Evangeline Navarro is a character in True Detective: Night Country.
History[]
Birth and Childhood[]
Navarro was born in Boston to a mother from Alaska. She and her sister were raised there until Navarro was fifteen, at which point their mother left their abusive father and took them with her. Eventually, they ended up back in Alaska, where Navarro's mother disappeared one day and was murdered, a case that was never solved.[1]
Annie Kowtok's Arrest and Death[]
Navarro went to a birthing center one day to arrest Annie Kowtok, who was accused of trespassing and destruction of private property. Annie refused to go until Grace's baby was delivered safely and even put Navarro to work helping. After the baby was born, she wasn't breathing, so Annie did CPR until she started crying and then gave the baby to Grace and handed her care over to the doulas. Then she offered her arms up to Navarro to arrest her.[1]
When Annie was found stabbed 32 times and her tongue cut out, Navarro become obsessed with the case to the point where she was taken off it.[2]
Wheeler Case[]
Navarro and Danvers worked together on the case of William Wheeler, who had a long criminal history and started seeing an 18 year old woman after being released from prison. He was abusive, but the police were unable to do anything about it. One day, they got a call and Navarro and Danvers arrived to find that Wheeler had killed his girlfriend.[1] Navarro and Danvers then killed Wheeler and staged it to look like a suicide, even flipping the forensic photos of his victim to make it appear Wheeler was right-handed to match the bullet wound on the right side of his face.[3]
Disappearance of the Scientists[]
When Navarro learned that a severed tongue had been discovered at Tsalal Arctic Research Station, where all the scientists had just disappeared, she immediately went to Danvers, sure the tongue was Annie's, as hers was never found. Danvers insisted that it wasn't and tried to dissuade Navarro from looking into it more deeply.
Navarro went to talk to Annie's brother, Ryan, who admitted that they had a strained relationship as she was protesting the mine and he was a miner. Navarro had to leave this conversation to go tend to her sister, Julia, who believe someone was in her apartment, despite the door being bolted from the inside and the windows shut. Julia reminded Navarro that she promised no hospitals, but Navarro said she needed to make sure Julia was okay.
Navarro then met up with Eddie Qavvik and the two of them had sex. Eddie tried to get her to stay afterward, but she left, saying she needed to get to the alcohol depot. While she was driving, Navarro's phone signal cut out and she heard someone saying, "She's awake," and then saw a polar bear in the road in front of her. After a moment, the bear walked away.
Navarro went to Tsalal, where Danvers found her and agreed to let her look around, despite her not being on the case. When they started to suspect a connection between Annie and scientist Raymond Clark, Navarro took a picture of him to show to Annie's loved ones. While they were there, Danvers got a call informing her that Rose Aguineau had found the scientists' bodies buried in ice, though Rose insisted that Travis Cohle was the one who found them, despite Travis being dead. They were all frozen solid with their mouths open[2]
Navarro stood with Rose and watched from a distance as they started examining the corpses. Rose told Navarro to leave, but Navarro said she couldn't because it was tied to Annie's case, so Rose told Navarro to come see her later.
At Rose's, Rose told Navarro how she started seeing Travis after his death. When Navarro told her about Julia, Rose warned her not to mistake the spirit world for mental illness and said it sounded like Julia needed treatment. Navarro said that Julia had been in treatment before but hated being heavily medicated. As Navarro left, Rose drew the spiral symbol in the snow and Navarro asked her about it. Rose said it was older than Ennis.
Navarro then went to Qavvik's to see Ryan. She showed him the picture of Clark, but he said if Annie was seeing Clark, she never introduced him to Ryan. Their conversation was interrupted by Chuck Mosley, who was angry with Navarro for bringing Annie's case back up. She showed Chuck the photo of Clark and Chuck denied knowing him. Then a fight broke out in Qavvik's between a miner and a resident whose water had turned black due to the mine.
Navarro then talk to Qavvik, who said that there was talk of protesting the mine again because of the water. He then asked if she was going to come see him that night, but she said no.
That night, Navarro went to see Chuck, believing he had lied about knowing Clark. When pressed, Chuck admitted that Clark had purchased his cousin's trailer. He said he hadn't told her because he didn't like her, but she believed it was because he was okay with Annie being murdered.
While grocery shopping with Julia, Navarro tried to broach the topic of Julia going to The Lighthouse, only to have Julia outright refuse, begging Navarro to let her live like a normal person, so Navarro relented.
When she went home, Navarro found Danvers in her kitchen. Danvers proposed they work together since their cases were connected and each of them would get what they wanted. Navarro's tried to explain the "Wheeler" thing, only to have Danvers shut it down. She said they'd work together, solve the cases, then never speak again.
After talking to Danvers, Navarro went to see Qavvik, who helped her realize where the trailer might be. She went to the nook and found the missing trailer. She called Danvers and they explored the trailer again, finding animal bones on the table and Annie's phone. While they were looking, they were called back to the ice rink, where enough of the corpses had melted to reveal that someone was missing. They did roll call and realized it was Clark. Navarro believed he was still alive and out there somewhere.[4] As Hank led the search for Clark, Navarro reminded him that they wanted Clark alive, though Hank was less sure of that.
Back at the station, Navarro and Danvers went through the evidence from Clark's trailer and realized someone knew that he and Annie were seeing each other. Through hair dye, Navarro realized it was Susan Ineak. They went to interview Susan, who admitted to knowing about the relationship. She told them how Annie and Clark had met and then she said that she had called the station after Annie's death to report the relationship, but didn't leave her name because she didn't want Navarro to know it was her. She spoke to Hank about it.
Navarro confronted Hank about not telling them about Clark, but he said that Annie dated half the town and he didn't think it was relevant.
Navarro then went to Qavvik to find Olvier Tagaq, whom Susan said had worked as an equipment engineer at Tsalal until right before Annie died. He agreed, but only after she share some information about her childhood with him.
While walking on the ice, Navarro fell and hit her head. She saw Holden Danvers telling her to tell his mommy something. When she woke up, she got a call from Kenny Hogan, who told her Julia had had another episode. She found Julia and brought her home, where she tucked her in on the couch.
Qavvik was able to locate Tagaq and Navarro and Danvers went to a nomad camp to see him. They asked him about Annie, but he refused to talk to them. He became upset when they told him the scientists he'd worked with were dead and held a gun on them to order them out. As they were leaving, Lulu radioed to tell them the hospital called about Lund.
At the hospital, Lund say that they'd woken her and she was awake in the ice. Before he could tell them who, Danvers was called away. Once she was gone, Lund told Navarro that her mother was waiting for her. Then he coded.
While the hospital staff were working on Lund, Pete showed them Annie's phone, which had a video of Annie where she said she found something, then screamed and disappeared.[1]
On Christmas Eve, Navarro got a call telling her to meet Danvers at the police station. She arrived to find Julia there. Danvers had found her on the side of the road, taking off her clothes. Navarro took Julia to The Lighthouse and helped her get admitted. She promised it wouldn't be like the other places and that she'd visit every day.
Navarro and Danvers talked about Annie's video and realized Annie had been killed somewhere and then her body was dumped elsewhere to make a statement. Wanting to find out as much as they could about the ice cave where she was killed, they consulted Adam Bryce, who told them there were actually ice caves in the area, but they were dangerous to get to. He offered to get them the maps, but said they'd need an experienced guide to go safely. He suggested finding the person who had mapped the caves in the first place, Otis Heiss. Danvers recognized the name as a man who had gone to the hospital in 1998 with the same injuries as the scientists.
Navarro then went to see Rose, who had prepared a feast for Christmas Even .She asked Rose about her history, knowing Rose hadn't grown up in Alaska. Rose told her she'd been a serious professor until one day, she decided she'd had enough and moved to Alaska.
On her way out, Navarro called Julia, who said she liked her room. When she got home, Navarro got a call from Danvers, who had realized that someone cut the power in the cave at the end of Annie's video, meaning it had power to cut. The same thing happened in Molina's video. She wanted to pick up Navarro and go see Tagaq, but Navarro knew she'd been drinking and refused, so Danvers had Pete pick Navarro up instead.
They went to the nomad camp, where they found Tagaq had gone. Pitka told them he'd left the day after their first visit. In his home was the spiral written on cardboard as well as a stone with the same symbol.
On the way home, Navarro got a call from the Coast Guard informing her that Julia had drowned in the sea.
Navarro drove out to The Lighthouse and yelled at the nurse, Bob, for letting Julia leave. When she realized he hadn't even known she was gone, she yelled at him that they had a terrible facility and kicked some things before leaving.
On her way back home, Navarro stopped and picked a fight with Ace, who had his friends hold her while he beat her up. Injured, she went to Qavvik's place, where he tended to her wounds and held her while she screamed.
The next day, Navarro went to Danvers' place and told her about Tagaq and Julia's death. She said that there was a family curse. It had taken her mother and sister and now it was calling to her. Danvers told her she didn't have to believe in that stuff. They fought and Navarro left, but Danvers stopped her when she got a picture from Pete of someone who looked like Clark by the dredges.
They went out to the dredges and searched. While Danvers pursued a figure they saw there, Navarro got distracted by the ghost of Julia and followed her. When Danvers found Navarro, she was sitting in front of a Christmas tree and her eardrums were bleeding.[5]
Navarro went to the funeral home, where she watched Lou cremate Julia, then claimed her ashes. Then she went to pick up Danvers, who had learned the location of the cave entrance. They went to the entrance, but found it blown shut, which frustrated Navarro.
Navarro then went to a protest at the mine, where she defended Leah, who was being attacked by another trooper. She called Danvers and took Leah to the station, where Leah was booked in. Navarro then went to talk to Danvers, explaining that the trooper was attacking Leah. She then learned that Danvers was going to be meeting with Kate McKitterick and Connelly, at which she planned to ask them about the mine funding the research station.
Throughout the day, Navarro was haunted by voices and hallucinations. One happened at the laundromat, where she was when Qavvik and Kenny found her and told her that Kenny's grandfather taught him to stay away from the spiral symbol, that hunters used it to mark for other hunters where the ice would swallow you whole. As kids, they would break through the ice on purpose to get into the caves, but when his grandmother found out, she told him the night country would take him.
Armed with that knowledge, Navarro went to Danvers and said she knew how to get into the caves, by breaking through the ice on the top. Danvers said that Connelly had made it clear that they were off the case, because the forensic report blamed the deaths on a slab avalanche. She also told Navarro that Connelly knew what had really happened with William Wheeler. Navarro decided she didn't care and still wanted to find where Annie died. Danvers told her to stop, but Navarro just said that Danvers could start carrying Annie's case with her wherever she went, like Navarro had been doing for years. Angry at Danvers, Navarro then went to Leah's cell and released her.
Navarro went out on the ice with Rose, who used an ice axe to break a hole for Navarro. Navarro poured Julia's ashes in there, saying she wanted to be in the ocean. Then Navarro head a voice calling to her and walked out onto the ice, not realizing what she was doing. When the ice cracked, she realized what she'd done. Rose had her lie down on the ice and then lay down herself. She was able to pull Navarro to safety and then questioned what she was doing.
Navarro went to see Qavvik and climbed into bed behind him. When she got a call from Danvers asking her to meet at her place, Navarro got up and got dressed. She was surprised when Qavvik didn't try to get her to stay, but he simply told her to come back.
When Navarro arrived at Danvers' house, she found that Hank had killed Otis Heiss and then Pete had killed Hank. Danvers tried to call Connelly, but Navarro stopped her, saying Connelly was in on the conspiracy and would use the incident to bury all of them. Instead, they needed to use the information Heiss had given them to get into the cave and stage things to make it look like Hank had killed Heiss and then died in an accident on his way to hide the body. They left Pete behind to clean up the house and take the bodies to Rose.[3]
Navarro and Danvers went out to the point Heiss had pointed out and broke through the ice. Navarro dropped down first and then Danvers once Navarro told her it was safe. Danvers started to follow the path, but followed Navarro when she veered off. They reached a dead end, but before they could retreat, Navarro fell through the ice. Danvers said she would go get help, but then fell through herself. Navarro spotted Raymond Clark and followed him, leading them to a lab with an intricate setup. They realized they were in the exact spot where Annie's video was filmed. They searched the area and found the weapon used to stab Annie. Then they found a hatch that led into Tsalal.
Once in Tsalal, they searched for Clark. Clark trapped Danvers in a freezer using his access badge and then hit Navarro with a fire extinguisher. Danvers was able to break out of the freezer and Navarro woke up as Clark was moving her and attacked him. Danvers stopped Navarro from beating him to death and they taped him to a chair. When he woke up, he refused to talk to them, so they taped headphones to his ears and forced him to listen to Annie's videos while they went to get snacks.
After some time, they went back and Clark finally told them that they not only lied about the pollution the mine was putting out, but encouraged them to produce more as it softened the permafrost and made their research easier. When Annie discovered what they were doing, Lund found her and stabbed her. The other scientists joined in and soon, Annie was dead. Clark left out that he smothered her with his t-shirt after discovering that she wasn't dead after repeatedly being stabbed. When Navarro pulled her gun on Clark, Danvers left the room, surprising Navarro. Instead of killing Clark, Navarro left the room as well. With the lines down and the blizzard raging, they resigned themselves to being stuck for the night. They went back to Clark and asked him how the scientists died. He said it was Annie. They were there when the power went out and then Clark fled for the hatch and held it closed from the underside, to keep Annie from getting him. Frustrated that they weren't getting the answers they wanted, Danvers told Navarro to keep Clark from sleeping to get him to talk. With Danvers gone, Clark asked Navarro to kill him or let him kill himself.
After forcing Clark to record a video of himself confessing to what they were doing and the mine's involvement, she allowed him to go outside and freeze to death. When Danvers found them, she was angry that their only witness was dead. The power in the station had gone out, so they tried to restore it with the generator, but that failed. They huddled around a fire together and Navarro told Danvers about hearing a voice calling to her. Danvers brushed it off as fake and refused to let Navarro tell her what her son told Navarro. Danvers went to bed alone, but then got up later and found Navarro missing. Navarro was walking out onto the ice, but when Danvers fell through the ice, Navarro pulled her out and saved her life. She took Danvers back to the station and warmed her up as much as possible. Danvers then asked Navarro what Holden said. She told Danvers that Holden said he saw her. Then Navarro held Danvers as she cried.
With the storm over, Navarro said they could leave the station. Danvers reminded Navarro that she'd told her years ago that she wanted to walk out and disappear and made her promise to try to come back if she did so. Navarro described her situation as similar to Clark's when he was holding the hatch, like she was stuck underneath. This discussion gave Danvers an idea and they used a UV light to reveal a handprint on the hatch, one missing two fingers, the same two as Blair Hartman. They realized they were asking the wrong question. It wasn't who killed Annie, but who knew who had killed Annie. They went to see Blair and Bee, who said that for six years, they thought that the mine had killed Annie. Then they learned what had really happened. They didn't tell anyone because it's the same story as always and it never changes. So they told themselves a different story, one in which they stormed the station, forced the scientists out into the cold, and left them there for Annie to take or not. At the end, she maintained that it was just a story. Danvers told them that the forensics on the scientists concluded that a slab avalanche had killed them and it was officially a closed case.
Some time after this, Navarro disappeared. There'd been many reported sightings of her, but no concrete evidence. She and Danvers remained in contact and she left Holden's polar bear and her phone with the Clark video at her place for Danvers to find.[6]
Relationships[]
She has a sexual relationship with Eddie Qavvik.[2]
Career[]
She is a state trooper.[2]
Notes and Trivia[]
- She and her sister both love Wannabe by Spice Girls.[4]