Review: 'True Detective: Night Country' is so good, it might be better than Season 1

Ten years is long enough to prove that time is, in fact, a flat circle.

When it burst onto HBO in 2014, "True Detective" was a sensation, thanks to awards-worthy turns from Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, a gruesome mystery and just a touch of mysticism. Written by Nic Pizzolatto and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (who would go on to direct his own Bond film), it seemed impossible to follow. And it was impossible. A quick second season in 2015 was lackluster and lackadaisical, even starring Colin Farrell, Taylor Kitsch, Rachel McAdams and Vince Vaughn. A better, but by no means illustrious, Season 3 debuted in 2019 with Mahershala Ali but didn't make many waves.

But put all that aside, because Season 4 of "True Detective," dubbed "Night Country," is an astounding work of art (Sundays, 9 EST/PST, ★★★★ out of four). As helmed by a new auteur, writer/director Issa López, "Night Country" is as excellent as, and perhaps transcends, that striking first season a decade ago. Set in Alaska and starring Jodie Foster and new talent Kali Reis, "Night Country" is the kind of TV bold enough, surprising enough, addictive enough and tenacious enough to capture our national attention even amidst presidential primaries, winter storms and so many talking heads. It grips you with bitterly cold hands, and won't let go.

"Night Country" is a serious subtitle. The season takes place during the period of the Alaskan winter in which the sun never rises, pitching the frozen tundra into 24-hour night. Amid this unyielding darkness and deathly frigid temperatures, seven men from a research station in a remote town disappear without a trace, a crisis drawing in the small town's Chief of Police, Liz Danvers (Foster). Their vanishing act may be tied to the murder of a young Alaskan Native climate activist six years prior, a cold case that has never left the mind of state trooper Evangeline Navarro, who eventually joins Danvers' investigation. Horror, violence, mystery and dismay follow, as well as a lot of choice profanities from Danvers.

Like Harrelson and McConaughey before them, Foster and Reis are an exquisitely matched pair. Danvers is grizzled, cynical and practiced; Reis is reserved and angry. They hate each other, but they need one another. Both actresses are operating at full throttle, Foster with her years of experience unfolding in every perfectly calibrated scene. Reis is unknown, and the depths of her talent and her character are tantalizing to uncover as the season unfolds. They are met by a worthy supporting cast, including John Hawkes as Danvers' uncooperative deputy, Fiona Shaw as a mystic wild woman and friend of Navarro, and Finn Bennett as an up-and-coming officer under Danvers' wing.

The mystery López weaves is tantalizing and intriguing, sure to spark a thousand Reddit comments about every clue. The characters, from the main two women down to guest stars, are all thoroughly explored by sharp scripts that never over explain anything (it is all too common for viewers to be treated as dumb children by overly-explicative episodes these days). The series brings up issues of indigenous rights and land back campaigns, corporate greed and corruption and the very nature of death. But it doesn't get bogged down in heady questions, always returning firmly to its characters and story. The season is also downright gorgeous, all shots composed as if paintings: the dark blues of night play nicely with the greens and yellows of the Northern Lights. "Night Country" also proves that TV shows don't have to make you squint when set at night (looking directly at you, "Game of Thrones").

Seasons 2 and 3 of "Detective" were plagued by abominable slowness. They trudged. They trodded. They meandered there and back around the point they were trying to make. "Night Country" runs without sprinting; every episode is taut, focused and excruciatingly enthralling. The season is a tight six episodes, and no scene feels extraneous or too short. It leaves you wanting, then satisfies you with a finale that answers much but not all.

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New blood can be a miraculous stimulant for a waning franchise. López and Reis bring life to something that might have otherwise languished in HBO's long list of extinguished intellectual property. Together with a consummate veteran like Foster, who also serves as a producer, they make magic in that frozen wasteland. Or maybe it's not magic. Or maybe it is.

You'll just have to watch to find out.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'True Detective: Night Country' review: Better than Season 1