- "Some people come to Alaska to escape, you know? Get away from something. Sometimes they come here looking for something. Sometimes they find it."
- ―Liz Danvers
Liz Danvers is a character played by Jodie Foster in True Detective: Night Country. She is the best detective in Ennis.
History[]
Annie's Death[]
When Danvers first came to Ennis, Evangeline Navarro asked her to look into the case of Annie Kowtok, who had been brutally murdered. Danvers did so, without telling Navarro, but was unable to solve it.[1]
Wheeler Case[]
Danvers worked on the William Wheeler case with Navarro. He had a long criminal history and started dating an 18 year old, whom he abused. One day, they got a call and arrived to find her dead. The case caused a rift between Danvers and Navarro that lasted until the Tsalal case.[2]
Scientists' Disappearance[]
Danvers was called to Tsalal Arctic Research Station when the eight scientists living there were reported missing. She, Hank, and Pete looked around the station for clues and found a severed human tongue, which Danvers immediately knew to belong to a Native woman, and a white board declaring, "WE ARE ALL DEAD." Danvers had Pete look into the history and funding of the station to look for potential connections. She wanted to start searching for the scientists immediately, while Hank worried about the families finding out and being upset. She had Hank contact the morgue to see if they had any tongue-less bodies.
Back at the station, Navarro was waiting for Danvers in her office. Danvers, knowing that Navarro had heard about the tongue, immediately insisted it wasn't Annie's. Navarro was upset that Danvers never seriously looked into the case, unaware that she actually had, but hadn't been able to solve it.
From there, Danvers went to pick up her stepdaughter, Leah, who had been caught making a sex tape with her girlfriend, Sheri, by Sheri's mother, who yelled at Danvers about it. Denvers then lectured Leah for making the video, informing her that things don't always stay private even if they start that way. While they were driving, they nearly got into an accident with Stacy Chalmers, who was driving drunk and with a suspended license. Denvers arrested her.
Back at the station, Danvers stopped Hank from releasing Stacy before she sobered up and asked him for Annie's file, knowing it was at his place, though he denied it. She called Pete and asked him to go retrieve the file from his father's house. He did so and brought it to Danvers' home, where Danvers told him about the case and her involvement in it.
That night, Leah tried to talk to Danvers about Stacy's drunk driving and the night that Holden died, but Danvers refused to talk about it. That night, she heard someone saying, "She's awake," and got up out of bed. She printed out everything she had on the case and began searching through it. She noticed that one of the scientists, Raymond Clark, was wearing a coat that Annie had worn. When Annie had it, it had a small tear on one shoulder and Clark wore it with a patch over the tear.
Danvers went back to Taslal, where she found Navarro looking around. They searched Clark's room together and Danvers told Navarro what she knew. Danvers warned Navarro not to let the case sink her again, but Navarro brushed off her concern. While they were talking, Danvers got a call from Pete telling them that Rose Aguineau had found the scientists' bodies buried in ice. They arrived to find them all frozen solid with their mouths open.[3] They started examining the corpses and taking pictures. Danvers became upset that people weren't taking the scene seriously. While they were working, Trooper Willson accidentally broke off Lund's arm, revealing that he was still alive when he started screaming in pain. Lund was taken to the hospital, where they said they'd have to amputate at least one of his legs. He was in an induced coma, meaning it would be at least another day before Danvers could speak to him.
Danvers went to go see Adam Bryce, dismissed his class, and asked him what the scientists were working on. He said they were trying to sequence the DNA of an extinct microorganism that could potentially stop cellular delay, but he said it would never work because the permafrost caused too much damage to the DNA. While they were talking, Lulu radioed Danvers and told her to come to the station.
At the station, Danvers saw Ted Connelly, who then pressured Danvers to send the case to Anchorage. Danvers refused and cited a law that said frozen bodies should not be manipulated any more than necessary until they were fully defrosted, which would take two days. To aid this, Danvers went to Kate McKitterick and got her to agree to let them use the ice rink to defrost the bodies. Kate agreed, but said she was doing so because she loved the down, not for Danvers.
While they examined the bodies, they tried to find explanations for the injuries they saw. The clothes also didn't match the bodies, as they didn't have enough for everyone. Pete was able to use Molina's body to unlock his phone using facial recognition and found a video of Molina making a sandwich that showed Clark in the background acting strangely right before the video cut out.
Danvers then interviewed Beatrice Malee and Janice, who cleaned the station. They both said the scientists were weird and reclusive, especially Clark.
That night, Danvers forced Pete to stay and watch the bodies defrost, even though he'd promised to put Darwin to bed. Then she went to Pete's house to pick up Leah and was upset that Kalik had drawn kakinitt on Leah's face. She ordered Leah to wash it off, but Leah refused.
That night, Danvers started to put out Christmas decorations, but found herself haunted by memories of her son, so she went to see Connelly for sex. After they finished, she said it would be the last time, something they'd been saying for 19 years. He tried to get her to send the case to anchorage again, but she got dressed and left when he started to threaten her over it.
From there, she reviewed Clark's credit records and found the charge for the tattoo on his chest, which matched the symbol on Lund's forehead. She talked to the artist, who sent her the photo he'd used for reference, which showed that Annie had the same tattoo on her back.
Danvers went to Navarro and said that because their cases were connected, they could work together, solve both, then never speak to each other again. Navarro tried to explain the "Wheeler" thing, but Danvers shut it down and said they weren't doing that.
While reviewing Clark's research, which had odd drawings handwritten on them, Danvers got a call from Navarro, who had something for her to see. Navarro had found Clark's trailer, which he used to hide his relationship with Annie. The trailer contained animal bones, Annie's phone, and two figures on the bed that looked like an adult and baby. While they were in the trailer, Pete called Danvers and said they had a problem.
Back at the ice rink. Pete said there were only six bodies. They did roll call and realized Clark was missing. Navarro said she believed he was alive and out there somewhere.[4]
Danvers was irritated when Hank used civilians to search for Clark and ordered him to get them out. When Pete asked about her last case with Navarro, Danvers told him about the Wheeler case, but lied and said that Wheeler shot himself before they arrived.
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 got upset when Danvers went easy on Hank and left. Pete then said he had a cousin who was a large animal vet that could possibly come look at the bodies before they were sent to Anchorage, as their forensic tech was delayed by weather.
Danvers was upset to learn that Leah had gone to a meeting of people protesting the miner. She forced Leah to remove her kakiniit and warned her against protesting the mine, saying it was dangerous.
The next day, Vince, Pete's cousin, looked over the bodies and said he believed they died before they were frozen. Freezing to death is peaceful and they looked more like animals he'd seen scared to death.
Qavvik, at Navarro's urging, 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 to break up a fight between the cops and the hunters who were involved with the search for Clark. When she returned to Lund's room, he was coding.
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.[2]
On Christmas Eve, Pete informed Danvers that the bodies were being moved to Anchorage and Connelly was there to supervise. Danvers wanted to go in and supervise herself, but as she drove there, she came across Julia, who was stripping off her clothes and walking alongside the road. Danvers wrapped a coat around her and drove her to the station, where Navarro met them and thanked her.
Danvers then talked to Pete, who found someone with similar injuries to the scientists, Otis Heiss, who had been admitted to the hospital in April 1998. She had him extend the search for Clark to include searching for Otis as well. She also fought with Connelly, who promised he wasn't there to take the case away from her.
Danvers talked to Navarro about the video and informed her there were no ice caves in the area, meaning Annie was killed in one place and then dumped somewhere else to send a message. That gave Danvers the idea to consult with Bryce, who told them there were actually ice caves in the area, but they were a death trap and were closed after several accidents. Even with the maps, which he offered to get them, they would need an experienced guide to go safely. He suggested contacting the person who mapped the caves in the first place and found out it was Otis Heiss.
After talking to Bryce, Danvers got a call from Kate, who told her to come to the mine offices immediately. Danvers arrived and learned that Leah had gotten caught spray painting MURDERERS on the mining office doors. Danvers said she'd have someone come and clean it up. Kate wanted to press charges, but Danvers told her not to ruin Leah's life because she was mad at Danvers.
On the way home, Danvers and Leah argued as Leah believed that Danvers always sided with the miners over her. When they got home, Leah gathered her things and left to go to the Priors' despite Danvers saying she was going to make a turkey. Without Leah there, Danvers threw the turkey in the trash and started drinking. While watching Annie's video, Danvers realized it cut out right at the end in the same way as Molina's video, meaning someone cut the power. She talked to Navarro and said maybe Tagaq powered the ice cave. She wanted to go talk to him, but Navarro realized she was drunk and told her not to drive, so Danvers had Pete pick up Navarro to talk to him instead.
Danvers got frustrated looking over the case documents and drove to see Connelly despite being drunk. Instead of having sex, like she'd planned, they argued and he told her that no one wanted to work with her because she was still a mess after Pete and Holden. Connelly tried to stop her from leaving because she was still drunk, but she pushed him off and left.
On her way home, Danvers swerved to avoid a polar bear in the road and hit a snow bank. The polar bear looked at her through the window and then left.
On Christmas morning, Navarro came to Danvers and said Tagaq was gone when they got there, but had left a stone with the spiral on it. Navarro told her also that Julia had died by drowning after intentionally walking into the sea. She believed the family had a curse and it was coming for her. Danvers told her she could choose not to believe in that and they fought. Navarro went to leave, but Pete sent Danvers a picture of someone wearing Clark's coat by the dredges, which Danvers showed to Navarro to keep her from leaving.
They went out to the dredges to look for Clark. They heard someone moving, so Danvers followed him. She finally cornered him in a room and saw that it was not Clark, but Otis Heiss. She asked him where he got the coat and he said that Clark had gone back to hide. He was in the night country, as they all were.[5]
Heiss was checked in to The Lighthouse. Danvers went to question him, but was told she only had ten minutes as he was still in withdrawal. She asked him about his injuries from 30 years ago and how he survived. He said he didn't know and didn't know where Clark was either. She showed him a map of the cave system and he warned her not to go alone because the caves collapse. She told him he was going to guide her. He offered to do so in exchange for heroin, which she refused to get him. He refused to answer any more of her questions.
Danvers and Navarro went to the cave entrance, but were frustrated to find it blown closed.
Connelly called Danvers and told her that Kate wanted to have a meeting with her about the protests, even though that wasn't her jurisdiction. She was surprised when Connelly said he'd also be at the meeting. Danvers then got a call from Navarro, telling her Leah had been injured at the mine protest. She had Navarro bring Leah to the station to have her booked in.
Danvers then went to Pete to ask if he knew Leah was going to the protest. He told her he didn't and he wasn't even living at home. Then he showed her he'd traced the station's funding back to the mine. So the mine was funding the station and the station put out environmental reports covering up the damage that the mine was doing to the town.
Danvers talked to Navarro and told her about the meeting and the funding, which she wanted to ask Kate about. At the meeting, Danvers tried to talk to Kate about the funding, but Kate brushed her off, saying she'd look into it, but didn't feel there was anything wrong with what they were doing. Then Connelly said it was no longer a murder investigation because forensics were back on the scientists and they said a slab avalanche had killed them. He declared the case closed and used the William Wheeler case, which he knew wasn't a murder-suicide, to threaten her into silence.
When Navarro came to Danvers and said she knew how to get them into the caves by breaking through the ice at the highest point, Danvers told her it was over and told her everything Connelly had told her. Navarro still wanted to find out what had happened to Annie, but Danvers told her Connelly had leverage against them. Navarro was angry and told Danvers she would carry Annie with her like Navarro had done for years.
Danvers went to the Prior house, where she talked to Leah. Leah said that everything Annie K protested against was still happening. It led to nine stillbirths in three months. Danvers asked Leah to come home for New Year's. Leah didn't answer that request, but said she hadn't given up on Danvers yet.
Danvers went to the cemetery and talked to the caretaker, who showed her the bodies, which were being stored until the ground thawed enough to dig graves. Among them were several baby-sized coffins.
Danvers went to the evidence room and found a bag of heroin, which she took with her. Then she confronted Pete, who had a weak password on his computer which allowed Hank to find out that he was looking into the Wheeler case, information that Hank passed on to Connelly. She had Pete ask the right questions about the case, which revealed that they'd killed Wheeler and staged it to look like a murder-suicide, even flipping all the images of his victim to make it look like a right-handed person had attacked her to match the bullet wound on the right side of Wheeler's face. Danvers said that Pete was smart and needed to learn when to stop asking questions. Then she gave him the key to the shack in her backyard and told him he couldn't stay at Hank's anymore.
Danvers took the heroin to Heiss and used it to get him to come with her. She took him back to her house, where she pointed him to the bathroom and told him not to make a mess. She made him point out the highest point on the map before giving him the heroin.
While Heiss was in the bathroom, Hank came to Danvers' place and said he was there to arrest Heiss on an outstanding warrant on orders from Connelly. When Danvers questioned that and went to call Connelly to check, Hank pulled out his gun. When Heiss came to investigation, Hank held the gun on him. Danvers tried to step in to stop Hank, but Hank blamed her for turning his son against him. When Heiss tried to leave, Hank shot him. Then he pointed his gun at Danvers to get her to back off so he could shoot Heiss in the head, killing him. Pete entered, investigating the noise, and pointed his gun at Hank. Hank tried to get Pete to help him hide Heiss's body, while Danvers pleaded with Pete to think about what he was about to do. Hank confessed that while he didn't kill Annie K, he did move her body. Then he told Pete that "blood is blood" and cautioned him to remember that. When he started to raise his gun at Danvers, Pete shot him in the head, killing him.
Navarro arrived soon after and Danvers said she was going to call Connelly, but Navarro stopped her, saying Connelly was in on the conspiracy and if they called him, he would use it to bury all of them. Instead, she proposed cleaning up the house, then making it look like Hank killed Heiss and got into an accident on his way to hide the body. She also said they needed to leave right away to go to the caves, so Pete offered to stay behind and clean, over Danvers' objection that he shouldn't have to do that. He insisted and Navarro told him to clean well then take the bodies to Rose. Then she and Danvers left.[6]
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.
Danvers tried to sleep, but woke suddenly after dreaming about Holden. She realized the power was out in the station, making it extremely cold. Danvers then searched for Navarro and Clark. She found them outside, with Clark frozen to death and was angry that their only witness was dead. They tried to restore power with the generator, but that failed, so 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, which she broke believing Holden was under it, 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 Navarro left Holden's polar bear and her phone with a video of Clark confessing to the station's research and the mine's involvement at her place for Danvers to find. Danvers leaked the video, but refused to tell anyone who had done it.
On May 12, two agents questioned Danvers about Hank and Navarro's disappearances. She lied about both cases and covered up what had been done. They asked how she'd deal with the political unrest and she told them that wasn't her job. The town existed before the mine, before there was even Alaska. And she would just keep doing her job as always.
With the case in the past, Danvers and Leah were able to develop a much closer relationship.[7]
Relationships[]
She was married to Jake Peterson.
When she was seven, her mother died. Her father told her if she prayed, her mother would be okay, so she prayed so much that she couldn't walk at the funeral due to the bruises on her knees.[5]