Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Entertainment
  3. Guides

All the True Detective seasons, ranked

Blair Marnell
By
Kali Reis and Jodie Foster hold flashlights in True Detective: Night Country.
Michele K. Short / HBO

Ten years ago, True Detective made its debut on HBO and reminded viewers that the premium cable network could deliver TV shows that were several cuts above the programming from its rival networks. True Detective quickly became a cultural phenomenon that captured the imaginations of its viewers and earned it a fast renewal. However, the show had a somewhat rocky path over the last decade, before the fourth season, True Detective: Night Country, revitalized the franchise earlier this year.

Thanks to Night Country, HBO has confirmed that there will be a fifth season of True Detective. And now that the current season is over, it’s time to look back at all of the True Detective seasons and rank them from worst to first.

Recommended Videos

4. True Detective season 2

Rachel McAdams and Colin Farrell in True Detective season 2.
HBO

The one thing about True Detective season 2 that no one should fault is the cast. Colin Farrell (The Batman), Rachel McAdams, and Vince Vaughn are true movie stars. Taylor Kitsch is less so, but he’s still working regularly over a decade after his fun turn in Disney’s John Carter couldn’t save it from bombing. What doomed True Detective‘s second season is the man who was responsible for the whole show to begin with: Nic Pizzolatto.

Related

After the triumph of the first season, Pizzolatto had free rein to do almost anything he wanted in season 2. And what he did was create some of the most unlikable leading characters ever on a prestige series, to the point that viewers were actively rooting for Farrell’s Detective Ray Velcoro to die when his life was in jeopardy at the end of episode 2. This season also had too many main characters and a bizarre mishmash of subplots.

3. True Detective season 3

Mahershala Ali in True Detective season 3.
HBO

What saved True Detective after its disastrous second season? The addition of Mahershala Ali and veteran screenwriter David Milch, who previously created HBO’s Deadwood. Ali was courted to play a supporting part before he convinced Pizzolatto to cast him in the leading role as Detective Wayne Hays. As for Milch, he co-wrote an episode of the series with Pizzolatto, although the latter still handled most of the scripts by himself.

The third season also had an even more ambitious narrative than either of its predecessors, as events unfolded in 1980, 1990, and 2015 before the revelations finally came together near the end of the season. Ali was also flanked by a strong supporting cast including Stephen Dorff, Scoot McNairy, and Ray Fisher. But there was no question that this season belonged to Ali from start to finish.

2. True Detective: Night Country

Two women stand over ice and look.
HBO / Max

Pizzolatto had no creative involvement with the most recent season, True Detective: Night Country. In fact, Pizzolatto has taken several indirect shots at the new team, especially over the links between Night Country and season 1. The new showrunner, Issa López, wrote or co-wrote and directed every episode, and she also included several callbacks to the first season. While True Detective‘s inaugural season never confirmed that the occult was real, López was pretty overt about it. She even introduced Travis Cohle (Erling Eliasson), the late father of Rust Cohle, who appears as a ghost.

Fortunately, López didn’t skimp on the star power, as she cast Jodie Foster as Chief Liz Danvers opposite Kali Reis as Trooper Evangeline Navarro. There was a great deal of animosity between Danvers and Navarro from the beginning of the season, and subsequent episodes revealed how they had once been partners and why their relationship deteriorated so badly. Coming back together for a case helped heal the rift between Danvers and Navarro, even though the finale didn’t offer all of the answers to this season’s mysteries.

1. True Detective season 1

Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson standing in an office in True Detective.
HBO

Sometimes everything just comes together so perfectly that it’s almost impossible to recreate that impact. True Detective attracted a lot of attention by putting Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in their respective leading roles as detectives Rustin “Rust” Cohle and Martin “Marty” Hart. And both men delivered with some of the best acting of their careers as characters that were incredibly compelling.

Pizzolatto and Fukunaga’s collaboration created a show that felt like the fusion of film and television, with dazzling visuals, thrilling sequences, and disturbing clues that something otherworldly was in play. This caused the show to quickly become a pop culture sensation as viewers tried to unravel the clues in real time. However, the one lesson from this season that seems to have been forgotten is that the implication that the occult and supernatural powers are real is far more terrifying than confirmation of the same. True Detective season 1 had us on the edge of our seats while we waited to learn what the Yellow King meant, and whether Carcosa was an actual place. None of the other seasons have been able to recreate that sensation.

Watch True Detective on Max.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Blair Marnell
Blair Marnell
Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek…
The best Game of Thrones seasons, ranked
Daenerys Targaryen with Drogon behind her in Game of Thrones.

HBO has multiple incredible shows. After all, as the cable network's slogan goes, it's not television, it's HBO. However, few of the network's originals can compare to the juggernaut that was Game of Thrones. Developed by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss and based on George R. R. Martin's literary saga A Song of Ice and Fire, the show followed multiple feuding noble families struggling to sit on the Iron Throne and rule over the war-torn continent of Westeros.

At its peak, Game of Thrones was the biggest show on Earth, dominating award shows and scoring HBO the biggest ratings in its history. Across eight seasons and 73 episodes, the show shocked, scandalized, and thrilled audiences worldwide, cementing its place among television's greatest achievements. However, even its most devoted fans can't say it remained consistent throughout. Indeed, while some seasons were positively masterful, others were outright embarrassing, proving that when you play the game of thrones, there truly is no middle ground.
8. Season 8 (2019)

Read more
Like the hit Netflix true crime series The Program? Then watch these 3 shows now
A group of teenagers on their knees in 'The Program.'

There are plenty of great Netflix shows about basically whatever it might be that you want to watch. Among the many things that Netflix is great at is true crime docuseries, which it has released steadily since its earliest days as a streamer.

One of those recent documentaries is The Program: Cons, Cults and Kidnapping, which tells the story of one woman who decides to expose the seedy underbelly behind the "troubled teen" industry. The documentary is riveting from beginning to end, but if you've already finished it, we've found three other docuseries that might be great follow-ups. Not all of these docs are the easiest to watch, but if you want something thrilling, these will fit the bill.
Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence (2023)
Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence | February 9 | Hulu

Read more
Like the hit Netflix show Homicide New York? Then watch these 3 true crime shows now
A promo image for Netflix's Homicide New York.

Thanks in large part to its hugely familiar setting, Homicide New York has been a huge success since it premiered on Netflix. The series follows some of the grisliest crimes that have taken place in America's largest city.

If you're looking for more great true crime that's in a similar vein after you've consumed all of Homicide, though, then we've got a couple of shows that might fit the bill. These are three great true crime shows you should check out if you liked Homicide New York.
I'll Be Gone in the Dark (2020)

Read more