HBO Max True Detective: Night Country (1 Viewer)

[Walter Kittel]

Viewed episode five this evening and felt like the series stepped up its game. Reading some of the speculation in the last handful of posts does raise some interesting possibilities in terms of who is complicit with exactly what. The series has sort of dialed back some of the more supernatural aspects of the series, so it appears the finale will be more grounded.

Ultimately I think it all comes down to the mining operation and the steps taken by the corporation and its allies to keep the mine running at all costs.

- Walter.

 

[jayembee]

Agree that Danvers and Navarro are more interesting, as they should be given they’re the leads. But they’re not particularly likable (yet).

No one, except maybe Peter and Eddie, is particulary likeable. But after watching ep5, I'd argue that most of the characters aren't unlikeable so much as very, very damaged in varying ways. That's, to me, what makes them interesting.

On edit: I should have included Rose as one of the genuinely likeable ones.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Well, tonight's the night, the final episode and wrap-up of this series. I will be tuned in. Just read an article with comments from Lopez about the ties to season 1:

Spoiler: Spoiler

Sadly, she says the ties come to nothing in terms of the story. They were just a way to try and put this season in the same "universe" as season one. So, there will be no real story that amounts to anything, they were basically just meant to be fun Easter eggs for fans. Oh well.

 

[Joe Wong]

Well, tonight's the night, the final episode and wrap-up of this series. I will be tuned in. Just read an article with comments from Lopez about the ties to season 1:

Spoiler: Spoiler

Sadly, she says the ties come to nothing in terms of the story. They were just a way to try and put this season in the same "universe" as season one. So, there will be no real story that amounts to anything, they were basically just meant to be fun Easter eggs for fans. Oh well.

Spoiler

Yep, following the mentions of Travis Cohle and Tuttle in Ep 2, and then nothing in Ep 3, I figured that was all it was. Nothing substantial to tie it to S1.

 

[Joe Wong]

Good, satisfying finish. Not as suspenseful as the finale in S1, but there was some intensity and eerie atmosphere in the first half of the episode.

Spoiler

For a few moments during the first half I thought young Prior would be revealed as the killer… given how much they focused on him. But logically he would not be.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Well, that was underwhelming for me. While I give the acting, atmosphere, location, and the general look of the show a positive grade, my final grade for the show as a whole is a D+ mostly because the story, how they resolved things, and the happy ending were pretty mediocre to bad.

No rewatch factor on this one at all. I can't recommend the show and can't say I feel great about the time I invested in watching it.

I won't go further into details until there is more discussion of it as I am not sure how many people here watched it.

 

[Greg.K]

I liked much about the finale, and the story overall, but some things, like Navarro's bleeding from her ear when she's having visions, don't really make sense.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

One general comment I will make, I read comments from Foster and Lopez that after seeing the finale you would need to go back and watch the series again to see clues that had been dropped right under our noses the entire way through. I thought the series essentially did not require that. I think there were some minor clues that likely easily could have been missed but overall, catching them or not the entire thing made sense and was not a surprise that made me want to go back to scour the episodes for clues.

I think because the pace was somewhat plodding for most of the series I did scour each episode looking for hints about the mystery while the show doled out info about the characters personal issues. So, by the time it reached the end, things were pretty much entirely what I expected.

I think had this not been done under the True Detective umbrella and had it skipped all the references to season 1, if they had just called it Night Country, it would have been better for the show. I mean, they did have two good central characters in Danvers and Navarro, and it did sort of feel like they could have done much more with them.

 

[Sam Posten]

Stuck the landing!

Just realized episode 6 breaks Checkov’s law! Rose is cleaning a gun when Pete arrives but it never goes off!

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I liked much about the finale, and the story overall, but some things, like Navarro's bleeding from her ear when she's having visions, don't really make sense.

I thought there were many things that really did not make much sense. Just not a well thought out mystery really. It was full of things designed just to throw you off a bit but seemed as if they did not really think them through. I really don't think they should have bothered with throwing in the ties to season one. First, you are inviting comparisons to a far better work, and second you don't do anything with all that stuff you throw in...it is literally just mentioned for no other reason except to say "Hey, remember season one?"

Yes, I do remember season one, it was excellent.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Stuck the landing!

Just realized episode 6 breaks Checkov’s law! Rose is cleaning a gun when Pete arrives but it never goes off!

I liked Rose. That scene at least put to bed the idea that Rose was a ghost only Navarro could see and talked to.

 

[Greg.K]

I thought there were many things that really did not make much sense. Just not a well thought out mystery really. It was full of things designed just to throw you off a bit but seemed as if they did not really think them through. I really don't think they should have bothered with throwing in the ties to season one. First, you are inviting comparisons to a far better work, and second you don't do anything with all that stuff you throw in...it is literally just mentioned for no other reason except to say "Hey, remember season one?"

Yes, I do remember season one, it was excellent.

Yeah, I agree, it really wasn't necessary to tie it to season 1. And Clark's "Time is a flat circle!" shout in the finale was particularly awkward.

 

[Greg.K]

I liked Rose. That scene at least put to bed the idea that Rose was a ghost only Navarro could see and talked to.

She is definitely someone I'd want around to help dispose of a body.

 

[Sam Posten]

Yeah, I agree, it really wasn't necessary to tie it to season 1.

Disagree. I got chills hearing Rust’s crying and the detectives shock and horror at learning of his unexpected presence.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Well.

Still better than Season 2.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’m a very satisfied customer.

 

[Joe Wong]

I also liked they kept some things ambiguous, to allow the audience to come up with whatever they want.

Eg. The tongue, and Navarro (at the end).

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

Well.

Still better than Season 2.

Am I the only one who likes it? Sure, S1 was great, but IMHO, so was S2. S3 was a little less awesome, and as for S4, not done yet, but so far, totally unimpressed. Just watching to see how it ends, basically. Too lazy to read spoilers.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I thought there were many things that really did not make much sense. Just not a well thought out mystery really. It was full of things designed just to throw you off a bit but seemed as if they did not really think them through.

While there are a few (intentionally) dangling threads, it all came together for me. I can't really think of anything that didn't make sense in retrospect given the revelations of the finale.

Navarro is led to some crucial pieces of evidence over the course of the season by the voices in her head and the hallucinations she sees, that she probably wouldn't have found otherwise. But nothing (except maybe the tongue) requires the supernatural to be explained.

I also liked they kept some things ambiguous, to allow the audience to come up with whatever they want.

Eg. The tongue, and Navarro (at the end).

Agreed. There are so many ways to read that final beat with Navarro at the end on Danvers's porch. It might be literally her, having fallen off the grid, or it might be her ghost.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Having just watched episode six, color me underwhelmed. Glad some folks enjoyed the series, but the story elements ultimately left me unfulfilled. The acting was fine for the most part, and the locations set the atmosphere, but the actions depicted were too much out of left field for me in some cases. Personally, I found the 'story' of how the researchers met their death on the ice to be laughably bad. Bunch of crazed vigilantes with rifles. Really? Oh, please.

Sometimes ambiguity in a story works for me (Inception's ending, for instance) but here it worked against any closure, for me. I've enjoyed plenty of works that delve into the metaphysical but the way it was handled in this series did not resonate with me. Once again, if you enjoyed it - great, but it was easily the weakest season in the franchise from my perspective. It is a shame because it had a good setting and a strong cast. It needed better writing and a more coherent story line. Oh well...

- Walter.