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Cast: Jodie Foster, Kali Reis, Fiona Shaw, John Hawkes, Finn Bennett, and Christopher Eccleston
Creator: Issa López
Director: Issa López
Streaming On: Max
Language: English (with subtitles)
Runtime: 6 episodes, around 1 hour each.
True Detective Night Country Review: What’s It About:
When True Detective released on January 12, 2014, it made such a splash that it quickly became part of the popular culture landscape, and it certainly helped Matthew McConaughey get his Oscar win, while also helping most of those involved to further their careers, and it had also maintained the brand in the audiences’ mind, even when the second and third season were kind of forgettable. Season 4 arrives with a new mystery set in Alaska while also adding a bit of a supernatural twist like never before seen in the show.
True Detective Night Country Review: Script Analysis:
Night Country is the subtitle for this season of True Detective, this is a first for the show, and it signals that this season is a different one, and in many ways Night Country is certainly quite different from the previous three seasons of the show, for once the series will only six episodes, and for another Nic Pizzolatto, the creator and showrunner of the original three seasons is serving more of a founders’ role, giving control to Issa López, a filmmaker from Mexico who is seemingly taking control over the series.
López’s vision is inspired by the previous seasons of the show, and we have basically the same setup, with two police officers being the focus of the story as they deal with their lives, and also a powerful and disturbing case that seems to be way over their heads. However, López also serves as director of each of the episodes, giving the show a solid visual style not seen since the first season when Cary Fukunaga held the first season in its entirety. Night Country is different, and it is strange, which is exactly how we want our True Detective to be.
The case involves the disappearing of a number of scientists in a remote facility in Alaska, this scientist has simply disappeared, and their fate is unknown, this setup is brilliant and hearkens back to films like The Thing or the most recently A Murder at the End of the World miniseries from Hulu, making the icy scenario part of the story, which makes sense as The Things is basically a perfect movie and if you are going to be inspired, well, be inspired by the best and only the best.
What makes Night Country even more different than the previous three seasons of the show and closer to something like The Thing is that the show is clearly leaning on a supernatural aspect in ways that it has never done before, as the supernatural elements in the first season were only hinted at. In Night Country the supernatural is right in front of us, as tangible as the ice below the characters’ feet, and this makes the show have more of a horror vibe. It works really well, and gives the season its own flavor.
True Detective Night Country Review: Star Performance:
Every new season of True Detective seems to be defined more by its cast than by the actual case that the characters are trying to solve, and it might be that Night Country is no different with the show choosing to cast two wonderful actors on the main roles; Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, a veteran of the industry and a rookie just starting. Both Foster and Reis do a fantastic job embodying their characters, and they feel not only real but quite complex. Each character is quite different from the other, but when together, it is undeniable they make a good pair.
Foster comes as a tour de force and having her around anchors the show in a powerful way, the character, Danvers is all killer no filler, to a detriment, and it makes for some of the most entertaining scenes. Meanwhile, Reis shows her amazing potential for drama, and yes, she might be a rookie when it comes to acting, but she holds her own and as the show moves along her character becomes more and more relatable and inspiring. The contrast between Foster and Reis only makes their scenes more fun to watch.
True Detective Night Country Review: Direction & Music:
Issa López takes the director’s chair for all six episodes of the season, and this creates a very unified visual identity to the entire story, and López is up to the task when it comes to making the show feel as cinematic as possible, making that this is HBO, which prides itself in being more than just television, and it seems that after many decades they still got it, by making their shows look just the best they can on screen. López also does an amazing job at creating tension and even a funny bit here and there to make things more dynamic.
The music also does a great job at fitting the situation and the setting, the fictional town of Ennis is mysterious and dark, and not only because of the long night, and so, the tunes need to be dark as well. The swelling music that accompanies some of the darker revelations fits the moment very well, while the main theme by Billie Eilish definitely sets the mood at the start of each episode.
True Detective Night Country Review: Last Words:
True Detective Night Country feels very much like a back in form for the series, which has been riding the success of the first season and never managed to replicate it, and so, this fourth season has chosen to go on a different path, and this seems to be the right choice, making the show more of a supernatural detective story this time around. Foster, Reis and the rest of the cast conjure very compelling characters, and the mystery is captivating enough to keep people watching right until the very end.
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