By: Alex Tilton
When discussing TD: NC there are two stories to follow. One is the actual plot of the show; the other is the whiney overreactions of entitled True Detective fanboys who don’t like this season compared to season 1. Word space is limited so I’ll summarize; they don’t like the female-centric storyline, possible supernatural elements, the pacing, the overall plot arc, or the casting. They endlessly whine about ‘a betrayal’ what True Detective stands for blah, blah, blah…There’s a small grain of truth to their whining. Season 4 isn’t as good as Season 1. But it is very good. Light spoilers ahead.
In the small mining town of Ennis, Alaska, (within the Arctic Circle which goes into a perpetual night during winter) a group of researchers from a nearby scientific facility go missing. They’re soon discovered to have died horribly out on the ice except for one who somehow managed to survive the extreme cold but has gone insane.
The case falls to Ennis chief of police Liz Danvers (Jodi Foster). When it becomes clear that there’s a connection to an older murder case, state trooper Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) gets involved. This is all set against the backdrop of rising tensions between Liz and her stepdaughter, terrible pollution to the town water supply caused by the local mine, and the deteriorating mental health of Navarro’s sister. Also caught up in the events are Officer Peter Prior and his father, Ennis police Captain Hank Prior.
The case drives wedges between all involved. Danvers and her daughter clash over the daughter’s decision to protest the mine and get herself in lots of trouble. Navarro clashes with her sister about how to deal with her deteriorating mental health, and young officer Prior has to face the increasingly obvious fact that his dad is corrupt, and probably involved somehow in the mystery.
The show does most things very well and some things less well. What it does best is immersion. The setting simply couldn’t be better. The all-encompassing, merciless, freezing, indifferent, endless night above the Arctic Circle is the perfect place for a horror mystery. The tensions between native Alaskans and local whites inject a painfully authentic feeling of inequality and injustice. The interference of external powers in the ongoing investigation makes an already isolated place feel all the more lonely and exposed, and the numerically tiny forces of the good guys all the more outmatched.
The acting is also very good, by which I mean it doesn’t feel like they’re acting. Everyone feels like they’re fully inhabiting their role. The production value is also very high, but that’s just HBO standards.
The story architecture is less good. Underdeveloped plot points arrive in big jolts, probably because they’ve only got six episodes to work with. Taking more time to get to the bottom of things would make the setup and payoff more satisfying. Instead, we get a repeated loop where Danvers gets an idea, digs around till she hits a wall, and then tells Young Before verifying it with online records; which always works because that’s his main function in the plot. His other function is to alienate his wife by getting repeatedly called in for work at awkward times by Danvers. This is done to highlight her indifference to collateral damage, but it doesn’t work because even though Peter is her trusted right hand there are other cops in that station. If they’d shown Danvers trying to use them only to discover that they’re all incompetent (which is why they’re in Ennis), then Danvers would then have a reason to abuse Prior’s hardworking nature. Instead, this all feels contrived.
I also think Captain Prior should have been a subtler villain. Making him overt gives Danvers an obstacle to work around, but despite the show doing an excellent job of humanizing him, his eventual betrayal lacks any narrative punch. It’s just what you always expected to happen. What does have punch is how young Prior is forced to deal with it. Sometimes the tragedy you see coming hurts more than the one you didn’t expect, and the show did a great job with that. There are a few petty grievances I could air. Some things happen ‘just so’ in a way that advances the plot. But so much effort and care were put into this thing that it feels wrong to complain.
The finale is all that’s yet to air, but I expect it’ll hold up. The storytelling is very good in Night Country, and I can enjoy it from the comfort of my home completely unbothered by the whining of the fans.
Image Source: DirecTV.com & Dexerto.com