Summary

• True Detective season 4, titled Night Country, is confirmed and set for release on January 14, 2024, after being delayed due to strikes.
• Jodie Foster and Kali Reis lead the cast as the new detectives investigating the disappearance of eight men from an Alaskan research station.
• The fourth season may have supernatural elements and a connection to the first season, but it's uncertain if it will return to the tone and themes of season 1.

True Detective season 4 is on the way, and all the news so far about the next chapter in the anthology crime drama hints that Night Country will be another explosive chapter. The fourth season of True Detective is the latest in Nic Pizzolatto's anthology series, although the original creator won't be involved as a showrunner or screenwriter. Season 4 of True Detective seems to be taking things in a slightly new direction, as Issa López will be writing the new season with Jodie Foster and Kali Reis playing the lead detectives on the intriguing new case with the chilling title, True Detective: Night Country.

There was never a guarantee True Detective season 4 would arrive. Airing in 2014, season 1 of True Detective starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as the mismatched detectives looking into a case of a supposed satanic murder. True Detective season 2 featured a larger cast including Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, and Vince Vaughn but failed to reach the same acclaim. Then True Detective season 3 arrived, and Mahershala Ali's chapter was widely considered a return to form for the show. However, following its conclusion in 2019, there was little talk of True Detective season 4 happening — that is until Night Country was confirmed in March 2022.

True Detective Season 4 Latest News

The most recent True Detective: Night Country news arrived in September 2023. After initially delaying the release date of True Detective season 4 from its projected 2023 window, HBO have now confirmed the release date for Night Country is set for January 14, 2024. What's more, HBO twinned the release date announcement with a True Detective: Night Country, giving viewers a fresh look at the Jodie Foster and Kali Reis-led chapter of the anthology crime drama.

The latest True Detective season 4 trailer revealed much about the Night Country plot, including that Foster's Liz Danvers and Reis's Evangeline Navarro are investigating the disappearance of eight men from an Alaskan research station. Five of them have been found already, however — they were arranged together and frozen in a block of ice. Not only that, but the spiral Carcosa symbol prevalent in the first season was also present, suggesting a connection between the first season of True Detective and the Night Country.

True Detective Season 4 Is Confirmed

True Detective season 4 is confirmed, with the full title of True Detective: Night Country. True Detective season 3 ended in February 2019 and there was some uncertainty if the series would return for a new season. Thankfully, it was announced in March 2022 that season 4 of True Detective is happening with Barry Jenkins as executive producer and Issa López writing the season. Nic Pizzolatto, True Detective creator and writer of all episodes of the first three seasons, was confirmed to not be returning.

True Detective Season 4 Release Date

The True Detective season 4 release date is January 14, 2024. The return of the show had been initially been pegged for 2023, but the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes meant HBO delayed the release until the following year. True Detective: Night Country will have six episodes, with the first launching on HBO and Max at 21:00 ET/PT.

True Detective Season 4 Cast

the True Detective season 4 cast includes some big names, including two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster. Foster is best known for The Accused, which got the actor her first Academy Award win, and her role as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, which got the actor her second win. Foster will be playing Detective Liz Danvers in True Detective season 4, who is the new lead detective of a missing persons case, and Danvers locks horns with every other officer on her team.

Kali Reis s the True Detective season 4 cast as Foster's partner Detective Evangeline Navarro. Interestingly, unlike the star-studded team-ups of past seasons, this time the veteran actor Foster is paired with newcomer Reis. Reis doesn't have many acting credits and is better known as a professional boxer. However, she proved herself to be an incredible writer and actor in Catch the Fair One, in which she plays a former boxer in search of her missing sister. Reis was also featured in Wind River: The Next Chapter with Scott Eastwood.

John Hawkes plays Hank Prior in the True Detective season 4 cast. Hanks is a police officer who holds a grudge and has a mysterious past, which, in typical True Detective fashion, will likely be linked to the case at hand somehow. While Hawkes isn't a huge Hollywood name, has had major roles, including playing Robert Lantham in Lincoln and Charlie Hayes in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Other polices officers in the True Detective season 4 cast include Ted Corsaro (Christopher Eccleston), who's the regional Chief of Police. Eccleston is a part of some huge franchises, as he was the ninth Doctor in Doctor Who and played Malekith in Thor: The Dark World.

Fiona Shaw plays survivalist Rose Aguineau in the True Detective season 4 cast, and Shaw is a shoo-in for the crime thriller. Shaw excels in these kinds of crime dramas, as proven by her role as the head of the Russian Section of MI6 in Killing Eve. Other True Detective season 4 characters include Peter Prior (Finn Bennett), who is Danvers' apprentice, Kayla Malee (Anna Lambe), a protective young nurse, and Leah (Isabella Star LaBlanc), Danvers' stepdaughter.

True Detective Season 4 Story Details

Even with the show usually shrouded in so much mystery, there's already a surprising amount of True Detective season 4 story details. The new season is set in an Alaskan community that is about to enter its polar night period. As the long darkness overtakes the community Detective Danvers and Detective Reis begin investigating the mysterious disappearance of a small crew from a nearby research facility. Previous seasons of True Detective drew from true stories for their mysteries, but it's unclear if this is based on any real event. This may be the first season of True Detective that deals with supernatural elements, which season 1 teased.

Season 1 of True Detective was undeniably the best season based on critical reception and viewership, and that has led to a demand for True Detective to return to that vaguely supernatural and satanic approach. However, in recent True Detective season 4 updates, Pizzolatto bluntly responded to the demand. The True Detective creator explained, "Other than that, I could write a book without those constraints, but again, I'm doing other things and don't have the time or inclination at present." Even though Pizzolatto isn't the lead writer on season 4, given these comments, it's unclear whether the True Detective season 4 story will return to the tone and themes of season 1.

True Detective Season 4 Trailer

HBO provided a glimpse of the season in its 2023 showcase, but the first full True Detective season 4 trailer wasn't available until April 2023, with a followup arriving September the same year. Not only does season 4 have a typically True Detective look about it, but it's full of the series' other trademarks too. The two main detectives are completely at odds with one another, struggling to work around each other's drastically different methods. Foster's Liv Danvers is seemingly completely unlikeable and often goes rogue too, playing into the classic detective archetype for True Detective season 4.