Despite the name, Real detective It’s never really about tying up every loose end of a mystery. Sure, the detectives at heart are doing their very best, but if you’re here for procedural and ethical police work, you’re probably barking up the wrong tree; this tree is more about a glimpse of supernatural terror refracted through the prism of human cruelty and violence.
But if you’re really interested in the mystery, and you desperately want some answers to the questions it poses True Detective: Nightland left behind, here’s everything as best we can piece it together – including a few notes on the mysteries the show cleverly leaves unsolved.
(Ed. remark: As you may have guessed: this post spoils the ending of True Detective: Nightland!)
What exactly happened to the Tsalal scientists?
This is one of them True Detective: Nightland‘s best and most carefully unanswered questions. We know most of what happened to them: they killed Annie, and in revenge the women of Ennis forced them into the snow to freeze to death. But once the women left, something else kept them there. We hear a few different people repeat the phrase “she’s awake” throughout the season; the show never makes it clear who exactly she is or what that means, but it’s possible that whatever this seemingly supernatural force is really killed the scientists too. The only thing we know for sure is that something extraterrestrial has done them some kind of divine justice. And that’s so much creepier than an honest answer.
What happened to Annie’s tongue?
This is the other side of the coin to the fate of the scientists: the show offers us no real explanations, but at least strongly suggests that something supernatural and strange was going on in Ennis. We don’t have any credible suggestions about who could have planted the tongue or why, but the entire Tsalal tragedy revolves around Annie. It is of course possible that the women of Ennis planted the tongue there as a reminder, but how would they have gotten it in the first place – and besides, they deny that they had anything to do with it.
Photo: Michele K. Kort/HBO
What happened to Navarro?
This is where we finally start to understand what really matters Night country. When Navarro walks into the ice, it no longer matters whether she really died or not. She has made peace with the world and her relationship with it. She felt the call that drew her mother and her sisters and followed it after getting justice for Annie. We don’t need to know where it leads to know that it brought her storyline full circle and felt a similar call to the one her sister described and that Navarro herself could never accept or understand.
Just as important is the fact that Danvers also feels or sees Navarro in her final scene of the season. As Danvers seemingly relaxes in a cottage without anyone bothering her, we see Navarro step into the picture and look out over the balcony with her partner. This scene makes it clear that Danvers has finally made Ennis her home and settled into her strange relationship with the dead. After years of denying the past, literally throwing sentimental items like her child’s teddy bear into the snow and locking it out so it could never do more than scare her dreams, Danvers has accepted the loss.
How does all this compare to True Detective season 1?
There isn’t, at least not really. Sure, there are all sorts of references (“time is a flat circle” included), but there’s nothing explicitly related Night country to the first season of Real detective and until it does, I think it’s safe to assume that Issa Lopez is just having a little fun with fans of the series.
The best part of all these questions, from the ones that Night country The answer to those it seemed to ignore is that they don’t really matter. Everything important to the story and the characters is wrapped up perfectly in the things the show tells us, and the loose ends that are left dangling are just as intentional and finely crafted as the rest of the story. Some questions go unanswered, and the world is better off that way.