True Detective is BACK! . . . Or, at least, it was back. The long awaited fourth installment of HBO’s critically acclaimed fictional-true-crime detective drama dropped earlier this year, and at only six episodes to the show’s usual eight, the brilliantly atmospheric Night Country felt like it came and went in a flash (which it did, and, truth be told, it shows).
Season four of the True Detective anthology focuses on the gruff and tough Northern Alaska Police Chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and trooper Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis), who are trying to figure out what the hell happened to a group of local scientific researchers’ corpses found frozen together out on the barren expanse of ice beyond the remote town of Ennis, Alaska and the (Tuttle-funded – sound familiar?) Tsalal research outpost. How the men died and how they came to be frozen together, naked, their clothes neatly folded on the ice nearby, with bite marks and seemingly self-inflicted wounds and gouged-out eyes is a total mystery.
It’s difficult to imagine a more perfect (or more literal) backdrop for Night Country than the secluded swath of Alaska that experiences a couple dozen long, dark days of continuous night each winter. Though the town of Ennis is fictional, Night Country makes it feel real with its richly interwoven cast of characters. Miners, hunters, families, strange folks, regular folks, a small but dedicated police force, and members of the indigenous Iñupiat community all call Ennis home, though they don’t always coexist peacefully. The mine and the town are at odds, with many of its residents relying on the mine’s operation for their livelihood, and many other residents who want it shut down due to the pollutants it produces, which are contaminating the locals’ water and causing high rates of birth defects and stillbirths.
This conflict contextualizes the Annie K. cold case that is at the heart of this season. An impassioned young activist who spoke out against the mine, Annie Kowtok’s body was found dumped at the mining site, having been stabbed to death by an unknown assailant in a frenzied act of hatred and violence. All signs pointed to the murderer being a disgruntled ally of the mine who wanted to shut Annie K. up for good, even going so far as to cut her tongue out, a pointed message for anyone else who might threaten the mine’s continued operation to shut up.
What follows is a twisty-turny tale of corruption and suspense, with elements of spirituality and the paranormal thrown in for good measure. Night Country felt, to me, like classic True Detective with some X-Files flavoring sprinkled on top. It kept us guessing from week to week and made for an excellently atmospheric, cerebral mystery on the ice in a a remote corner of the world, combined with the thematic depth of the interwoven commentary on environmental conflict, indigenous rights, life and death, and corporate greed.
Both of the lead actresses, Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, delivered stellar performances as two hardened detectives with the soft spots of past traumas and vulnerabilities of their own thawing beneath chilly exteriors as this case pushes them towards the past and the unknown. We loved Ms. Foster in 2023’s Nyad, so it was awesome to see her back on our screen so soon with another great performance.
While the abbreviated six-episode format left a lot of aspects feeling rushed at the end, particularly in the less-than-satisfying final unraveling of the mystery in the finale (which left us saying, “Hmmm … really? 🤔 Okay.”), the overall takeaway, for us, was a fun, eerie, and highly watchable return for True Detective, proving once again why the series remains a standout in TV crime drama.
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