TRUE DETECTIVE season one was a massive hit for HBO, while season two…had angles that worked for it…in the right light. So the show's reputation is mixed right now, and for a while, we didn’t think season three would happen. But now we are happy to report the third season of the crime series is officially a go at HBO, with Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali leading the cast.
The show’s return was almost assured a few months ago, but word is HBO was waiting for a director to come aboard and man the ship, and they found one in GREEN ROOM director Jeremy Saulnier. The filmmaker will be joining series creator and writer Nic Pizzolatto in directing the season, with Pizzolatto making his directorial debut.
The premise of the show was also revealed, and the story will supposedly follow a crime that takes place in the Ozarks, the mystery of which will deepen and unravel as it takes place over decades and three separate time periods. Ali will play Wayne Hays, a state police detective from Northwest Arkansas. Pizzolatto is the sole writer of the show (except for episode 4, which he co-wrote with David Milch), and is still writing the season as we speak. He is done with five episodes with more to come (previous seasons had 8).
The first season of the show is an absolute mind-f@ck, and totally genius, while I’m having a hard time even remembering the second. This season has a lot of goodwill to make up for in the minds of audiences, but Ali is a remarkable talent and Saulnier’s GREEN ROOM packed a real wallop, so seeing what the two come up with should be a real treat. Here’s to everyone involved, and hopefully, this is a ray of sunshine and not a final nail in the coffin.