| True Detective | |
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| Also known as | True Detective: Night Country(season 4) |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 30(list of episodes) |
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| Running time | 54–87 minutes |
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| Network | HBO |
| Release | January 12, 2014 (2014-01-12) – present |
True Detective is an Americananthologycrimedrama television series created byNic Pizzolatto for the premium cable networkHBO. The series premiered on January 12, 2014, and each season of the series is structured as a self-contained narrative, employing new cast ensembles, and following various sets of characters and settings.
Thefirst season, starringMatthew McConaughey,Woody Harrelson,Michelle Monaghan,Michael Potts, andTory Kittles, aired in 2014. It takes place inLouisiana and follows a pair ofLouisiana State Police detectives, and their pursuit of aserial killer withoccult links over a 17-year period.
Thesecond season, starringColin Farrell,Rachel McAdams,Taylor Kitsch,Kelly Reilly, andVince Vaughn, aired in 2015. It is set inCalifornia, and focuses on three detectives from three cooperating police jurisdictions and a criminal-turned-businessman as they investigate a series of crimes they believe are linked to the murder of a corrupt politician.[2][3]
Thethird season, starringMahershala Ali,Carmen Ejogo,Stephen Dorff,Scoot McNairy, andRay Fisher, aired in 2019. It takes place in theOzarks over three time periods as a pair ofArkansas State Police detectives investigate a macabre crime involving two missing children.
Thefourth season, titledTrue Detective: Night Country and starringJodie Foster andKali Reis, aired in 2024. It takes place inAlaska and follows the investigation into the sudden disappearance of a team of eight men from a research station.Issa López serves as writer and director, marking Pizzolatto's first time as neither writer nor showrunner.[4]
The first season received widespread acclaim and earned high ratings for HBO. It receivednumerous awards, chiefly for its acting, cinematography, writing, and direction. Reception to the second season was more divided, although the show maintained high viewership. The third season received positive reviews, but saw a drop in viewership.Night Country is the most watched ofTrue Detective's four seasons,[5] and received widespread critical acclaim. It earned the highest number ofEmmy Award nominations for the series.
A fifth season, with López returning as showrunner, is in development. Casting and filming will commence in 2025 with a scheduled air date in 2027.[6] In August 2025, it was reported thatNicolas Cage was in talks to star in Season 5.[7]
Before developingTrue Detective,Nic Pizzolatto taught at theUniversity of Chicago, theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, andDePauw University.[8] His first significant published work was ashort story collection released asBetween Here and the Yellow Sea in 2006.[8] After publishing the novelGalveston in 2010, Pizzolatto began concentrating on television writing.[9]
Pizzolatto originally conceivedTrue Detective as the narrative successor toGalveston, but once the project matured, he believed the story's shift in perspective and time made it more suitable for television.[8][10] The author pitched an adaptation ofGalveston to entice studio executives, and drafted sixscreenplays from May to July 2010, including an early 90-page draft of theTrue Detective pilot script.[8][9] A second script was written shortly after Pizzolatto's departure fromThe Killing, thanks to the support ofAnonymous Content.[8] By April 2012, HBO commissionedTrue Detective for an eight episode season.[11] Pizzolatto worked alone creating the definitive project script, which exceeded 500 pages.[12][13] As ananthology series, eachTrue Detective season follows a self-contained story, distinguished by distinct sets of characters, settings, and events with shared continuity.[14]
When preparing season 4, subtitledNight Country, director and writer Issa López chose to create a "dark mirror" of the first season: "WhereTrue Detective is male and it's sweaty,Night Country is cold and it's dark and it's female."[15]
In February 2024, following the fourth-season finale, HBO renewed the series for a fifth season with López returning as showrunner.[16] The fifth season, set in theJamaica Bay area ofNew York City, is scheduled to begin filming in 2025 with a scheduled release in 2027.[6]
Principal photography forTrue Detective season one took place in Louisiana, partly because the shoot qualified for the state'stax incentive program that subsidized the cost of production.[12][17] Production lasted 100 consecutive days,[18] and each episode was shot on35mm film.[19] The crew filmed exterior shots of various constructed sets, including a remotesugarcane field outside ofErath,[20] in addition to real life locations such asFort Macomb, a nineteenth-century fort located outside ofNew Orleans.[21]
California was selected as the setting forTrue Detective's sophomore season. Producers were urged to avoid filming inLos Angeles and, instead, focus on the more obscure regions of the state to "capture a certain psycho-sphere ambiance".[22] Production began in November 2014.[23]
The third season was filmed at various locations throughout Northwest Arkansas, including Fayetteville, Bentonville, Lincoln, Rogers and Springdale.[24] Filming began in February 2018 and was wrapped in August of the same year.[25]
Led by creative director Patrick Clair,True Detective's title sequences were developed by a collaborative team consisting of three motion-design studios:Santa Monica-based Elastic, Antibody and Breeder, both based in Australia.[26][27][28] For the first season, Clair and his team took a variety of photos of the Louisiana scenery, which became the sequence's backbone.[27] They superimposed these images ontolow poly meshes, thanks to the use of various animation and special effects techniques. This was a meticulous process for production, since they wanted to avoid creating a digitized look for the sequence.[28] Once its final cut took form, the team polished it by employing optical glitching andmotion distortion technique.[27]True Detective's season one opening theme is "Far from Any Road", analternative country song originally composed byThe Handsome Family for their 2003 albumSinging Bones.[28]The Sydney Morning Herald included season one's opening sequence in their list of the "Ten of the Best" title sequences on television.[29]
Clair took a similar approach to creating the title sequence forTrue Detective's second season. Production used material from a number of photographers, including aerial shots captured byDavid Maisel.[26] However, unlike season one, season two's title sequence incorporates deep, vivid gold and red color, thereby presenting "that more complicated view of California".[26]Leonard Cohen's "Nevermind" is the season two opening theme, which is a song from Cohen's 2014 albumPopular Problems.[30] The theme song's lyrics change with every episode, incorporating different verses from Cohen's song.[31][32]
For the fourth season,Night Country, a new sequence was commissioned from London-based Peter Anderson Studios,[33] set toBillie Eilish's song "Bury a Friend", a major influence on the show cited by showrunner Issa López.[34] As the fourth season sought to distinguish itself visually from prior entries, Anderson chose not to use superimposed images. Instead, the company was flown out to Iceland to film the majority of the sequence "from scratch", using the same props and locations as the show itself. Although certain scenes involved CGI (such as the final shot of a car parked on the sea ice) and underwater sequences were filmed in a tank, the majority of the sequence was real footage. This allowed Anderson to recreate the arc of the story in miniature, tantalizing the audience with the unfolding story: "[t]he setting is the same. But the story, packed inside a single minute, stands on its own."[35]
The first actor to be cast forTrue Detective wasMatthew McConaughey, who acted as DetectiveRustin "Rust" Cohle. McConaughey came to Pizzolatto's attention for his performance in the 2011 thriller filmThe Lincoln Lawyer, and was contracted before the series was commissioned by HBO. He andWoody Harrelson were among a pool of candidates Pizzolatto had in mind for star billing.[10] Although McConaughey was to play Detective Martin "Marty" Hart, he later convinced Pizzolatto to cast him as Cohle.[36] Instead, Harrelson was assigned the role of Hart at McConaughey's request.[37][38][39]Michelle Monaghan played the female lead Maggie Hart,[40] whileMichael Potts andTory Kittles were given the roles of Detectives Maynard Gilbough and Thomas Papania, respectively.[41][42] Major recurring roles in the first season includeKevin Dunn as Major Ken Quesada andAlexandra Daddario as Lisa Tragnetti.[41][43] Daddario appeared in a four-episode arc as a court reporter having an extramarital affair with one of the main characters; her nude scene withWoody Harrelson attracted much attention.[44]
Cary Joji Fukunaga was appointed as director ofTrue Detective's first season. He competed withAlejandro González Iñárritu for the position, but Iñárritu dropped out because of other film commitments.[45][46] To prepare, Fukunaga conducted research with a real-life homicide detective of theLouisiana State Police's Criminal Investigations Division.[47] The director brought onAdam Arkapaw as the projectcinematographer, and hired Alex DiGerlando, who he worked with onBenh Zeitlin'sGlory at Sea (2008), as the production designer.[18]
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In January 2014, Pizzolatto signed a two-year contract extension with HBO, effectively renewing the series for two additional seasons.[48] Much like its predecessor, season 2 ofTrue Detective consists of eight episodes, all written by Pizzolatto.[22] However, the responsibility of directing was assigned to several people.Justin Lin directed the first two episodes.[49] Fukunaga, who directed all of season one, did not return as director; he remains, however, an executive producer,[50] as do McConaughey and Harrelson. Pizzolatto hired fellow novelist Scott Lasser to help develop and write stories for the second half of the season.[50]
The season's first significant casting wasColin Farrell as Detective Raymond "Ray" Velcoro.[51]Vince Vaughn, playing the role of criminal and entrepreneur Frank Semyon, was officially cast toward the end of the month.[49] By November,True Detective's principal cast expanded to includeRachel McAdams as Detective Antigone "Ani" Bezzerides,Taylor Kitsch asCalifornia Highway Patrol Officer Paul Woodrugh, andKelly Reilly as Jordan Semyon, Frank's wife.[52][53]
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In August 2017, HBO officially greenlit a third season, which takes place in theOzarks over three decades.[54] The first two episodes were directed byJeremy Saulnier; he had been expected to direct the third episode, but had to exit the series due to scheduling conflicts. In March 2018, it was announced thatDaniel Sackheim was added as director and that he and Pizzolatto would direct the remaining six episodes.[55] Pizzolatto is the sole writer, with the exceptions of episodes 4 and 6 which he co-wrote withDavid Milch and Graham Gordy, respectively.Mahershala Ali was cast as the lead character, playingWayne Hays, a state police detective from northwest Arkansas.[56]Ray Fisher plays Wayne's son, Henry Hays;[57]Carmen Ejogo plays Amelia Reardon, an Arkansas schoolteacher with a connection to two missing children in 1980;[58]Stephen Dorff plays Roland West, an Arkansas State Investigator;[59]Scoot McNairy plays Tom Purcell, the father of the missing children;[60] andMamie Gummer plays Lucy Purcell, the mother of the missing children.[61]
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In March 2022, it was reported that a fourth season ofTrue Detective was in development, withIssa López writing apilot episode andBarry Jenkins as executive producer. López would also direct the pilot if HBO moved forward with the project.[62] In May 2022, it was reported thatJodie Foster would star in a lead role for the fourth season. The season, subtitledNight Country, is set inAlaska, and follows detectives Liz Danvers (Foster) and Evangeline Navarro as they investigate the disappearance of eight men from aresearch station.[63] In June 2022, HBO officially greenlit the series andKali Reis was cast in the lead role of Evangeline Navarro, a role that was originally conceived as Latina.[15] The season was filmed inIceland[64] on an estimated budget of $60 million.[65] In September 2022,John Hawkes,Christopher Eccleston,Fiona Shaw,Finn Bennett, andAnna Lambe joined the cast.[66] Further cast additions were announced in October 2022, including Aka Niviâna,Isabella Star LaBlanc and Joel D. Montgrand, while also confirming that the new season would be the first not written by Pizzolatto, who will turn over primary writing and showrunning duties to López.[67] HBO confirmed on November 8, 2022, that production on the fourth season had commenced.[68] Producer Mari-Jo Winkler and writer-director Issa López both announced that filming had finished in early April 2023.[69] The season premiered on January 14, 2024.[70]
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | Average viewers (in millions) | ||
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| First released | Last released | ||||
| 1 | 8 | January 12, 2014 (2014-01-12) | March 9, 2014 (2014-03-09) | 2.33[71] | |
| 2 | 8 | June 21, 2015 (2015-06-21) | August 9, 2015 (2015-08-09) | 2.61[71] | |
| 3 | 8 | January 13, 2019 (2019-01-13) | February 24, 2019 (2019-02-24) | 1.25[71] | |
| 4 | 6 | January 14, 2024 (2024-01-14) | February 18, 2024 (2024-02-18) | 0.654[71] | |
| Season | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 92% (100 reviews)[72] | 87 (41 reviews)[73] |
| 2 | 47% (126 reviews)[74] | 61 (41 reviews)[75] |
| 3 | 84% (110 reviews)[76] | 72 (35 reviews)[77] |
| 4 | 93% (210 reviews)[78] | 81 (48 reviews)[79] |
True Detective's first season received widespread acclaim from television critics, with several naming it among the best television dramas of the year.[80] On the review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoes, the first season garnered a rating of 92%, based on 100 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "InTrue Detective, performances by Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey reel the viewer in, while the style, vision and direction make it hard to turn away."[72] OnMetacritic, season one scored an 87 out of 100, based on 41 critics.[73]
Reviewers fromThe Daily Beast,The Atlantic, andThe Daily Telegraph citedTrue Detective as the strongest show in recent memory.[81][82][83] Tim Goodman fromThe Hollywood Reporter said the acting, dialogue, and sleek production were the series' most redeeming qualities.[84]HitFix'sAlan Sepinwall agreed, and believed that these attributes "speak to the value of the hybrid anthology format Pizzolatto is using here ... points to a potentially fascinating shift in dramatic series television".[85]Richard Lawson, writing forVanity Fair, said that Pizzolatto and Fukunaga's sensibilities produce "a captivating and offbeat tweak of a well-worn genre".[86] Despite its critical regard, some critics were not as enthusiastic in their reviews of season one.The New York Times journalist Mike Hale thought the script too readily deferred to religion as its narrative backbone,[87] as did Chris Cabin fromSlant Magazine.[88] Hank Steuver ofThe Washington Post wrote thatTrue Detective failed to realize its own ambition.[89]
The ensemble performances, namely McConaughey and Harrelson, were frequently mentioned in reviews. Robert Bianco inUSA Today wrote that the duo met, and even exceeded occasionally, the "enormously high" performance expectations of the "golden age of TV acting".[90]David Wiegand of theSan Francisco Chronicle andLos Angeles Times journalist Robert Lloyd singled out the two men for their work in the series;[91][92]The Boston Globe did the same for Monaghan.[93]Variety's Brian Lowry said theTrue Detective cast consisted of "fine players on the periphery".[94]
True Detective's second season received mixed reviews. Praise was given to the performances of Farrell, McAdams and Kitsch,[95] cinematography,[96] and action sequences.[97] However, many critics felt it was weaker than the first season. Most criticism focused on the convoluted plot and dialogue.[98][99] OnRotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 47%, based on 126 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Despite some memorably grizzled performances,True Detective's second season is florid to a fault and so unrelentingly grim that it becomes about as much fun as being stuck in L.A. traffic."[74] OnMetacritic, the season has a score of 61 out of 100, based on 41 critics.[75]
David Hinckley of theNew York Daily News gave it a very positive review, and wrote: "It's still the kind of show that makes TV viewers reach for phrases like 'golden age of television drama'" and "the second installment ofTrue Detective goes out of the way not to echo the first".[100] Hank Stuever ofThe Washington Post gave it a generally positive review, praising the performances, and wrote: "There is something still lugubrious and overwrought aboutTrue Detective, but there's also a mesmerizing style to it — it's imperfect, but well made."[101]
A mixed review came from Brian Lowry ofVariety, who wrote: "Although generally watchable, the inspiration that turned the first [season] into an obsession for many seems to have drained out of writer Nic Pizzolatto's prose."[102]
Sean T. Collins ofRolling Stone gave it a negative review and described the season as having "emerged as the year's most passionately disliked show", and described it as a "squandered opportunity" for Nic Pizzolatto.[103]
The third season received positive reviews, in comparison to the mixed reception of the second season.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 84%, based on 110 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Driven by Mahershala Ali's mesmerizing performance,True Detective's third season finds fresh perspective by exploring the fallibility of memory."[76] On Metacritic, the season has a score of 72 out of 100, based on 35 critics.[77]
The fourth season has received widespread critical acclaim, the most acclaimed since the first season.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 93% based on 210 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Frighteningly atmospheric and anchored by Jodie Foster and Kali Reis' superb performances,Night Country is a fresh and frosty variation onTrue Detective's existential themes."[78] On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 81 out of 100, based on 48 critics.[79]
| Season | Episode number | Average | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||
| 1 | 2.33 | 1.67 | 1.93 | 1.99 | 2.25 | 2.64 | 2.34 | 3.52 | 2.33 | |
| 2 | 3.17 | 3.05 | 2.62 | 2.36 | 2.42 | 2.34 | 2.18 | 2.73 | 2.61 | |
| 3 | 1.44 | 1.19 | 1.06 | 1.45 | 0.88 | 1.25 | 1.32 | 1.38 | 1.25 | |
| 4 | 0.565 | 0.678 | 0.602 | 0.722 | 0.371 | 0.983 | – | 0.654 | ||
With an average gross audience of 11.9 million viewers, the first season ofTrue Detective wasHBO's most-watched show in its first year of airing, surpassingSix Feet Under's 11.4 million viewers in 2001.[104] This rating system counts all airings of a show in its average audience rating, no matter how many times a viewer watches the show during the report period (includingDVR recordings, reruns, and streaming onHBO Go).[105][106] The season averaged 2.33 million total live plus same-day viewers, with viewership numbers generally trending upward over the course of the season.[107] The premiere was the second most-watched series debut for the network with 2.3 million viewers, behindBoardwalk Empire's 4.8 million in 2010.[108] The sixth episode of the season was watched by 2.6 million viewers, and became the first episode to surpass the premiere, while the season-finale was watched by 3.5 million viewers, a 50% increase over the premiere's ratings.[104]
The second-season premiere sustained the viewership numbers of the first season, as the episode was watched by 3.2 million viewers.[108] However, the season's ratings kept a generally downward trend, as the season-finale was watched by 2.7 million viewers, a 22% drop in comparison to the final episode of the first season. Nevertheless, it was the most-watched telecast for the day it aired, drawing an additional 550,000 total viewers from the season's penultimate episode.[109] Overall, the second season of the series averaged 2.61 million total viewers,[110] and 11.3 million viewers in gross audience numbers, slightly below the first season's 11.9 million.[111]
The third season's two-episode premiere drew 1.4 and 1.2 million viewers in linear television format; this was a decline from the first two seasons.[112] The fourth-season premiere received 2 million viewers, including viewership from its linear HBO airing and streaming onMax.[113] Viewership for the fourth season steadily increased with each episode,[114] culminating in 3.2 million total viewers for the season finale and averaged 12.7 million cross-platform viewers for the season, to become the most-watched season of the series.[115] This measurement included streams within 90 days of the season premiere.[116] The first season was not as readily available to stream when it was released.[116]
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For the30th TCA Awards,True Detective won forOutstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries, and Specials and received nominations forOutstanding New Program andProgram of the Year; and McConaughey won forOutstanding Individual Achievement in Drama.[117] For the4th Critics' Choice Television Awards, the series was nominated forBest Drama Series, and McConaughey won forBest Actor in a Drama Series.[118] For the66th Primetime Emmy Awards, the series was nominated forOutstanding Drama Series, Harrelson and McConaughey were both nominated forOutstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Pizzolatto was nominated forOutstanding Writing for a Drama Series for "The Secret Fate of All Life", and Fukunaga won forOutstanding Directing for a Drama Series for "Who Goes There".[119]
For the66th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, the series was nominated for seven awards, and won four, includingOutstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series andOutstanding Main Title Design.[120] For the67th Writers Guild of America Awards, the series won forBest Drama Series andBest New Series.[121] For the21st Screen Actors Guild Awards, Harrelson and McConaughey both received nominations forBest Drama Actor.[122] For the72nd Golden Globe Awards, the series was nominated forBest Miniseries or Television Film, Harrelson and McConaughey were both nominated forBest Actor – Miniseries or Television Film, and Monaghan was nominated forBest Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.[123] For the67th Directors Guild of America Awards, Fukunaga was nominated forOutstanding Directing – Drama Series for the episode "Who Goes There".[124]
Night Country garnered a total of nineteen nominations at the76th Primetime Emmy Awards, thus becoming the most nominated season of the show. Foster won forOutstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Among many, it received nominations forOutstanding Limited or Anthology Series,Outstanding Supporting Actor (for Hawkes),Outstanding Supporting Actress (for Reis),Outstanding Directing andWriting (for Lopez).[125][126] At the40th TCA Awards,Night Country received nominations forOutstanding Achievement in Drama andOutstanding Individual Achievement in Drama (for Foster).[127]
| Season | DVD release date | Blu-ray release date | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | Region A | Region B | |||
| 1 | June 10, 2014 (2014-06-10) | June 9, 2014 (2014-06-09) | June 25, 2014 (2014-06-25) | June 10, 2014 (2014-06-10) | June 9, 2014 (2014-06-09) | [128] | |
| 2 | January 5, 2016 (2016-01-05) | January 11, 2016 (2016-01-11) | January 6, 2016 (2016-01-06) | January 5, 2016 (2016-01-05) | January 11, 2016 (2016-01-11) | [129] | |
| 3 | September 3, 2019 (2019-09-03) | September 2, 2019 (2019-09-02) | September 4, 2019 (2019-09-04) | September 3, 2019 (2019-09-03) | September 2, 2019 (2019-09-02) | [130] | |
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