“When we all go to sleep, where do we go?”
These evocative lyrics from the True Detective Night Country theme song Bury a Friend by Billie Eilish truly reflect the nature of the upcoming narrative and set the stage for the subject matter by sending a subliminal message to viewers.
It’s not just another detective story.
It could be said that the singer is speaking of “The Long Sleep” as Hamlet calls it, “The undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns.”
True Detective Night Country written and directed by Issa López, is inarguably a superb addition to the True Detective series with subtle connections to Season One. While Season One is a detective story that offers hints of supernatural content that never quite manifest, True Detective Night Country is most definitely a story of the supernatural enshrouded by a fascinating detective story, a great detective story. In addition, both seasons center around a struggle to solve the bizarre killing of a woman that leads the two main characters to delve into their own inner mysteries. Some viewers might be surprised that there is a definite connection between the Southern Louisiana of Season One and Alaska due to the nature of the oil industry. Visitors to Alaska might hear Cajun music broadcast on the radio, while automobiles with Alaska license plates are common on Louisiana highways. In addition, the name Evangeline is sacred in Louisiana. It is the name of a legendary heroine who is a symbol of loyalty and sacrifice. This cross pollination could lead viewers to believe that Night Country is a homage to Season One
The plotting of the tale is impeccable. There is not one single superfluous scene. Nothing is random. The plot is a quest story that moves slowly like ice. It’s dark like the night sky. Surprises hide at every twist and turn. This beautifully filmed quest story will draw in every viewer and command them to complete the series, breathless, entranced, wondering if Danvers and Navarro will come to terms with death and the other side.
Perhaps the most telling scene in Night Country is one that illuminates the supernatural content of the tale, the scene where the mysterious and fundamental character Rose Agineau warns Navarro and perceptive viewers that the supernatural will become the keystone of the story.
Night Country is set above the Arctic circle in an Alaskan town called Ennis. The plot begins to unravel on the last sunset. North of the Arctic circle, complete darkness will reign for the rest of the series. That darkness cloaks secrets and complicates much of the action. The darkness itself is symbolic of the dangerous and occasionally illegal actions of the characters.
Everything seems more dangerous in deep, omnipresent cloaking darkness which is crucial to the plot and almost behaves as a symbolic, living character.
In addition, the setting is enhanced by the inclusion of native politics and issues of dangerous damage to the land by ruthless corporate goals.
The two main characters are polar opposites tortured by memories of their dead. Evangeline Navarro, a native, played by Kali Reis is closely tied to the native legends of Alaska. She experiences out of body experiences that lure her to the native version of the other side where ancestors call to the living.
Danvers, played by Jodi Foster is vehemently opposed to the possibility of a hereafter. Throughout the series, the other side tries to connect with her, but she turns away every time, desperately rejecting the hereafter, perhaps in fear of having to face her misdirected guilt over the death of her son. Both detectives are tortured by memories of their dead.
In order to solve the murder of Annie Kowtok, these two antithetical characters must find a way to come to terms with their differences so that they can work as a team.
Rose Agineau, played by Fiona Shaw, is a marvelous, traditional, Hermetic character, a provider of esoteric knowledge, perhaps on the behalf of the gods. She lays a foundation for the supernatural with her warning to Navarro, “The thing about the dead is that some of them come to visit because they miss you, and some come because they need to tell you something you need to hear, and some of them just want to take you with them. You need to know the difference.” Not only is Rose a hermetic bearer of knowledge, but she is also similar to the Greek character Charon who pilots the dead down the river Styx. Rose knows how to furtively dispose of the dead and does so on three occasions.
Writer director Issa López masterfully weaves repeating symbolic elements throughout the plot that offer depth to the story. An echoing image of a spiral that repeats in tattoos, on a ceiling, and even on a rock. The fact that the story begins during the last sunset, leaving all in total darkness, enhances the loneliness and separation of the inhabitants of Ennis. There are repeated visuals of oranges and a crucifix that appears to three of the characters.
The clearest and most stunning repeating symbol is the repeated visuals of a one eyed polar bear that represents Danver’s son’s favorite stuffed toy. The bear is a significant repeating symbol of the dead trying to communicate with the living. Sometimes it appears as a child’s stuffed animal, and at other times it manifests as a living, one-eyed polar bear who reveals itself to the main characters.
Rose, played by Fiona Shaw, is a mystical symbolic character, who experiences three supernatural visits. The number three and its multiples are the most powerful symbolic numbers utilized in literature. In addition, the number three plays an important part in the revelation of deceased scientists. The ghost of Travis Cole comes to Rose once and fails to communicate. He comes a second time and again fails to communicate demonstrating signs of frustration. On the third and critical visit, he leads Rose to the frozen bodies of missing scientists. As with the god Hermes in the Odyssey, Rose brings knowledge and antidotes to problems critical to the characters of the tale, right down to teaching them how to successfully dispose of three dead bodies.
The two lead female detectives, Navarro and Danvers, are both haunted by memories of their dead, and counter each other when it comes to the supernatural.
Navarro, who feels the pull of the supernatural, perhaps due to her native background, is open to the possibility of some other realm. On the other hand, Davers desperately rejects the possibility, perhaps in fear of having to face her misdirected guilt over the death of her son.
While Danvers is possessed by guilt over the death of her only son, Navarro is haunted not only the deaths of her sister and mother, but by the loss of her native roots.
True Detective Night Country comes highly recommended as a masterpiece of mystery, drama, and the supernatural.
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As Rose warned, the main characters are both being called by their dead:
Navarro to Danvers in regard to the native’s view of the other side. “It takes us one by one. Something calls us and we follow. It’s calling me now.”
Danvers to Navarro,” If you decide to go out, just try to come back.”
For more information, please check out the official Night Country web site. https://www.hbo.com/true-detective