TRUE DETECTIVE – SEASON FOUR: NIGHT COUNTRY (2024) – Jodie Foster is great as a macho cop in polar night Alaska

True Detective is an American anthology crime drama series that first aired in 2014. Each season is a standalone story that deals with various crimes and murders. Despite the “True” in its title, these stories are not based on real events and purely fiction. Night Country marks the series’ fourth season and boasts of Academy Award winner Jodie Foster taking on the lead role. For some, that is good enough reason to check the series out.

Night Country takes place in an interesting territory. North Alaska. And at the time of the time of the year where the sun does not appear for a period of two months or more usually from December. That means the series is filmed with most of the narration taking place at night (with the exception of some brief flashback sequences). I have to give credit to the film makers here for the remarkable achievement in cinematography to capture this environment. They manage to get the lighting perfect for all the outdoor shots as well as dark interior environment like caves or unlit buildings without compromising on the visibility. We can follow the action even in the dimly lit scenes which not only let us see what is happening but also look natural.

The story centers around the mysterious deaths of a bunch of research team members who were found frozen to death naked in the harsh open air. The investigation is headed by two strong willed women from the police department, the Chief of police, Liz Danvers (played by Jodie Foster) and a police trooper Navarro (played by Kali Reis). These two characters are so aggressive and ruthless in their mannerism they put their male counter parts to shame. Looking at the two of them, it seems women in Alaska are clearly the more dominant of the human species.

The manner in which the series takes its time to unfold and the introduction of numerous characters may be initially off putting. Also, everybody is generally not likeable. At least at the beginning. However, as the series progresses, the mystery slowly fall into place making the rest of the series a thrill ride. To spice up the mystery, the plot flirts around with some hinted elements of the supernatural. But all’s cleverly explained and neatly wrapped up at the end. Overall performances are great especially with Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, which are Emmy Award worthy. True Detective has proven itself to be a great series with four interesting seasons and with the success of this latest season, looks set to be around for a while longer.