Well, that didn’t take long. TRUE DETECTIVE, riding off of the success of its fourth season subtitled NIGHT COUNTRY, is moving forward with a fifth season. Onboard for that next iteration will be Issa López who has just signed on for an overall deal with HBO. It didn’t hurt that the latest entry was the most-watched season of the anthology series with 12.7 million cross-platform viewers. We have word from an official press release:
HBO has renewed the critically acclaimed original drama series TRUE DETECTIVE for a fifth season. This season, ‘True Detective: Night Country,’ concluded on February 18. Additionally, under a new multiyear overall deal with HBO, Issa López will create content exclusive to HBO and Max, including the next season of “True Detective.”
Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming, Head of HBO Drama Series and Films, quote: “Issa Lopez is that one-of-a-kind, rare talent that speaks directly to HBO’s creative spirit. She helmed ‘True Detective: Night Country’ from start to finish, never once faltering from her own commendable vision, and inspiring us with her resilience both on the page and behind the camera. Alongside Jodie and Kali’s impeccable performances, she’s made this installation of the franchise a massive success, we are so lucky to have her as part of our family.”
Issa López, Showrunner, Writer, and Executive Producer, quote: “From conception to release, Night Country has been the most beautiful collaboration and adventure of my entire creative life. HBO trusted my vision all the way, and the idea of bringing to life a new incarnation of True Detective with Casey, Francesca and the whole team is a dream come true. I can’t wait to go again.”
The Ringer declared “True Detective: Night Country” as the “first can’t-miss show of 2024” while Rolling Stone hailed it as “a gripping mystery from creator Issa López… ‘True Detective’ is must-see TV again.” New York Magazine proclaimed the new season is “appointment viewing [with] powerhouse performances.”
As for the elephant in the room, what has originator and executive producer Nic Pizzolatto have to say about all this? Well, we have already reported that he has thrown some shade on NIGHT COUNTRY and since that posting, we see he has escalated his snarky opinion. But note, via a thorough piece from THR, that Pizzalatto didn’t stick around after Season 3 of the series and let his contract lax. HBO however retained the rights to TRUE DETECTIVE. Eventually, Season 4 came around, but Pizzolatto, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson remained credited as exec producers on the franchise, though none had any involvement with the series. Since the strength of NIGHT COUNTRY proved healthy without Pizzalatto the snarky comments erupted. He has even gone as far as consolidating negative responses to López’s effort on social media, proving, as I previously stated, that he is just jealous over the success of the season.
Issa López has made very few comments in rebuttal but we particularly like this one, she says, “The way that we relate to the stories we tell is profound and it’s personal, and I cannot make a judgment on his experience. His experience is not my experience. I’ve never started a franchise, so I cannot talk for him. I can talk for me and all I can say is I love True Detective and I love Night Country, and they’re in that same universe, and if you jumped on the boat with me and came for the ride, you’re going to enjoy the fact that the language is the same language and the mythology is the same mythology and the elements are shared. But if you didn’t jump on the boat with me, you’re not going to like it. So I hope you jumped on the boat with me and gave this chance.” Clearly, enough people gave it a chance.
Now we caution that generating another season of the series is going to take some time. We don’t even know if López has an idea floating about or not. We look forward to not only TRUE DETECTIVE Season 5 but any other content she may be able to generate for HBO.
