This True Detective: Night Country episode two review contains spoilers.
Due to a much-enjoyed trip Stateside, this review is a few days later than planned but I’m happy to see that the excitement around True Detective: Night Country has continued and my extended wait for this week’s outing didn’t fall flat.
Thanks to revelations in this second episode, intrigue about where exactly Night Country is leading has grown – and I’m more interested in the series than I’ve been since its initial season a whole decade ago. And that’s because we’re finally getting back around to what made True Detective so special in the first place: its original characters and story.
The problem with seasons two and three wasn’t that they were necessarily bad, they were just competing against an impossibly high bar that, quite frankly, was always going to be difficult to meet – much less jump over. As it turns out, the answer to the series’ continued success wasn’t anthology outings but, instead, a return to its roots – after all, “time is a flat circle”, as Rust Cohle put it, bound to repeat itself in eternal recurrence.
Much like the cryptic spiral which heralds the return of the Tuttle sex/death cult from season one, True Detective seems to finally be coming full circle and, at last, elaborating on the open-ended conclusion to Rust and Marty’s case ten years ago – even if, at times, the quality of the writing and chemistry of the cast leaves something to be desired.
True Detective: Night Country Episode Two review
Episode two kicks off with the excavation of the horrifying “corpsicle” that we were treated to at the end of the previous episode.
The frozen cluster of bodies is, indeed, the missing scientists from the research station. Aside from the terrifying look on their faces and the brutal acts of self manipulation, eagle eyed viewers will have noticed that one of the researchers has a small symbol on their forehead: the crooked spiral.
This same spiral appeared on the back of Dora Lange, the victim whose murder Marty and Rust investigate in season one.
Danvers and co don’t see the significance of the spiral at first – but it’s later revealed that Anne (the murdered Kowtok woman whose case is plaguing Officer Navarro) had the spiral tattooed on her body, something that one of the scientists, Clarke, later copied.
During their ensuing investigation, Danvers’ squad learns that Tsalal was, in fact, funded by Tuttle United – the same family run conglomerate that operated the cult behind the women/child murders that Rust and Marty investigated in Louisiana.
Tsalal’s purported aim was to sequence the DNA of an extinct micro-organism that has the potential to cure many diseases, including cancer. While this was probably an effort to up the stakes, it instead came across like high concept nonsense that pushed the plot even further towards absurdity – a line it is now only narrowly avoiding.
If that wasn’t enough for you, it is also revealed that Travis – the ghost who pointed Rose towards the corpsicle – is actually Rust’s father. Back in season one, Rust mentioned visiting his dying dad in Alaska and now we know that he might still have a connection there in Rose.
What’s more, Rose also tells Navarro that the spiral is “older than the ice itself” – a cryptic hint that this symbol has merely been adopted for nefarious means. Then again, she was smoking a joint at the time, so who knows if her visions and ramblings aren’t merely the product of smoking too much of the good stuff.
As the episode draws to a close and the corpsicle has thawed, it becomes apparent that one of the crew is missing. “Clarke’s not here,” says Navarro in one of the most wooden line-deliveries I’ve heard in some time, “He’s alive, he’s out there.” *cue dramatic music*
The final couple of scenes of this week’s episode so perfectly capture what’s right and what’s wrong with Night Country thus far. A strong mystery anchored by a return to the only True Detective story that anyone actually cares about limited by a tendency for the over-dramatic and a noticeable lack of chemistry and ability from some of the cast.
Strong performances from Jodie Foster and Fiona Shaw hold things together, but the inconsistent pacing and writing could prove to be too much for a season that, two episodes in, still has so much potential.
Overall Rating: 7/10
What did you think to episode one of Night Country? Let us know in the comment section below and don’t forget to check out our other Film & TV articles…
