Warning: Contains SPOILERS for True Detective: Night Country episode 3.
Summary
- True Detective: Night Country episode 3 suggests that the big mystery may not connect fully to season 1, focusing instead on the unique case in Alaska.
- The connections to season 1, such as the mention of the Tuttles and the spiral pattern, are secondary to the central characters and the town of Ennis.
- While season 1 connections are fun for longtime viewers, True Detective: Night Country should prioritize its own story and characters for a satisfying conclusion.
True Detective: Night Country episode 3 makes it seem less likely that the big mystery will fully connect back to season 1. For the most part, the fourth outing of HBO’s decade-old anthology show is largely standalone anyway. True Detective: Night Country’s cast is brand-new, with a different location and a unique case to solve. However, there have been some clues that it’s all connected.
One of those is irrefutable: Travis is the father of Matthew McConaughey’s Rust Cohle. But with a mention of season 1 villains the Tuttles, and the spiral pattern appearing across True Detective: Night Country like it did 10 years ago, there could be something much bigger than just a familial connection. Episodes 1 and 2 made a strong case for that, but episode 3 goes in a different direction.
True Detective: What Happened To The Researchers In Night Country?
True Detective season 4’s episode 2 leaves viewers with two nagging questions: what might have happened to the researchers and who murdered them?
True Detective: Night Country Episode 3 Mostly Veers Away From Season 1 Connections
True Detective: Night Country episode 3 doesn’t outright debunk any theories, but it does suggest the connections to season 1 won’t be too important. After two episodes of teases that turned viewers into the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme, this installment is much more contained to Alaska and to the central characters of season 4. Its focus is deeply on Annie K, her connection to Raymond Clark, and the relationship between Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro.
The bigger mysteries the episode builds up are also more strongly related to the town of Ennis and its people than Cohle, Marty Hart, the Yellow King, and Carcosa. The protests at the mining and dirty water – which was mentioned in a previous episode too – is surely an important clue for where the mystery is building to. The apparent possession of Anders Lund is a sign of something supernatural, but it’s related to the mythology of Alaska’s own indigenous people and, perhaps, to Nevarro’s backstory.
What Happened To Annie In True Detective: Night Country?
Although True Detective season 4’s episode 1 does not reveal everything about Annie’s mysterious death, it hints at what might have happened to her.
That’s not to say the season 1 connections won’t matter whatsoever. The mention of the Tuttles can’t just be an accident. The spiral pattern – which is actually the inverse of season 1’s – could link back, maybe even retconning season 1 to have been supernatural all along. But True Detective: Night Country episode 3 suggests they’re secondary to the matter at hand. That the mystery will be resolved with these characters and this setting first and foremost, and the Easter eggs are more just world building and adding to lore than they are the key to the whole thing.
Why It’s Better If Night Country Is Less Connected To True Detective Season 1
True Detective: Night Country’s connections to season 1 are fun for longtime viewers and, if handled correctly, could even have a positive impact on those episodes. If it does connect to things like the Yellow King and reveal there was a supernatural element to season 1, then it could retroactively improve the show on re-watches and provide new meaning to be found. At the same time, there’s also a risk of retconning too much and undoing True Detective season 1’s ending, which did work extremely well at the time.
Beyond that, though, True Detective: Night Country has to stay true to its own story. This isn’t about Rust and Marty or the Tuttles or what happened in Louisiana many years ago. It’s about Danvers and Nevarro, about Annie, about the researchers, and about the hit to the small community of Ennis. The show has its own mythology that, yes, could connect, but its focus needs to be on servicing its own story and characters and providing a satisfying conclusion that works in isolation of season 4, rather than something that needs more True Detective lore to piece together.
True Detective
In this anthology series, each season follows a different detective or set of detectives as they forced to confront some horrific truths about their town and themselves. No matter the setting and characters, each detective must unravel lies and clues to solve the chilling mysteries around them.
- Release Date
- January 12, 2014
- Cast
- Matthew McConaughey , Woody Harrelson , Colin Farrell , Rachel McAdams , Taylor Kitsch , Mahershala Ali , Carmen Ejogo , Michelle Monaghan , Michael Potts , Ray Fisher , Jodie Foster
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