Ten years ago, the first season of True Detective aired on HBO . At the time, it was like a bolt from the blue: suddenly, it was all anyone was talking about. Everyone had theories , everyone wanted to share them, and everyone – even those who didn’t subscribe to HBO , mind you – knew what was going to happen . True Detective was one of the last real triumphs of American linear television, with its scheduled programming, weekly airing, and a high regard for word of mouth: the important thing, we often hear, is that people talk about it. And in the case of True Detective, people talked about it well. And so here we are, in 2024, a few hours away from the arrival of the fourth season (exclusively on NOW and Sky) , with a new pair of protagonists, a new showrunner-writer, and a new setting.

There are some common elements, especially from a symbolic point of view. But the two things, the first and fourth seasons of True Detective, remain quite different. When Nic Pizzolatto proposed this series to HBO, he had a clear idea in mind: to change. And to completely overturn, or at least to a large extent, the perspective of the story. The protagonists – played by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson – are two detectives , but they are also two men destroyed by life, not at all positive or encouraging . Furthermore, for once, the story does not take place in one of the great American metropolises, but in the deep south, in Louisiana, between endless expanses of nothing and abandoned villages, overwhelmed by hurricanes.

The story is divided into two parts: one set in the past, between the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, and the other almost contemporary with respect to the broadcast set in the early 2010s . There is a continuous comparison, thanks to the mechanism of the interrogation, between what was and what, then, became. Rust and Marty, the characters of McConaughey and Harrelson, were unique, each with his own vision of the world and his own personality. If Rust was cerebral and pessimistic, Marty was profoundly immature, incapable of having a relationship with his wife and daughters, quick to anger, impulsive and extremely – in its most positive sense, this time – practical.

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The impact that True Detective has had on television series, more than on the small screen itself, has not been limited to the construction of the protagonists: on this Pizzolatto was able to trace a deep furrow, something that, over time, has become a real reference. But there was also the direction of Cary Fukunaga , with the very long sequence shot of the fourth episode, praised and appreciated by everyone; there was the interpretation of the actors, McConaughey and Harrelson first and foremost; and there was also – an aspect absolutely not to be underestimated – the theme song, with its graphics and its music. Which in recent years has been copied, reprised and imitated countless times.

True Detective was, in many ways, an auteur series, conceived and filmed in a certain way. This characteristic, however, did not represent a limit. On the contrary, it gave a further push to the entire series. With True Detective , noir had found a new life : far from clichés, commonplaces and indifference; far from the infinite and often banal ramifications and subcategories of the genre. It had returned to being a living, pulsating thing, made of suspense and agitation, fear and anger, convictions and faith.

The policemen were not portrayed as two spotless heroes: they were portrayed exactly in their humanity. There was an effective and palpable complexity in the reality of the story. Marty, with his behavior and his betrayals, had opened up the possibility of a broader discussion on sexism and fake American machismo: Michelle Monaghan , who played Marty’s wife, Maggie, was – from this point of view – a true symbol. Perhaps, however, the thing that everyone remembers today are the pseudo-philosophical dialogues, so high and smoky, between the two protagonists: those sketches that took place inside the cockpit of their car, while they went from one point to another in the region. Rust who grumbled and Marty who reprimanded him for his senseless nihilism, so absolute and repulsive.

Variety

It was about us, True Detective . Or at least, it was about that sense of anguish and confusion that we often feel. The light against the dark, the good against the evil. And the daily tragedies, that seem so insurmountable but that in the end, with difficulty, we learn to live with. True Detective was dirty, fast-paced, sometimes deliberately slow, with action peaks and carefully studied twists. And it was rich, intense and engaging.

With the first season , he set a standard for everyone – even for Pizzolatto himself and for HBO, who have always tried to replicate its success and formula. Series like this, where the writer has maximum freedom and total control, are no longer made with this approach. Perhaps because the ideas have run out; perhaps because the majors, after years spent experimenting and looking for the new Breaking Bad , the new Mad Men and even the new True Detective , have ended up settling. That season was undoubtedly a masterpiece and its extraordinary nature still endures today, ten years later.