Catching a killer is not easy, and may span many years, as depicted in this drama series
True Detective follows two Louisiana detectives, Rust Cohle and Martin Hart, as their lives collide whilst on a 17-year hunt for a killer.
Cohle and Hart are portrayed by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, respectively.
The investigation of a bizarre murder in 1995 is framed and interlaced with the testimony and story of the detectives in 2012, when the case is reopened.
Blast from the Past
Detectives Hart and Cohle, partners in Louisiana’s Criminal Investigation Division, are assigned to a macabre murder by a killer with disturbing occult leanings. As they attempt to uncover the secrets of this bizarre crime, their own lives collide and intertwine in unexpected, sometimes catastrophic ways.
When a similar case leads to an investigation of the original 1995 murder by two new detectives, Hart and Cohle separately tell the story of both the investigation and their lives, including why Cohle left the CID in 2002.
Alternating between 1995, 2002 and 2012, all eight episodes were written by series creator and novelist Nic Pizzolatto, and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (of Jane Eyre), who executive produced along with Scott Stephens, Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and Steve Golin.
Opposites Attract
At first glance, Martin Hart and Rust Cohle couldn’t be more different. Hart, a native Louisianan, is an outgoing family man with two kids, whose marriage is buckling under the stress of the job.
Cohle, a former undercover narcotics detective from Texas, embraces isolation, articulating a pessimistic, even bleak, world view. But they share an obsession with justice and a facility for violence that will inflict irreparable damage on both men.
This eight-episode anthology series also stars Michelle Monaghan as Hart’s wife, Maggie, who struggles to keep her family together as the men in her life become locked in a cycle of violence and obsession.
Also featured are Kevin Dunn as Major Quesada, Hart and Cohle’s boss; Tory Kittles and Michael Potts as detectives Papania and Gilbough, in charge of the 2012 investigation; Elizabeth Reaser as Laurie; Shea Whigham as revivalist Joel Theriot; Clarke Peters as a rural minister; Jay O Sanders as Billy Lee Tuttle; and Lili Simmons as Beth, a prostitute.
The Murders Continue
The first victim of the killer 17 years earlier is prostitute Dora Lange. The detectives give their statement as they look back on the occult signs and details of the crime.
Under pressure to land a suspect in the Lange murder, Major Quesada warns Hart and Cohle that they might be replaced by three detectives from a new task force. The pair lobby for extra time to follow up on a lead that takes them from a rural cathouse to an incinerated church.
A hidden image at the burnt out church leads them to Joel Theriot, a tent-revival minister whose parishioners finger a scarred “tall man” seen with Dora Lange.
Brought in for interrogation, a sex offender matching the description is quickly dismissed by Cohle, despite offering a confession.
Watch to see how this mystery-thriller unfolds.
True Detective premieres in Asia, Jan 19, at 9pm, on HBO & HBO HD, StarHub TV Ch 601.
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