True Detective is one of the greatest modern detective shows and one of the greatest crime shows ever made. The series is an HBO original and an anthology that features new characters every season. The first season is widely regarded as the best the show had to offer. It was unforgivingly dark and tackled some disturbing story elements and themes. It blended the occult into the terrors of reality in a unique way that just about no other shows have been able to mimic.
Now, Nic Pizzolatto, the creator of the show, has appeared on an episode of the Nothing Left Unsaid podcast, and spoke briefly about the existence of an idea that would bring back the main characters from season one that were played by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, who both earned Emmy nominations for their performances.
“I actually have another story for Cohle and Hart that — who knows? — maybe we’ll do it one day,” Pizzolatto said during the episode. “It’s character-based again. … But it’s not something I’ve written or anything. It’s just, I had that in my head. And we’ve talked about getting back together and doing it, and I think the guys are open to it. It’s just a question of whether that would ever happen or not.”
Regarding his exist from the show after season three, Pizzolatto had the following to say:
“I was the one who walked away from my contract at the end of 2019. I believe if I had given them a good script for another season of ‘True Detective,’ I believe they would have gone for it. But I myself was spiritually tired of walking in that much darkness. And dealing with such dark materials. And then I got full custody of my daughter back and that was a situation where I really needed to be a father… and I had to step away from a lot of work in 2020.”
Not wanting to “walk in that much darkness” is very understandable. While the first season of the show was clearly the darkest of the bunch, seasons two and three were dark as well. The show dealt with difficult, violent, and disturbing topics such as murder, pedophilia, rape, incest, and more. Writing stories with all that and more in it has to take a mental toll on someone.
Season four of the anthology series titled True Detective: Night Country debuted without Pizzolatto’s involvement. The fourth season attempted to blend supposed supernatural elements with the worst parts of human nature like season one, but it did not hit the same for a lot of fans. There were also those that loved the fourth season with Jodie Foster in particular gaining lots of praise.
Would you be excited to see Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson return for another season of True Detective? Let us know in the comments!