We’ve often finished an episode of television and looked for a discussion thread online, only to be disappointed. Either no such thread exists, or all the oxygen is taken by puns and references that have been posted a thousand times. We wanted to be able to have some good jokes, some good analysis, and some good times.
That’s why we decided to take matters into our own hands (not unlike a hardened detective trying to crack a spooky case) and create the discussion threads we want to see in the world. So we asked writers, comedians, and filmmakers to hang out for a bit after an episode and make our own comment section. Welcome to the Dibs Texts Post-Episode Discussion Thread for True Detective: Night Country EPISODE THREE!
All the news on this site is “real,” but this stuff is really real. SPOILERS AHEAD.
- big fan of the bag framed clearly near the front of the evidence room labeled Meth. it was the only bag labeled that way which means that it’s a meth-specific policy
- i pictured an intern in the set dressing department who got to do the evidence room and said to themself “hmmm, crime stuff, crime stuff, what’s illegal”
- i drank this episode sorry in advance
- is that why you said “good night everyone” immediately after the episode ended even though we hadnt talked yet
- i just thought it would be funny!!@
- i had a drink too, but i had a very specific drinking game where the spongebob toothbrush had to be mentioned so i’m sober
- i just thought it would be funny!!@
- is that why you said “good night everyone” immediately after the episode ended even though we hadnt talked yet
- orange came back
- just once i want to see a television show or movie that does not use oranges as a sign of foreboding
- I don’t think it’s significant, but I do think the orange is a reference to a 1980 horror film called The Changeling that has a red ball
- just once i want to see a television show or movie that does not use oranges as a sign of foreboding
- perhaps the monster on the ice is just a big dog
- that’s on some hound of the baskervilles shit
- it’s so important to me that they showed that Danvers texts in all caps
- have to imagine that danvers also messages on tinder in all caps
- Danvers has the energy of someone who would accidentally turn on speech-to-text and then send the whole message including the part where she’s swearing at it trying to get it to stop
- have to imagine that danvers also messages on tinder in all caps
- the storytelling scene with the kid asking danvers about her and navarro was directed and framed a little bit like an interrogation scene. which it was!
- so is the idea that either navarro or danvers (my guess is navarro) killed the abusive boyfriend and the other one agreed to cover it up but it ruined their relationship?
- it feels like a reference to season one where they also lie about killing a suspect. except in season one they show them faking the crime scene in the past while lying about it in the future
- i spent like half that scene thinking that was Annie and Clark because my brain is smooth like a river stone, but was the girl that was killed indigenous? I thought it was another nod at the theme they’re exploring with the unsolved and sort of ignored deaths of Inuit women. esp now with the reveal about Navarro’s mom
- so is the idea that either navarro or danvers (my guess is navarro) killed the abusive boyfriend and the other one agreed to cover it up but it ruined their relationship?
- the kid that navarro saw when she fell on the ice was definitely danvers right
- i dont follow, like her as a kid?
- no, her kid that died. the boy holding polar bear toy
- i guess it must be– i actually didn’t remember that she had a kid that died
- no, her kid that died. the boy holding polar bear toy
- oh i thought it was a young navarro talking to herself 🤔
- Right before she fell was one of the times that Twist and Shout played (and was actually discernible) and I believe in the last episode they connected that song to Danvers’ kid’s death
- twist and shout was also playing in the flashback danver’s had playing with her kid
- damn they are getting their money’s worth
- twist and shout was also playing in the flashback danver’s had playing with her kid
- i dont follow, like her as a kid?
- at one point navarro literally says “the police are trying to cover it up” in third person like she’s not a police officer sitting next to the chief of police — feels like this show is trying to criticize police while centering the story on 3 impossibly sincere and well meaning cops
- I don’t know what to make of it, but there is a woman with an eye patch who keeps showing up (at the rally, during the throat singing) and it feels like it has to be connected to the polar bear somehow, even if just as a motif
- i know it’s not a reference to twin peaks, but all i can think of is nadine
- vet: i’d have to post-mortem them to know cause of death. but i’d guess… cardiac arrest?
danvers: how can you be sure
vet: well if you refer back to the first part of the sentence,- that one guy who was frozen mid-scream must have either been so scared he had a heart attack, OR he was extremely afraid of heart attacks
- hahaha
- that one guy who was frozen mid-scream must have either been so scared he had a heart attack, OR he was extremely afraid of heart attacks
- when danver was looking at evidence, what the FUCK was she doing with her glasses? holding it up to the paper? am i just unaware or is this the craziest glasses behavior ever captured on film?
- she must be near-far-nearsighted
- she likes to stand up and look down at papers on the ground too
- she must be near-far-nearsighted
- does anyone else think their shoulder badges looks like a guy with a streak of hair running down his face?
- YES. I was distracted by it at the beginning of the episode until there was a shot where I could really process it
- or like if harry potter was also frankenstein
- im still not sure it’s not that
- i really hate to be a complainer but this was my least favorite episode so far. the show kinda feels like it’s spinning its wheels a bit, which is a bummer for a 6 episode story. like, outside of snow and murder, what is the inspiration it’s getting from The Thing? thematically, there’s not really anything connecting the two
- I agree, this was not my favorite episode by far. one major theme of The Thing was how much of the death and destruction came from the people mistrusting each other, so I think we’re going to see more of that, since it feels like they’re building to itOne of my favorite things about The Thing is the fact that it never really is actively hostile, and it’s only ever really acting out of self-preservation from other things trying to kill it. so idk, maybe this will all boil down to the earth acting out of self-preservation
- The Thing does such an amazing job of laying out the stakes of the sci-fi premise and then just letting you watch the entire group crumble due to paranoia and confusion
- which seems like not at all what’s happening here, so maybe the only inspiration really just boils down to “dudes in a research base have a lot going on”
- being a scientist is hard! such as in The Thing
- which seems like not at all what’s happening here, so maybe the only inspiration really just boils down to “dudes in a research base have a lot going on”
- The Thing does such an amazing job of laying out the stakes of the sci-fi premise and then just letting you watch the entire group crumble due to paranoia and confusion
- the takeaway from both True Detective and The Thing is that a boy’s night out isn’t always just a walk in the park
- I think a part of what’s happening is they have set up so much, but it means it still sort of feels like exposition half way in
- I felt like, with the last two episodes, i could create a list of “here are major moments in this episode, here how it feels like they moved the plot forward or provided some worldbuilding” and this episode I just am coming up with nothing
- yeah I’m trying to come up with a scene I really loved this episode and I’m drawing a blank. it’s not that it was bad or anything, but nothing quite stands out
- It felt like there was some filler in this episode which is surprising both because it’s only episode three and also because there are only six episodes
- yeah I’m trying to come up with a scene I really loved this episode and I’m drawing a blank. it’s not that it was bad or anything, but nothing quite stands out
- I felt like, with the last two episodes, i could create a list of “here are major moments in this episode, here how it feels like they moved the plot forward or provided some worldbuilding” and this episode I just am coming up with nothing
- I agree, this was not my favorite episode by far. one major theme of The Thing was how much of the death and destruction came from the people mistrusting each other, so I think we’re going to see more of that, since it feels like they’re building to itOne of my favorite things about The Thing is the fact that it never really is actively hostile, and it’s only ever really acting out of self-preservation from other things trying to kill it. so idk, maybe this will all boil down to the earth acting out of self-preservation
- really feeling the weird narrative tension between “supernatural” and “the mine is bad” but maybe it resolves itself
- the mine is bad because that’s where they practice dark magicks
- yeah they’re mining ancient runes
- i wonder if it’s going to be both! like, mine is poisoning the local native population, their water is black, their babies are stillborn, their women are being murdered and a vengeful spirt is awaken to fuck them up. that feels really simplistic for what True Detective normally does though
- yeah they’re mining ancient runes
- the mine is bad because that’s where they practice dark magicks
- i could see the plot of the season being like the symbol, where it meanders around in a circle and eventually finds its way to the center of things — however, the “meandering” is mostly just people in rooms talking and doing rote police work, and it’s honestly boring me a bit
- I like that analogy! Kind of reminds me of the maze in Westworld too.
- did this much like, explicit supernatural stuff happen in previous seasons
- No
- like the guy standing up at the end and saying “wazza from your dead mom btw”
- it feels like an episode of law & order but every now and then a weird magic thing happens
- yeah the guy knowing evangeline’s name seems like, impossible to not be supernatural. there’ve been a few things that seem to be Confirmed. the only other possibility on this particular one is that she’s also got what her sister has, the visions aren’t real, and we just saw that from her point of view, but i think that’s a tough pill to try to make us swallow
- there’s always the “everybody is hallucinating” cop out
- the whole ending with the zombie guy and the found footage video of annie just felt a little hacky to me. like yeah it’s a little creepy he sat up and said that to Navarro, but if you put that in The Evil Dead (1981) it would be the least scary thing a deadite did the whole movie
- yeah i agree. i didn’t even scream
- scream count: 0
- yeah i agree. i didn’t even scream
- i don’t think supernatural stuff has to be explained but i think if people are questioning it, you’ve already lost
- I think it was inevitable for it to get questioned since the no other seasons have been particularly supernatural. Season 1 plays trades in some supernatural iconography, but everything is ultimately mundane (in the earthly sense, not the boring sense)
- personally what i don’t love about the supernatural stuff is that you could remove all of it and the show wouldn’t be different imo. the moments feel detached from the other stuff going on. i like the idea that there’s some magical force that’s fighting the mine but i’m not feeling it, maybe just because the story feels rushed
- I think it was inevitable for it to get questioned since the no other seasons have been particularly supernatural. Season 1 plays trades in some supernatural iconography, but everything is ultimately mundane (in the earthly sense, not the boring sense)
- No
- they did have two “true detective” style shots like andy was talking about last week, but it felt like they decided actively not to linger on them. the first was navarro walking away from qavvik when he asks for more info on her, she walks outside and it was a great landscape behind her as she stood kinda just off center frame. that one lasted like 1.5 seconds or something and i wanted to see it for longer. the other one they did linger on a bit, it was the police car driving away from camera into the dark, and i thought the lights looked really great in that shot
- there was also that overhead shot with navarro driving out of the town to the fishing shack, with the city lights like a sliver in the background
- i think those long shits work best as a way to keep the tension and help build a tone, but in this season they feel kinda perfunctory
- like “here’s a copy talking to somebody, here’s a landscape shot, here’s another cop talking to somebody”
- yeah, i think maybe because the pacing is a lot faster and it’s hard to get that feeling at speed
- like “here’s a copy talking to somebody, here’s a landscape shot, here’s another cop talking to somebody”
- i think those long shits work best as a way to keep the tension and help build a tone, but in this season they feel kinda perfunctory
- there was also that overhead shot with navarro driving out of the town to the fishing shack, with the city lights like a sliver in the background
- qavvik seems chill for a guy who got his spongebob toothbrush stolen and also walked in on by a cop while he was honking his pud in the tub
- qavvik is MVP of the show imo
- i like how they ended on like a 20 second shot of them watching a video of someone screaming at the top of their lungs in mortal fear, and the woman behind the desk is just like arranging pens
- people are within arms reach of the audio of a woman dying and theyre like “another day at the office!”
- i HATE being a nurse at Spooky Town General
- this is the second episode in a row to end with what’s supposed to be a “big moment” with a dolly shot backing out and everything. and both times i just thought the people who made the show seem a bit overly proud of themselves. like they’re supposed to be “oh shit” moments but they just don’t land that way, it’s all a bit disjointed
- yeah, i think it needs to be a payoff in order for and “oh shit” to land, and it just feels like another small piece of evidence and clue. like, we knew something fucked happened to her, and you didn’t reveal what actually happened, so there’s no real progress. might be another “i dont know what that spiral is” for all we know
- one of the moments i remember the most from season one is when rust is doing the speech about how everyone is living in a dream, and there’s a “monster at the end” — and then it shows that shot of the guy in the swamp in his underwear, with the gas mask and machete. it’s actually the end of episode 3 in season one. it wasn’t even a big plot reveal, but it was a tonal payoff. total contrast with the “oh fuck” endings in this season, which have been more tied to the plot
- it takes a lot of confidence to make something that way, because you risk being cringe
- Cary Joji Fukunaga directed the fuck out of season 1
- welp went to his wiki to see what he’s up to and it’s apparently being accused of sexual harassment. bummer
- Yeah his trajectory has not been great
- welp went to his wiki to see what he’s up to and it’s apparently being accused of sexual harassment. bummer
- one of the moments i remember the most from season one is when rust is doing the speech about how everyone is living in a dream, and there’s a “monster at the end” — and then it shows that shot of the guy in the swamp in his underwear, with the gas mask and machete. it’s actually the end of episode 3 in season one. it wasn’t even a big plot reveal, but it was a tonal payoff. total contrast with the “oh fuck” endings in this season, which have been more tied to the plot
- yeah, i think it needs to be a payoff in order for and “oh shit” to land, and it just feels like another small piece of evidence and clue. like, we knew something fucked happened to her, and you didn’t reveal what actually happened, so there’s no real progress. might be another “i dont know what that spiral is” for all we know
- people are within arms reach of the audio of a woman dying and theyre like “another day at the office!”
- seems really fucked up no one can play hockey still
- yeah everyone has to resort to ice fishing which is the only other pastime up there
- Heres your hockey rink back. sorry about the dead guys
- what was the deal with Lund talking to Navarro at the end? supernatural? hallucination? also if the makers of True Detective are reading this, I do love what you’re doing with this season but I just think that the voice you chose for him was just not quite the vibe. he sounded like yoda and it detracted from the scene a little
- Definitely seemed like some sort of possession to me
- that’s so bluntly supernatural for true detective, i’m not sure how i feel about it
- Yeah, the voice and the sfx make up had real The Exorcist vibes
- what if instead he slowly stood up, looked Navarro in the eyes with his creepy blue stare, and said “waaaaazzzzzzzaaaaaaaaa” and then died
- Before he got possessed(?) he was twisting and shouting a lot. Another reference to Twist and Shout?
- If the closed captions are to be believed, Twist and Shout was played several times throughout that episode but it was so low in the mix I wouldn’t have known
- Definitely seemed like some sort of possession to me
- you guys think that danvers looking a long time at the fridge after putting the chicken back in had any relevance? my only thought was maybe it smelled off and it was related to the bad water but that feels wrong
- i thought it was a turkey at first and figured maybe it’s a reference to how friggin UNHINGED Danvers is, making Thanksgiving food on CHRISTMAS
- but then my wife told me it was chicken
- she was looking for her orange
- That was one of the places where Twist and Shout was playing, according to the captions, so I think there’s something to it
- i thought it was a turkey at first and figured maybe it’s a reference to how friggin UNHINGED Danvers is, making Thanksgiving food on CHRISTMAS
- i think danvers is a fan of ariana grande and trying to cover up her fandom, perhaps because of ariana’s recent controversy
- Hates the Beatles, loves Ariana
- can’t wait for Pete Davidson to show up
- Drinking a smartwater
- can’t wait for Pete Davidson to show up
- Hates the Beatles, loves Ariana
- one very odd detail was that the Boy Cop said something to his wife about how she wants to be a doctor and she corrected him saying she is in nursing school. this is an INSANE mistake to make
- Thank you for calling him Boy Cop. I also cannot remember his name for the life of me
- what if a cop was just a boy?
- And he’s just had a lot on his mind okay??
- what if a cop was just a boy?
- next episode he’s gonna be like “relax!! im sure your pharmacist exam went fine”
- The scariest part of the whole show was the prospect of taking an exam on your computer at 7 am
- one time in college I took an exam online and it just didn’t go through when i pressed send. so i had to take it a SECOND time and i got a worse grade and it didn’t go through a second time. then i had to go to the professor’s office and take the exam in person. got an even worse grade
- that’s scarier than any episode of this show
- but then, jeremy straightened his back, dusted off his shoulders and decided to do the whole class again. he studied hard, learned everything there was to learn, and took the exam a final time. got the worst grade yet
- one time in college I took an exam online and it just didn’t go through when i pressed send. so i had to take it a SECOND time and i got a worse grade and it didn’t go through a second time. then i had to go to the professor’s office and take the exam in person. got an even worse grade
- Thank you for calling him Boy Cop. I also cannot remember his name for the life of me
- “how’d you know where to find me?”
“you weren’t home, and i know you”
feels like maybe we could have not done these lines to me- i also wasn’t entirely sure on where she was??
- i have no idea where they were. it looked like maybe a frozen wreckage of a boat or something? could have been explained if one of them had given a nice way to tie it to the characters, perhaps in making it a frequent hiding place
- i have got to assume this is something they’re going to explain in the next episode, because i really did try to use some context clues on what was happening there and i had nothing
- there was really nothing nearby, it was like a liminal space
- i have got to assume this is something they’re going to explain in the next episode, because i really did try to use some context clues on what was happening there and i had nothing
- i have no idea where they were. it looked like maybe a frozen wreckage of a boat or something? could have been explained if one of them had given a nice way to tie it to the characters, perhaps in making it a frequent hiding place
- i also wasn’t entirely sure on where she was??
- it’s very interesting to me that they referenced Netflix this episode. I remember there was a Vulture article a few years ago about how almost every stand-up comedian says the word “Netflix” in their Netflix special. I guess Netflix is just THE tv watching channel now? would it have felt weird to say HBO on a show that airs on HBO? I dunno! but I found it interesting
- I agree, and at the same time it wouldn’t have hit the same if she just said “I watch TV”. Feels like Netflix is just the new standard default
- netflix must be really fucking happy about that
- i had the same thought. there’s no way apple would let an apple tv show mention a different streaming service
- the showrunner would get 3 days in the torture chamber at the center of that apple building that’s a circle
- i had the same thought. there’s no way apple would let an apple tv show mention a different streaming service
- netflix must be really fucking happy about that
- “i watch netflix when im bored. and it SUCKS. they took away all the good movies”
- she should have said Tubi
- I agree, and at the same time it wouldn’t have hit the same if she just said “I watch TV”. Feels like Netflix is just the new standard default
- Re Wheeler: if you have closed captions on it said that what he whistled was twist and shout, which I absolutely would not have gotten
- is twist and shout quite literally tied to the actual events
- It seems to be tied to Danvers’ son
- that does add some flavor to her intro scene beating the shit out of the room until she found the way to turn it off. it played like a “good detective willing to do some damage to get the job done” scene initially but there’s more emotional weight behind it now
- It seems to be tied to Danvers’ son
- is twist and shout quite literally tied to the actual events
- ok, so some things that felt important from this episode: Navarro talking about how her mom never told her her Iñupiaq name. and then her not knowing it when they went to talk to Oliver. we also know that Annie’s tongue was identified as belonging to an Inuit woman because of the marks on it showing she would lick the ends of string/catgut for skinning/fishing, which they showed briefly when the detectives showed up at the nomad camp. we also know that Danvers is trying very hard to keep her daughter away from her Inuit roots, which they touched on again when she told her to wipe the kakiniit off her chin and when Danvers got so mad at her for going to the rally.
- right after she tells her daughter to remove the kakiniit, it cuts to Danvers looking at a photo of Annie’s corpse, which I guess is meant to imply she’s scared her daughter will be killed for being indigenous
- i definitely think she’s being cruel about forcing her not to show her culture “in order to protect her,” and i think it’s likely she’s more than passively aware of what that danger might be. after her daughter accuses her of not caring about the stillborn child, and she visits them, she has a lady macbeth moment with the water in the bathroom. additionally, her husband was killed, navarros mother was killed, annie was killed– there’s very much a pattern in ennis
- oh good call with lady macbeth
- Was that a Lady Macbeth moment? I thought the water was just dirty because the mine was poisoning it, which they mention during the rally
- yeah I feel like it’s kinda opposite of Lady Macbeth
- I am interpreting “lady macbeth moment to mean it was imagined and not literal but I may be misinterpreting
- oh, for sure that’s what the text is– i think that it’s serving double duty, though, either because she feels guilty for “protecting” the mine or because of something we’re not yet aware of. i don’t think it’s imagined, more just a guilty moment framed by dirty hand washing and anxiety
- i thought part of it too was her young kid being killed, and just the idea of the stillborn and facing child death again was a bit too much for her
- yes, i think that’s what brought her in there
- it’s kind of funny that lady macbeth is just called “lady macbeth”. like how they just add lady to the front of macbeth’s name. it’s just like ms. pac man
- real Dr. Girlfriend vibes
- i definitely think she’s being cruel about forcing her not to show her culture “in order to protect her,” and i think it’s likely she’s more than passively aware of what that danger might be. after her daughter accuses her of not caring about the stillborn child, and she visits them, she has a lady macbeth moment with the water in the bathroom. additionally, her husband was killed, navarros mother was killed, annie was killed– there’s very much a pattern in ennis
- right after she tells her daughter to remove the kakiniit, it cuts to Danvers looking at a photo of Annie’s corpse, which I guess is meant to imply she’s scared her daughter will be killed for being indigenous
- also oliver (the hunter/scientist) being an inupiaq is interesting since before it seemed like all the scientists were outsiders
- for what it’s worth, i believe inupiaq is the language and inupiat is the name of the people
- ah okay got it
- i feel like we’re going to get some backstory in the next episode or two on why Oliver left. but it also did feel a little like they were just throwing in this extra character to create a little more connection between the town and the station
- ah okay got it
- for what it’s worth, i believe inupiaq is the language and inupiat is the name of the people
- “‘do your fucking job,’ that’s all he gets?” well he also got humiliated in front of his son by having a bunch of shit poured on him and professional repercussions with a negligence report
- yeah i am having a hard time following that plotline. she’s the chief of police, right? there’s like 4 people in the police department, and one of them is very obviously sabotaging everything.
- feels weird for him to get away with it when there’s not any institutional force protecting him at all
- i think it’s like, danvers is a liiiiittle bit protecting him through inertia. he is remarkably shitty at his job though, and not likeable and everything. the one feather they’ve given him competency-wise is being able to rile up townsfolk though, which could serve as a half-explanation for why it’s better to have him on the police force than have him as an enemy outside it. i don’t know as it sells for me though
- feels weird for him to get away with it when there’s not any institutional force protecting him at all
- yeah i am having a hard time following that plotline. she’s the chief of police, right? there’s like 4 people in the police department, and one of them is very obviously sabotaging everything.
- i can’t stop thinking about how the cops have such nice gear
- gettin those federal military equipment grants
- i just mean like the jackets and stuff! i’m going skiing next week lol maybe that’s why. they just look very warm
- navarro’s STATE TROOPER beanie lookin Cleaaaan
- i just mean like the jackets and stuff! i’m going skiing next week lol maybe that’s why. they just look very warm
- gettin those federal military equipment grants
That’s it! Thank you for hanging out with us while we discussed episode three of True Detective: Night Country. Check in with us next week to read our discussion on episode four. Click here for the rest of our True Detective discussion threads. Feel free to drop a comment below to keep the convo going!
Participants:
- Kevin Flynn, he/him, Writer (Hard Drive, The Onion)
- Anica, they/she, Comedian and TTRPG performer
- Christine Nyland, she/her, Filmmaker (Summoners, Distress Signals, An Unquiet Grave)
- Leon Chang, he/him, Musician (Bird World, Return to Bird World, Leon Mode)
- Andy Holt, he/him, Writer (Hard Drive)
- Phil Jamesson, he/him, Writer (Dibs Next Co-Creator)
- Jeremy Kaplowitz, he/him, Writer (Dibs Next Co-Creator)
COMMENTS.
One response to “True Detective: Night Country S4E3 “Part 3” — Post-Episode Discussion Thread — Dibs Texts”
my theory is there some pain maudit shit going on. like, the things the scientists dug up somehow got mixed with the chemicals at the plant and are causing people to lose their minds. I’m guessing the scientists dug up something that used to be used by native spiritual leaders to commune with nature, and that got corrupted by the mine stuff and now everyone’s having the worst trip ever. I think maybe Annie gave her boyfriend some of that stuff when they were together, so he had a relationship with its effects and that’s what brought him here. people keep seeing the things they’re vulnerable to, like Danvers hearing her kid, and Navarro hearing a spirit refer to her mom, who she had unfinished business with, and Annie’s bf saying they woke her up.
as for the video, I’m guessing Annie found whatever it is that the mine is putting in the water and the mine people got to her while she was filming the video.
as for Prior, I think he’s garden variety resentful of being led by a woman, and I also think it’s hard to recruit people into the police up there, so Danvers can’t afford to let him go. also she may be thinking of Prior (Boy Cop) and thinking that any money she gives Hank will go to his grandson (instead of the mail-order russian scammer bride).
great post as per folks