True Detective has had an intriguing history across its 10 years and four seasons on HBO. Though the first season with Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey felt like a revelation among police procedurals that was an immediate hit with fans and critics alike, people never warmed up to Season 2 of the anthology, and the third outing was praised, but popular to a much lesser extent. Starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, True Detective: Night Country is now upon us, and the Season 4 showrunner has revealed the David Fincher classic that most inspired this season of the drama.
What David Fincher Classic Most Inspired True Detective: Night Country?
While viewers have only just been fully introduced to True Detective: Night Country with the Season 4 premiere being part of the 2024 TV schedule (you can also watch with a Max subscription), many critics have already applauded the new season and likened it to the initial outing that delivered complex characters, disturbing violence, and distinct horror vibes. Showrunner Issa López has taken the reins from Nic Pizzolatto, and she’s opened up to Deadline about the classic David Fincher film that she took inspiration from when spearheading this season.
López noted that she came up with the basics of the story during the pandemic, and was then contacted by HBO about handling the fourth season of the dark drama. Turns out, she didn’t have to work too hard to make her idea into one that could fit the series, as Fincher’s hit, Se7en has always inspired her. As she said:
It’s interesting because I had thought it had to be two detectives. One of the biggest influences that I ever will have in this genre, and honestly in cinema in general, is Se7en and these two enormously different characters that come together to solve a mystery. I’m sure that was one of the references that informed [creator Nic] Pizzolatto’s writing, at least unconsciously, so I was thinking of Se7en. It was two detectives, a forgotten corner of America with its own system of culture and rituals, and it just clicked massively with True Detective. It didn’t take a lot of effort.
Ahhh, yes…Se7en. One of the movies on my incredibly short list of films I love but will never, ever watch again because it traumatized me more than necessary. And, not just that “WHAT’S IN THE BOOOOOX?!” ending, either, but several scenes all the way through. I doubt that anyone who watched True Detective Season 1 didn’t see a lot of similarities to Fincher’s classic. As López said, two wildly different detectives coming together to solve a gruesome case that seems too horrible to be true and gives viewers serious horror vibes is quite a pure concept to both the series and the film.
Seeing as how the showrunner (who wrote, directed, and exec produced all of the Season 4 episodes) is already a huge Se7en fan, her pandemic murder mystery idea was already easily adaptable into one that would fit the True Detective ethos, and it already seems like we’re all the better for it.