True Detective: Night Country: Review

The True Detective series has been struggling to reach the highs of the first series that starred Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey on the trail of an occult serial killer across the decades.

Critically acclaimed, the series failed to capitalise with future installments largely falling on deaf ears.

This latest sees Jodie Foster take the lead as a detective in her first major criminal-hunting role since her time as Clarice during the Silence of the Lambs. And to be frank, it's possibly one of the best TV shows of 2024.

The fourth season sees the story take place in the small town of Ennis in Alaska as Foster's chief of police tackles the case of eight missing men from go AWOL from a research station. But as the investigation continues, Ennis' darker secrets come to the fore.

Meshing elements of The X-Files episode Ice, The Terror and Twin Peaks at times, True Detective: Night Country is a cunningly taut mystery that admittedly doesn't quite stick the landing, but proves to be a deeply sinewy and spiritually moving piece over its six episodes.

It's no surprise that a brutal murder from the past is in some way tied to the present investigation, and while there is a feeling that Night Country is repeating what the very first zeitgeist-stealing season did, this latest proves to be a compelling watch thanks to its leads.

Foster, starring in her first series since the 1970s, is excellent as Liz Danvers, a boss who's both acerbic and caught in her own life choices. She's still the kind of stern we witnessed as the FBI agent in Silence of The Lambs, but a nurturing presence for the young cop Peter Prior (Finn Bennett) whose father and fellow cop (played by John Hawkes) has become bitter and unwilling to be a team player or supportive presence.

Equally impressive is Kali Reis as Evangeline Navarro, a State Trooper of Native Inupiaq heritage. Her calmness belies the fraught relationship that both Danvers and Navarro share, but there are scenes where her relatively unknown screen presence blows everything away.

Director and creator Issa López also deserves praise too, for creating an atmosphere of unease and moodiness in a part of the world where darkness envelops its inhabitants for days at a time. The story teases out both supernatural elements with elements of the mundanity of living in a region like this - it may be decorated in glittering Christmas lights, draped around steps and windows, but the undercurrent of unease is anything but festive.

Perhaps more interesting in True Detective: Night Country than the disappearance of the eight men themselves is how a town borne of indigenous culture becomes so wrapped up in its superstitions and tellings of stories. It's a theme that becomes particularly pertinent in the show's final episode, but for reasons too spoilery to discuss here.

True Detective: Night Country is a richly absorbing tale that's addictive and thrilling as it slowly, tantalisingly teases out its narrative. Best enjoyed in chunks that in a binge, this weekly series is a definite return to form for True Detective and is easily one of the best TV shows of 2024.

True Detective: Night Country premieres on Neon NZ from January 14.