History YMMV / TrueDetective

** By far, the biggest complaint of "Night Country" is the show's references to the events of Season 1, with Rust Cohle's father Travis appearing as a character, and references to the Tuttle Cult being made. Yet, Season 3 also previously referenced the events of Season 1, which didn't cause nearly as much upset at the time. This is because Marty and Rust's actions were only compared and contrasted to Wayne Hay's own case, which ultimately turned out to be its own thing unrelated to what had happened in Louisiana despite some similarities. By contrast, "Night Country" tries to explicitly tie in its events to Season 1, which not only felt like cheap pandering, but the references and connections made little sense (especially given the lack of cultural connection between Alaska and Louisiana).

%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample ** So much between Cohle and Hart.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: For some (emphasis on some) viewers, the gratuitous nudity in the first two seasons (especially Creator/AlexandraDaddario's in the first) is the main selling point. A large segment of the audience noticed this series after Daddario's nude scene, to the extent that there was even a whole since-banned subreddit created revolving solely around uploads of [=GIFs=] and images from that scene. Pizzolatto seemed to notice this, as Season 3 is devoid of any nudity whatsoever, and the only two sex scenes that occur happen offscreen.

** When Hart and Cohle are looking at possibly-related cases, they find a report of a young girl who reported being chased by a "green-eared spaghetti monster". For anyone familiar with the satirical [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster Flying Spaghetti Monster]] concept, it seems appropriate given the religious themes in the series.
** There are several subtle references to the short story collection ''Literature/TheKingInYellow''. These include cinematographic choices, and easy-to-miss drawings of Carcosa's black stars.
** The "Marshland Medea" is a reference to Medea of the Jason myth, who killed her children to get vengeance on Jason. The show even shoots down an opportunity to explain the reference.
** Cohle references "Munchhausen By Proxy" to the Marshland Medea, a real syndrome where caregivers neglect or harm their wards, which accurately describes the Marshland Medea's behavior.
** In season 2 Frank's avocado trees aren't fruiting. Avocado is derived from a word for testicle, a clever joke about his infertility.
** In the finale, [[spoiler: Mayor Chessani is murdered by his son to usurp his power. A quick shot reveals he was drinking Kraken brand rum. The Kraken was a mythological sea creature who's presence meant plentiful fish but could pull ships to the bottom of the ocean if you risked catching them. Chessani was complacent among men much more dangerous than he realized and was killed by drowning in his own pool.]]
** The season 2 episode that introduces Woodrugh's former comrade from Black Mountain features a song by the rock group Black Mountain.

** The opening music for Season One is "Far From Any Road" by Music/TheHandsomeFamily.
** The closing music for the season one opener. Rust says, "Start asking the right fucking questions," and takes an enigmatic drag as the darkly melodic first riffs of "Young Man Dead" by Music/TheBlackAngels swell.
** The song for the closing credits of the season one finale, "The Angry River," by The Hat ft. Father John Misty & S.I. Istwa.
** Season 2's opening credits song "Nevermind" by Music/LeonardCohen is catchy, and the lyrics (which change at the start of each episode) perfectly encompass the feeling of the season.
** Lera Lynn's original songs for season 2, especially "The Only Thing Worth Fighting For" and "This is My Least Favorite Life", have received considerable acclaim.
** The Black Angels pop up again at the end of "Church in Ruins." As the detectives escape [[spoiler:Tony Chessani's sex party in Monterery]] they dodge their pursuers, get on an open road, and the camera pans up to a full moon just as "Black Grease" kicks in.

** Season 4's opening credits feature Music/BillieEilish's "Bury a Friend". The dark, brooding production of the song fits the Night Country theme very well. According to showrunner Creator/IssaLopez [[https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/billie-eilish-bury-a-friend-true-detective-season-4-1234946851/ the song was an inspiration for the writing of the season]].
** The season 4 ending theme [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3CC-b84boE Your Storyline's Never Told by Vince Pope]]. The tone is haunting and sets the scenary of Alaska.

** The closing music for the season one opener. Rust says, "Start asking the right fucking questions," and takes an enigmatic drag as the darkly melodic first riffs of "Young Man Dead" by The Black Angels swell.

*** The season ending theme [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3CC-b84boE Your Storyline's Never Told by Vince Pope]]. The tone is haunting and sets the scenary of Alaska.

** Season 4's opening credits feature Music/BillieEilish's "Bury a Friend". The dark, brooding production of the song fits the Night Country theme very well.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic:
** Despite being a JerkassWoobie, a lot of sympathy is lost for Lucy Purcell when flashbacks reveal that [[spoiler:she knowingly sold her daughter to an insane heiress and, although she was devastated upon learning that Will (her own son) had accidentally died in the "exchange", she kept quiet about it in exchange for more money.]] Not only that but she treats her husband Tom like trash by sleeping around.
** It can be hard to care about any of the cops in ''Night Country''; it's the first season of ''True Detective'' released after the murder of George Floyd and the worldwide rioting and calls for police reform that followed, and while the show tries to pay some lip service to the idea of racial inequality being maintained by police with its plotline, there are at least a few people who are rooting for the cast to get eaten by polar bears.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Despite being a JerkassWoobie, a lot of sympathy is lost for Lucy Purcell when flashbacks reveal that [[spoiler:she knowingly sold her daughter to an insane heiress and, although she was devastated upon learning that Will (her own son) had accidentally died in the "exchange", she kept quiet about it in exchange for more money.]] Not only that but she treats her husband Tom like trash by sleeping around.

* TheWoobie: Tom from season 3 has it really bad. He is a legitimately kind man who loves his kids and seems to feel genuinely bad when he drunkenly calls Hayes a racial slur. Stuck in a loveless relationship with his wife who sleeps around and [[spoiler:a repressed homosexual]], his kids get kidnapped and murdered (his son is definitely murdered at least), his life falls to pieces. Though Roland helps him get back on his feet (to a degree) between '80 and '90, things only get worse when [[spoiler:a phone call comes in to the police from his daughter that apparently accuses him of being the kidnapper/murderer. Roland, his only real friend at this point, accuses him of the crime destroying his trust in Roland, and when he gets set free 24 hours later, he is able to figure out who the responsible party was only to get murdered. To top it all off, the killer sets his body up to make it look like a suicide with a note confessing to the crime.]] Life was not kind to Tom at all.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Although it is a stretch, it is pitiful to see the reality of [[spoiler: Errol Childress]]. He is obviously mentally unbalanced and stunted, disfigured by his own father, [[spoiler: whose corpse he keeps in his shed]]. He and his [[spoiler: sister-wife, who is clearly mentally retarded]] live in a secluded, rundown, and horded-up house and they ultimately act like, as Pizzolatto said, [[spoiler: a pair of kids left to play alone through the decades.]] In one interview, Pizzolatto implied that [[spoiler:Errol]] made the crimes so dramatic and theatrical as a way to draw attention to the cult- the people who raised and abused him.

** The locker room scene from episode 2 is hilariously over the top in its [[RatedMForManly macho-ness]]. Cohle accuses Hart of having "pussy" on him, leading Hart to [[HoYay pin Cohle aggressively against the lockers]] and force him to say it isn't his wife's "particular scent". And yes, this is played absolutely straight.

** Wayne Hays admitting to Amelia that his knowledge of literature is limited to comic books such as the Silver Surfer is pretty damn funny come 2019, where Kevin Feige revealed that Mahershala Ali would starring as the title character in an upcoming Blade film for the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse''. Even better in that Stephen Dorff, Ali's co-star in this series, had portrayed the BigBad Deacon Frost in the 1998 Blade movie!

** Also from Season 2, quite a few female viewers believe that Ani is right to be [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale angry about her sexual harassment complaint]], and [[WrongGenreSavvy agree with her that a man would not be punished in the same scenario]]. This is despite the story making it clear that Ani was in the wrong for sleeping with a subordinate, purposely emasculating him as a way to vent her trauma, and Ani's superiors shutting down this argument by pointing out that a man would face the same punishment if a complaint was filed.

* HarsherInHindsight: The plot about a cabal of wealthy politicians using their power to abuse children and young girls especially hits differently in the aftermath of the revelations about Jeffrey Epstein's involvement in underage sex trafficking, as well his connections to numerous influential rich people across the country. The fact that Epstein had a vaguely-occult temple built on his private island doesn't help matters. The suspicious circumstances surrounding his death (officially ruled as a suicide) are ominously reminiscent of the prisoner Rust talks to who commits suicide to keep the cult's activities secret.

* SugarWiki/BetterThanCanon: A host of various theories that deal with what may or may not be hanging plot threads are sometimes considered better than the actual ending provided. Of course, people entertaining these theories tend to ignore (purposely or otherwise) Pizzolatto's advice.

* BetterThanCanon: A host of various theories that deal with what may or may not be hanging plot threads are sometimes considered better than the actual ending provided. Of course, people entertaining these theories tend to ignore (purposely or otherwise) Pizzolatto's advice.

* CompleteMonster ("[[Recap/TrueDetectiveS1E01TheLongBrightDark The Long Bright Dark]]" & "[[Recap/TrueDetectiveS1E06HauntedHouses Haunted Houses]]"): [[SinisterMinister Reverend Billy Lee Tuttle]], son of the founder of the Tuttle {{Cult}} of the Yellow King, inherited a key position from his grandfather, and leads the Cult, using the Tuttle Schools to find victims. Countless [[WouldHurtAChild children]] are sexually abused, tortured, and murdered with the cult conducting its horrific rituals on countless children and young women in videos and photos Tuttle himself keeps as trophies.

** Audrey Hart is played by Creator/ErinMoriarty, who would later star in Series/JessicaJones and as Starlight in Series/TheBoys.

* WhatAnIdiot: Velcoro finds Caspere's secret sex house, and spots a fresh-looking pool of blood on the floor. His response is inexplicably to ''put his gun away'' as he keeps searching.

* CriticalResearchFailure: In season 2, Eliot Bezzerides says his daughter Athena is named for "the goddess of love," but Athena is the goddess of wisdom. Aphrodite is the goddess of love in the Greek pantheon.

** Some of Cohle's dialogue is admittedly over the top, but [=McConaughey's=] delivery is so compelling that you completely buy him as a verbose misanthrope. He brings enough depth and vulnerability to the role that Rust's existential despair never once seems melodramatic. It's perfectly natural for Rust to speak with that poetic flair because he really is ''that'' tortured, and not in the sappy, self-indulgent way that a lot of "angsty antihero" characters tend to be. When Rust talks about human consciousness being a mistake, you can feel he means what he says. It helps that Hart regularly lampshades Rust's tangents, acting as a nice, grounded counterweight to the cloud that hangs around Rust. Creator Nic Pizzolatto [[http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/dark-character-draws-mcconaughey-to-hbos-noir-miniseries-1201105443/ has stated]] that many of the lines would sound terrible in the hands of a lesser actor.

** Audery Hart is played by Creator/ErinMoriarty, who would later star in Series/JessicaJones and as Starlight in Series/TheBoys.