Television Review | What a relief: True Detective returns to its roots in new great episodes

True Detective has returned after five years. It is a pleasure to tell you that the fourth season, with its additional name Night Countryis the best True Detective then the first season ten years ago. The new season is scarier than the previous ones, but also socially angrier.

In the anthology series, the themes remain the same, while the people and places change. This time, the multi-problem detectives live in Alaska, in a fictional small town called Ennis. When the horror begins, so do the horrors. Due to the location and the darkness, the season has a Nordic noir feel.

In the process the references to the first season of the series, which received the status of a classic, are more direct than before. The very first picture, or text quote, goes as follows: “…because we don't know what kind of beasts the night dreams of, when its hours grow too long even for God to be awake. – Hildred Castaigne”

Castaigne is a character by Robert W. Chambers in a collection of short stories The Yellow King (The King in Yellow). The Yellow King was the mystique of the first season.

Also present throughout the season is the spiral symbol, which was last seen in the first season.

Superior as a star in the fourth season, who plays detective Liz Danvers Jodie Foster, who supports the entire season with his skills. Danvers's matchmaker is Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis).

Superficially, they are a contrast to the first season's Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson) duo: they are women and still working full-fledged members of society who have not sunk into nihilism or alcohol. The ice-cold wind of Alaska teaches differently than the hot humidity of Louisiana.

Underneath the surface, however, the duo is much the same as in the first season, and with this dynamic True Detective once again building his story.

Each adrift in life. It bothers Navarro that he doesn't remember his original name or the customs of the native people. Danvers is consumed by the fact that he has been transferred to the position of police chief of a small town for no reason. As some kind of revenge, he has had sex with any number of local men, and therefore doesn't get along with anyone, especially the men's wives.

There are car journeys during which cynical talk takes place. There is a dammed up past and memories that are gradually rising to the surface. There is a previous, unsolved murder of a young woman. There is another controversial case, the details of which are known only to Danvers and Navarro, and which has cause
d a rift between the two.

They start working together again only because the clues connect the old case to the new one.

Interrelated criminal cases force the feuding Navarro (Kali Reis) and Danvers (Jodie Foster) to cooperate. Picture: HBO Max

Series Creator Nic Pizzolatto has been moved from the role of writer and showrunner to only executive producer this season. The show is now run by a Mexican Issa Lópezwho has single-handedly written three episodes and directed all six.

López's most famous work before this is the 2017 film I'm coming back (They're coming back), which is a combination of crime drama, fantasy and horror. New True Detective is a similar combination if the supernatural counts as fantasy. Sometimes the soup leans towards horror, strongly.

Immediately in the first episode, the viewer gets to know the half-dark Tsalal research station, whose eight researchers have disappeared. What were scientists doing in the middle of nowhere? Looking for the “origin of life”.

Movie The Thing – “it” about something immediately comes to mind.

It gets weirder, and a few scenes stick in my mind for a longer time. The beginning of the second episode is haunting. And there are plenty of ghosts, because the dead don't just whisper, they appear to Navarro every now and then. There's also a one-eyed polar bear that appears out of nowhere, an orange rolling on the floor and ice, and a man lying in a very bad condition in the hospital who recites Foster's Danvers directly Sacrificial sheep– quote.

What is reality and what is just imagination? Or are imaginations as true as reality? Both the main characters and the viewer have to think about these questions, and the longer the darkness continues, the more confused people become. A separate point from the description of Christmas Eve, where one is in a complete mess, one dies and the rest are fighting. New Year's Eve is getting even more dramatic.

First, the natives go to war against the local mining company Silver Sky. Picture: HBO Max

EnnisIn the small town also has a significant representation of indigenous people. They are against the local mining company Silver Sky, which is accused of polluting the water and causing stillbirths. The beliefs and customs of the indigenous people become a natural part of the story, and the role of both the indigenous people and their customs grows towards the end.

Regarding the politicking going on around the mine Christopher Eccleston makes a small but important supporting role as Danvers' superior, Police Chief Connelly.

British actor Christopher Eccleston plays a small but important supporting role as Police Chief Connelly. Picture: HBO Max

Eight the case of the missing researcher, the related previous murder and other mysteries, even supernaturals keep the plot moving until the end, although the most important threads are gathered up in the last episode a little too quickly compared to the previous leisurely pace.

However, the season dodges nicely and at its best even refutes the worst clichés of the case of the murdered young woman.

A small minus also comes from the fact that the use of the research station's claustrophobia as horror remains halfway. Instead, the ice is utilized from episode to episode. In the dark, you never know when the ice ends and the icy sea begins.

True Detective: Night Country, HBO Max on Monday 15.1.