HBO Max True Detective: Night Country (1 Viewer)

[Alex...]

The crime anthology’s long-awaited fourth iteration, True Detective: Night Country, stars Oscar-winner Jodie Foster and boxer and actress Kali Reis comes from writer-director Issa López (Tigers Are Not Afraid).

“When the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska, the eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanish without a trace. To solve the case, Detectives Liz Danvers (Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Reis) will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves, and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice.”

‘True Detective: Night Country’ Teaser Trailer Starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis Released by HBO

The moody drama anthology moves to Alaska for its fourth edition.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

[Sam Posten]

I’m in

 

[Alex...]

Premieres January 14th

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Premise has me intrigued.

 

[Sam Posten]

Looks awesome

 

[TravisR]

Each season of this series has been fantastic to varying degrees so I expect this one to continue the trend.

 

[Philip Verdieck]

Each season of this series has been fantastic to varying degrees so I expect this one to continue the trend.

Is that a retro opinion?

What I mean is this.

Me (and the rest of the known) universe loved S1. I need to find whoever I loaned it to and get it back. S2 was widely initially panned, due to the high expectations following S1. There were favorable comments on how S3 appeared when it rolled out. And now we have S4.

Honestly, I haven't gotten into any of them but S1. But thinking I should reconsider that.

 

[AlexF]

Season 1 was excellent.

Season 2 was subpar when compared to season 1, but overall still an excellent season of television.

Season 3, for me, was the most memorable of the three (odd considering what it deals with...)

 

[TravisR]

Is that a retro opinion?

I'm only talking about my opinion on the show which hasn't changed since the episodes aired. As far as I'm concerned, the second season got an unfairly brutal reception. I don't think the negative reaction had as much to do with the quality of the episodes as that expectations were way too high and its biggest sin (though not the only) was that it wasn't as good as the first year.

 

[Joe Wong]

I haven't seen any of the earlier seasons but that trailer looks great. Gave me some reverse Insomnia vibes.

 

[Philip Verdieck]

I'm only talking about my opinion on the show which hasn't changed since the episodes aired. As far as I'm concerned, the second season got an unfairly brutal reception. I don't think the negative reaction had as much to do with the quality of the episodes as that expectations were way too high and its biggest sin (though not the only) was that it wasn't as good as the first year.

Agreed. Season 1 set way too high a benchmark on every element (story, style, acting, etc.).

 

[Joe Wong]

Good opening episode.

Has some Mare of Easttown vibes (hardened, gruff but brilliant local police chief with family issues who has to solve a mystery or two).

Also, it's the second murder mystery released in the last couple of months to be set in a frosty location, after A Murder At The End Of The World. And both were filmed in Iceland.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Never watched the earlier seasons either, but I was intrigued by the fact that this show brought Jodie Foster back to television, and the idea of a story set in the arctic circle during the weeks that the sun never rises intrigued me.

The first episode did a good job establishing the cast of characters and how they relate to one another. Did the earlier seasons have supernatural elements? I'm wondering how much I should be reading into the one old lady's hallucinations of the dead guy who led her to the bodies, and of the voices that the state trooper hears in her head.

 

[Joe Wong]

While not the same genre, the setting also reminded me of 30 Days Of Night.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Did the earlier seasons have supernatural elements?

Not really. Some metaphysical navel gazing by specific characters (as part of their personality rather than plot) and contemplations of the nature of life in the universe, maybe a red herring or two, but ultimately, nothing that couldn’t happen in real life.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

No spoilers below.

I watched the first episode. I found it on the whole, very good. The best start to a True Detective season since the first one, which I agree with the majority opinion that season was just outstanding in every way, so a follow-up was a high bar to get over.

I like the opening set-up here, the mystery of how an entire group of people suddenly disappear. This is the hook into the story because it is quite bizarre. The location is fantastic and adds instant atmosphere to the story. The supernatural elements are an odd twist. When ghosts are involved you do have to question if the characters are seeing these things, or imagining them.

I like the characters. I thought Foster was excellent and so was Ms. Reis. In terms of the acting I thought it was all good but obviously those two are the featured players and the focus is on them. John Hawkes is an excellent actor, he was not given a lot to do in this first episode but with him onboard, I feel like they must have him there for a reason and his character may grow as the episodes unfold. Right now his big mystery is why he took all those files home and why he seems not to want to share them. I think episode 1 was about establishing the two main players and it did that but I definitely want to get on with the mystery and away from the soapy aspects.

The only weakness of the first episode to me was, I was so taken in by the initial mystery they set-up that I wanted to stay following that. The diversions into the personal lives of the characters were just nowhere near as interesting. So, this was like a great idea, with a lot of filler in episode one, for me. I am going to stick with it and hope that now that they have established the characters they will turn more to them following the mystery.

 

[Malcolm R]

The diversions into the personal lives of the characters were just nowhere near as interesting.

I hate when shows do that. Thanks for the warning.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I hate when shows do that. Thanks for the warning.

So, this has a killer opening and a killer ending that hooks you into watching the next episode. In between the opening and the ending, it goes hard left into establishing that the two primary characters are not living particularly happy lives. Basically, to me if you are writing TV show episodes the opening and the ending of episodes should be very strong, so they check that box. I think the dive in the personal lives that fills up the majority of the middle of this episode was too much of that. I think the best way to handle that is to dole out personal info in small bits as the characters chase the mystery down. Not turn hard in to large sections of personal problems.

In a show like this, we are here for the mystery, not soap opera. It seems like, one episode in, they have a really good one. Oddly, even though they do, they seemed to want to establish the main characters as mostly unhappy/haunted by their past. In truth, that is just nowhere near as interesting as the mystery they set up...which is pretty awesome. I think doling out small bits of personal info as they go is the best way to handle this. We don't need to get big chunks of that to pull us in. Foster is immediately likable, as is Mr. Reis. They project enough charisma that you do not need to feed us a bunch of their personal problems. If we learned little things along the way as they chased down the mystery, that would be much more effective.

So, an A for the mystery we have set-up before us, a C for the sort of clumsy/clunky overlong dive into personal lives.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I noticed that there was some "controversy" about reviews for this show and someone from the show decided to make derogatory remarks about those reviewing it...always a bad idea, in my opinion.

Anyway, seeing that I just wanted to add that I do think this is worth your time to check out and I don't think any judgement of the show would be fair after just one episode. It is an excellent start because the mystery is so fascinating. There are issues with the way they set-up the characters but it does not detract really as much as it is just clumsy. My hope is it picks up steam as we go now.

There is a lot more to like about episode 1 than there is to dislike.

 

[Joe Wong]

I kind of expect the first episode (or 2) to have some character stuff, to understand the relationships between the main players, their motivations, and ultimately, how their character traits impact the plot development.

So, I didn't mind the look into the lives of the 2 protagonists in episode one, especially if it has a payoff later.

I mentioned Mare of Easttown above as having a similar tone. There was plenty of character stuff in that, but it served to enrich and enhance the main protagonist's story.