‘True Detective: Night Country’ Episode 1 Review A Mysterious & Suspenseful Slow Burn

It’s been a decade since 2014’s spectacular first season of True Detective and the first episode of ‘Night Country’ looks to be closer to the high standard it set when compared to the disappointing second season and the average third.

‘Night Country’ takes place during the Alaskan winter in a fictional town called Ennis. Set during the time where the sun will not rise for several weeks, plunging its residents into 24 hour a day darkness. The stark backdrop and frigid temperatures all add to an incredibly haunting atmosphere and this intensifies the supernatural tone that episode one is full off.

The episode introduces us to two tough as nails female leads, Jodie Foster as Police Chief Liz Danvers and state trooper Evangeline Navarro played by Kali Reis a former world champion boxer. Both Danvers and Navarro dislike each other and clash regularly, Danvers is cynical, knowledgeable and very experienced. Navarro holds a contestant anger and is haunted by an unsolved murder of a local woman.

The supporting cast includes John Hawkes as Danvers’ unaccommodating deputy Hank Prior, Fiona Shaw as Rose Aguineau a mystic woman who claims to be able see the dead and Finn Bennett as Peter Prior, Hank’s son and a young officer under Danvers’ wing.

The plot revolves around the disappearance of seven men from a research facility. As Danvers searches the station all that’s left of them is a severed human tongue and a disturbing message sprawled in capital letters across a whiteboard.

The mystery new showrunner Issa López is weaving is intriguing, with the disappearances potentially being linked to the murder of a young native woman six years prior, the one that still haunts state trooper Navarro.

Along with the heavy supernatural themes that include an opening scene where a heard of caribou jump to their deaths off a cliff. Disturbing behavior from one person in the research facility and a woman following the apparent ghost of her dead husband to a horrific discovery, it all adds to a fascinating story about to unfold over the coming weeks.

The cinematography is gorgeous, the Artic setting was beautifully shot.

Of course I wouldn’t expect anything less than a stellar acting performance from Jodie Foster, she’s delivering and so at home playing a member of law enforcement. Kali Reis is relatively unknown in the acting world and I’m looking forward to seeing her talents on display as the season unfolds. She has made a solid start as the exasperated Evangeline Navarro and I’m enjoying her challenge police chief Liz Danvers.

The cinematography is gorgeous, the Artic setting was beautifully shot in Iceland, making this backdrop a perfect partner to an eerie mystery, great start!

True Detective: Night Country episode one is now available on Sky Atlantic or NowTV in the UK and HBO in the US.

Watch the trailer for True Detective: Night Country