True Detective Season 4 is finally happening on HBO, with the new batch of episodes officially titled True Detective: Night County.
Nic Pizzolatto's hit crime anthology has made waves since it premiered in 2014.
The HBO drama is best known for its star-studded casts, as each season tackles a different series of crimes and the detectives trying to solve them.
Now, after more than four years since True Detective was last heard from, Season 4 is finally on the way.
True Detective Season 4 Release: When Will It Come Out?
True Detective Season 4 is currently set to premiere on HBO on January 14, 2024, kicking off a six-week run on the network.
This January 2024 release comes after the series was initially set to return in 2023 (appearing in a 2023 Max sizzle reel) but was ultimately pushed for suspected reasons related to the writers' and actors' strikes in Hollywood (via Deadline).
Despite coming in 2024, True Detective Season 4 has supposedly been in development since early 2019.
In the lead-up to Season 3 (which was released in February 2019 starring Mahershala Ali), series creator Nic Pizzolatto teased he had a "really, really wild" idea for an eventual fourth season (per Entertainment Weekly):
"It’s really, really wild. Where do you even go after this [season]? I just had a lead character who’s 35, 45 and 70 all at the same time and this mystery that has to reach false resolutions and keep going into the future without cheating the audience and all these complicated structural elements. But I have an idea that’s kind of crazy. I think it needs to percolate for a while. I was looking to do another series, maybe a movie, in the meantime, but yeah. I have an idea…"
At the time, HBO President of Programming Casey Bloys told Deadline, "If Nic has an idea that he is excited about, we will talk about it," but the studio is "not rushing into anything:"
“I think Nic [Pizzolatto] has ideas, but I don’t think he’s landed on anything that he feels passionately about. If Nic has an idea that he is excited about, we will talk about it but not rushing into anything.”
However, matters were complicated in January 2020 when Pizzolatto signed a new overall deal with FX, seemingly putting into question the future of the True Detective franchise.
Despite Pizzolatto leaving the network, Bloys teased, "There's something in the True Detective area," and fans should "stay tuned on that one" (via Deadline):
"There’s something in the 'True Detective' area, there’s things we’re feeling good about. I would say stay tuned on that one.”
Pizzolatto's initial idea for a fourth season was eventually abandoned with the creator taking a step back from showrunning the series, moving into an executive producer role.
It was then announced that Spanish filmmaker Issa López would take over to oversee what would become Night County.
Season 4 was officially greenlit shortly after Lopez came on, with filming taking place in Iceland from November 2022 to April 2023.
Who Is Cast in True Detective Season 4?
True Detective has become known for its all-star casts. With every ensuing season, fans are enamored over who will be cast as the series' titular investigators.
Season 4 is no slouch in this regard either. The series has seen the likes of Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Colin Farrell, and Mahershala Ali star as main characters over the past three seasons.
Night County will see Oscar-winner Jodie Foster star as main character Liz Danvers, an Alaskan detective who thinks something may be afoot when a group of eight Arctic Research station employees suddenly disappear.
Foster will be joined by Kali Reis as Evangeline Navarro, Liv's partner on this latest case who will fight her own demons as she aims to uncover what exactly happened to these eight Ennis, Alaska locals.
The rest of the cast can be seen below:
- John Hawkes as Hank Prior
- Christopher Eccleston as Ted Corsaro
- Fiona Shaw as Rose Aguineau
- Finn Bennett as Peter Prior
- Anna Lambe as Kayla Malee
- Aka Niviâna as Julia Navarro
- Isabella Star LaBlanc as Leah Danvers
- Joel D. Montgrand as Eddie Qavvik
What Will Happen in True Detective Season 4?
True Detective Season 4 (which carries the subtitle Night County) does away with the middle America setting the series is known for, taking place in Ennis, Alaska over the cold winter months when the sun does not rise.
The show will center on Jodie Foster's Liz Danvers and Kali Reis' Evangeline Navarro, a pair of detectives who think something foul may be afoot when eight local men mysteriously disappear.
While some think these ill-fated northerners simply fell victim to the icy grip of Mother Nature, Liz and Evangeline suspect this could be the work of a cold-blooded killer.
HBO's official synopsis for the series reads as follows:
"When the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska, the eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanish without a trace. To solve the case, detectives Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro must confront their pasts and the dark truths lying underneath the Arctic ice."
True Detective Season 4 is set to debut on HBO on January 14, 2024 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
