“True Detective: Night Country” is the 4th season of the anthology series starring Jodie Foster.
Let’s find out some trivia and facts about the new season of the series.
- True Detective: Night Country is the fourth season of True Detective
- It is an American anthology crime drama television series created by Nic Pizzolatto
- The fourth seasonpremiered on January 14, 2024, on HBO
- The season is set in the fictional town of Ennis, Alaska
- It follows the investigation behind the disappearance of eight men from a research station
- The season stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as Detectives Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro
- It is the first season to carry a subtitle
- Issa López serves as showrunner, writer, and director
- It is the first season without Pizzolatto as showrunner or writer
- But he still serves as an executive producer
- Before the release of the third season, Nic Pizzolatto explained that he had a “really, really wild” idea for a potential fourth season
- After the season finished airing, he explained that he decided to drop his idea, intending to use a new idea after discussing with an unnamed actor about the project
- In July 2019, Casey Bloys, HBO president of programming, explained that “If Nic has an idea that he is excited about, we will talk about it but not rushing into anything”
- In January 2020, Pizzolatto signed an overall production deal with Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions, putting into question his involvement in a potential fourth season
- By the next year, HBO began exploring ideas for a fourth season with other writers, including Lucía Puenzo and Sam Levinson
- Bloys later said, “There’s something in the True Detective area, there’s things we’re feeling good about. I would say stay tuned on that one”
- In March 2022, HBO announced that a fourth season entered into development, which would carry a subtitle, Night Country, a first for the series
- The first episode would be written by Issa López, who would also direct it
- López would executive produce the season, alongside Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski and Mark Ceryak
- In June 2022, HBO officially greenlit the season, with López serving as showrunner
- Pizzolatto would remain as an executive producer, marking his first season without a writing credit
- When preparing season 4, subtitled Night Country, director and writer Issa López chose to create a “dark mirror” of the first season
- In an interview with The A.V. Club, López credited John Carpenter’s The Thing, the Overlook Hotel from The Shining, and the spacecraft Nostromo from Alien as inspiration
- She said (to HBO) “Guys, me being who I am, I’m going to tap into that and go for it.” referring to the supernatural elements of True Detective’s first season, that it had Carcosa and the Yellow King
- López has also cited the Dyatlov Pass incident and Mary Celeste as inspirations for the season
- In May 2022, Jodie Foster was confirmed to star in the season
- Marking her first adult TV role and her first starring role in a TV series since 1975.
- Foster described her character, chief Danvers, as awful, an “Alaska Karen”
- In June 2022, it was reported that Kali Reis would join Foster as co-lead, in a role originally conceived as Latina
- In September 2022, it was reported that John Hawkes, Christopher Eccleston, Fiona Shaw, Finn Bennett, and Anna Lambe would also appear in the season
- In October 2022, Aka Niviâna, Isabella Star LaBlanc and Joel D. Montgrand joined the season
- The season was filmed in Iceland and on location in Alaska with a reported budget of $60 million
- Filming began in November 2022 and wrapped in April 2023
- The conditions included nighttime shoots at −23 °C (−9 °F), which director López commented on by quipping, “I’m Mexican, so I’m really not fond of the cold”
- She said that viewers would find the environment authentic “because we were there, because the actors were cold, because the filmmakers were cold”
- On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 93%
- Based on 128 reviews
- With an average rating of 8.3/10
- The website’s critics consensus reads, “Frighteningly atmospheric and anchored by Jodie Foster and Kali Reis’ superb performances, Night Country is a fresh and frosty variation on True Detective’s existential themes”
- On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 81 out of 100
- Based on 45 critics
- Indicating “universal acclaim”
- A first look was unveiled in December 2022 during an HBO sizzle reel
- In April 2023, the first trailer for the season was released
- It was originally intended to premiere in 2023