True Detective Night Country Full Season Review: One Of The Worst Mysteries Ever Made (No Spoilers)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2024
- I have watched the entire season of True Detective: Night Country and I can safely say it just gets worse and worse. This is one of--if not THE--worst mysteries I've ever seen, and I can't imagine how its ending makes anybody happy. Nothing pays off, the characters just get more awful as the story drags on, and the only surprising thing about it is just how utterly predictable it all is. Wow.
Written review: true-detective-night-country-is-one-of-the-worst-mysteries-ever-made
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Nothing made sense in episode 5 in particular. And as an attorney, the ending scene is actually laughable. There is nothing to “cover” because the shooting was evidently justified. The fact that three cops together can’t even begin to think of a reason to justify the shooting is absurd. Moreover, by “covering up” this nonexistent crime, they also get rid of any evidence of Hank’s corruption and culpability.
This season is so poorly written and directed that I’m starting to kind of enjoy it as an unintentional comedy.
I was going to drop it, but now I'm curious on how bad the ending is 😂😂
Yup, my laughter at episode 4 irked the others watching it with me.
I'm in Mystery Science 3000 mode after having high hopes
It's not that bad. Basically the girl boss version of Rust and Marty. But with so few episodes they're wasting time with 80% family drama and 20% mystery.
I thought the exact same thing. I burst out laughing several times when they tried to be really scary watching the show. It's a shame because the actual setting is incredible for the show.
I think you COULD spoil it at this point and nobody would care
HBO would.
@@ErikKain Fair point
I agree 100%. I am not enjoying this season at all. I’m just ready to rush to the end.
The execs saw wind river too so is it really spoiling anything
@@rhodimusrime6737 If only they had based it on The Snowman…then at least it would have been funny
It's like the crew of American horror story tried to make a True Detective season.
Mixed in with X files and Blair witch 😂
best reference of all time !!
This was literally what I said to my partner after the finale. The only thing missing is Evan Peters 🙄
This is too accurate 😂
I love how the 2 main characters both see a polar bear the size of an SUV and have zero reaction, just Alaska stuff I guess. Don't need to call anybody about a polar bear in the middle of town. Polar bears are known for being very friendly, docile creatures.
Alaska is a state where sanctity of wildlife is very important, if a moose delays you going to work it's accepted by the state. You can call it in but chances are the response will be 'okay, has the bear moved off the road' and when it has you keep driving.
@@AnthonyPollard A Moose doesn't hunt/eat people tho
Pretty in character, considering these two done fuck all police work in 4 episodes.
@@funkybrassmonkey Moose kill more people in Alaska than bears do
I got the impression that they were paralyzed with fear.
I’m embarrassed for the creators of this show, cringe how they tried to steal season one’s greatness.
It felt like they thought season 1 was just random cool sounding phrases and sprinkled stuff like that through season 4 and never realized that all the dialogue in season 1 was actually largely from philosophical texts
Watching episode 3. They organize a manhunt for a wanted suspect in a murder investigation. Its nighttime out in the wilderness. A police officer goes off on her own. Throws an orange into the dark distance. The orange comes back at her and lands at her feet. She stands there looking around and that's about it. End of scene. No going for the gun. No turning of the torch. No calling for backup.
because the scene isn't real. She is either hallucinating or displaying a mental disorder like her sister and mother
So cheesy! This is why people need to stop getting jobs based on their boxes being checked accordingly...this "director" is horrendous in every way. More concerned about spreading their politics, instead of actually taking the time to craft a great story. The lack of detective work, and the "ask the right questions" words of whit was cringe. People don't behave like this, nevermind during a murder investigation.
Yep. The number of people blithely wandering around by themselves, unarmed, in the dark in prime polart bear country shows the laziness &/or stupidity of the writers. Especially since one of the theories of what drove the scientists out onto the ice is that a bear wandered in because they can't lock doors for "safety reasons". The show is trash.
It's supposed to be region with polar bears, then i would keep dog near me at alltimes when walking in pitch black darkness. Instead you carry orange with you, right...
It’s clear that the director had zero retired police or similar individuals as consultants
At first I thought this was going to go in the direction of something akin to an H. P. Lovecraft story. Then it veered directly into John Carpenter territory, so much so I thought he out to sue the pants off the show runners. And let's face it, these icy horror story elements, belong no where near a "True Detective" season. It just doesn't fit. But what makes this season so bad is that I not just don't care about the characters, but rather, really dislike them. Especially Jodi Foster's character. And to be completely frank, she is spectacularly miscast. Am I really to believe that she is some incredibly desirable woman that she has slept with just about every man in town? What?? There is nothing - and I mean nothing - attractive about her character, physically or emotionally, that would draw all the men in this town to her. What a mess. I can't believe this even made it past the script stage. And I can't believe I made it to episode four. But that's it for me. I'm done.
I only watched the first episode. I liked the opening, it felt like a cold open to an X-Files monster of the week episode, something the television landscape can use more of these days. Then the titles started and I knew something had gone horribly wrong. The tone was off. At the end of the episode, they barely cover the main mystery set at the start of the episode. I actually went back and watched the first episode of season one. The entire first twenty to thirty minutes are about Cole and Hart doing their detective work on the main case while establishing their character and dynamic. As opposed to the first episode of Night Country which was about pretty much everything under the sun except the main hook that opened the show. It was dull. It was boring. Everyone was nasty and combative with each other to the point of unbelievability. It felt like someone trying to write True Detective without actually understanding what made it work or how to write character. I haven't bothered with the rest.
Yes - as if they fed the scripts for first 3 seasons + some story goalposts into chat gpt > and this is coming up…
It started off so strong. Wanted to love the show - esp with its eerie expanse and vibe that scares even the elks!
Maybe it’s time to just go back rewatch x-files - 🤔
Yeah basically the girl boss version of Rust and Marty but they were interesting characters that you could watch even without a murder mystery. Here they pad their 6 episodes with 80% family drama and 20% mystery. They could have written a rich complex mystery like the show Fortitude about frozen wooly mammoth accidently unearthed by a mining company which unleashes a pathogen that turns people violent with pharmaceutical companies after that pathogen for its regenerative abilities to cure cancer and disease complete with dirty town politics and flawed cops but that ran for 2 seasons. Here with only 6 episodes I wasn't expecting that but it wastes its precious run time with nothing but family drama fillers. After 4 episodes there's very little progression of the central mystery beyond finding frozen bodies that's now thawed and moved elsewhere and that's basically it with a few tidbits here and there. Started with a good concept but not enough meat to the bones for mystery fans to gnaw on. Hopefully they have a great ending.
I was going to get Max today. Now I definitely am because I want to see how bad it is.
I’ve stopped watching but my guess is this going to be a rip off of the xfiles episode where maulder gets a virus and has to be kept cold to survive.
No need for caracter developement when theyre obviously ”stunning and brave”🙄
Episode 3 was when I knew there was no way they were going to wrap up all the plot lines without seriously short-changing most or all of the plot lines. There simply wasn't enough air time left.
Imagine my surprise when Episode 4 barely did anything to move the plot forward other than having them find Heiss, who was introduced that episode.
At this point, I'm just watching out of morbid curiosity to see how bad they crash and burn trying to tell 80% of the narrative in 2 episodes. The entirety of the finale would need to be a Hercule Poirot-style reveal and there would still probably be gaping holes.
Nail on the head lol
for some reason (one can easily figure out why) there's not a lot of channels reviewing this season, so thanks for the content! this slow motion train derailment of a show is such a waste of foster's talents, a waste of a great location and setting, and most of all, a waste of the true detective name. and the preview for the penultimate episode sealed the deal.
Glad to see you back on track Erik. I was surprised you went easy on last week's review and had hope for it getting better.
Last week's episode confirmed for me that Season 4 isn't going to get better. Just about every aspect of this season is miserable. I may finish episodes 4-6 just for the sake of laughing at how bad it is.
Oh but trust me when I say this: You don't yet know just how bad it can get.
I stopped after ep. 2 when I realized she really does not have a good story to tell.
consider yourself lucky, I watched all episodes and truly regret it.
I just told my buddy, "I think you and I have put more thought into season four than the people who wrote it did."
Ha!
after watching the finale, you are 100% spot on here. I had so many ideas about what this could have been in the end, supernatural stuff, lovecraftian monsters or some kind of sci fi organism that takes over peoples minds, or any number of ideas that would have been interesting and profound. But the actual show was so SO boring in the end. i havent felt this let down by a show in such a long time. im so angry right now. The end of episode 2 had me on the edge of my seat, could not wait for more. and it was nothing but downhill from there.
Thank you for saying what I’m too unimaginative to articulate.
What the fucking hell is going on with this show!? I swear…it’s like some test of patience with how utterly dire it is.
Aren’t there 6 dead people whose murder we are supposed to be investigating?
I do not care about Inuit home water births, I do not care about some bloke’s mail order bride, I do not care that the detective fancies some guy. Fucking HELL, it’s like a soap opera.
They have done literally NOTHING to solve this case in any way. Nothing. They occasionally ruffle some papers and look at a file then it’s back to family drama…All the while there are SIX BODIES DEFROSTING IN AN ICE RINK! This is so painfully, insultingly bad I just can’t look away.
I don’t know how they are gonna solve the case (given that the series is 6 episodes and we’ve had 4, and we are literally no closer than the beginning of episode 1) other than “a ghost did it”
Season 4 is the worst tv show I have seen in my memory. It is just so bad
Nah. Fear the Walking Dead S7 n 8 take that title still. Night Country was a 6/10 compared to that 0/10 garbage. Nothing is more painful and stupid than FTWD.
The worst is that it doesn't even resemble True Detective. It's a completely separate thing, and MUCH worse.
Erik:
This is my first time on your channel as I just came across your content.....I would like to thank you for what I trust is an honest and sincere review. I have been arguing with fans of the T.D. franchise after last week's episode as it follows a very disturbing pattern ive noticed the past 5-6 years.
When you referred to TD Night Country as the "Rings of Power" to Tolkien's work, I laughed out loud and thought, "this guy gets it". I was drawing comparisons of this season vs season one..... DRASTIC differences. Season one was riddled with payoffs. Each payoff in season one not only answered questions, but they brought up MORE questions which kept me and every other viewer invested in the characters and the storyline. THIS season just keeps posing questions with vague payoffs which makes me indifferent towards the characters that i just have a hard time connecting with.
NO ONE wanted to see an extremely masculine chick be intimate with some dude.....it almost came across as an assault. NO ONE wants to see an obvious lesbian be intimate with some other dude..... we're happy about whatever life Jodi wants to live personally....her acting isn't that good to convince us otherwise. Those scenes were BEYOND cringe and were not important to the story only just to say that these were "strong" emotionally dead chics that had zero attachments and lived life on their own terms. Got it. Don't care!!! Both of those scenes could have been omitted and there would be zero difference to this abomination of a story.
The OBVIOUS trend (which you lightly touched upon) is this generation's "girl power" garbage. These aren't strong women.... they're just horrible people that evoke strong feelings of ambivalence. They're despicable humans that blame men for everything and refuse to take any responsibility for their henios actions.
Readers can call me a sexist all they want, but they'll have a hard time justifying their claims because Ripley from Aliens was/is bad a$$. Her demeanor was more than justified given her experience. Beatrice Kiddo of Kill Bill fame had us all invested in her vengeful journey to regain custody of her child (talk about a payoff!!!). We hated Buck for his degeneracy (and his "wagon") and we cheered when he got what was coming to him. We cried with her after her journey was complete. I could go into Sarah Connor, but I think everyone gets the picture.
Why do women write women SO horribly? (she- hulk, Rey, Charlie's Angels, Ghost Busters, Ocean whatever.....).
Again, thanks for your review....I knew Night Country was going to end horribly.
Welcome, thanks for the detailed comment. Great examples of strong female characters. And there are plenty who are strong but not "badass" also. A strong character doesn't have to be badass (and, well, vice versa)
You are one of the few people in this era who is willing to tell the truth which is commendable. Please keep up the good work.
I don’t understand, if everyone is just hallucinating because of bad water, drugs, mental disorders, or ancient microbes then they are doing a poor job of tell that story.
If it really is supernatural crap, then this just isn’t ‘True Detective’.
Oh fun, the ending is going to preach even more. Just what I want to get from my entertainment, to be bombarded with not so subtle messaging.
I am so afraid the mystery is "the contaminated water made people hallucinate" that I decided to stop watching.
The fact that it's probably it pisses me off so much, I still remember the shock from revelation of first season, about that one guy turning out to be a killer, cause they missed him the first time by sheer coincidence... and I didn't rewatched it, so I am missing details, but it for sure was more complicated than season's four mystery.
Somehow, I knew who it was from the first time they encountered him, but was made to doubt it 800 times bc excellent writing.
the only mystery of this show is the ratings to this show.
I got to episode 4 and realized this is probably going to be the exact same underlying cause as The Terror. Add to this a town full of characters that are unlikable and I'm done.
Contaminated water, that’s the last thing it is,
I'm not a hate-watcher, usually I just stop following a show. I don't feel like bad shows are worth my time. But this has got me ENTHRALLED by how fucking BAD it is. I can't wait for EP.6, I'm ready to be stunned by stupidity.
Loser
Add a laugh track to some scenes and it becomes watchable. Navarro "You clean. You clean good!" 🙄😂
I was pretty much on board for this show for the first three episodes, despite the slow pacing, obvious tropes and crappy CGI, but after finishing watching episode 4, I've lost interest.
Nothing is happening! It's like watching thick molasses crawl out of a bottle, only to amount to nothing. We should be on the edges on our seats right now, following these two detectives hot on the trail of possible leads and suspects, finding new clues that may or may not be misdirections. But instead we get a lot of drama that is repetitive, doesn't result in any tension, and just illustrates how miserable and emotionally clueless our protagonists are, and the detectives retracing their steps to find more of the same shit or shit that doesn't tell us much anyway.
Oh, and poorly done GCI-jumpscare ghosts. Wow, we're really touching new ground here.
This show should be mandatory material for creative writing students. Have them analyse why the developments do not work and come up with alternatives.
Mr. Kain mentioned True Detective season 2 being a masterpiece compared to this tripe. As it so happens, I just spent last week rewatching that season. I'm willing to say it is in fact masterfully crafted. The story manages to weave together different character arcs and plot strands, and the big pay-offs are all there. Characters are mostly compelling, even side-characters are fun to watch like the corrupt mayor of Vinci or the sleazy psychiatrist running game for the rich and powerful.
Fans of the show were mostly underwhelmed because they expected the same supernatural/philosophical and southern gothic vibe as season 1 and were treated to a more standard neo-noir. But if that had been the first season, I think it would've gotten way more praise. Vince Vaughn is suprisingly good as a mob boss trying to hide his insecurities and vulnerability. Colin Farrell is great as a washed out dirty cop trying to preserve whatever humanity he's got left.
To go from where this series started to this frozen abomination is wholly mind boggling. I tapped out after the 3rd episode of this incoherent mess. I have no interest in what happens in the last half of the show as I find it beyond redemption. Now my only satisfaction is in venting frustrations at how this garbage came to be.
The word you are looking for is "skinsuit;" it wears the trappings of LotR/True Detective like a skinsuit. Its as if your best friend has come around to share a beer but you suddenly realize its so unfathomable horror merely wearing the still moist skin of your pal why asking why you are suddenly unwilling to let him in - its frank, you remember your best bud frank, right?
Was she like a great big fat person?
Makes me think of R. Scott Bakker's books.
Lol Frank made me think of that scene in hellraiser, which is fitting
"Jesus wept"
Uh-oh, 3 episodes in and having the same exact reaction. Was hoping the vaguely defined character relationships and general baffling plot would eventually pay off. Liked episode 2 a lot but 1 and 3 can fuck right off. Will probably stick it out though, it's still a treat seeing Jodie Foster, even in this horseshit.
You did a really good job explaining the difference between an unlikeable character who’s supposed to be unlikeable and an unlikeable character who the writers clearly think they’re writing to be likeable.
Again for all: I recommend to you strongly that you watch the Danish-Swedish ‘The Bridge’. Particularly its first season is perhaps the best detective mystery show I’ve ever seen, up there with True Detective season 1.
It's on my list!
Yes! This season is so disappointing. It moves so slow I kinda forget they’re supposed to be investigating some crimes. Also, Danvers and Navarro’s characters are so similar as to be indistinguishable.
They get more unlikeable? 😱
Its already hard to watch now..
I loved True detective season 1 and thought season 2 & 3 were ok despite their flaws. The way they butchered the series here hurts me a lot. They took a great series and sacrificed it to the altar of diversity.. again.
I've watched all 4 episodes twice now. I'm still confused and bored. The story jumps around incoherently, it's so messy. I feel like after the frozen bodies were found, there have been no developments. I love Jodie Foster, and the other lady is good too. But I agree, I'm not wasting another minute trying to watch this show.
Navarro is from my hometown she is a pro boxer she was the women's champion
You sat through this garbage TWICE???? Patience of a saint mynfriend 😅
HBO stole 8 hours of your time (and a bit of your spirit in the process).
Will you make an in depth as to why you dislike it after the season ends?
Probably!
@@ErikKainhell yeah can’t wait to compare our opinions once I’ve seen this whole season.
I love how the creator/writer says Nic P is entitled to his opinion of the show (he doesn't like it) but everyone else is a troll that review bombs.
I like how every person who enjoys this show brings up the setting and identity politics. They never say anything of substance as to why the show is good, just that it's good it was made.
@@RicardoDixhardo that's the state of the entertainment industry today. Story is secondary. According to them if I don't see myself represented I can't enjoy it. We see how well that is going. Woke = broke.
This show was a good example of what I call the soap-opera effect which has taken over prestige tv…instead of the standard A plot/B subplot, now we get a glorified soap opera, where there’s four or more (usually BORING) mini-plots unevenly divided and endlessly switching back and forth. Not much developing bc the pacing grinds down to a punishingly slow pace. So much is happening that ultimately nothing is happening. The equivalent of talking a lot while actually saying nothing. I honestly think it’s just easy to write a bunch of short stories than keeping one long story interesting.
Taking the soap opera approach to writing also often leave loads of dangling plot threads that get messy. A show will put so much out there and then has to wrap everything up quickly. I’ve watched shows where I think writers lose track of all the loose ends and forget to resolve them.
Thanks for the warnings. I've been sticking with it only by being stoned. It's better that way.
Great video. I agree about Mare of Easttown - outstanding series
Very disheartening to hear it all just devolves into yet another girl power soap box session (Because we haven't had enough of that in modern media) but I had a feeling it was leaning that way. Pretty much every male character is either a simp, an asshole or evil. Peter is like the only one that feels like a real person but he's still submissive to the female characters. Danvers and Navarro are written like men. Its actually embarrassing how on the nose the writers are with it especially with Navarro which isn't helped because Kali Ries has one emotion and is so miscast. Why would a cop have face piercings? If she got into a physical altercation with someone that's such a hazard for injury.
The problem with Season 2 I found was the ending because the first few episodes were actually intriguing and good. Colin Farrell carried that series. Night Country so far has been underwhelming. The only real cool aspect was the horror vibes and nods to The Thing but it's been focusing way too much on subplots we don't care about instead of the main story which is what happened to the dead scientists. A shame they butchered an intriguing setup.
This show is now a total Hate Watch for me. Love your reviews. People are being willfully dishonest about this show and i dont know why its so important to identify as someone who enjoys this season. Its trash, and i can argue why at length. But the internet just yells "u hat wimmin!" back at me.
Thanks. And yep, I've gotten a lot of that. Which is so infuriating because it assumes all women must love this show when I know many who do not. It's such a weird tribalism and ultimately several kinds of sexist.
They should have had the Mare of Easttown writer handle a True Detective season
The premise was so interesting to me. Eight scientists found naked, frozen dead outside. Then the show just does everything it can to avoid exploring this mystery. Even when one apparently comes back to life and runs away she doesn't even think much of it. There's just too many boring scenes about domestic nothingness and pointless conversations that add nothing to the mystery. There are a lot of nods to indigenous culture that are absolutely meaningless. This is what happens when you "woke" True Detective. You really can tell that there's a woke woman behind this show.
Very well expressed. I am done watching ep4 and I don't understand what they even tried to do... Nothing took any step forward. It's just garbage
What was the point of the caribou scene in the beginning? I thought it was the pollution from the mine. Animals in the Arctic lick ice to get minerals. I thought they got some dodgy stuff in their system, started seeing pink elephants (or one eyed polar bears) and went full on lemmings mode right to the big adios. But i dont know. Read somethng about the animals sensing that SHE has woken up and went nuts. This plot was an abomination and an absolute clusterfuck anyway.
This series 4 is so hatefully written that reviewers who don't acknowledge this are coming off terrible IMHO. How can anyone ignore this?
1883 is my favourite example of good female characters. Elsa and her Mother are just wonderful to watch. Love the hell out of that show.
You by the way have had the best nuanced critique of this show. Everything online has been swamped into the culture war talk unlike you. You have definitely given more benefit of the doubt than I would have. I wonder why there hasn't been more talk online about how poor this show has gone. Too scattered brained and tried to do too much it looked over the little details of making interesting scenes and likable characters. Real shame as a fan of the show (even season 2).
I've never seen a mainstream show where the writing is this upfront about their disdain for men and white people. I could try to get past that if the mystery was good, but it's obvious the show cares more about the uninteresting murder of the native girl rather than the main mystery. Almost every aspect of this show is terrible and the constant leaning on supernatural elements makes this show feel nothing like True Detective.
The ice cave equivalent to Carcosa was such a laughably ridiculous joke that goes nowhere.
I stopped watching after the first episode....I'm glad I made the right choice.
Remember Alf? He's back, in profile pic form.
True Detective season 3 was pretty good. Not sure why i havent heard more about it.
I imagine it was talked about when it came out quite a bit
Just came across this channel and watched a few of your videos. Really good stuff man. Keep it up and this channel will 100% blow up.
Ive watched 3 episodes so far.... and it's a solid 2 or 3 out of 10.
I can’t understand how it’s getting so many positive reviews. Besides Jodie Foster, who is fairly miscast, it’s very difficult to engage with the other actors. This could with the overly bizarre plot makes the show very sluggish and dis interesting. It’s nowhere near season 1 standard and is in fact into a notch above season 2. Very very disappointing because the setting was ideal but nobody has time these days to do a thesis on such a laborious plot.
There can't be a pay off because there aren't enough episodes.
Please spoil the entire thing so that I can know I made the right decision to check out after episode 3
So to get ready I decided to watch seasons one two and three again. Love them all despite which ones have ups and downs. Love that! I found your video because my algorithm on Google constantly suggests every night country article. Every night country review and even the articles are shitty as the show. So I will subscribe and look forward to the following discussion. They also keep recommending me to watch this bald dude with classes and some chick named Jessica. That's a redhead talk about how excited they are and I'm on their videos once a week being like. How are you still promoting this shit?
I do enjoy your measured and articulate reviews. Refreshing and very funny
As a writer myself, I can't fathom how this show got the stamp of approval from higher ups. The music, the direction, the acting, the dialogue, the pacing, and the story itself are all lackluster at best.
It's the current year. If a writer doesn't get the green light for their terrible idea accusations of istaphobia will follow.
It's because it's woke.
Big star as an anchor, sometimes that's all it takes. Shows that have that feel "safer", and some execs prefer that - if it flops, they can always fall back on "how could we have known? It had Jodie Foster!"
Lost interest by episode 3. So many subplots, got too confusing that they lost the main plot! All characters are miserable.
Show is a cringe fest , beyond bad !!
I actually haven't figured out the obvious whodunit because I get bored and scroll on my phone 15 minutes into each episode. I don't really know what's going on at all.
With two episodes remaining and nothing truly progressing, I feel like there will be a twist where one of the leads is responsible for these events to occur.
Was Night Country originally it’s own story and then the True Detective series picked it up? I absolutely loved Night Of.
The Night Of was amazing and vastly superior to Criminal Justice (the BBC show it was a remake of).
Yes it was. It was written then adapted
I haven't finished but to be honest, I am only finishing because I feel obligated as a huge fan of season one. It is missing season one's amazing director, as well as collaborative storytelling. We never give enough credit to the incredible cinematographer from season one..he really set the scene. I wish those three would have gotten together and developed season 4. They haven't worked together since season one and it shows.
NIce to see the color in your cheeks and energy in your voice in these reviews. It would be nice that the people who write Night Country or Rings of Power were more genre literate and had a better background in what they are writing. It seems writers just want the coolest gigs in the business yet have no clue what they are writing about. It almost like sitting in a bad creative writing night class in the tv show Community.
Appreciate it!
I made it through the first episode, but that's all I've got for this one. I'm a Jodie Foster fan - I want to like whatever she's in. But the first episode was not good.
This is what I got from Night Country: It tried to mimic the tone and some similar, Lovecraftian ideas from season one, but it packed so much into one episode that I couldn't tell if this was a straight detective story or a supernatural thriller, and of course it had all the 'strong female character' tropes that have become so tired and cliche right at the forefront. It didn't linger long enough on the things I found interesting before throwing something new at the audience. In that, it almost reminded me of Lost, not only bc there's a strange polar bear, but bc Lost sometimes would throw strange ideas at the audience for the sake of being strange (I don't hate lost, but it did weird-for-weirdness' sake).
With the first episode of season one I knew this was straight detective story with some interesting, cosmic-horror-inclined themes peppered throughout, but the bizarre elements were only seen through one character's eyes and the random secondhand account, making it fairly clear this was a perception-thing and not an actual Cthulhu/supernatural monster behind it all. That's not clear in Night Country ep-1 (if you were a new viewer going in completely blind, you might think this is a supernatural show and not a detective story). Keep in mind, I like those elements, but they went overboard with it in the very first episode. Season one peppered them throughout, only giving you glimpses, like you were finding a few random clues to this grander mystery.
I appreciate you watching it for the rest of us, though. Interested to see a spoiler discussion.
Very well put when it comes to the issue of 'strong female leads' and how they are written today. It's a baked-in sexism with a smidgen of (what I believe to be unintentional) racism. It's too pernicious and across too many companies and IP's to be an isolated incident: Batgirl, The Witcher, Rings of Power, TD: Night Country, so on and so forth. Worse for The Witcher, is that Sapkowski intentionally wrote the sorceresses to be unlikeable, and the team in charge of its production couldn't even make me dislike them in the way the author intended. Absolutely unreal.
I had to bail on the season after one and a half episodes. It was so bad but I’m really enjoying your reviews and I’ll continue to watch those.
They should have just called it Night Country and leave out true detective. WTF! there was no detecting. Weak script n bad dialogue. Pop music doesn't fit the dark tone of the show. Truly disappointing. Can't wait for Shogun.
This was an excellent review. This is why I avoid 95% of modern film, it has these same tendencies
Hi Erik, I found your channel when looking to reaffirm my feeling that Fargo S5 is bad while everybody seems to really like it.
I would call myself far-left in terms of political opinion and usually find myself defending casting/writing decisions which favor the portrayal of minorities/ social issues/ class struggle. However I felt like letting you know that I think your analysis of this show (and Fargo S5) is very nuanced and on point. This show is so poorly written, it shines a bad light on people who are actually trying to make a point with their shows. Not only does it fail in terms of whatever social commentary they are trying to make, the whole mystery-part completely falls flat and is unbelievable and disappointing.
I especially liked your comparison to Mare of Easttown which was one of my fav shows recently; it just does all the things Night Country is trying to do so much better and everybody should just watch this show instead.
Anyway, thanks for the review, I enjoyed it.
Thanks! I come at this all from a left-of-center perspective myself, which I always find a little awkward since so many associate this type of criticism with being "anti-woke" or right-wing.
Also funnily enough I wrote a piece about Mare of Easttown saying exactly that: Watch this instead!
I watched the first episode in disbelief and not being into hate-watching, that was it for me. Not a single person involved in the production and writing of this frozen turd of a show got their jobs because of merit and talent. Seeing that so utterly exposed is the only enjoyment this show gave me.
It all stated with the intro music....I looked at my wife and was like, "what an awful intro song to a show that always had great music." Then the over the top caribou CGI scene. Still I tried to give it a chance... Then came the unlikable, and totally unbelievable main characters. There's nobody to root for. Then as usual, all the male characters are either abusive, weak, or incompetent, and most of the time it's all of the above. Then came the message. Relentless and in your face. The lazy writing and dialogue was terrible. The characters telling the audience what's what, instead of letting the show have its own magic. Sometimes you don't need to tell, you just need to show and let the viewers draw their own conclusions...it felt like a mother (the writers) spoonfeeding applesauce to a baby (the viewers). The "detectives" do no detective work at all. Did anybody find it ridiculous how Jodie Foster's daughter was able to just walk inside the ice rink where they were housing not only evidence, but the victims themselves? Reis's character was not convincing as a state trooper at all- with the cheek piercings and gangsta tattoos covering her neck, hands, etc- she would've been just a smidge more believable had she been an undercover, but no. Walking around with the same angry face 100% of the time. I watched the first 2 episodes to try and give it a chance, but that was it. The over the top messaging and themes that are plaguing our entertainment has sadly come to True Detective, although calling this True Detective is a sin. Instead of making the show that the audience wants to see, a show where we can escape the craziness that we are unable to in our daily lives, instead we are slammed with it. And as if I needed more of a reason to quit, the predictable spiteful way this director behaved toward avid fans of the series made we never watch again. Calling people w legit criticisms "bros" and "fanboys," and then proceeds to tell the blind worshippers to start a rotten tomatoes account to give it a perfect score and overwhealm the rightful complaints....because people with sense that refuse to just gobble up whatever is put in front if us and call it gourmet are just being hateful right. These people need to stop creating on screen what they want the country to become, and write a good story. Again, the messaging is clear as day and overbearing....and the director's response further confirms what we already knew. It's what they always do....go on the defensive and label us. And that's why I stopped watching after 2 episodes. Not supporting these people. RIP True Detective- this sadly is going to be it. It had every opportunity to revive the series but instead put the nail in the coffin.
Cancel HBO if you really want to send a message.
Could not agree more. Very much a show of our time. @@jamesriver3745
Yeah, there's a "No Binging" policy in my household. I/we can only do 2 episodes at one time. I binged 3 episodes of both 'The Boys' & 'The Mandalorian' once, snd they all ran together once i was finished. I'd rather savor and reflect upon what i saw.
U sir are spot on with your analysis.. Holy fuc that finale was bad!!
I seldom completely agree with a lengthy criticism. This is the exception. I agree 100%. Well done.
Really appreciate your review on Forbes. You mirror my thoughts about this profoundly disappointing installment of a crackling good series.
I gave up watching before the 3rd episode ended (wasted $20 on Amazon to see this) as there was NO forward momentum. The biggest mystery? Who the Chief was related to, had been married to, slept with, or how many step-kids or dependents she had.
I lost count and yet the show focused more on her rambling, uninteresting personal life than the weird mystery.
Which wasn’t hard to figure out, even though they obfuscated things w/ meaningless, hokey supernatural elements:
Chief: “Hey do you know the person in this photo?”
Beat-up Lady Janitor: (Barely looks at photo for a second) “No.”
Chief: “Cool, thanks.”
WOW, that’s some serious investigative powers she had. 🙄
Erik, I left this show at episode 1 but I will watch it only to be able to comment on your final review but I'm sure this show can't be worse than Fear The Walking Dead last season 😅
Worse than Rings of Power? Damn, that’s quite the bar for poor entertainment. That’s a real shame too because I was really excited to see Jodie Foster star in this season. I may watch the first episode to at least figure out what film they’re ripping off, but I already have a good idea.
Well I didn't say worse than Rings of Power. I said this is to TD what RoP is to LotR.
Also I don't think Foster was good in this at all.
@@ErikKain Ah, gotcha. That’s my bad. I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised that Foster gave a poor performance in this if the show was as poorly executed. Still disappointing.
@@ErikKainEven the comparison to RoP is a terrible place to be. I will never forgive RoP for playing on politics the way it did to market itself and left me in a position of agreeing with the most terrible online people and channels who were right in criticising that instance
Your analogy to The Rings of Power is the most scathing indictment of the show that anyone could possibly muster
Absolutely horrible. I thought season 2 was bad. This will be the end of the show forsure.
What movie is it ripped off from? I was thinking I’ve seen something similar before but couldn’t remember
At least there's Masters of the Air. Are you going to review that?
Yes I think I'll start it tonight haven't gotten to it yet.
Erik I'm a huge fan and I love your work, but I'm so surprised by your dislike for this show. I haven't been this invested in a show since The Expanse, and your critique makes me think, "Wait...am I stupid?" Don't answer that!
I can't say that it was predictable because the ending made no sense to me. I did not see it coming and I don't know what came. Acting was on point though even though everyone was miserable. Everybody got on my nerves except for Pryor's son and the little kids in the flashbacks. I'm surprised that Jodie signed up as she is known for having superior taste in scripts. Maybe playing an angry nasty person was an attractive departure for her or maybe she just wanted to go to Iceland.
Its trully sad, im a huge fan of True Detective series (I even like Season 2!). I couldnt even finish watching some of the episodes of season 4 and droped it already.
On the other side "Masters of the Air" made me very happy.
You could tell just from the ANNOYING azz commercial ads that it was literally just gonna be a GARBAGE “girl boss” show 😂
I don't think anyone is watching this show anyway and I tuned out after the start of the 2nd episode. Its horrendous.
I wanted it to be good, so bad.
The big reveal of episode 4... a bloody ear. The end
I agree, again, with your take on True Detective Night Country. If you liked Deadloch, which I watched a few months ago, you might enjoy: Bay of Fires. Another Tasmania-shot mystery/thriller/comedy. (Actors: Marta Dusseldorp | Toby Leonard Moore | Stephen Curry; Release Date: 2023: PlotSingle mother of two Stella has no option but to move her young family to the last place on earth anyone would expect. This town is a tiny community rife with simmering feuds, crime and sometimes, murder.) I enjoyed it more than Deadloch, even though the wacky out-of-town detective eventually grew on me though, in episode 2/3, I almost gave up watching as she was sooo over the top I didn't know if I could take her anymore. I pushed through it and enjoyed it more again as it progressed. But Bay of Fires kept me interested from the start. (You mentioned the Jeremy Renner movie as being similar. Well, last year's Hilary Swank series "Alaska Daily", set in Anchorage -- but mostly filmed in my own BC, Canada -- also had a similar main story thread. Anyway, you have probably saved me 3 hours now as I might not watch the end of Night Country. Truthfully, it's really hard to watch anything immediately following a Slow Horses season, anyway.
Activists who write 'Strong female characters' seem to have taken Nicholson's quote from 'As Good as it Gets' as direction: 'First, think of a (toxic) man...then, take away reason and accountability.'
Franchise writers use characters as props to a) interact with Easter eggs from the franchise and b) participate in contrived scenarios that the writers want to use for messaging purposes
That's disappointing. What a waste... Not sure how someone can cock up an absolute layup of True Detective x Jodi Foster, but here we are
Diversity hires can f up anything.
I had to fast forward the last episode as it was just too painful to watch and the ending was so bad that i didnt even finish it. Of course a bunch of snoopin ass women would just miraculously fall onto a huge pile of undeniable evidence without actually doing any real detective work. Changed the channel when the cleaning lady started snoopin around after the bucket of water tipped. Its like a 5 year old wrote this crap. Biggest waste of my time in recent memory watchin this show. The series is finished after this one for sure.
I’m on episode 6& it’s bad& bizarre& not in a good way, utter crap( edit, I didn’t know it was even the finale, I turned it off before the end
Thanks - saves me from watching this crap. Also, nice work on the British accent at the end of the video - more of that please. 😁
I really wanted this show to be good. But, it was so bad. I don't think there was one character that I liked. There was nothing mysterious are even interesting about this show.
You can spoil it...😂😂😂, they should've added a couple of more episodes based on what I'm hearing, 8 like the previous seasons wouldn't hurt, seems like a majority have been fillery, ep. 6 better be spectacular and blow me away!
The only thing that makes me mad is the fact that season 1 and this shit is talked about in the same conversation.
I deny this season. Its not true detective. This is not hbo. I swear hbo never made such shit show. I just cant understand how this came to be.
Have subscribed to your TH-cam since rings of power came out
Gave up on night country 3/4 of the way through episode 1 so if it’s as bad as rings of power I might have to see it for myself
Hey mate, this is the second review for Night Country from you I am watching and I feel you are getting close to the problem with night country, yet either you are holding back or not connecting the dots (please note this sentence begins with I feel, most people call me out for seeing ghosts while I fear their blindness). Ok you are getting excited in the end hehe. I didn’t even finish broadchurch season 2. I watched Night country episodes one and two and the first thing that was like an oh moment was when Denver was in the facility looking around and giving her first detective skill by concluding „all men“ after the other one reads two of the people’s names that are/were working there. I tried not to let that cloud my vision but it’s hard not to notice that every male character in this show is either flaccid or evil. The victims - all men get killed for a reason I guess. The apprentice or should I say secretary of Denver is like a really smart dog „good boy“, his father is either evil or a bad cop, most probably both, the love „interest“ of Navarro is a complete douche, in the first love scene she completely owns him, in the second episode she scares him and he cries like a girl, the second sex scene in episode two shows this guy barely making it to please Denver. The only meaningful positive relation is between Navarro and the old lady. I get it. It would be a better world without men. Ok. Not gonna waste my time on that cringe siht then. Not even not interesting, this is offensive to watch.