology series is now back for a fourth season, this time as True Detective: Night Country. This time with writer/director Issa López at the helm, serving as the writer (or co-writer) and the director of all six episodes. Given a new setting and a new female-centric focus, strong writing and performances from Jodie Foster and Kali Reis look to replicate that first season magic. Whether or not this will be the case remains to be seen, not every additional season should always be compared to the first because it presents a high bar that would be tough for anything to match or exceed, it presents another murder mystery full of twists and turns alongside a stirring dive into the complicated relationship between its leads.

True Detective: Night Country takes place in Ennis, a small and remote Alaskan town where Police Chief Liz Danvers (Foster) and her team, including Officer Prior (Finn Bennett) and his father Hank (John Hawkes), were called upon to investigate the disappearance of a secluded group of scientists. Meanwhile, former detective and now trooper Evangeline Navarro (Reis) believed that their disappearance was connected to the death of local activist Annie Kowtok that had since gone cold. It did not take long to find them, seemingly frozen together in a corpsicle of sorts, but connecting both cases proved to be a challenge as it saw two polar opposites, at odds with one another, forced to reconcile their differences. However, the root of where those difference were born was another mystery in and of itself that hovered over the proceedings. Regardless, their reunion in some form was inevitable and would perhaps present them an opportunity to start to mend those differences as they both worked towards a common goal of solving their cases that found themselves inextricably linked. Solving these cases would not come without additional hurdles as jurisdictional politics played a part in the investigation.

The season also delved deeper into Danvers and Navarro as characters. While a great cop, Danvers was not exactly the best people person but in spite of how others may have felt about her, she got the job done even with the strain she was placing on those around her. Little did they know, the reason she was who she was and why she ended up in Ennis was rooted in tragedy that still plagued her. A single mother to her teen stepdaughter Leah (Isabella Star LeBlanc), this presented its own set of challenges beyond that of her coming to terms with her stepdaughter’s native culture. Navarro was an Ennis native with strong ties to her community for whom she deeply cared about. Annie Kowtok was her friend. Investigating her murder before hitting a dead end, the case continued to consume her to this day as all she wanted to do was to get her friend justice. Before working as a State Trooper, she was a detective with the Ennis police department the outcome of a particular case she worked with Danvers led to a rift between them that caused Navarro’s transfer out of the department. Whatever the truth was, it was only known by the two of them though as they started working together again, it did not stop others from asking questions.

As Danvers and Navarro begrudgingly started to work together again, the more they mended their differences. Their previous relationship added another dimension to the story slowly chipped away at the cause leading to their original rift. The evolution of each character and that relationship over the course of the season was easily a highlight. Despite their issues with one another, there was a level of comfort between them that made them that much more compelling to watch as they pushed each other in ways that no one else could have. The more they investigated the case, it became clear that things were not quite what they appeared as the corpsicle melted and the circumstances leading to the death of the missing scientists took a left turn, opening another avenue of mystery. The conspiracy involving the dead scientists was more elaborate than Danvers and Navarro realized, starting long before they took the case. Following the evidence and unravelling the elements of said conspiracy, their circle of trust grew smaller with every passing day, as those responsible worked to ensure its survival fought hard to prevent their exposure. In the face of insurmountable odds, just about everything came together but their pursuit got them answers that may not be as neat as viewers would like.

Using Iceland as an analog for Alaska, the sweeping shots of the Icelandic countryside are breathtaking with countless other beautiful outdoor shots and the lighting helped to round out the perpetual darkness of the time of year in Alaska added a sense of tension and made for an overbearingly gloomy tone which fit well here. The production design was another strong technical aspect with the dead scientists’ facility being the highlight there. Finally, the score accentuated that tension and helped tie everything together. That being said, the best part of True Detective: Night Country was the stellar performances from Foster and Reis. They, and their chemistry, brought their flawed characters to life. Both driven by their own respective traumas, their dynamic as Danvers and Navarro and the journey they took was compelling to watch as solving the case also meant facing their own demons. In terms of the supporting cast, Bennett was the standout as Officer Prior had his own drama to face while trapped in Danvers’ orbit, much to his detriment.

At the end of the day, True Detective: Night Country sees the anthology series recapture some of its former glory on the backs of Jodie Foster and Kali Reis.

still courtesy of HBO

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.