Why True Detective: Night Country Filmmaker Issa Lopez Is The Perfect Fit For The Series
When it was announced that Issa Lopez would be taking over "True Detective" season 4 from show creator Nic Pizzolatto, some fans were understandably skeptical. Pizzolatto had created arguably the finest season of TV with the first installment of his crime thriller anthology series, though the second and third seasons failed to garner the same level of critical praise and fan adoration. Regardless, to many Pizzolatto was "True Detective," and whatever Lopez's project was going to be, it was difficult to see how it fit into the series' evolution.
In reality, however, after season 1, the varying quality of subsequent seasons proved that Pizzolatto was not some sort of infallible crime-writing god. In that sense, bringing on a new showrunner to write and direct seemed like a decent idea, especially if that new showrunner could restore what fans loved about the original series while providing a fresh take on the material. Which, as it turns out, is exactly what Lopez has seemingly managed to do.
While Nic Pizzolatto is off working on his Vince Vaughn and Al Pacino-starring drama, episode 2 of "True Detective: Night Country" not only proves why bringing in fresh blood was a good idea, but it also demonstrates exactly why Lopez was the perfect choice.
Issa Lopez's magical realist roots
Issa Lopez spent years writing for soap operas in her native Mexico before she came to prominence with 2017's "Tigers Are Not Afraid." The film focused on the impact of Mexico's ongoing drug war on children, but also weaved in elements of supernatural horror and magical realism, debuting at Fantastic Fest 2017 to widespread praise. Suddenly, Lopez was a sought-after commodity, which led HBO to contact her about "True Detective." As it turned out this, was a bit of a masterstroke on HBO's part.
Speaking on the Post Mortem podcast, Lopez explained why she's drawn to magical realism and how it pervades "Tigers Are Not Afraid." But it's her recollection of her upbringing that really provides an insight into how she's able to blend realism and the supernatural so well, and why she was such a good choice to take on "True Detective" season 4.
The writer/director revealed that she grew up with a Catholic mother and a "communist, atheist" father — a conflict which has informed much of her writing. She continued:
"Those two conflicting personalities, the very rational pragmatist communist that worried and worked in the real world, and the more spiritual side of my mother, that believed both in the mysteries of Catholicism but also in curses and ghosts and a little bit of witchcraft and a different universe, the conflict between those forces is what I think is at the center of every story I tell."
Lopez used that mix of the supernatural and the worldly to great effect in "Tigers Are Not Afraid," but it works arguably even better in "True Detective," which in 2014 started by using elements of horror and weird fiction to establish a vaguely supernatural tone beneath its grounded and realistic crime narratives.
The Pizzolatto promise
After the unimpeachably great first season (which started as a novel and a play before becoming a TV show) season 2 of "True Detective" irked fans in part because Nic Pizzolatto seemed to intentionally steer his show away from what audiences loved about the first season. One big part of that diversion was ditching much of the cosmic horror elements that he'd weaved into the original narrative, which used parts of Robert Chambers' 1895 short story "The King in Yellow" to add a layer of mythos to the insidious Tuttle cult terrorizing Louisiana.
This cult was behind the gruesome crimes being investigated by Woody Harrelson's Marty Hart and Matthew McConaughey's Rustin Cohle, and the vaguely supernatural aura made it even more chilling and effective — especially since Pizzolatto was careful to make oblique references to the supernatural without ever confirming anything for certain.
That balancing act was much more important than you might think because, as any fan of horror knows, our own imaginations are capable of dreaming up much more horrific scenarios than directors can often show us outright. The sense that the mystery at the heart of season 1 was being propelled by some sort of paranormal force just made everything that much more compelling and haunting. As such, while season 2 was nowhere near as bad as the initial reaction would suggest, it certainly lacked this fascinating layer of implied cosmic horror, which also remained absent in season 3.
Now, though, not only is Issa Lopez restoring the horror to "True Detective," she's re-establishing that careful balancing act that made it so effective in season 1.
Issa Lopez understands the assignment
In episode 2 of "Night Country" we get the perfect distillation of the implied supernatural approach that worked so well in season 1 of "True Detective." In the season opener, "Night Country" wore its horror inspirations on its sleeve with several scenes that could have easily come straight out of "The Thing" — John Carpenter's classic that happened to get a nice little shout-out in the episode. In other words, it was clear that Issa Lopez was restoring the horror element of "True Detective."
But episode 2 seems to confirm that Lopez is also sensitive to the all-important balance between the rational and the seemingly supernatural. When state trooper Evangeline Navarro (Keli Reis) visits Rose Aguineau, she asks her about her visions of the dead, leading Rose to explain her theories on why the deceased return to the mortal realm. But when Navarro tells Rose that her sister experiences "breakdowns" and also claims to be able to see the dead, Rose says, "Don't confuse the spirit world with mental health issues. Sounds to me like she needs treatment."
In this moment, where Rose talks about communicating with the dead one minute, then soberly tells Navarro to take mental health seriously, you can feel Lopez speaking through her character, giving voice to the conflicting worldviews she experienced growing up and which has driven her own writing ever since. In doing so, she's recalling Nic Pizzolatto's grounded yet vaguely fantastical approach to prior seasons — proving that if you're going to replace the erstwhile showrunner with anyone, Issa Lopez is a great choice.