It's not difficult to argue that HBO's True Detective was a TV phenomenon. The first season, which premiered in 2014, was a twisty and creepy take on the procedural drama, with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson playing two homicide detectives pursuing a serial killer in Louisiana. It was a Southern gothic spectacle, expertly filmed by director Cary Joji Fukunaga, and delivered a distinctive new voice from creator Nic Pizzolatto.
And then there was the second season, which premiered the following year. Starring Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Taylor Kitsch, and Vince Vaughn, True Detective Season Two was a bloated, meandering mess that failed to recapture the moodiness of the original. (Fukunaga's absence was pretty obvious.) Critics were split on it; it still pulled in millions of viewers for HBO. But the show lost its steam, and the future of the series seemed uncertain.
Three years later, we have our first real look at the anticipated third season. With Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali in the lead role, the first trailer for new season appears to deliver everything that made the first season such a hit: the somber philosophical monologues, the twangy Americana track, shadowy cinematography, and what seems to be a complex timeline that sees Ali donning old age makeup as his likely haunted cop looks back at the case he never forgot.
Take a look at the first trailer for True Detective Season Three below, and get ready to craft some fan theories when it premieres on 13 January.
Tyler Coates is the Senior Culture Editor at Esquire.com. He lives in Los Angeles.
