The most exciting series on television right now is True Detective: Night Country. Given its connection to the show's celebrated first season, the Internet is up to its ears in theories, predictions, debates. However, not everyone is in on the fun. Nic Pizzolatto, the creator of True Detective, seemingly isn't a fan of the new direction of the series.
Starring Jodie Foster and professional-boxer-turned-actress Kali Reis, Night Country centers around a group of scientists who mysteriously freeze to death in the remote town of Ennis, Alaska. Seemingly supernatural events all over Ennis complicate the investigation, especially as connections to a previous cold case and season 1's disturbing cult start to emerge. Notably, Night Country is the first season of True Detective without Pizzolatto's involvement. Though he retains an executive-producer credit, writer and director Issa López is season 4's showrunner. The season debuted to positive reviews, following season 3's mixed reception. Still, Pizzolatto isn't having it.
"I certainly did not have any input on this story or anything else," he commented on Instagram. "Can’t blame me." When one Instagram user mentioned Night Country's extension of season 1's lore—mentioning the Tuttle family specifically—Pizzolatto wrote, "Haha. So stupid." The True Detective creator deleted his replies following backlash from fans, but a Reddit user took a screenshot of the comments and posted it to r/TrueDetective.
López responded to Pizzolatto's remarks during an interview with Vulture, where she said, "I believe that every storyteller has a very specific, peculiar, and unique relation to the stories they create, and whatever his reactions are, he’s entitled to them." Lopez added that she wrote Night Country "with profound love for the work he made and love for the people that loved it."
Josh Rosenberg is an Assistant Editor at Esquire, keeping a steady diet of one movie a day. His past work can be found at Spin, CBR, and on his personal blog at Roseandblog.com.
