True Detective Season 4: A Critical Analysis

Episode 1

(1/15/2024)

So, this is the Night Country. The classic and widely venerated True Detective, Season One (created by Nic Pizzolato), brought us down to the steamy, lurid bayous and backwoods of Louisiana, a seedy Southern underworld of ritual murders, decadence and decay. No less apocalyptic, True Detective, Night Country welcomes us to the self-labeled “End of the World,” the small Alaska town of Ennis and its languid winter of darkness. Purposefully ambiguous, the intro episode presents a herd of frightened caribou driven by an unseen force to take a collective suicidal leap off an icy cliff. Eerily Twin Peaks-like, strange ghosts appear from the darkness, here upon the frozen tundra, conveniently leading us to the disturbingly bizarre crime scene. A team of missing scientists will inevitably be linked to the past death of a young female activist who vehemently fought against the town’s precious mine and was viciously murdered for her efforts. Cheer up, sad citizens, at least Christmas is just around the corner.

Of course, Ennis easily invokes the words penis or anus, at least in my sordid mind. Right from the start of Season 4 (written and directed by Issa Lopez), we have a sharp contrast to the male-dominated series inception. Though equally moody, here it is clear that a duo of strong female archetypes will be the protagonists leading us into the turgid darkness of this new investigation. An obvious trend in modern pop culture arguably by design, the male characters depicted here are mostly dicks, douche bags or weak, passive-aggressive lackeys. In an introductory scene, co-lead Detective Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) responds to a domestic altercation at the local crab processing plant. A drunk, angry young man has been knocked unconscious by a friend and co-worker of the battered woman the crabby jerk just assaulted, presumably for moving out on him. Appearing to be at least part indigenous, Navarro is a hard-ass, tough-looking state trooper, overtly sporting facial piercings and an elaborate neck tattoo. A bit androgynous leaning towards the masculine, she is the stereotypical no-BS-taking cop. Not unlike her past and future counterpart, Detective Navarro seems dedicated to maintaining some semblance of law and order, and affecting justice, although she is undoubtedly haunted by her own disturbing schema of personal ghosts or demons.

The crux of the plot involves a team of 8 scientists who have gone mysteriously missing from an Arctic scientific research station. The men seem to have abruptly left the compound for some unknown reason. A Beatles song from the film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is still blaring from the rec room even as the cops first come upon the scene. Snacks and sandwiches are left out, barely touched. Cell phones are oddly left behind. Wet laundry is stinking up the washing machine. Most disturbing of all, a human tongue is discovered on the kitchen floor, and someone has mysteriously scrawled, “We are all dead” on a white board in one of the labs. Thank goodness for the arrival of no-nonsense lead detective Liz Danvers (Jody Foster), the only one evidently who can figure out how to turn off that annoying racket. A bit awkwardly, Detective Danvers is teamed up with fellow cop and apparent subordinate, Hank Prior, her ex-husband no less, along with their fresh-faced son, a naïve and blundering but well-meaning greenhorn. A local cop with deeper ties to Ennis than Danvers, Prior is suspiciously slacking, distracted and frequently if subtly opposed to her efforts.

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