Complex characters in the cold
WELCOME to Night Country — where even if it’s day, it’s night. Night Country isn’t just the fictional location of Ennis, Alaska where it’s that time of the year when it’s blanketed in snow and various shades of midnight. Night Country is also that place where darkness looms in the wake of two mysterious unexplained murders and deaths.
One was that of activist and doula, Annie Kowtok (an Indigenous/Inupiaq woman) and that of a group of men at a scientific research station. The latter found all naked, screaming in terror and frozen together in a block of ice.
Issa Lopez takes over from Nic Pizzolatto as “True Detective’s” director, writer and show runner. “True Detective: Night Country” has shades of “30 Days of Night” and John Carpenter’s “The Thing,” but is very much its own thing.
This is the sort of environment where Lopez throws in her leads, Oscar winner Jodie Foster and former boxer, Kali Reis — they play Chief of Police Liz Danvers and trooper Evangeline Navarro.
As the sixth and last episode will be upon us this Monday, the internet is full of theories and explanations regarding the deaths. This includes speculations the culprit is not of this world, that one final hour will not be enough to wrap up “Night Country” and another season is forthcoming.
While there is the element of horror and the supernatural here, I’m still leaning towards actual human beings behind all this.
“Night Country” has been getting mixed reviews but many have called it the best season since the first.
For me, it’s the best season, period. The characters are complex and nuanced.
Foster’s Chief of Police Danvers is no hero — she is flawed, she can be harshest on those she cares about but she has a sense of duty and loyalty to those she serves.
Foster once again knocks the performance out of the ballpark. Reis’s rough and tough Navarro is likewise troubled and dealing with unresolved losses yet is determined to find justice for Annie.
Among the supporting characters are father and son policemen Hank and Pete Prior, a professor who opted for the isolation of Alaska, Rose Aguineau.
John Hawkes does a fantastic job of bringing Prior to life — he could have just been a run of the mill bitter, lackey cop but he brings out nuance and humanity to the character.
British actor Finn Bennet as Pete is a revelation and Fiona Shaw as Rose once again owns it. Shaw was great as Maarva in “Andor” but she’s truly fantastic here.
The cast and crew spent over half a year in Iceland shooting this season of “True Detective.” The location of the series is truly a character as well. Ennis in the deep of winter is a hard, dark, bleak place to be.
The obvious desolation the community lives in brings out the sense of loss and loneliness many of tge characters feel.
As Navarro put it bluntly, “We’re alone. God too.”
Will a ray of light even find its way to Ennis? We’ll find out soon.