The season finale of "True Detective: Night Country" achieved the highest first-night audience of the season with 3.2 million cross-platform viewers, marking the most-watched season of the show so far with an average of 12.7 million viewers per episode. Additionally, the finale of "Tracker" on CBS drew 6.64 million viewers, while the season premiere of "American Idol" on ABC declined by about 16 percent from last year's debut.
If you're not into the 2024 Super Bowl, there are three great TV shows to watch instead: "True Detective: Night Country" on HBO Max, featuring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis in a supernatural Alaskan setting; "Slow Horses" on Apple TV+, a humorous take on MI-5 agents; and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" on Amazon Prime Video, starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine as undercover agents. If you're a Hulu subscriber, there are also action-packed alternatives to the Super Bowl, including "Echo."
The penultimate episode of True Detective: Night Country has sparked new theories about the show's direction, with speculation about the corrupt mining company's involvement in activist Annie K's death and the emergence of supernatural elements. Theories range from vengeful spirits to the involvement of elder natives in the scientist murders, hinting at a combination of mystical and corrupt forces at play. The episode has raised questions about the significance of hallucinations and the potential for a supernatural resolution in the series finale.
Episode five of HBO's True Detective: Night Country will be available to stream on Max two days early, on February 9, to avoid a clash with Super Bowl LVIII. The episode will still air on HBO in its usual time slot on February 11. The series stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis and follows the disappearance of eight men at an Arctic research station in Ennis, Alaska. The season finale will air on February 18.
Episode 5 of True Detective: Night Country will be available for early streaming on Max at 9 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 9, two days before its HBO premiere on Sunday, Jan. 11. This move avoids direct competition with the Super Bowl and allows fans extra time to speculate on the Tsalal scientists' fate. The series will return to its regular airtime after the early release, with the finale scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 18.
The third episode of "True Detective: Night Country" garnered 2.7 million viewers, showing a 5% increase from the previous episode and marking two consecutive weeks of growth. The show's streaming numbers on HBO Max have also seen significant boosts, outpacing viewership of comparable HBO titles like "Succession" and "The White Lotus." Starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, the series follows two detectives investigating the disappearance of men at an Arctic research station in Alaska.
In HBO's "True Detective: Night Country," showrunner Issa López drew inspiration from Dante's "Inferno" and mummified bodies for the frozen corpse centerpiece, known as "The Corpsicle." López collaborated with Guillermo del Toro and Igor Studios to bring the grotesque murder tableau to life, meticulously planning and creating detailed body casts and ice blocks. The production faced challenges in transporting and filming the corpsicle in Iceland, but ultimately achieved a chilling and visually striking result, adding to the show's blend of crime procedural and supernatural elements.
In the series "True Detective: Night Country," a group of perished scientists found frozen together in the Alaskan barrens, dubbed "corpsicle," becomes a central mystery investigated by the Ennis Police Department. The creation of the corpsicle involved intricate prosthetic work by Dave and Lou Elsey, with actors posing for intimate body scans and molds. The series' attention to detail extended to researching the effects of frostbite, and the corpsicle's chilling discovery was filmed in Iceland. The production team's dedication to realism and the darkly humorous nature of the project added an extra layer of complexity to the creation of this grisly centerpiece.
Showrunner Issa López has accused fans of the first season of "True Detective" of deliberately giving low scores to the latest season, dragging down its Rotten Tomatoes ratings. Despite critical success, the fan score for season four is at 72 percent, with López calling out "bros and hardcore fanboys" for the negative reviews. NME awarded the show five stars, praising its suspenseful and smart construction, while López thanked those willing to try something new.
This week brings a slew of new TV shows, including Marvel's Echo featuring Alaqua Cox as the titular character, the gritty MCU show requiring no prior knowledge of the MCU, and True Detective: Night Country, the fourth season set in Alaska during the month of night. Other new shows include The Trust: A Game of Greed on Netflix, Monsieur Spade on AMC Plus, Ted on Peacock, and Criminal Record on Apple TV Plus, as well as the finale of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
Jodie Foster discusses her roles in the new HBO series "True Detective: Night Country" and the Netflix sports drama "Nyad," reflecting on her career and personal growth while embracing her introverted nature.
