EPISODES 1-6 (WHOLE SEASON)
Nic Pizzolatto’s creation is now in the hands of Issa Lopez as show runner, writer and director for this fourth season, and make no mistake about it Night Country is the best series since the first. A return to the very roots of the show, whilst also boldly embracing some deeper supernatural ideas and otherworldly genre inspirations, Night Country is a darkness-strewn, snowy, Alaskan detective procedural that strikes as sharply and deeply as severe frostbite.
Jodie Foster is Chief Liz Danvers and Kali Reis is Trooper Evangeline Navarro, as the two women are forced back into working together to investigate a particularly strange case of some missing research scientists at a remote outpost, that soon spirals into something that burrows deeper than anyone could possibly imagine and re-opens old cases, events, and wounds, in the process.
From John Carpenter’s The Thing and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining to Nordic style chilling detective procedurals and elements of the first season of this show, Night Country takes in many influences and delivers a blood-stopping walk into the darkness of isolation, corporate greed, broken humanity, fractured family and stolen culture. Ultimately arriving at a destination both satisfying and interpretive depending on your own beliefs and readings. This is a season full of evil, full of pain, but also with a building hope that escalates from an enticing beginning slowly towards a surprising and incredible finale.
Foster is absolutely phenomenal here, as the beaten down and alone but resilient Danvers, whose chemistry with an impressive and impactful Reis develops beautifully throughout the season. This pairing works so well and, as the chilling case spreads, you are constantly on edge to see their dynamic develop, their backstory filled in and their unenviably difficult and sometimes insurmountable case reach its apex.
There are also some astonishing supporting turns by the likes of Finn Bennett and Christopher Eccleston, though Fiona Shaw may be the showstealer as the reclusive Rose. A character who has perhaps the truest line spoken, “I guess you’re thinking, the worst part is done. It’s not. What comes after, forever, that’s the worst f***ing part.”
Night Country is an early but strong contender for the best television show of 2024. Atmospheric, emotional, thrilling and with a host of performances that are assured awards attention.
Masterful, satisfying, unexpected and resonant television that wears both the light of hope and belief in something but also the pain of surviving and living on past our trauma. Inter-twined with one hell of a compelling mystery. We really are in the Night Country now, and you just might not want to leave it.
All Six Episodes of True Detective: Night Country are available to watch now on Sky.
