IR TV Review: TRUE DETECTIVE - NIGHT COUNTRY - EPISODE 1 [HBO/Max]
The intonation of a series like "True Detective" depends on who is consistently or primarily behind the wheel. The context helps because, like "Fargo", alot of it depends on environment and how people react within them. With Season 4, entitled "Night Country" starring Jodie Foster and boxer turned actor Kali Reis, it is about balancing base instinct with a sense of poise. This is the first time we have seen Jodie Foster dip her hand back into something hard boiled in a little bit after focusing so much on passion projects over the years. This series seems to have been shot a bit longer ago than say the recent "Nyad" which she was also good in. Episode 1 here is primarily used as a set up to introduce the permament darkness motif of Ennis, Alaska. The premiere starts off with something going wrong at a Artic research facility working within physics and biochemistry. The feeling it gives off perhaps pays odes to "The Thing" and "The Final Countdown" though nothing can be proven.
There is something genre centric going on but like "True Detective" in the past, it is about what is not seen. The key here is the murder of a local native, but one that split apart two people working for the Alaskan Police Force years prior. Foster plays the Police Chief trying to keep on top of a town where it seems everything else is going on. Her job is to keep the cabin fever and insanity from setting in. Kali Reis plays a Alaska trooper who failed to solve the murder in question before but also has an axe to grind for certain reasons.The concept holds promise across the board once the first episode sinks in. Foster is a thinking person's action heroine yet with an extremely dry sense of humor which really plays well here.
Reis' physicality is important but after "Catch The Fair One" (her breakout role - which Inside Reel talked to her for), this series is where she has the ability to shine into the mainstream. Her hardline works well at the beginning here but beyond small scenes, she needs to find a way to bring the empathy in without losing her edge. There are some abstract elements and spiritual contexts here (which makes sense considering the location) but only as long as they don't work too far outside the plot specific and logical without going off the deep end. Episode 1 of "True Detective: Night Country" shows the series has promise which was already guaranteed with a smart actor like Foster at the forefront. Not it is a question of where it goes. B+
By Tim Wassberg
