‘True Detective’ Season 4 Star Claps Back At Criticism
Following the season four finale of True Detective, the HBO original series creator Nic Pizzolatto made headlines for bashing Night Country. Though he created the show’s first three seasons, including the horrible second season, Pizzolatto was an executive producer for this most recent season. Issa López directed and co-wrote all six episodes of the show starring Jodie Foster and newcomer Kali Reis. Apparently, Pizzolatto distanced himself from season four during its run. However, he reposted all negative criticisms of the show’s recent finale to his Instagram Story.
Without providing any personal commentary on the finale, Pizzolatto shared reactions from people who called the new season “cheap,” “forced,” and a “hot mess.” He reposted several angered fans’ Stories to his own. Some even claimed that Lopez had “butchered” his original writing to the first season of True Detective. In the finale, a character uses a famous season one line in which Matthew McConaughey’s character, Detective Rustin “Rust” Cohle, describes time as a flat circle. As a fan of the series, the praise he shared from fans commending the show’s second season (starring Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams and Vince Vaughn) over this fourth season seemed entirely biased. It feels like sour grapes: like he is bashing the season’s success he couldn’t take credit for.
Even one of the show’s stars, Kali Reis, got wind of Pizzolato’s Stories. She wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “That’s a damn shame… but hey I guess ‘if you don’t have anything good to share, s— on others’ is the new wave lol.” One person commented on her status, “‘Well I would have done this and I would have done that…’ but he didn’t. So…you all have fun at the Emmy’s.” As another person asked about him being an executive producer, Reis replied with, “Mm hmm,” and a drinking tea gif.
Lopez was asked by Vulture about Pizzolatto’s earlier criticisms of her season, to which she said: “I believe that every storyteller has a very specific, peculiar, and unique relation to the stories they create, and whatever his reactions are, he’s entitled to them. That’s his prerogative.” She stated that her reinvention is different from his previous seasons. Night Country centers on a murder mystery involving an Indigenous Alaskan woman who was protesting against the small town’s mine. Five years after season three, this new season explored more supernatural elements having an effect on most characters in each episode.