THE first episode of True Detective’s fourth season started strong. Titled True Detective: Night Country, the season takes place in the furthest northwest reaches of the planet, in the fictional Alaskan town of Ennis.
Nearby the town, the eight member team of scientists working at the Tsalal research station disappear overnight and are later found frozen to death.
Stark naked and huddled together, the deceased scientists form an image of body horror right out of a David Cronenberg film.
Their disappearance and death are then cryptically tied to an unsolved case involving the brutal murder of an indigenous Alaskan woman over five years ago.
In the long weeks of endless night, Ennis police chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Alaska state trooper Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) work to solve the mystery.
Night Country has a riveting setup, setting up themes of indigenous rights, police corruption and the exploitation of natural resources by big corporations at the expense of the local community’s health.
But then, from the second episode onwards, the ice sheet below its feet quickly breaks, sending the entire season plunging into the cold, freezing depths of the ocean.
