Some facts in True Detective are indisputable. The first season, with its problems that I will talk about next, is the best of all. Impactful, tied together, and well-acted, it gave us hope for a super franchise on MAX (at the time, HBO). The rest, well, they disappointed us.

In the tenth year of its release, True Detective finds itself at a crossroads of still having difficulty recovering its credibility, with fans going to war on social media. The expectations surrounding True Detective Night Country were almost ungrateful and it is giving people something to talk about.

When Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey appeared as two detectives with opposite personalities investigating a complicated crime in the southern United States, True Detective brought an interesting pattern that combined a non-linear, intricate narrative with an incredible soundtrack and breathtaking performances.

The second season, just a year later, can be summed up in a single word: trash. If you want two: rubbish and embarrassing. It was so bad that the platform retired the franchise for 5 years, appearing reluctant to try anything new with it.

In 2019, the third season was just ok, even with the cast led by Oscar-winning Marheshala Ali as a man losing his memory but obsessed with a crime he hasn’t solved. The plot was dragged out and generated jokes that the two True Detectives were more incompetent than “True”. Result? Another 5 years of rest.

So when they announced that the fourth season would be written and directed by Issa López without any influence from the creator, Nic Pizzolatto, there was a surprise. His interference became legendary (and not in a positive way) and the new stage was expected in 2022, then it was announced for 2023 and postponed to 2024. The postponements could suggest insecurity with what was done, but in fact, there were also issues of strikes and scheduling strategies to justify the ‘delay’.

Marking the debut of the great Jodie Foster on TV, it is also a more feminine season: there are two female detectives, and the team and production also have more women. All of which initially generated praise, but also left pitfalls.

True Detective Night Country began with promises but ended by dividing the public, achieving the worst unanimity of the moment because it awakened misogyny online. That’s right, the attacks on the showrunner, the actresses, and the series are so violent that they are frightening. Just to give you an idea, when everyone agreed on the disaster that was the second season, now the same people are claiming that it was better. I can say with exemption: it is not.

The aggressiveness means that Issa López hit a nerve because she “dared” to invade the land of the males on duty and show that she could do the job.

I’ll be transparent: I didn’t enjoy the conclusion of True Detective Night Country. I had good expectations until halfway through the season, but I quickly figured out how the two crimes that brought the detectives together were and then all that was left was to find out how the scientists died. It seemed that Issa López was going to take us into a horror and supernatural narrative, as suggested in the first season and further developed in the fourth. But she chose another path.

Throughout the season, the showrunner overloaded us with quotes from cinema classics, from The Exorcist to The Shining, used real crimes as the basis of the mystery we follow, and tied the stories together in such a way that today we dream of the crossover and the return of the original detectives. at some point, everything is worthy of high praise. But the men were offended somehow.

Some complained about Kali Reis‘ performance, but I liked her. And I always love Jodie Foster, there’s nothing to say about her performance. When the cast was led by men, people were less harsh. Again: the majority of critics are overwhelmingly male. I follow Issa López on X and take my hat off to her class even under attack. She is a strong and inspiring woman. I’m a fan.

But why were men so offended by True Detective Night Country? There are much more serious things in this season’s plot than the discussion of pagan sects in the original story. Now it talks about crimes against the environment, violence against women, and the murders of indigenous women as well as trauma, depression, and compassion. None of this even appeared on screen when they showed women being sexually assaulted and toxic men leading the investigation. The only female detective before Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis), was the complex and underused Antigone “Ani” Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams), from season 2, often placed in a supporting role when she was supposed to be. be the main protagonist.

Rachel McAdams‘ performance was butchered when the series aired in 2015, even though the actress was going completely against all the characters she had played until then. It was a preview of Liz Danvers, and apparently, the only way men accept a female detective is to see her as a bitter, closed-off, aggressive, and problematic woman. Cliche!

To make matters worse, many of the cyber attacks were echoed precisely by the author of the franchise, Nic Pizzolato, who made clear his disgust with what was aired. A man whose behind-the-scenes fights became negatively legendary even when the team was dominated by men. It is understandable that, as an author, he would be jealous and react badly to someone else pursuing his franchise, but, in general, by not taking a stand against misogyny and attacks on Issa, he ended up giving indirect support to the speech that “there is a lot of women where they’re not needed.”
There’s something strange when men get upset that women stand out or gain ground where they didn’t before. I bet you’ve heard the “what nonsense” or “it’s boring, they only talk about women and forget the story”. Make no mistake: this is sexism.

And how do sexists and trolls act online? They organize to change the algorithms. That’s right, the wave of “bad review bombing” is the tactic that appears to be targeting quality, but is actually used to highlight that only men can deliver what’s expected. That simple. If you’re not following the reaction to Barbie and the Academy’s snub of the film, despite its box office records, you’re in “Kenlandia”, singing “I’m Just Ken” with the wrong seriousness. Sorry if the truth bothers you.

The tactic of negatively bombarding a product is used on social networks and websites that allow public opinion. Films that include female, LGBTQ+, or non-white characters are generally the most rejected. Coincidence? The current victim of this movement is precisely True Detective Night Country. I recommend reading the El País article on the subject.

In light of all this, sisterhood applies. I didn’t like True Detective Night Country, I wanted a less confusing, rushed and unsatisfactory conclusion, but I’m also still trying to swallow Game of Thrones. Bad endings happen, they are not gender related. And NOTHING that doesn’t place the fourth season as the best after the premiere, is correct. Let’s stop prejudice and misuse of algorithms. We already have enough problems with the current reality.

The franchise’s three female detectives (yes, I bring Ani into the fold because she has often been unfairly ignored) are better than the six other men combined. They are more honest, more empathetic and more interesting. It is unacceptable that in 2024 we are still exposed to the aggressiveness of toxic masculinity.

There is still no announcement from MAX for a fifth season, but if Issa returns, or another woman takes her place, I hope they reunite Liz Danvers and Ani Bezzerides. And may the trolls suffer in their toxic past. We won’t go back to him. Fortunately!

Pesquisar

Pesquisar