Michele K. Short/HBO
SPOILER ALERT: The following story contains details from the season premiere of True Detective: Night Country.
The night is dark and full of terror in Ennis, Alaska, the fictional setting of the fourth season of the acclaimed crime anthology “True Detective,” which premiered tonight on HBO.
This is the Nightland of the show's subtitle, where eight scientists from the Tsalal Arctic Research Station suddenly disappear one day in mid-December. At a time of year when there is constant darkness in the Arctic, detectives Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis), women with very different backgrounds and different philosophies of life, step in to investigate. The former is an extremely curious career police officer and has spent her entire life in Alaska. The latter is more relatable to the predominantly Iñupiaq local community, a woman with indigenous heritage, a former military background and a deeper sense of connection to the spiritual world. While Liz has a strained relationship with her adopted daughter Leah (Isabella Star LaBlanc), Evangeline spends much of her free time caring for her struggling younger sister Julia (Aka Niviâna).
When our detectives stop by the research station to begin their investigation, they come across a severed tongue, which leads them to a surprising connection between this case and that of Annie K, an indigenous midwife and activist who disappeared several years ago has disappeared, leads .
The premiere also introduces Peter (Finn Bennett) and Hank Prior (John Hawkes), a young police officer and his strange father whose relationship is strained given Peter's work under Liz. Then there's local resident Rose (Fiona Shaw), who is led into the icy darkness by the ghost of a man named Travis, where she discovers our missing researchers stuck together in a corpse with a look of horror on their faces. It seems clear that supernatural forces are at work here. But is there more to the story?
Today's episode, as well as all others this season, was written and directed by showrunner EP Issa López. Here, the acclaimed Mexican filmmaker talks about the outsized influence of a particular David Fincher film on this season of True Detective, the “insane” challenge of putting it together over many months in Iceland, and working with Characters who want to “take off” are the fall of themselves.” She also speaks openly about the best and worst aspects of working with HBO and the status of previously announced projects with Guillermo del Toro, Noah Hawley and Blumhouse.
DEADLINE: What attracted you to “True Detective” before you were approached for the show? I know you developed the story here independently before you were approached for the show. But explain how your basic concept came about.
ISSA LOPEZ: Well, I think that's the least extraordinary thing you can say in the world, but I've always loved crime fiction. Not true? I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't do that. It's just this fascination with two things – a tragedy that happens to someone, not me, and a mystery – and when you put those together and serve a nice cocktail, who can resist? As a writer, as a filmmaker, it always felt like watching gymnastics at the Olympics. You look at it when it's done well and say, “Oh, they make it so easy,” but it's an absolute art in itself.
Then, [when] When the pandemic hit, I think a lot of people got into puzzles, and I took on the challenge of, “I think I might be able to do it.” I started playing with the elements and the idea of a setting that everything about a good crime novel. I thought about the Arctic and mysteries that have fascinated me my whole life and started cooking with it, just putting it in a glass and letting it steep. Then I got a call from HBO asking what I would do with “True Detective.” I think they saw a film I made called Tigers Are Not Afraid, which is very dark and ultra-realistic and violent, but at the same time has elements of the supernatural and the supernatural [is] very atmospheric. So I think what they said in that movie was, “Oh, this could be an interesting angle for True Detective.”
You talk to a Mexican filmmaker and talk about a thriller, and I'm sure at some point in their head they thought I was coming back with something to do with cartels or along the border. I asked, “How about the Arctic?” And they said, “What?” [Laughs] Then I told them the elements and it just came together beautifully.
DEADLINE: How much did your story change when you realized you were going to tell it through True Detective?
LOPEZ: Unbelievable, not that much. It's interesting because I thought it had to be two detectives. One of the biggest influences I'll ever have in this genre, and honestly in cinema in general, is Se7en and these two hugely different characters coming together to solve a mystery. I'm sure this was one of the references that provided insight [creator Nic] Pizzolatto's writing, at least subconsciously, so I thought of Se7en. It was two detectives, a forgotten corner of America with its own culture and ritual system, and in True Detective it just worked. It wasn't a big effort.
I was thinking about the original season's two timelines at one point. Actually there were three – the past, the not-so-past and the present. I could have done it, but I didn't feel it would serve the storytelling purpose, and I find the challenge of having to understand the past without showing it to you and keeping it secret longer fascinating. So I gave up on that and HBO was very happy. I adopted some elements, such as the long drives, the discussion of both characters' existential visions and the opposing philosophical sides. They're two different philosophies that are very different from the first season, but all of those elements came naturally. It wasn't something I had to force on the story.
DEADLINE: How did you come up with the unique range of topics the show explores, from murdered and missing Indigenous women to environmental concerns?
LOPEZ: Of the four films I have directed, two are about the disappearances and murders of women. It happened to be in Latin America when I did it before, but I don't think this kind of violence understands boundaries on maps. Unfortunately, the film crosses borders and has always concerned me, and when I made Tigers and showed it around the world, the indigenous population reacted very emotionally to the film because they could see the same violence. So I knew that if I wanted to make a crime film, there was a good chance that it would have to do with these themes.
The environmental issue came more slowly as I began to understand the inner workings of northwest Alaska and the industries and conflicts in the region. They are just beginning to create this city and the forces that power it. Mining plays a large role in this area of Alaska, and there is a constant conflict over the benefits of a burgeoning energy industry, but also the harm it causes in an environment where people need the environment to survive. So it's just a good reason to create the story.
DEADLINE: The show's setting in an icy world of darkness is exceptionally captivating. But were you a little nervous when you started filming in Iceland and realized how difficult filming would be?
LOPEZ: Absolutely, and that happened the day I got the green light. Even before I was actually in the Arctic and knew I was going to shoot there, I was in Alaska to understand what I was writing and I had eaten the food and sat with the families to understand my characters and the place , and it felt insane, the idea that I would be traveling north of the Arctic Circle for months and months. Years ago I was visiting Iceland. Part of me really wanted to get the green light and leave, but part of me was afraid to. So when 2022 finally said, “This is going to happen this year,” I thought, “Yay!… F**k!”
Then we were there with my incredible team and the crazy question was: What have we gotten ourselves into? Because the monitors themselves developed a small synchronization problem and we couldn't understand what was causing it until we found out that the liquid in the monitor was freezing. So when the equipment reacted like that and the actors had trouble saying the words because their lips were stuck to ice, we often asked ourselves, “Are we going to get to the other side?” And we did, and we were so lucky. We had fun.
DEADLINE: There seems to be a potential meta-story here about filmmakers going crazy in the Arctic while everything is going crazy in the exact same spot in the Arctic story they tell…
LOPEZ: Absolutely. Listen, I'm Mexican. It's not in my nature. So many times people would ask, 'Did they tell you it had to be in the Arctic?' And I'd say, 'No, that was entirely my idea.' I don't know why I'm doing this to myself.”
DEADLINE: What aspect of the show's world-building was the most challenging for you?
LOPEZ: Beautiful, I walked hand in hand with Florian Hoffmeister, the DP, who got a nomination [at the Oscars] when we shot for Tár and he's just incredible. The challenge of shooting in the eternal darkness and ice, he is a man who can do it, only he. The other is Daniel Taylor, who did the production design and managed to capture Alaska and translate it into Iceland. So I felt very, very well protected there.
The challenge was to capture the world, the energy and the spirit of the Iñupiaq people, which required me to be incredibly careful and mindful throughout as it was definitely not a culture I was familiar with. But the more I understood about the place where I wanted to set the story, the more I realized that 70% of the population in these parts of Alaska is Iñupiaq, at least indigenously, and it would be unfair to make my characters any other color. So portraying these characters in a way that was not only respectful but also gave them a chance to see themselves on television was huge. This part of the work required a lot of research and dialogue.
DEADLINE: With this production you've proven that the rare generation of showrunners, often alluded to during the WGA strike, write all the episodes themselves. At the same time, you acted as director and executive producer of the entire series. Do you expect to always work like this, or was this an experience you don't want to repeat?
LOPEZ: The truth is that HBO never stops giving you notes when I finished the second pass of the scripts and was ready to get started. That's the worst thing about working with them, but it's also the best thing about working with them because they're constantly pushing you. If you think it's done, I'm ready to shoot, they won't let you. It was another two weeks before I finished filming and they were still giving me script notes and I was screaming. But you know, the show is better because of it.
But right before I left for Iceland, I went to dinner with the HBO team and they sat down with me and said very seriously and very generously, “We don't know if you really understand what's coming.” Because you do made films, and it was challenging and so on, but you'll shoot a series of episodes alone in the Arctic, and we've seen people collapse when they tried to direct a whole series themselves. So we just want to say, 'We're here for whatever you need.' Up until that point I was like, 'I got this,' and then when they told me that, I was very scared. Wow, maybe I really don't know.
But, you know what? It was a pleasure. It was never tiring. I got to the end and was honestly sad that it was over. And again, it's because I was surrounded by the perfect team.
DEADLINE: What can we expect from the rest of the season? What can you tease?
LOPEZ: I think the ultimate goal is to create a story that sticks with people and that people remember years after watching it, in this flood of stories coming our way. I think the trick here is undoubtedly that the case is important. But if you did it right, people won't be able to tell you the plot of the crime a few years later. People who love True Detective can't for the life of them tell you how the whole thing was planned. You can't, and it doesn't matter. Because what matters is how the characters solve the case of themselves. You must detach yourself in order to then understand the worldly mystery, and that is exactly what you can expect.
DEADLINE: You've been involved in a number of film projects in recent years: a Blumhouse film called “Our Lady of Tears,” Searchlight's “The Book of Souls,” produced by Noah Hawley, and one with Guillermo del Toro. Are these projects still active? What's next for you?
LOPEZ: All of them are current. Projects have such a long lifespan that it's almost a miracle that Let's Get Started with True Detective was completed in less than three years straight. This is the first time I've experienced this. Typically, you develop a script with someone, and then the studio changes ownership or executives, and the project fails. Then you do something else and three years later you get a call about the project but you're busy doing something else. Basically 10 years later someone calls you and you have the time, and then the other producer has it and then it all comes together.
So all of these projects are alive and they are all very close to my heart, but they will not become reality at this moment. There are two things I'm really excited about at the moment, but it all depends on what happens when True Detective is released and then we'll see.