Would you leave your couch if you get a web or TV series with smart scenes, clever plot twists, and a cunning serial killer chasing around? True Detective is one such TV series that perfectly captures that mood and delivers one of the best crime thriller shows of the decade. To our amazement, True Detective Season 4 is under development.
True detective released its third season in 2019. After that, there were many rumors about the fate of the season. But, fans of True Detective can now heave a sigh of relief. Casey Bloys (the HBO Max and HBO chief officer of content) has announced that there has been an ongoing discussion to redevelop True Detective. However, they have not yet revealed the True Detective season 4 release date.
The series is an anthology thriller that was aired on HBO in 2014 for the first time. Nic Pizzolatto supervised the first three seasons. If you are a great fan of True Detective, this is the right place to reminisce your memory about the series or get excited to watch it.
Table of Contents
The primary True Detective cast of season 1
If you watch a film or series based on the star cast, pick True Detective as your first flower in the basket. The prime cast of the series are:
- Woody Harrelson
- Matthew McConaughey
- Michael Potts
- Tory Kittles
- Michele Monaghan
Summary of the three seasons
Season 1
The plot setting of the series’ first season is in Louisiana. It highlights the actions and journeys of the detectives in the Louisiana State Police through the workings of two detectives. Time is one of the essential plot devices of the series. Covering a time span of 17 years, the show traces the hunt of some anonymous serial killer having occult links.
Season 2
2015 marks the release year of the second season of True Detective, which revolves around California. Here also, the main focus is in the investigation of a crime, possibly having political dimensions. Three police departments and three detectives from the departments coordinate to solve this crime. The main starrers of this season are:
- Rachel McAdams
- Colin Farrell
- Vince Vaughn
- Kelly Reilley
Season 3
True Detective Season 3 is shot in Ozarks and here also, time overlaps play an essential role as a plot device. The case of the two missing children is the main highlight of this series. Two detectives from the Arkansas Police Department are the primary investigators in the season. It was released on television in 2019, and the main cast is:
- Stephen Dorff
- Ray Fisher
- Scoot McNairy
- Carmen Ejogo
- Mahershala Ali
The critical acclaim of the three seasons has gone through some ebb and flow. In contrast, the first season received substantial critical praise, the second season inclined towards negative reviews. The third season has regained the fallen crown of the first season and was a big hit.
What is the plot possibility of True Detective Season 4?
In this series, new writers will be appointed to search for the right tone for the series. So, while thinking about a possible True Detective Season 4, the chief officer of content, Casey Bloys, has taken the writing part seriously.
They are dead serious with the fact that they won’t release True Detective Season 4 for the sake of releasing it. Unless a good representative high-quality narrative is at hand, they won’t give out a True Detective Season 4 release date.
Also, unless True Detective Season 4 is confirmed, there is no conversation regarding a possible True Detective Season 5.
Also, Nic Pizzolatto, who made the first three seasons, signed a deal with TV channel FX and left HBO. After this, the future of the series is hanging in the air.
However, it is not completely unlikely that there won’t be a True Detective Season 4. The channel is investing some money and time in figuring out something which gives out some hope. Even if a season 4 comes out, the original creator may no longer oversee the production.
But, THR recently announced a talk that Pizzolatto might exit FX and come back to HBO. If that happens, the True Detective fans will be the happiest.
However, True Detective has a history of taking calculative moves regarding releasing their new seasons. The third season came out after a gap of four years. It is still the second year running after the end of the third season. So, there is a considerable possibility that True Detective Season 4 will hit the channels any time soon.
But, in case you have not watched the previous three seasons of True Detective, then here is a guide for you.
The creator’s creation
Let’s know a bit of the pre-history of the enormous TV hit True Detective. Its creator, Nic Pizzolatto, taught at the University of Chicago, De Pauw University, and North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was very much into creative fiction writing and had his imaginative world since he was a child, culminating in making True Detective.
Between here and the yellow sea was his first publication. After a gap of four years, he wrote Galveston.
Initially, Pizzolatto wished to make a film on Gavelston but then decided to make True Detective, which according to him, was better suited for a screen adaptation.
The pilot episode, named The Long Bright Dark, had a script of 90 pages. The entire script was 500 pages. While doing all this creative work, he accomplished all the technicalities required for giving birth to this masterpiece.
So, finally, in 2012, he cut a deal with the TV channel HBO, who then commissioned the production of the series divided into eight episodes. After this, he kick-started the series with a blast.
The first season
Pizzolatto selected Louisiana, which was his second choice, the first being Arkansas, because of the low film tax of the state.
Episodes
The first season, set in Louisiana, had eight episodes titled
- The Long Bright Dark
- Seeing Things
- The Locked Room
- Who Goes There
- The Secret fate of all life
- Haunted Houses
- After You’ve Gone
- Form and Void.
Cary Joji Fukunaga is the director of all these episodes, created by Nic Pizzolatto.
Themes and storyline
The first season has touched on various essential and contemporarily relevant themes, which have led critics to approve the series highly. One such dominant theme is masculinity. The representation of women is also striking in this world of True Detective.
The role of Detective Rustin Cohle casts the great actor Matthew McConaughey. Maggie Hart is played by Michelle Monaghan, who survives in a brutal world filled with toxic masculinity.
Moreover, the police world is a masculine world that needs no special mention. Hence, the series aims at exploring the idea of navigating masculinity through many scattered pieces of evidence.
In the first season, a case of 1995 is kind of reopened which brings the two true detectives Martin Hart and Rustin Cohle, back together. Unlike a linear narrative of thriller movies, this series deals with many human flaws, unsorted relationships, and unhealed wounds, making the film more humane.
The story weaves narratives from a world that the characters thought to have left for good and then enmeshed it into their present-day world. This to and fro movement between different timelines is a characteristic feature of True Detective, even if the narrative is self-contained each season. Here, the overlap and jumps of time are between 1995 and 2012.
Occult and religions form another strong theme of True Detective. The killer in the first season had occult links. Hence, the season has an immense chance of being a commentary on religion.
There is a massive influence of horror and weird fiction on the storyline of True Detective. Moreover, the several doctrines of Christianity, the dilemma between science, rationality, and religion also comes up repetitively.
Reviews
The critics credited the season for having “hauntingly beautiful” cinematography and unique scripts. It was also nominated for several awards and accolades. Matthew even won Best Actor in A drama series in Critic’s Choice Television Awards (2014).
The second season
However, the second season slightly inclined towards negative reviews.
In season 2, patrol officer Paul Woodrough played by Taylor Kitsch, finds out about a strange murder in California. This gets linked to a high profile mobster and businessperson Fran Semyon and Ray Velcoro, played by Colin Farrell, another detective, and Ani Bezzerides, the sheriff detective of Ventura county, played by Rachel McAdams.
The series then navigates its way to murders and crimes in California and the political life surrounding it. This season has more of a linear narrative. Instead of religion, the season explores politics this time.
Season 2 hit the TV after Pizzolatto did a two-year contract whereby HBO extended the deal to produce two more seasons.
Episodes
True Detective Season 2 again has eight episodes, namely
- The Western Book of the Dead
- Night Finds You
- Maybe Tomorrow
- Down Will Come-
- Other Lives
- Church in Ruins
- Black Maps and Motel Rooms
- Omega Station
Directors
In this season, directors were different for different episodes. The directors include
- Justin Lin
- Janus Metz
- Jeremy Podeswa
- John Crowley
- Miguel Sapochnik
- Daniel Attias
Scott Laser co-created two episodes, namely Church in Ruins and Down will Come with Nic Pizzolatti.
This season revealed a new story along with a completely new cast. Rachel McAdams even got her nomination in Movie Made for Television or Limited series for the position of Best Actress.
The Third Season
Mahershala Ali starrer True Detective Season 3 reached the highest peak of its tendency of playing with time. This season highlights what happens when a single crime and the investigation surrounding it takes control of an officer’s life.
Ali cannot get his head around a crime that involved the killing of a young boy, followed by his sister’s disappearance.
The timeline of the storyline
Three separate and distinct timeline overlaps in this season. 1980, 1995, and 2015 come and go through several shots and overlaps among the three. So, if you find it hard to follow the chronology of True Detective, read this article to get the hang of the narrative.
The season started in 1967 when Tom met Lucy, and the couple gave birth to Will.
Isabel Hoyt engages in an accident where she loses her family in 1977 and kind of gets obsessed with the family of Lucy and Tom, whom she met in an event.
The last three months of the year 1980 play a very crucial part in the season where Will dies, and all the three characters enter a newly complicated domain.
Again 1981 to 1990 is relatively uneventful, except the fact that Lucy Purcell died in 1988. 1990 again is a long year.
The plot unravels far and wide after that leading to its final closure in 2015 when Hay infers the fake death of Julie Purcell. However, when his hunt for that woman is complete, he cannot remember why he was there, leading to a monumental crisis building in the end.
Hence, season 3 again remains as a masterpiece that breaks the linear narrative of whodunit style thriller.
The main cast of season 3 includes Mahershala Ali, Stephen Dorff, Ray Fisher, Scooty Mcnairy, and Carmen Ejogo.
Episodes
The eight episodes of the season are-
- The Great War and Modern Memory
- Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
- The Big Never
- The Hour and the Day
- If You Have Ghosts
- Hunters in the Dark
- The Final Country
- Now Am Found
Directors
The directors in the season include
- Daniel Sackheim
- Jeremy Saulnier
- Nic Pizzolatto
This is the first season where Pizzolatto directed two episodes.
This series even obtained several nominations at the 71st Emmy Award and has received much critical acclaim.
Final Thoughts
So, if you have followed this article thoroughly, you have become a great fan of True Detective. The themes are compelling. Even if the creators have still not confirmed the release of True Detective season 4, but you cannot throw away the possibility. Till then, stay tuned and enjoy watching True Detective’s available seasons.
