True Detective: Night Country: Part 3
January 31, 2024 3:19 PM - Season 4, Episode 3 - Subscribe
While searching for Clark, Prior asks Danvers about the case that strained her partnership with Navarro. Sifting through Clark's trailer, they find a lead about another Tsalal worker. Danvers clashes with her stepdaughter.
I love the atmosphere, but it’s really a trial to watch these extraordinarily abrasive characters. With the supernatural front and center this time, it feels more like a horror movie than other seasons.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 6:22 PM on January 31 [3 favorites]
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 6:22 PM on January 31 [3 favorites]
This episode felt slower than the other two, but that seems par for the course and I think I'd read a review that prepared me for it.
This week's questions:
Who is really texting Danvers?
During the rally, one girl had an eye patch- was that in homage to Annie or another reason?
Is it possible Navarro suffers from mental illness like her sister, who sees things that aren't there, and maybe some of the paranormal bent can be explained by that?
What did Hank mean that Annie was seeing half of Ennis? Why would he know that and Navarro wouldn't?
Why aren't there any large tables where the detectives can lay out files so they don't have to pile everything on the floor in cramped spaces?
posted by haplesschild at 7:24 PM on January 31 [7 favorites]
This week's questions:
Who is really texting Danvers?
During the rally, one girl had an eye patch- was that in homage to Annie or another reason?
Is it possible Navarro suffers from mental illness like her sister, who sees things that aren't there, and maybe some of the paranormal bent can be explained by that?
What did Hank mean that Annie was seeing half of Ennis? Why would he know that and Navarro wouldn't?
Why aren't there any large tables where the detectives can lay out files so they don't have to pile everything on the floor in cramped spaces?
posted by haplesschild at 7:24 PM on January 31 [7 favorites]
She’s awake, I guess?
Takes me at least three episodes to get out of bed, too. I get it.
posted by hototogisu at 10:14 PM on January 31 [9 favorites]
Takes me at least three episodes to get out of bed, too. I get it.
posted by hototogisu at 10:14 PM on January 31 [9 favorites]
>> it feels more like a horror movie than other seasons.
Funny you should say that as I watched A24 indie horror movie Talk to Me (2023) on the Sunday night and then this on Monday, and whoa... the similarities are astounding to where the story has started to shift from episode 3.
I don't watch a lot of horror, but I believe there's a recent trend towards equating trauma and mental illness with horror in movies. DOT would know better though.
posted by Molesome at 1:01 AM on February 1 [1 favorite]
Funny you should say that as I watched A24 indie horror movie Talk to Me (2023) on the Sunday night and then this on Monday, and whoa... the similarities are astounding to where the story has started to shift from episode 3.
I don't watch a lot of horror, but I believe there's a recent trend towards equating trauma and mental illness with horror in movies. DOT would know better though.
posted by Molesome at 1:01 AM on February 1 [1 favorite]
So far the most disturbing, upsetting scene for me has been Danvers forcing her daughter to "wipte that shit" off her face. I hated watching that so much.
posted by wakannai at 1:08 AM on February 1 [21 favorites]
posted by wakannai at 1:08 AM on February 1 [21 favorites]
I am curious to find out who shot the abusive guy and what happened after. I thought that scene was very fine, Danvers telling the kid half truths cross cut with the scene. When the abusive guy turned I would have shot him. So did Danvers do it and Navarro got angry? Or did Navarro do it and Danvers got angry?
Somehow I want this to be a key to the puzzle.
posted by chavenet at 8:53 AM on February 1
Somehow I want this to be a key to the puzzle.
posted by chavenet at 8:53 AM on February 1
My current theory is that Danvers shot him and Danvers got angry - that she can't stand having Navarro know that she did it.
posted by Ragged Richard at 10:28 AM on February 1 [6 favorites]
posted by Ragged Richard at 10:28 AM on February 1 [6 favorites]
"Who's Mrs. Robinson?" was perfect.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:40 AM on February 1 [15 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:40 AM on February 1 [15 favorites]
so biscotti has medical training and has done nursing stuffs and I asked her I did I asked her whether ICU patients who are to get technical all fucked up often sit up and address you by name and tell you how your mother is doing in hell and oh yeah apparently that's real common so I dunno what all yall are talking about supernatural
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:12 PM on February 1 [7 favorites]
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:12 PM on February 1 [7 favorites]
"So far the most disturbing, upsetting scene for me has been Danvers forcing her daughter to "wipe that shit" off her face."
I'm having a hard time imagining what they are going to come up with for Danver's treatment of the entire local Iñupiat community and I feel like no reason will be ok. And any change of heart after 3 more episodes will seem unearned. I'm not saying there aren't assholes like Danvers everywhere, but giving these specific traits to a lead character for no reason other than to model bad behavior seems really strange.
posted by haplesschild at 7:23 PM on February 1 [2 favorites]
I'm having a hard time imagining what they are going to come up with for Danver's treatment of the entire local Iñupiat community and I feel like no reason will be ok. And any change of heart after 3 more episodes will seem unearned. I'm not saying there aren't assholes like Danvers everywhere, but giving these specific traits to a lead character for no reason other than to model bad behavior seems really strange.
posted by haplesschild at 7:23 PM on February 1 [2 favorites]
My current theory is that Danvers shot him and Danvers got angry - that she can't stand having Navarro know that she did it.
Interesting, though wouldn't that reverse the power dynamic between Danvers and Navarro? Like it would have been impossible to knock Navarro back to Troopers as she could just say "If you do that, I'm telling." I think Danvers has the upper hand in that pair, and that makes Navarro grind her teeth.
posted by chavenet at 1:46 AM on February 2 [1 favorite]
Interesting, though wouldn't that reverse the power dynamic between Danvers and Navarro? Like it would have been impossible to knock Navarro back to Troopers as she could just say "If you do that, I'm telling." I think Danvers has the upper hand in that pair, and that makes Navarro grind her teeth.
posted by chavenet at 1:46 AM on February 2 [1 favorite]
I'm not saying there aren't assholes like Danvers everywhere, but giving these specific traits to a lead character for no reason other than to model bad behavior seems really strange.
In her defense, Danvers is an equal-opportunity asshole. She seems to treat everyone with at best disdain, at worst open enmity. It would be justified to see her comeuppance but I hardly think that's likely, given she's the star.
On the other hand, Navarro is also tormented by the culture (she is very much a liminal figure, between two worlds) and yet she comes around (in this episode) by way of the water birth scene.
Maybe patchwork Ennis is representative of how hard it is to maintain identity (whatever its basis) under extreme stress (and extractive capitalism).
posted by chavenet at 1:53 AM on February 2 [2 favorites]
In her defense, Danvers is an equal-opportunity asshole. She seems to treat everyone with at best disdain, at worst open enmity. It would be justified to see her comeuppance but I hardly think that's likely, given she's the star.
On the other hand, Navarro is also tormented by the culture (she is very much a liminal figure, between two worlds) and yet she comes around (in this episode) by way of the water birth scene.
Maybe patchwork Ennis is representative of how hard it is to maintain identity (whatever its basis) under extreme stress (and extractive capitalism).
posted by chavenet at 1:53 AM on February 2 [2 favorites]
i do love this exchange
assistant "i thought you hated Navarro"
jodie foster "i do. hate everyone. hate you. now, [go do this thing]"
posted by kokaku at 3:24 PM on February 2 [4 favorites]
assistant "i thought you hated Navarro"
jodie foster "i do. hate everyone. hate you. now, [go do this thing]"
posted by kokaku at 3:24 PM on February 2 [4 favorites]
The supernatural things are all happening to one person, no corroborating. Navarro is the only one who “sees” the dude go all exorcist in his hospital bed, it’s conceivable that she’s the one hallucinating it (same with the boy on the ice, etc).
I’m loving it so far, abrasive characters and all. Though I’m bracing myself for something happening to Quavvik because he’s the best.
posted by lydhre at 12:54 PM on February 3 [4 favorites]
I’m loving it so far, abrasive characters and all. Though I’m bracing myself for something happening to Quavvik because he’s the best.
posted by lydhre at 12:54 PM on February 3 [4 favorites]
The other lady sees her dead husband, right?
posted by hototogisu at 7:02 PM on February 3
posted by hototogisu at 7:02 PM on February 3
Doesn't Danvers see someone in the kitchen knitting, while she makes the little girl some mac and cheese?
posted by rozcakj at 8:40 AM on February 5
posted by rozcakj at 8:40 AM on February 5
I'm having a hard time imagining what they are going to come up with for Danver's treatment of the entire local Iñupiat community and I feel like no reason will be ok.
This is classic True Detective though, right? To the extent that there's a consistent series brand it's creating anti-heroes who are genuinely unlikeable rather than just flawed but ultimately good.
Doesn't Danvers see someone in the kitchen knitting, while she makes the little girl some mac and cheese?
She does, when they come in that's the woman who's having her hair done... but when I looked back at it, nobody interacts with her so it's not clear that the rest of them see her.
posted by atrazine at 8:41 AM on February 8 [2 favorites]
This is classic True Detective though, right? To the extent that there's a consistent series brand it's creating anti-heroes who are genuinely unlikeable rather than just flawed but ultimately good.
Doesn't Danvers see someone in the kitchen knitting, while she makes the little girl some mac and cheese?
She does, when they come in that's the woman who's having her hair done... but when I looked back at it, nobody interacts with her so it's not clear that the rest of them see her.
posted by atrazine at 8:41 AM on February 8 [2 favorites]
atrazine: I don't think she was a ghost; I think it was one of the rare moments of levity in the season with the woman also liking unicorns pr whatever it was she said.
I think Navarro's visions are meant to be ambiguous to the viewer. Could be the spirit world, could be the same mental illness as her mom/sis.
The scene of Danvers recounting her & Navarro's final case and the discrepancy bw what she says and what we see was a nice callback to S1, when Marty & Rust recount their doctored story about rescuing the kidnapped kids and Marty kills Reggie LeDoux and then has to cover it up with a story about being ambushed.
I imagine Navarro is the one who killed Wheeler. In ep1(?) Danvers says (with some mockery in her tone) that Navarro has "a thing about protecting women," and her personal journey seems to be about seeking community with her indigenous, estranged "sisters."
posted by Saxon Kane at 8:10 AM on February 11 [2 favorites]
I think Navarro's visions are meant to be ambiguous to the viewer. Could be the spirit world, could be the same mental illness as her mom/sis.
The scene of Danvers recounting her & Navarro's final case and the discrepancy bw what she says and what we see was a nice callback to S1, when Marty & Rust recount their doctored story about rescuing the kidnapped kids and Marty kills Reggie LeDoux and then has to cover it up with a story about being ambushed.
I imagine Navarro is the one who killed Wheeler. In ep1(?) Danvers says (with some mockery in her tone) that Navarro has "a thing about protecting women," and her personal journey seems to be about seeking community with her indigenous, estranged "sisters."
posted by Saxon Kane at 8:10 AM on February 11 [2 favorites]
So far the most disturbing, upsetting scene for me has been Danvers forcing her daughter to "wipte that shit" off her face. I hated watching that so much.
absolutely a guaranteed way to get the kid to get a real tattoo of that on her face!
posted by lalochezia at 5:47 PM on February 20
Watching late. Just wanted to comment on the musings of societies of women vs. men. It's not subtle at all, but I appreciated it. The women at the birthing scene. The women at the scene of mourning for the stillborn child. Community, stalwart sisterhood. By contrast the main group of men we get here are the redneck yokels rounded up by the sheriff. Well that and the corpsicles frozen in horror. The only mixed gender group in the whole show is the meeting about the mine protest.
I assume the broader theme of this season is the violence against Native women in the north, both Canada and Alaska. I'm trying to mostly ignore the supernatural parts of the story and focus on the human tragedy. I'm finding Kali Reis' performance really compelling for that.
posted by Nelson at 2:26 PM on February 27
I assume the broader theme of this season is the violence against Native women in the north, both Canada and Alaska. I'm trying to mostly ignore the supernatural parts of the story and focus on the human tragedy. I'm finding Kali Reis' performance really compelling for that.
posted by Nelson at 2:26 PM on February 27
I loved the simple spookiness of the scene where the orange thrown into the darkness rolls back to the thrower.
The show has some great music - from Billie Eilish's - bury a friend and Magpie by the Unthanks onwards. But we also see music getting used as part of the narrative with the characters - from Twist and Shout in EP1, onwards. a particular shout out to the use of Inuit Iñupiaq throat singing in this episode.
posted by rongorongo at 12:20 AM on June 28
The show has some great music - from Billie Eilish's - bury a friend and Magpie by the Unthanks onwards. But we also see music getting used as part of the narrative with the characters - from Twist and Shout in EP1, onwards. a particular shout out to the use of Inuit Iñupiaq throat singing in this episode.
posted by rongorongo at 12:20 AM on June 28
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posted by oldnumberseven at 6:07 PM on January 31 [6 favorites]