Part 1

Part 1 is the first episode of the fourth season of True Detective and twenty-fifth overall episode. It first aired January 14, 2024 on HBO.

Synopsis[]

When eight researchers at Tsalal Station suddenly disappear, Danvers (Jodie Foster) orders a search but tempers expectations of finding the men. After handling a workplace dispute and checking-in on her sister Julia (Aka Niviâna), Navarro (Kali Reis) tries to convince a skeptical Danvers (Foster) that the men's disappearance is connected to the murder of local activist Annie Kowtok, a case that has long gone cold.

Summary[]

Alaska. 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle
December 17. The last sunset of the year

Dominic Pitka pulls out a gun and looks through the sight at a group of caribou. As the sun sets, the caribou start screeching and then running. They jump off a cliff.

Tsalal Arctic Research Station
68°65 N, 165°35 W

Ralph Emerson takes a bag of popcorn out of the microwave and pours it into a bowl, then sits down to watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Facundo Molina comes in looking for his phone, but Emerson hasn't seen it. Molina finds it on a desk nearby.

Molina walks down the hallway and passes Anton Kotov. In the gym, Li Jie is running on a treadmill.

Kotov walks into a room and asks Anders Lund if there's new data. Lund says no, it's the same.

Veer Mehta comes into the laundry room and puts down his basket, but Lucas Merens says it's too late because he's already finished. Veer says it's Merens' turn this week.

Molina is recording himself on his phone, speaking Spanish as he makes a sandwich. As he presents the sandwich to the camera, Raymond Clark starts convulsing and Molina checks on him. Clark turns and says, "She's awake." Suddenly, the power goes out.

December 20.
3rd day of night

Bill Wallis drives to Tsalal and parks. He calls for Emerson, saying his stuff is there, but gets no response, even when he says the goodies are there. He hauls things inside complaining about no one helping him. Once inside, he asks for help with the stuff and says he needs a signature before he can leave. He finds Ferris Bueller still playing and Emerson's snack and drink sitting on the table. Back in the kitchen, he sees Molina's sandwich. He drops his keys and when he bends to pick them up, he sees a severed tongue on the floor.

At a crab plant, Evangeline Navarro comments that there's not a lot of crab and the manager confirms that it's been a bad year. Every year gets worse. He asks where the ambulance is and Navarro tells him it's coming, but she was closer. A crowd has gathered and the manager sends them all back to work. They come to Ace, who is collapsed on the floor. Bee says he's just took drunk to get up. When asked, Bee says that Ace hit Blair Hartman and then Bee hit Ace. Blair has a laceration to her face and Bee is holding ice on it. Navarro asks if Bee hit him with a bucket. Bee doesn't answer and just asks Navarro for her name and asks who her Aaka is. Navarro asks again if she hit him with a bucket. Bee says she did and asks if she'll be arrested for it. The manager starts to say yes, but Navarro dismisses him so she can speak to Bee and Blair privately. Once he's gone, Navarro asks for the real story. Blair explains that Ace was hitting her, so she moved out, but he didn't like that. She moved in with Bee. Navarro notices that Blair is missing part of two fingers and asks if Ace did that, but it was an on the job injury. It's common in their line of work. Ace finally wakes up and tries to attack Bee, but Navarro stops him and arrests him when Blair says she'll press charges. Navarro answers her ringing phone, but says she can't talk.

Liz Danvers arrives at Tsalal. She asks if Hank Prior has ever been there before and he makes a joke to tell her no. There are no vehicles missing from the station. He says it's only the third day of darkness and it's already getting weird.

Danvers and Hank enter the station and follow the sound to the television, still playing Ferris Bueller. Peter Prior is on a computer as they walk in and tells Danvers they can't turn the TV off, but they've covered it with a blanket. There are no buttons and they can't find a remote. He says none of the cabinets open, but Danvers finds one that does. She hits the DVD player until the movie stops and then says she's not a Beatles fan. Pete explains that the supply guy found the station empty and called it in. The scientists' last contact with town was a week ago. Lulu is contacting the families, but they're all over the world, so it's taking a while. Danvers asks who pays for the place and Pete guesses its government grants, but says he'll check. Danvers finds her glasses and checks out the scene. It's like they left to use the bathroom and just never came back. Pete says the station has been operating for 18 years, researching the geology, biology, and impacts of climate change on the arctic.

They explore the station and find everything is as if people were there. Pete reads profiles on Emerson, a geologist, Kotov, a geophysicist, Jie, a geobiologist, Clark, a paleomicrobiologist, Merens, an environmental chemist, Molina and Mehta, biophysicists, and Lund, the founder-director and a structural biologist. Eight men who live there all year long, all alone. Danvers asks what they're looking for and Pete thinks it's the origin of life. As Danvers looks around, she finds a white board that says "WE ARE ALL DEAD."

Pete has the cell phones he could find lined up. There are five. Danvers wonders who leaves their cell phone behind, but there isn't much of a signal, or anything else, outside the station. Danvers asks for the cell phone records and the radio log. Danvers wants to start the search, but Hank says word will spread and the families will be upset. He suggests holding off for a bit in case they're just out for some geeky expedition. She says she doesn't want to do that because the sandwich on the counter is at least a few days old and the clothes in the washer stink. They check out the tongue, which is starting to discolor. It's human and has marks from a repetitive behavior. She reminds him of the Native auntie they found frozen solid a few years ago who had the same marks. It's from licking the thread when you fix the fishing nets. The tongue belongs to a Native woman. They have to wait for the lab to see if she was dead or alive when her tongue was removed. Danvers asks Hank to contact central to see if they have a tongue-less woman in the morgue, but he doesn't react, so she tells Pete to do it. That alerts Hank, who calls Central.

Rose Aguineau listens to the radio as she disembowels a dead wolf. She hears some unusual noises and the broadcast is interrupted by a voice asking if anyone is there. She greets Travis, whom she sees standing in the distance, and asks what he wants.

Danvers enters the police station and greets Lulu, who is explaining that she doesn't speak Spanish and she's trying to reach Molina's family to see if he's called them. She gives Danvers a message and says someone's in her office just as Danvers sees Navarro waiting there. She immediately tells Navarro it's not "her" tongue. It's been six years. Navarro wants to see the tongue, but Danver reminds her she's not on the case anymore. She's a trooper. Navarro knows it's an Inupiaq woman's tongue. She's upset that Danvers never looked into the case and has brushed her off like she's nothing. Pete comes in as Navarro leaves and asks what she was talking about. Danvers sends him to look at cold case files, specifically the one on Anne Masu Kowtok. Danvers takes a call from Kerri Gillard, the mother of Sheri, who is in Leah's class. Danvers tries to hang up, but Kerri says she needs to talk to her right away.

Danvers and Kerri argue outside while Leah watches from the car. Danvers then gets into the car with Leah, who tries to deny the allegations. Danvers says she thought Leah was smarter than that. Videos like that end up on porn sites. Leah says they didn't post it. Sheri's mom took her phone and freaked out. It was just for them. Danvers says people break up and phones get hacked. She's upset because Leah made a video of herself having sex with a fifteen year old girl, a video that Danvers had to watch. They nearly get into an accident as Danvers complains about this. Danvers calms Leah down, assuring her they just slid on ice and didn't hit anything. Danvers calls for an ambulance and gets out to check on the other car. Someone yells from a house asking if it's Stacy Chalmers again. Danvers finds Stacy crying behind the wheel of her car and asks if she's drunk. She reminds Stacy that she doesn't even have a license anymore. Stacy is upset because her baby isn't speaking to her. Danvers arrests her. As Stacy gets taken away in a squad car, Danvers gets back into her car and Leah says Sheri's sixteen, not fifteen.

Ryan Kowtok leaves work and sees Navarro waiting for him. He asks if she has a break in the case. She tells him she's not sure and asks if he wants to get a beer. He has to watch his son and invites her to come over.

Navarro asks Ryan if Annie ever mentioned Tsalal. She's trying to cover any angles she might have missed when the case was first opened. He offers her a beer, but she'd rather have water. Unfortunately, the water turned bad. He loved his sister, but he's not sure he can go through all that again. She knows it wasn't easy with Annie protesting the mine and the miners going after her. Ryan says they got into some fights because killing the mine would kill Ennis. There would be nothing left, but she didn't care. They barely spoke the last year. Ryan asks Navarro if she believes in God and asks why when she says she does. She starts to tell him about her last tour of duty, but then says it's doesn't matter. He thinks it must be nice to know we're not alone. Navarro says they are alone and so is God. Her phone rings. It's Officer Cooper, who says it happened again.

Navarro talks to Cooper, who asks how the new job is. She says it's the same stuff, just a different badge. He says someone called in hysterics, saying someone was in the apartment, but the door is bolted from the inside and the windows are all shut. He promises to keep this between them. Navarro enters the apartment to find Julia, who is sorry for calling. She says she's okay, but tired. Navarro says she should come over to her place. Julia says she shouldn't have moved there and promises she's not like their mom, which Navarro affirms. If she were, they could talk about options, but Julia reminds her she promised no hospitals. Navarro says she has to make sure she's good.

Pete shows Davners that most of Tsalal's funding comes from an NGO. They hear Stacy screaming in the distance. When the screaming stops, Danvers gets up.

Danvers sees Hank opening Stacy's cell and asks what he's doing. He says he's putting them out of their misery, but Danvers says she's still drunk. Hank says he'll drive her home, but Danvers won't let her out just because she does Hank sexual favors sometimes. She makes Stacy get back in. Hank reminds Danvers that he has a fiancée who lives in Russia, but is coming for Christmas. Danvers tells him his other girlfriend is staying locked up and tells him she needs the Anne Kowtok file and knows it's at his place. He doesn't think so, but says he'll check.

Darwin Prior is under the desk where Pete is working and Pete asks what he's drawing. He looks at Darwin's drawing, which is a woman with x-ed out eyes and blood dripping from her hands. He calls in Kayla Prior and asks her about it. She says it's a local legend. Pete asks if Kayla left him at the laundromat with her grandma and she says she did. She has classes, so her grandma's been taking care of Darwin. She likes telling him stories from her culture. Pete says she'll have to explain when they give Darwin nightmares. Kayla and Pete start kissing, but Pete's phone rings. He tries to ignore it and they continue but he eventually says he has to take it. Pete gets mad at Kayla when she doesn't back off, even though she knows it's Danvers. Danvers says she needs Pete to get him something from Hank's and Pete begs her not to make him.

Hank is painting when Pete knocks on his door. He says he's there for a picture of himself when he was Darwin's age. Pete is surprised to see the new color in Hank's house, but Alina likes blue. Pete sneaks into a room that has a bunch of boxes of case files and starts searching. He tries to stall his father by asking for something to eat. Pete find the box he's looking for and tosses it out the window. Hank comes in and asks to see what he took. Pete shows him a picture of himself as a child, which Hank didn't know he had. Hank warns Pete to be careful on the ice as it's very slick.

Rose is still seeing Travis in the distance and goes out to get closer.

Leah asks if Pete has taken Darwin to see Santa yet. Pete says no, but he's working on it. He hands the box over to Danvers and asks if it's connected to Tsalal. She denies it, but he wants more because his dad will kill him if he finds out Pete took the files. Danvers offers him food and tells him about the case. Her body was found on the edge of one of the villages. Navarro was first on the scene. Her name was Anne Masu Kowtok. People called her Annie K. She was stabbed 32 times. The murder weapon was never found and her tongue was missing. They never found it. Pete knew about the dead girl, but not the tongue. They kept it from the public. She was a midwife, activist, and protestor. She was fighting the mine and upsetting people. A lot of people hated her, but no one deserves what happened to her. Pete says Danvers lied to Navarro because she clearly knows the case. Danvers tells him to mind his own business, but asking him to steal for her made it his business. She says she just asked him to relocate them and he says he'll relocate them back to his dad if that's the case. Danvers knows he's bluffing, but continues the story. She says Navarro is obsessed with the case and bugged the wrong people about it, specifically Kate McKittrick, and Hank had to take her off the case. When Danvers came to town, Navarro asked her to pick it back up, but she believes the case will never be solved. She thinks Ennis killed Annie. No killer will be found. Danvers gets a notification from her fantasy football league that frustrates her.

Navarro goes to see Eddie Qavvik. They have sex. He tries to stop her, but she holds him down until they're done. Afterwards, she goes to his bathroom and uses his toothbrush over his objections. Then she gets dressed and says she has to leave. He asks if it's because of her sister. She's been missing work. Navarro says she has to stop by the booze depot. He tries to get her to stay, but she refuses. He says he won't pick up the next time she calls. She takes his toothbrush when she goes.

Danvers is brushing her teeth when Leah comes in and asks her about people driving drunk. She thinks it's stupid they never talk about that day. Danvers says they're doing Christmas this year and she's going to cook. She says Danvers doesn't have to be her mom. Her dad wound have understood. Danvers closes the door so she can take a shower.

Navarro leaves the alcohol depot. She passes Ace, who is telling another man what happened to him, but painting himself as the victim. She stops to pour beer in his tank.

Danvers is asleep when she wakes to the feeling of a hand touching her and someone saying, "She's awake." She gets up and finds a stuffed polar bear on the floor.

Navarro talks to someone on the phone about Annie. She asks if Annie ever mentioned Tsalal. The call signal goes bad and Navarro hears someone saying, "She's awake." She stops short when she sees a polar bear in the road ahead. The bear is missing an eye and looks at her before walking away.

Danvers lays out the details of the case and starts looking through everything. She finds a picture of one of the scientists wearing a coat that Annie had worn.

Rose follows Travis. He dances and then points in a direction.

Danvers goes back to Tsalal and hears noises. She pulls out her gun and announces herself, only to have Navarro step out. Danvers tells her she's trespassing. Danvers knows Navarro still carries Annie's case with her. She asks what Navarro is looking for, but Navarro doesn't really know. Just anything that might have belonged to her. Danvers agrees to let her look around. She shows Navarro the coat and Navarro realizes Danvers did look into the case after all. Danvers tries to downplay it. They go to Clark's room. He's the only one who had a room of his own. Navarro's never seen him before and snaps a picture of a photo of him. She agrees to show it to Ryan. The coat isn't in Clark's room, so Navarro wonders if he was wearing it. She knows Danvers doesn't expect to find the men.

A helicopter searches the area.

Navarro looks at the message on the board. Danvers warns her not to let the case sink her again. Navarro says Annie's case isn't closed, but Danvers says to let her go. Navarro says Danvers didn't find her and she replays the memory of seeing Annie's body, the hatred that went into her death. Someone kicked her body after she was dead. Then they cut out her tongue to shut her up. It wouldn't have happened if she were white, but Danvers doesn't believe that. She tells Navarro not to blame her either, because she wasn't there and Navarro was. It was her case and she didn't close it. Danvers takes a call from Pete, who says they found something on the ice. He clarifies that Rose found it.

A helicopter carrying Danvers and Navarro lands near Rose. Navarro asks how she found them and she tells her Travis showed her. Navarro tells her Travis is dead, which Rose knows. Navarro joins the crowd around the bodies, frozen solid with their mouths open.

Quotes[]

Cast[]

Starring[]

Guest Starring[]

L'Xeis Diane Benson as Beatrice "Bee" Malee
Aka Niviâna as Julia Navarro

Co-Starring[]

Angunnguaq Larsen as Dominic Pitka
Tim Van Eyken as Ralph Emerson
Pablo Anibal Frana as Facundo Molina
John Albasiny as Anton Kotov
Nicholas Goh as Li Jie
Þorsteinn Bachmann as Anders Lund
Adam Burton as Lucas Merens
Jeff Mirza as Veer Mehta
Owen McDonnell as Raymond Clark
Darren Foreman as Bill Wallis
Jói Jóhannsson as Crab Plant Manager
Aron Már Ólafsson as Ace
Kathryn Wilder as Blair Hartman
Erling Eliasson as Dead Travis
Grace Anderson as Lulu
Marita Dalsgaard as Kerri Gillard
Hákon Jóhannesson as Dude From The House
Ólafía Hrönn Jónsdóttir as Stacy Chalmers
Phillip Blanchett as Ryan Kowtok
Abraham Franklínsson as Miner
Edward Fletcher as Chuck Mosley
Árni Þór Lárusson as Gordon
Davíð Þór Katrínarson as Officer Cooper
Xavier Osmanson as Darwin Prior
Anna Lambe as Kayla Prior
Joel Montgrand as Eddie Qavvik
Thomas Baker as Alcohol Depot Security Guard
Inuik Lee Nielsen Shapiro as Holden Danvers

Notes and Trivia[]

Advertising and marketing[]

Promotional Photos[]

True Detective: Night Country (2024)
401. Part 1 402. Part 2 403. Part 3	404. Part 4 405. Part 5 406. Part 6

See also: S1 • S2 • S3 • Night Country • S5