US Popular TV Show : I found myself shouting at my TV several times in complete shock after seeing True Detective: Night Country’s season finale. The plot not only grossly plagiarized Wind River, but it also concluded with some of the most syrupy, disgusting garbage I’ve ever seen on a major TV program. That HBO, the production company behind shows like Succession, Game of Thrones, True Detective, and White Lotus, among others, would broadcast this astounds me.
I’ll simply list a handful of the aspects in this episode that I thought were completely ridiculous:
Danvers and Navarro leave Peter to clean up not only the body of the junkie Otis but also his own father, whom he just killed, because they are so eager to explore the caves—in a storm, no less. After clearing everything up, he needs to see Rose, who seems content to assist the unfortunate young guy in covering up these killings.
Danvers and Navarro manage to break through the ice and enter the tunnel system that, incidentally, only the instructor guy was aware of. They tumble through to a lower level where, shock of all shocks, they encounter Raymond Clark, the scientists’ lone survivor. They follow him, arriving at a scientific room that, as we soon find out, is situated just beneath Tsalal station. Were they really so near to Tsalal that I missed it? Because they appear to have moved directly beneath the base and covered roughly fifty feet.
Eventually, they catch up with Clark after following him into the station. They sit him down and ask him questions since, up until now, they have never discussed what happened to Annie or the other scientists with him. Oh, nevermind. They record Annie wailing and attach the earphones to his ears, forcing him to remain there and listen to the sounds of his beloved repeatedly screaming and most likely dying. He is bound to a chair by Danvers and Navarro, who then abandon him to be tormented while they carry on with their boring chat. Remember, for all they knew, he could have been totally innocent of her death.
After they’ve properly tortured him, they decide it’s time to ask the right bleeping questions and resume that. However, there’s a confusing part where they appear to be going to kill him instead, but then they decide that perhaps he could testify regarding the whole mine/Tsalal issue. We have some crazy police geniuses here!
Clark explains how Annie found out what they were doing, which was basically pushing the mine to pollute as much as possible in order to get the amazing organism they were studying by softening the permafrost. Although Raymond was not involved, she attempted to obstruct their research and was apprehended, eventually being fatally stabbed. Once more, we have a considerably less credible version of Wind River.
Throughout the entire piece, Raymond freaking Clark says, “Time is a flat circle,” and I had to hold back from throwing something at my TV. But really, this garbage, you got to be kidding me.
Since that’s what they do in Ennis, Navarro wanders off into the ice at one point when they’re essentially stuck at Tsalal during the ice storm. However, Navarro then falls through into the frigid water, and Navarro miraculously arrives in time to save her, warming her over a fire. Then they discover that the scientists were killed by the cleaning ladies, and since the blizzard is apparently no longer a problem, they head to the location where, presumably, all the women responsible for the killings of the scientists are conveniently hanging out. (This season comes to an end in two weeks, unlike prior ones that frequently feature investigations that take years or even decades!)
Navarro and Danvers decide to cover it all up, which basically involved the scientists being rounded up at gunpoint, forced to strip in the ice, and fled into the night by these badass boss ladies who showed up at Tsalal and turned off the power (Raymond jokingly exclaiming, “She’s awake!” for no apparent reason). where they died of freezing. They attribute this to a spirit that, if it had been benevolent, would have permitted the men to live. I put the blame on the women, who made them strip and flee into the ice after forcing them all outside at gunpoint. The guys truly did just freeze to death, so I think the vet was mistaken.
As you may remember, the mine wanted all of this to be hidden. It appears that the mine will prevail. Everyone wants everything to be hidden.
As they examine Danvers about what transpired and where Navarro and Hank vanished, we have a small homage to previous seasons. All of it is simply incredibly disappointing in terms of its resolution. Nothing from the supernatural materialized. The first theory that practically everyone had was that Annie had been murdered by the scientists. Although it was assumed that the cleaning staff was to blame for the scientists’ deaths, the entire situation seemed like a huge, unjustified head fake that wanted to have its magical cake and eat it too. When Danvers and Navarro finally track down the man they’ve been looking for, they immediately resort to torture—not to mention abandoning poor Peter—and turn out to be some of the worst police officers on the show with his father’s passing.
Almost none of these characters are to my liking. Kayla, Peter’s spouse, is incredibly unlikeable right away, constantly trivial even though he is handling a significant matter. Leah, Danvers’ stepdaughter, is equally horrible; she never shows any regret for the things she does, even in the face of a serious murder inquiry. Additionally, some people try to be even friendlier to one another throughout the Christmas season. Not only is Navarro’s past uninteresting, but Danvers treats him horribly on a regular basis. Peter appears to be a decent enough man. Rose, I suppose, is okay too, but she’s essentially a character with very little intrinsic value. How anyone can think that this ending worked is beyond me. The more intriguing fan hypotheses all failed to come to pass. In terms of the scientists’ and Annie’s murder mysteries, neither was particularly enigmatic. After the first episode, I’m sure that many people, including myself, guessed that Wind River was where it was.