Welp, HBO knows how to make a splash. Given it’s the final episode of the critically acclaimed “Sharp Objects” with Amy Adams tonight—we need to talk about that episode, but another time—the cable channel has used the all-eyes-on-the-show opportunity to deliver a surprise teaser trailer for the third season of Nic Pizzolatto’s “True Detective” season three.
Starring Mahershala Ali, Carmen Ejogo, Stephen Dorff, Ray Fisher, Scoot McNairy and Mamie Gummer, “True Detective” season three wasn’t expected until sometime deeper into 2019, but HBO has revealed with this new, surprise teaser that the show is returning January 2019.
It’s an interesting, perhaps eye-opening move: not the big summer hit they were expecting? Nic Pizzolatto’s “True Detective” season one was a gigantic, critically-acclaimed hit in its first season with Woody Harrelson, Matthew McConaughey, and director Cary Fukunaga, but season two, with Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams and Vince Vaughn crumbled under the weight of its ambitions and was met with drubbings from both audiences and critics.
Pizzolatto is apparently looking for redemption with season three, even tapping his buddy “Deadwood” creator David Milch for advice (that turned into one co-writing episode credit for the fame TV creator and showrunner).
“True Detective” 3 plays out over several time periods. Set in the Ozarks with the ambitious story involving “a macabre crime” and “a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods,” Ali plays police detective Wayne Hayes. Stephen Dorff plays his partner, Detective Roland West, an Arkansas State Investigator and Carmen Ejogo is Amelia Reardon, an Arkansas schoolteacher who has a connection to two missing children in 1980.
The return of “True Detective” season three hasn’t been without its drama. Fans rejoiced when it was revealed that indie helmer Jeremy Saulnier (“Green Room,” “Blue Ruin”) was tapped to direct much of the season, but it appears that he and Pizzolato butt heads and he split over “creative differences” following the shooting of two episodes.
The third season was instead directed by Daniel Sackheim, known for helming several episodes of FX‘s “The Americans” (though it’s unclear if he ended up finishing the entire season. Regardless, looks like “True Detective” season three is only five months away, and that’s something to anticipate and celebrate. Trailer below via HBO.