TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY Showrunner Issa Lopez On [SPOILER]'s Ambiguous Fate

TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY Showrunner Issa Lopez On [SPOILER]'s Ambiguous Fate

The latest season of HBO's True Detective concluded with a somewhat divisive final episode on Sunday night, and showrunner Issa Lopez has now weighed in on that ambiguous ending...

By MarkCassidy - Feb 20, 2024 07:02 AM EST
Filed Under: HBO
Source: Via FearHQ.com

The fourth (and reportedly final) season of HBO's True Detective came to an end with last night's finale, which provided resolutions for most of the show's biggest mysteries while leaving certain things - including the fate of a main character - a little more ambiguous.

Spoilers follow.

After the events of last week's shocking penultimate episode, detectives Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) finally manage to solve the murders of the eight men from the Tsalal Arctic Research Station and Annie K. - who, it turns out, was actually killed by those same men after destroying their equipment upon discovering that they were deliberately polluting Ennis' water supply in order to create a better environment for their research.

So, did Annie's ghost return to exact her vengeance?

This is certainly what we are led to believe based on the surviving scientist, Clarke's, account of what happened, but we later learn that the women of the Tsalal cleaning crew found out about the murder and decided to take matters into their own hands, forcing the men out on to the ice at gunpoint.

Later, we are told that Nabarro vanished after going on an icy a "walkabout" of her own. But did she walk to her death, or was she simply leaving Ennis and the horrors of her old life behind to start a new one?

"I’m not saying that she’s alive, and I’m certainly not saying that she’s dead," showrunner Issa Lopez tells Deadline when asked for an explanation. "I very carefully crafted this as an ink block test for you to discover yourself as an audience member. I do love that Navarro states very early in the series that she has this impulse to just walk away and leave everything behind. On the other hand, the entire series is an exploration of the fact that she feels a calling to the beyond. In the climax of the finale, and instead of fighting it and going in with pain and fear, she surrenders to it. And in doing it, she receives a piece of herself. So that call that she was afraid of is solved. The Aboriginal people in Australia go and walk about, find themselves and then come back, which is I think is what Kali embraced [for the character]. However, there is a chance that she is also going to be with the women before her to visit them. You can read it both ways and it’s up to you to interpret which one fulfills your heart."

The final scenes show Danvers and her stepdaughter Leah driving towards a cottage in the distance, and the episode concludes with Navarro joining her partner on the porch to watch the sunset. Did Navarro survive, or was this supposed to represent her spirit being at peace in the afterlife?

Lopez gave a slightly more definitive answer in a separate interview with EW.

"For me as an audience member, Navarro is alive. She went out and had her walkabout in a way in the ice, because now she can do that, and find a way back. But it is true that no one ever leaves Ennis... or anywhere."

What di you make of the finale of Night Country and the season overall? Drop us a comment down below.

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vegetaray
vegetaray - 2/20/2024, 8:02 AM
As I was watching the final episode I was treated to a scene where the Annie K murder case was solved by way of a spilled mop bucket and a case file randomly left on desk in what appeared to be the PD after hours. Said murder was solved not by law enforcement mind you, but a couple of nosy maids.

And if that weren’t enough, a couple scenes later they gave us the distinct privilege of watching an elderly woman crocheting menacingly while a literal mafia of mostly elderly maids coalesced in the same room seemingly out of nowhere. Maybe the best writing on a series ever, EVER!

The cherry on the cake was the glorification of suicide at the end by the Navarro character that this article is based on. Because despite what Issa Lopez says, that’s very much what it was.

This was seriously some of the biggest pile dog poop that’s ever been put to film.
Cobalt416
Cobalt416 - 2/20/2024, 8:41 AM
@vegetaray - yeah, this season had a rocky setup and I hoped they could have stuck the landing. It was too much to hope for, however. If there is a fifth season, I do pray that they make a more compelling mystery and stronger story/characters. This season left too many unanswered questions and plot holes to truly enjoy.
IAmAHoot
IAmAHoot - 2/20/2024, 8:56 AM
@vegetaray - Wasn't shot on film, so you can rest.
WruceBayne
WruceBayne - 2/20/2024, 9:00 AM
@vegetaray - yeah, this show was better off leaning into the supposed supernatural element all the way and being called something other than True Detective. It had a promising first two episodes and then it nosedived hard and never recovered.
CAPTAINPINKEYE
CAPTAINPINKEYE - 2/20/2024, 8:08 AM
This is why I clean my own house.
TREE24K
TREE24K - 2/20/2024, 9:22 AM
I needed more coffee I suppose. I wasn't woke enough to enjoy that.
AmazingFILMporg
AmazingFILMporg - 2/20/2024, 9:23 AM
@TREE24K -


God this comment was cringe😳🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡
Vigor
Vigor - 2/20/2024, 10:29 AM
@TREE24K - what's woke about it? Genuinely asking. Woke seems like a catch all word lately
DocSpock
DocSpock - 2/20/2024, 10:55 AM
@TREE24K - @Vigor - AmazingFILMporg -

Huh? I am one of the more conservation people on this site, but... What? just because the women won in the end doesn't make a program woke.

This season of this show was great. Hollyweird makes tons of agenda crap with no entertainment value. This isn't that. Top notch show.

TREE24K
TREE24K - 2/20/2024, 1:37 PM
@AmazingFILMporg - as cringe as that last episode?
TREE24K
TREE24K - 2/20/2024, 1:55 PM
@Vigor - for backgrounds sakes, I'm not conservative or liberal. I'm Mr. Gray. I've enjoyed plenty of other titles that many others called woke. I loved Rings of Power. I thought the Marvels was an excellent and fun time. I enjoyed the shit out of Pray. I have some stubborn conservative friends who wont even give those shows a shot. As long as I'm being entertained, I can look past the "obvious agenda" if its well done. This show was not that. Being a fan of True Detective, I expected any supernatural theories to end up being grounded by reality. But just so many things didn't make any sense. And it seemed sense was being thrown out of the window at the sake of having these women stand tall at the end. I love strong women. Sarah Connor. Ripley. Samus Aran. Big fan of all. I even named my daughter "Phoenix" based off of one of the most power X-Men of all time. The last 45 minutes of TD was botced so bad. I'm stealing this from a great post on Reddit.

"Hi my name is Raymond Clark. I really enjoy "Twist and Shout".
Guys I can't get enough of this song. I started playing it on repeat -- literally. Even after all my colleagues died and I managed to escape the immediate danger, I came back to the station and started looping this absolute banger.

Nevermind that people would eventually come back to the station and perhaps start looking around. Sure enough, there was a whole ass investigation into the missing scientists, so I decided to hide out.

But I couldn't give up my favorite jam. No sir, I needed to shake it up baby now. So wouldn't you know it, that I actually went back yet again to the entertainment center and blasted that shit to my heart's content? I just left it on -- no one was ever gonna revisit the station. I could pop down into my ice cave lair and come up whenever I needed, but I'll be damned if I was gonna turn off the music in the meantime.

Now, some of you might say this doesn't make any sense. Why put myself at risk like this? I'd say obviously because time is a flat circle. You're in Clarkosa now. Tuttle."

The TD sub-reddit is killing this show and for good reason.
TREE24K
TREE24K - 2/20/2024, 1:57 PM
@DocSpock - top notch show indeed. But this was a shit season. It had promise but that last episode completely missed the mark.
Vigor
Vigor - 2/20/2024, 2:07 PM
@TREE24K - my wife and I enjoyed the final episode quite a bit. I went onto reddit to discuss it with fans after and I saw how some loved it and others hated it. But I'm not seeing good reasons. Also some people think it's all supernatural but the way things play out can be interpreted as grounded or supernatural. The point is that in the night country, they believe that kind of stuff. So that's thr perspective they gave. But everything can be explained rationally

You also didn't explain how the show is woke. The women were portrayed as deeply flawed. They murdered and lied and cheated. They were actually morally bad people. But what made them bad (getting too attached) is exactly what made them good detectives. Nobody was tracking down what happened to those scientists like they were. Didn't matter if it was Christmas day... they were out tracking it down.

Again you haven't said how it's woke. Only that's it's two women detectives. But there are women detectives in the real world too. So I'm very confused. I know people throw that word around but man it's really starting to be diluted
TREE24K
TREE24K - 2/20/2024, 2:34 PM
@Vigor - "woke - aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues"

They women detectives standing tall and getting away with "literally" murder. The way that group of indigenous woman janitors marched the mostly white male scientists out into the frozen tundra to be dealt by Mother Nature herself... The dialog itself didn't even try to hide it. "We'll send them out to her and let her decide if she sends them back, or if she eats them alive." I'm paraphrasing but thats the gist of it.

Listen, I'm anti-"message board gangsters" going at it. If you and your wife enjoyed it, then it succeeded in your household where it failed in mine. I'm not woke. I'm not anti-woke. I'm aware. In reality, if things had played out like they did in the show, there probably would have been a few men in that scene. There was never going to be a single man in this scene. The cherry on top was having Peter silently serving the chief her coffee during her interview with, I guess was, internal affairs. I'm not trying to win an argument here. I'm merely pointing out my perception.
Vigor
Vigor - 2/20/2024, 2:41 PM
@TREE24K - the blue collar workers are likely to be of minority population. And the educated scientists, statistically wide, are often white men.

If it was "woke", then they may have had some Trans people or black women working as scientists. Don't you think?

Also they were cleaners. I live in a town with a lot of Guatemalan working house construction and cleaning jobs. Want to guess who all the cleaners are? Guatemalan or Brazilian WOMEN. The show reflects my reality. I saw nothing woke about that.

You come here and throw out some witty woke comment and now you're struggling to even explain how the show is woke. That's damaging and I think it's irresponsible personally. Especially with how impressionable people are nowadays!
TREE24K
TREE24K - 2/20/2024, 2:57 PM
@Vigor - Struggling? I don't think I am. Again, I'm not extremely interested in proving how right I am nor am I trying to tell you that you're wrong. You have a different perception than do I. That's fine. Neither of us is going to enlighten the other one today. That's how the world works.
TREE24K
TREE24K - 2/20/2024, 2:57 PM
@Vigor - Let me ask you one question though. If in your town, a group of Guatemalan women took up arms to go right a social injustice, would not a single one of them brought along a husband, father, brother, son, etc? ONLY women could dole out justice? Then that same group of only women sat in front of two female police officers and basically confessed and were immediately forgiven. Navarro basically tortured and almost killed a man because he was present with little evidence of his actually involvement.
Vigor
Vigor - 2/20/2024, 5:47 PM
@TREE24K - in that community it seemed that the women were more activists than the men. I'd have to go rewatch the boycott episode but I believe it was mostly women there and a few men.

Either way logically women do stick up for one another. Just as how boy clubs stick up for other men. We see it time and time again. So no it isn't odd that a group of women ganged up on the men
TREE24K
TREE24K - 2/20/2024, 9:22 PM
@Vigor - like I said, we're not gonna be changing anyone's minds here. And I'm fine with it. Me pointing out that I think its woke doesn't mean that you and the misses can't enjoy it. Again, I loved Rings of Power. It definitely was pushing an agenda but it didn't overshadow a fun story. That's all I'm saying. And just because you enjoyed this season of TD doesn't mean that I'm off base. Either way, cheers. Hopefully we get more seasons because I've always enjoyed this show.
Toxin2480
Toxin2480 - 2/20/2024, 9:33 AM
I thought this was going to connect to season 1 with the spiral murders and cult and the the Tuttle’s why mention them and then forget they exist
Izaizaiza
Izaizaiza - 2/20/2024, 10:36 AM
Haven't seen the last episode yet, but this show is [frick]ing fantastic! Definitely check it out if you haven't already
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 2/20/2024, 10:55 AM
The True Detective comic was awesome…. 😜🤣
SuperCat
SuperCat - 2/20/2024, 12:00 PM
I had high hopes for this season but it was trash.

prettynucIear
prettynucIear - 2/20/2024, 5:54 PM
Should've been called Woke Detective: Shit Country
Jacory
Jacory - 2/20/2024, 5:56 PM
I liked the season as a whole, but was not satisfied with the last episode.

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