By
Dhruv Sharma
Published 56 minutes ago
Dhruv is a Lead Writer in Screen Rant's New TV division. He has been consistently contributing to the website for over two years and has written thousands of articles covering streaming trends, movie/TV analysis, and pop culture breakdowns.
Before Screen Rant, he was a Senior Writer for The Cinemaholic, covering everything from anime to television, from reality TV to movies.
After high school, he was on his way to become a Civil Engineer. However, he soon realized that writing was his true calling. As a result, he took a leap and never looked back.
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True Detective went downhill after season 1 and never recovered, but Netflix's upcoming crime thriller book adaptation can perfectly fill the void it left behind.
The opening installment of True Detective remains one of the most hard-hitting and memorable additions to the prestige crime drama genre. While it riffed on the familiar grammar of crime procedurals, what made it stand out was its ability to rise above most detective dramas with its study of masculinity, memory, and moral decay in the backdrop of the still but haunting American South.
Unfortunately, True Detective was never the same after season 1. Each new installment in the series, so far, has been crushed by the weight of season 1's unmatched legacy. While only time will tell whether True Detective season 5 will be any better, an upcoming Netflix show could become its perfect replacement.
True Detective Season 1 Remains An Unmatched Detective Drama
Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson looking upset from True DetectiveCredit: HBO via MovieStillsDB
With True Detective season 1, Nic Pizzolatto put his novel writing experience on full display by delivering a slow, eerie story that gradually creeps under your skin. He built an architecture of dread not only through Rust Cohle's existential monologs but also through subtle references to a hidden overarching supernatural force.
Without ever paying off these supernatural elements in its story, True Detective effectively morphs into a Lovecraftian tale of cosmic indifference in a decaying human world.
Speaking of moral decay, True Detectives leads, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, are also not your typical detective heroes. They are deeply flawed and broken protagonists who gradually learn to tame their own demons to fight against the bigger evil forces at play. Their complex dynamic alone is a primary driver for the series, but Matthew McConaughey's portrayal of Rust Cohle is what turns the show into something far more unsettling than a regular crime drama.
Everything about Rust feels "lived in" because of how perfectly McConaughey captures the contrasting traces of optimism in his cynicism and the painful awareness in his detachment.
As the show's cinematographer, Cary Joji Fukunaga also deserves immense credit for depicting how the landscape itself was complicit. If it wasn't for the haunting visuals of drowned coastlines, industrial ruins, and Rust's dissociative episodes, True Detective would have been far less immersive with its overlaps between a grim reality and the supernatural.
After all these years, True Detective remains unmatched, but an upcoming Netflix book adaptation might finally please the HBO show's fans.
Netflix’s Adaptation of Jo Nesbo’s Detective Hole Books Can Fill The Void True Detective Left Behind
Netflix is adapting Norwegian author Jo Nesbø's Detective Harry Hole books. The show's first season will primarily be based on Jo Nesbø's fifth book in the series, titled The Devil's Star. Like True Detective season 1, it will focus on a series of ritualistic murders that will lead the titular detective down a bleak rabbit hole of crime, self-destruction, and reflection.
Like Rust Cohle, Detective Hole is portrayed as a hermit who obsesses over his crimes and struggles with a crippling alcohol addiction. He also has an often-contentious relationship with his colleagues and the system.
Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole is scheduled to be released on Netflix in 2026.
Although Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole on Netflix will likely not have any solid supernatural inclinations like True Detective, it will merge folklore with its criminal storytelling. Considering the strength of its source material and potential overlaps with True Detective, Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole could become Netflix's big crime drama.
True Detective
TV-MA
Drama
Mystery
Crime
8/10
67
9.3/10
Release Date
January 12, 2014
Network
HBO Max
Cast
Matthew McConaughey, Colin Farrell, Mahershala Ali, Woody Harrelson, Vince Vaughn, Stephen Dorff, Michelle Monaghan, Rachel McAdams, Carmen Ejogo, Michael Potts, Taylor Kitsch, Scoot McNairy, Tory Kittles, Kelly Reilly, Ray Fisher, Chris Kerson, Ritchie Coster, Christopher James Baker, Afemo Omilami, James Frain, Abigail Spencer, Jodie Foster, Kali Reis, Fiona Shaw, Finn Bennett, Isabella Star LaBlanc, Christopher Eccleston, John Hawkes, Dana Gourrier, Madison Wolfe, J.D. Evermore
Showrunner
Nic Pizzolatto
Directors
Cary Fukunaga
Writers
Nic Pizzolatto
Main Genre
Drama
Genres
Drama, Mystery, Crime
Creator(s)
Issa López, Nic Pizzolatto
Seasons
4
Story By
NIC PIZZOLATTO
Streaming Service(s)
Hulu, MAX
Where To Watch
M
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