Is there anything better than a great pilot episode that grabs you instantly? The 2025 and 2026 TV schedules saw a few new shows like this. Pluribus might have the perfect first episode, because it does what all the best do: no slow burn, no “it gets good in Season 2.” Just an immediate, undeniable pull. And recently, fans have been swapping examples of classic TV shows that nailed that feeling from the start. After looking through the responses, I have to admit, the most popular answer is absolutely the right one.

The Post That Sparked The Debate

Over on Reddit, a thread asking “What TV show hooked you instantly from episode 1?” quickly took off, racking up nearly 12 thousand responses. While there were plenty of great picks, one show dominated the conversation by a mile: HBO's groundbreaking miniseries Chernobyl.

The thread itself is pretty simple, but the answers say a lot about what viewers value. It’s not just about spectacle. It’s about tone, tension, and that feeling that you’re watching something special from the very first scene. While dozens of shows came up, one name kept rising to the top over and over again.

Chernobyl dominated the conversation for sure, but it definitely wasn’t the only show getting love. The thread turned into a full-on celebration of great pilots across genres. Here are some of the standouts:

• True Detective
• Mindhunter
• Lost
• The X-Files
• Arrested Development
• The Boys
• Severance
• The Good Place
• Derry Girls

It’s a great mix of comedy, drama, and genre storytelling, but again, none of them quite matched the universal agreement around Chernobyl.

Why Chernobyl Worked So Well

It’s easy to see why so many people pointed to the drama built around the devastating 1980s nuclear disaster. The show didn’t just hook viewers by capturing the scale of the tragedy; it genuinely stunned them.

Chernobyl doesn’t ease you in, but instead, drops you straight into dread. From the opening moments, you know exactly what kind of story you’re getting, and it never lets up. The tone is relentless, but not in a way that feels exhausting.

Part of what makes it so effective is how grounded it feels. There’s no sensationalism or over-the-top drama, just a slow, creeping realization of how bad things really are.

One criticism that came up when the show first aired was that the characters speak mostly in English, using their natural accents instead of Russian. That might pull some viewers out of it, but it also speaks to what the series is trying to do. It's by no means a documentary on the Chernobyl disaster, but by keeping the language accessible, it opens the story up to a wider audience and helps ensure that more people can engage with and learn from a mostly accurate depiction of what happened.

And then there’s the structure. The show doesn’t rely on twists to keep you engaged. You already know the outcome. Instead, it builds tension through details, through process, through watching people try and fail to contain something that’s already out of control. That’s what makes it so gripping from episode one. It trusts the audience to lean in.

At the end of the day, a great pilot or first episode of a miniseries has to answer one simple question: “Do I need to keep watching?” Chernobyl answers the question and makes it feel like you don’t have a choice. Judging by how many people are still talking about it years later, it’s safe to say that first episode did exactly what it needed to do.

The groundbreaking miniseries, Chernobyl, is streaming with an HBO Max subscription.

True Detective had a lot of success after its inaugural run with many talented actors attached, and yet people still yearn for Season 1. While it can still be easily streamed via HBO Max subscription, it seems people want more of Matthew McConaughey's Rust Cohle and Woody Harrelson's Marty Hart. Before McConaughey started rumors that the characters may get back together, the duo went into how filming that dynamic impacted their personal friendship.

Harrelson and esteemed Emmy winner Ted Danson brought McConaughey on as a guest for their podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name, which led the White Men Can't Jump star to recall his initial distaste for the specific way McConaughey played his chain-smoking investigator. Harrelson even said he wanted to punch his buddy in the face, mainly because the entire time they were on set, he wouldn't break character to fall back into his usual personality. As Harrelson put it:

Fortunately, Matthew McConaughey didn't let his acting partner's angst rattle him, and continued to embody Rust Cohle during and between scenes the way he saw fit. The result was a critically acclaimed season that, more than 10 years later, still stands the test of time as one of the best modern crime television stories.

McConaughey remembered Harrelson's frustration during production, and even recalled a conversation they had about Marty and Cohle's dynamic. Although his paraphrasing of Harrelson's words at the time are far more eloquent and verbose than simply stating the wish to smack his co-star in the face. As McConaughey put it:

McConaughey went on to point out that when watching True Detective, however, Marty's reaction to Cohle's bizarre behavior or cryptic sayings becomes a source of comedy in the series. It had me wondering if Woody Harrelson's actual frustration with his friend in as much on the screen as Marty's own emotions, which I think is what the actor was getting at.

This isn't the first time that either actor has spoken about this, as Harrelson told the same story back in 2022. I think it's funnier to hear it a second time years later, because it adds authenticity to how angry Harrelson was at the time.

Those waiting to see Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey get back together for another project are in luck. The duo is slated to star in an Apple TV+ series, Brother From Another Mother, though it's been a while since we've seen updates on it. In the time since its announcement, we've learned that the actors may actually be related, but that's not what the show is about. It may be a while before we learn more about it, as development paused in 2025 after Deadline reported the showrunner exited. Could it be because a True Detective reunion is on the way?

All we know right now is that True Detective Season 5 is coming to HBO in 2027. I can't wait to see who is ultimately involved in the next chapter of the true crime series, and if we will get a callback to the actors who first got the show rolling.

Matthew McConaughey has the kind of persona where he always seems to be projecting seriousness, while also always seemingly a split-second away from breaking into full-face grins. As such, it can be hard to tell when the actor is in a no-bullshit frame of mind and when he’s actually just pulling everyone’s leg. And when the concept is “possible follow-up to True Detective’s highly acclaimed first season,” one wants to be damned sure there’s no leg-pulling involved.

True Detective Season 5 is on the way from showrunner Issa López, with Nicolas Cage reportedly heading up the cast, but the Rust Cohle portrayer stoked the mystery drama’s fandom with an Instagram post alongside former co-star Woody Harrelson and T.D. creator Nic Pizzolatto. It’s the caption that really sends one’s imagination back to Carcosa. Check it out!

So many ways to take the phrase "original band." Or wait, no, it's mostly just the one way that directly points at Rust and Marty's dysfunctional relationship being explored anew. Or maybe even that McConaughey and Harrelson would be playing completely different characters, where one of them may opine that time is another type of flat shape.

For all that I'd love to cannonball dive right into this speculation, the logistics side of my brain can't let go of the idea that this post is nothing more than a moment in time where three friends stood together for a picture that has no bearing on the future. (Which Nic Pizzolatto's wife, musician Suzanne Santo, apparently took, per her comment.) The former showrunner himself spoke to idea that McConaghey was just blowing smoke, saying:

True Detective rumors are going to spread even without any actual former co-stars involved, so that's less of an issue to me. I'm more concerned with all the fans out there who see this without having that nagging sense of logic tamping down expectations.

Just look at this smattering of fan reactions, which came between endless Rust Cohle GIFs and "alright, alright, alright" chants.

• BRO DON’T GIVE ME HOPE 😭😭😭
• don't. don't give me hope. my heart just can't. please don't.
• Please don't play with my feelings...
• Don’t tease us … but also do
• WHAT DOES THIS MEAN
• Bring Rust and Marty back, please 😭😭😭😭
• Peak holy shit
• this is what the fans wanna see

In all the comment-scrolling, not once did I see a single reaction that could be viewed as negative. (Save for the takes where fans called Season 1 the only one worth watching.) Obviously social media comments aren't anything for HBO execs to base programming decisions on, but I have to think that another True Detective season with McConaughey and Harrelson would rank among the highest-rated originals in the network's history. (More so if they worked dragons into it, maybe, but not really.)

Of course, to go that route for a possible sixth season, HBO would possibly need to take the reins away from Issa López after Season 5, and that doesn't seem like it could happen amicably without agreements from all parties. So even if it is real, it's still complicated and not coming very soon.

Harrelson and McConaughey signed on to co-star in a completely different kind of TV show, the reality-skewing Apple TV+ comedy Brothers, which taps into the actors’ dovetailing bloodlines. However, back in June 2025, production was suspended reportedly for creative reasons, and it’s unclear what’s happening with that project currently.

Stream all four seasons of True Detective via HBO Max subscription, and stay tuned for more info about the next big case.

With True Detective Season 5 coming to the airwaves (and for anyone with an HBO Max subscription) in the next couple of years, there’s been a lot of talk about who’ll be leading the series. There have been reports of Nicolas Cage leading the latest installment of the hit anthology series, but I recently came across a Reddit post that jokingly pitched an off-the-wall pairing that I think could totally work.

No, it’s not the return of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Nor is it Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorf, or even the all-star cast from the divisive second season. Instead, it’s something stranger, wilder, and straight-up odd: Tim Robinson and Nathan Fielder. But again, I think this could work…

Tim Robinson And Nathan Fielder Leading A Season Of True Detective Would Be Bonkers

Tim Robinson, with his terrifyingly uncomfortable Friendship, and Nathan Fielder, with the second season of his deadpan docuseries, The Rehearsal, provided two of the most unforgettable experiences I had throughout all of 2025. As far as I know, these two have never worked together, but they could change that by teaming up to lead a season of True Detective. I mean, it would seriously be the most bonkers thing to happen on the show, which is saying something.

Just the idea of these two playing detectives trying to get to the bottom of some kind of murder plot, kidnapping, or conspiracy of some sort sounds intriguing, and I think it would make for must-see TV. The show has taken some strange steps in the past, and isn’t afraid to try new things, so why not go full gonzo with the format and have these two do their thing?

Give Us A Bizarro, Half-Serious Season, And These Guys Would Crush It

One of my colleagues has already made a case for Tim Robinson appearing on shows like Severance, It: Welcome to Derry, and The Pitt, but I think having him, along with Fielder, show up and attempt to solve a mystery would be on a whole other level. After watching The Chair Company and its various layers, Robinson could handle something like this. Fielder, who reached new heights when getting to the bottom of the airline industry in The Rehearsal Season 2, would also make for a believable detective, even if he didn’t have his trademark schemes.

The way these two brilliantly walk the line between being serious characters and absolute maniacs on the edge would add so much to the famed drama (and the crime TV genre as a whole). As we’ve seen on The Chair Company and The Curse, these two can handle unsettling drama just as well as they can comedy. Their unique sense of humor could also add another level of uneasiness and tension to an already intense drama that leaves you guessing from start to finish.

Do I think HBO will ever give the OK to a season of True Detective with Tim Robinson and Nathan Fielder at the heart of the drama? I don’t really know. That said, it’s best to never say never when it comes to these things.

The American South is full of lore and stories. The nature of the United States is such that every region is unique, and that means every region has its own legends and history to draw from. Over the years, television has tapped into that rich culture of the South with some of the best shows of all time. This is dedicated to those shows and those stories, the TV shows of the American South.

Atlanta

The city of Atlanta has been called "the capital of the South," so it only makes sense that the show named for the town, Atlanta, starring (and created by) Donald Glover, should feature on this list. The show won a slew of awards for its storytelling in the modern South of a music manager (Glover) helping his client, played by Brian Tyree Henry, navigate the music industry, and America, for that matter.

Matlock

There isn't a more classic Southern show than Matlock. We're talking about the original here, of course, the one set in Atlanta starring Andy Griffith as Ben Matlock. It's a stone-cold classic show (and frequent butt of jokes, especially on The Simpsons), and no list about shows about the South would be complete without it. The modern remake is great too, but alas, it is set in New York City.

Friday Night Lights

High school football is a huge part of modern Southern culture, and Friday Night Lights tells that story better than anything else. Over five seasons, following a small town high school football team led by Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chadler), which is based on a book (and a movie that followed) by Buzz Bissinger, the show did a deep dive into the culture and brought it to life in inspiring fashion.

Treme

New Orleans is the most unique city in America. It's truly like no other place on this continent. Treme brings the city to life like no other show ever has. Like creator David Simon's other famous HBO show, The Wire, the city is the main character here. The people who live in the city are what make it New Orleans, and in Treme, we see every aspect of life in the Crescent City.

A Different World

While the show that A Different World was spun off from, The Cosby Show, was set in New York City, A Different World follows Huxtable's daughter Denise (Lisa Bonet) as she goes off to college at the fictional Hillman College in Virginia. Bonet left after just one season, but the show still went on to become an iconic Black sitcom.

Bad Monkey

There's an old saying that the further south you go in Florida, the more north you get, but author Carl Hiaasen, who wrote the book that Bad Monkey is based on, has the great ability to show the Southern side of all of Florida. The show, which you can watch with an Apple TV+ subscription, is just a wonderful and hilarious look into life in the Sunshine State that you don't see on the tourism ads.

Dallas

There's nothing like the drama of a rich Southern oil family to get people excited, right? Dallas captivated audiences for 14 seasons and included one of the most celebrated cliff-hangers of all time with "Who Shot J.R.?"

Eastbound & Down

Danny McBride has really figured out how to tap into the humorous side of Southern culture. With shows like The Righteous Gemstones, Vice Principals, and perhaps his best example, the over-the-top-but-wonderful Eastbound & Down. The show, which is available with an HBO Max subscription, is one of the funniest shows about the South ever, even if it strayed in the later seasons. That first season will always be pure comedy gold.

Designing Women

In the 1980s, no sitcom defined Southern charm than Designing Women. Yet another movie set in the great city of Atlanta, the show about the all-female team of a design firm had one of the best casts of any sitcom from the era. A cast that included Delta Burke, Dixie Carter, Jean Smart, and Annie Potts. In the later seasons, Jan Hooks got in on the fun as well.

The Walking Dead

Though The Walking Dead is a story that could happen anywhere, almost all of it takes place in the South. The show starts in Atlanta (including an early mission to the CDC in the capital of Georgia), and ends with the crew mostly living outside of Washington, DC, in the Virginia suburbs.

Nashville

Well, as the name says, Nashville is set, of course, in the capital of Country Music. In recent years, starting around when this show debuted in 2012, Nashville, TN, has become the place to live in the South. Everyone from recent college graduates to big stars is flocking to the city with one of the richest music histories in the United States.

The Golden Girls

You might not think of Miami as the South, and to be fair, it doesn't have a ton in cultural common with say, Birmingham, but it's right there on the map, as far south as you can get in the continental U.S., so Golden Girls counts here! The show, which has lived on for decades in syndication, is famous for its zingers and, in the end, its heartfelt message of friendship. It really needs no introduction, does it?

The Waltons

Even if you've never seen The Waltons, a show about a Depression-era family living in the Virginia Appalachian Mountains, you probably know how each episode ended with the tight-knit family saying good night to each other. It oozes Southern sensibilities.

The Dukes Of Hazzard

One of the most popular and most controversial shows on this list has to be The Dukes of Hazzard. Beloved for its daredevil driving scenes and the humorous relationship between cops and bandits, the show was a staple of '70s and '80s TV. In more recent decades, the show has been criticized for its use of the Confederate flag painted on top of the General Lee (which is still a really cool car, regardless).

Tyler Perry's House of Payne

Tyler Perry is a proud resident of Atlanta, and he's invested heavily in developing what has become one of the movie-making capitals of the world. It makes perfect sense that the first sitcom he ever created, Tyler Perry's House of Payne, would be set in the city. The show, which balances silly moments with serious themes, has had a remarkable run on TBS first, and later on BET. It's gone well over 300 episodes, making it one of the most successful sitcoms with a predominantly Black cast.

The Righteous Gemstones

From the demented (and wonderful) mind of Danny McBride, The Righteous Gemstones is simply brilliant. The show, which aired on HBO for four seasons, has a fantastic cast, including McBride, alongside John Goodman, Adam DeVine, Edi Patterson, and some sublime supporting work from Walton Goggins.

The Andy Griffith Show

There may be no show on this list that espouses the gentile way of life in a small, southern town like The Andy Griffith Show. The name of the fictional town in North Caroline, Mayberry, has even become a noun to describe wholesome small towns all across the United States. The legendary show aired a total of 249 episodes over eight seasons on CBS. It also helped launch the career of Ron Howard, of course.

Army Wives

While not strictly a show about life in the South, Army Wives is set on a naval base in Charleston, SC. The popular Lifetime show didn't have the broadest appeal, to be sure, but it had a dedicated fanbase for the seven seasons it was on.

Dexter

Like some others on this list, we'll admit that Dexter doesn't always feel like a "Southern show" since it is set in Miami, but Florida, even South Florida, should definitely count here, right? How much really needs to be said about the now-iconic Showtime show about a serial killer hunting serial killers? At least we can acknowledge that Jon Lithgow plays one of the most ruthless villains in TV history.

Justified

There aren't a ton of shows set in Kentucky, but Justified would probably be the best, even if there were others. This is a show that has shown incredible legs over the years, remaining as popular–if not more popular–than it was when it first aired on FX.

NCIS: New Orleans

NCIS has had a whole lot of spinoffs. NCIS: New Orleans was the second in the franchise when it was spun off in 2014. Though it was surprisingly canceled after it's seventh season on CBS, it still ended up a very successful show in the popular franchise.

CSI: Miami

One of the most popular TV franchises of the early 21st Century is, without a doubt, the CSI group of shows on CBS. The original, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (set in Las Vegas), first hit the airwaves in 2000, and just two years later, David Caruso returned to TV as Horatio Cane in CSI: Miami. For many, including myself, Miami was just as good as its parent show, and ratings showed that. The show aired for 10 seasons and more than 200 episodes.

True Blood

Anne Rice may be the most famous teller of vampire stories to hail from Louisiana, but Charlaine Harris, who wrote the books upon which HBO's True Blood was based, is a close second these days. True Blood is set in the fictional town of Bon Temps, LA, but it is anything but "good times" for the residents, as this neo-gothic classic show highlights again and again.

In The Heat Of The Night

Based loosely on the book and the 1967 film starring Sidney Poitier of the same name, In The Heat Of The Night followed a small town police chief (Carroll O'Connor) and his top detective, Virgil Tibbs (Howard Rollins). The show, which aired first on NBC before moving to CBS, was set in Sparta, Mississippi, and it was unafraid to tackle complex subjects like racism and police corruption.

One Tree Hill

For nine seasons, One Tree Hill transported fans to Wilmington, North Carolina, in the CW TV show. One of the more popular shows among many Millennials, the show still has its die-hard fans today, more than a decade after ending its nine-season run.

Reba

Reba McEntire first entered our hearts as an actor in the cult classic Tremors. She's wonderful in it, and after another decade of parts here and there in movies and TV, the country music legend landed her own sitcom, appropriately called simply Reba. The hard-working McEntire was born and raised in Oklahoma, but the show was set in Houston. In fact, it's weirdly one of the few shows ever set in the Texas metropolis.

Fresh Off The Boat

ABC's Fresh Off The Boat is a unique take on the Southern show, as it features an immigrant family from Taiwan working to make the American Dream happen for them in Orlando, Florida. Constance Wu gave her breakout performance on the show as the hard-charging daughter, Jessica.

Ozark

I get it, some people might push back on Missouri being in the South. I'm from the Show Me State, so I understand. That said, southern MO, especially in the area around Lake of the Ozarks, definitely has more Southern influence than Midwest, so I just have to include the brilliant Netflix original, Ozark.

I Dream Of Jeannie

"The South" might not be the first thing you think of when you think of I Dream of Jeannie, but it was set in Florida. Tony Nelson, Larry Hagman's character who lives with Jeannie (Barbara Eden), is an astronaut, if you remember, living where so many other NASA pilots lived, Cocoa Beach, FL.

True Detective

When I talk about True Detective, I'm usually talking about that brilliant first season. Other seasons of the anthology show have been set in California and Alaska (two states that are definitely not The South), but the first season was set in that most southern of states, Louisiana. The third season was also set in the South, in the hills of Arkansas.

Hart of Dixie

Any show called Hart of Dixie can't be left off this list. It's also one of the few TV shows set in Alabama, so we just had to squeeze in the popular show from The CW, starring Rachel Bilson as a fish-out-of-water New York doctor living in small-town Alabama.

Saving Grace

One place that doesn't feature in a lot of TV shows or movies is Oklahoma City. Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter, bucks that trend. The TNT show, which aired for three seasons in the late '00s. The show often featured famous spots in the town, and, honestly, it's one of my favorite Holly Hunter roles. The show is underappreciated for that alone, never mind the rest of the excellent cast.

After many months of limited to zero updates regarding the impending fifth season of True Detective, which was ordered up back in February 2024, the HBO hit reportedly landed Nicolas Cage to head up whatever the newest murder mystery will be under showrunner Issa López. Fans like myself are still holding out hope for Matthew McConaughey to return as TV’s most eloquent redneck, Rust Cohle, but I guess we’ll just have to make do with the Season 1 star offering his own personal seal of approval for that casting.

Speaking with Variety about one of his first live-action projects since 2019’s The Gentlemen — The Last Bus hits the 2025 movie schedule for a limited run on Sept. 19 — McConaughey was asked to weigh in on Cage being reported as the thriller anthology’s newest titular investigator, and it’d be hard to read into his reaction as anything but a warm sign of approval. When asked about it, the Interstellar vet lit up while verifying the casting was legit, saying:

It's the way Matthew McConaughey takes the information in and then says, "Alright, Nicolas," while raising his eyebrows and smiling. I can't imagine there being a better stamp of approval for anyone potentially stepping into a True Detective lead role. Like, if anything I did caused the actor to it just like that, I would feel pumped enough to think I could do no wrong. It does help that my name is also Nicholas.

While only a few actors out there would have salient advice about what a season of True Detective might be like, McConaughey had no big insights to share for Cage, and instead voiced his confidence that the other actor would crush it, amusingly using his first name three times in the same sentence.

Imagine if Matthew McConaughey would mess up one time and rather than saying, "Alright, alright, alright," instead said, "Nicolas, Nicolas, Nicolas." Well, that probably wouldn't have had as much of an impact on meme culture, and fans might question why he'd be using someone's first name as a positive descriptor.

Still, I can't argue with that, especially with it coming a year after Cage freaked audiences out in Oz Perkins' freaky horror Longlegs, which itself felt somewhat like a truncated season of True Detective. The actor is known for delivering unhinged performances, and I can only hope that working with Issa López on Season 5 inspires him to bring another knock-out performance.

That's assuming this project can come together in a timely enough manner. Cage currently has a John Madden biopic on the way, and he's also portraying the Spider-Verse character Spider-Noir for a standalone TV show. Not to mention co-starring in the David Mamet-scripted drama The Prince and playing Jesus' father in Lotfy Nathan's upcoming drama The Carpenter's Son.

Matthew McConaughey is set to reteam with both Dazed and Confused's Cole Hauser and True Detective's creator Nic Pizzolatto for a new Netflix movie, and while that project won't have any direct connections to the newest season of the HBO series, I'm never going to give up hope for Rust Cohle to pop back into our lives to share another unforgettable observation about time.

What makes TV crime dramas so alluring? It could be the simple thrill of the action or the satisfaction of seeing evil brought to justice, but, for me, it's the twists and revelations that shake up the story. Let’s revisit some of the most mindblowing moments from some of the best crime TV shows, and make sure to keep our SPOILER WARNING in mind.

Omar's Murder (The Wire)

Creator David Simon's The Wire delivered a shocking death that illustrates how even the most imposing and legendary individuals can expire in an unremarkable fashion. Fans of the acclaimed HBO drama anticipated that Baltimore thief Omar Little (Michael K. Williams) might go down in a showdown against Marlo Stanfield (Jamie Hector), but, instead, was fatally shot by Kenard (Thuliso Dingwall ), a kid who worked for the gangster.

Adrian Solves Trudy’s Murder (Monk)

In the series finale of Monk, Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub's obsessive-compulsive detective, Adrian Monk, finally gets to the bottom of the case that has haunted him for years: the murder of his wife, Trudy (Melora Hardin). The car bomb that killed her was planted by renowned Judge Ethan Rickover (Craig T. Nelson) in order to prevent her from coming clean about their affair from years earlier, which resulted in a pregnancy.

Walt Poisons Brock (Breaking Bad)

One of the best episodes of Breaking Bad sees Walter White (Bryan Cranston) resorting to abhorrent measures in order to take down his most fearsome adversary, Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). Jesse's (Aaron Paul) new girlfriend's son, Brock, winds up in the hospital, leading him to suspect the boy was poisoned by Walt, who insists that the poisoning was a manipulation tactic by Gus. Indeed, it was a tactic, but orchestrated by Walt, who is revealed to have poisoned Brock so he could pin it on Gus and get Jesse to help him kill the ruthless criminal.

Junior Shoots Tony (The Sopranos)

In the Season 6 premiere of The Sopranos, Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) shows up at the home of his uncle, Junior (Dominic Chianese), who is suffering from dementia and immediately mistakes his nephew for a dead mobster who robbed him years earlier named Gennaro Malanga. Junior reacts by pulling out a pistol and shooting Tony, who passes out before he can call 911, but luckily, he is rushed to the hospital, where he is put in a coma.

Moriarty Takes His Own Life (Sherlock)

Early on in BBC's modernized reimagining of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's revered mystery stories, Sherlock, fans were introduced to Holmes' (Benedict Cumberbatch) arch nemesis, Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott). However, in only the second season finale, their quarrel of wits came to an end when the master criminal ended his life right in front of the detective.

Love Is A Killer Too (You)

In Netflix's hit crime TV show, You, serial stalker and killer Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) believes he has found someone who can help tame his dark side in Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti). However, he comes to discover that his seemingly sweet and innocent new lover has homicidal tendencies of her own.

Bones' Parents Have A Criminal History (Bones)

Emily Deschanel's eponymous forensic anthropologist from Bones, Temperance "Bones" Brennan, was abandoned by her parents when she was a teenager. Years later, she would find her mother's remains and, through subsequent investigation, discover that she and Brennan's father were career criminals.

Kristin Shepard Shot J.R. (Dallas)

One of the most iconic cliffhangers in TV history had America wondering who shot J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) in the Season 3 finale of Dallas. The mystery prompted an astonishing phenomenon that lasted the entire summer of 1980 before the primetime soap opera returned for its fourth season premiere, in which it was revealed that Kristin Shepard (Mary Crosby) attempted to kill the notorious oil baron.

Vic Kills Terry (The Shield)

Creator Shawn Ryan's intense, FX original police drama The Shield wasted no time in preparing audiences for what sort of startling twists and turns it had in store. The very first episode ends with the corrupt Det. Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) murdering federal informant Terry Crowley (Reed Diamond) in cold blood.

The Trinity Killer Murders Rita (Dexter)

Most fans of Dexter would agree that the most wicked adversary Michael C. Hall's homicidal vigilante ever faced is Arthur Mitchell (John Lithgow), a.k.a. The Trinity Killer, especially for his final kill. Dexter manages to take out the sadistic murderer, but not soon enough to prevent him from killing his wife, Rita (Julie Benz), whom he finds in a blood-filled bathtub with his infant son, Harrison, sitting on the floor nearby.

Dana Lewis Is A Murderer (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)

Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden appeared on multiple episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Dana Lewis, an FBI agent who strikes up a strong bond with Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay). However, their friendship would come to an end when Lewis is arrested for murdering a woman her ex-boyfriend cheated on her with.

The Yellow King’s Identity (True Detective)

The first season of HBO's hit, anthological mystery drama, True Detective, follows Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson) and Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) as they investigate the murders of a killer known only as The Yellow King. Ultimately, the criminal is revealed to be Errol Childress (Glenn Fleshler), who is the nephew of one of the case's prime suspects, Reverend Tuttle.

Opie Sacrifices Himself (Sons Of Anarchy)

One of the most heartbreaking moments from Sons of Anarchy comes when the imprisoned Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam), Chibs Telford (Tommy Flanagan), Tig Trager (Kim Coates), and Opie Winston (Ryan Hurst) are forced to decide which of them will face four other inmates in a brawl to the death so that Jax and Chibs can be released as part of an agreement with Damon Pope (Harold Perrineau). Opie volunteers himself and, after uttering his final words, "I got this," bids his brothers farewell before suffering a brutal end.

Cooper Is Replaced With An Evil Clone (Twin Peaks)

While all David Lynch movies are known for raising many perplexing questions, the original CBS run of the filmmaker's hit TV series, Twin Peaks, especially left audiences with a lot to ponder in the Season 2 finale, which reveals that Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle McLachlan) has not returned from The Black Lodge, but has been replaced with a demented doppelgänger. More than two decades later, fans were finally treated to a continuation of the story with Showtime's 2017 revival.

The Reaper Is George Foyet (Criminal Minds)

One of the most notorious criminals that the Criminal Minds cast ever took on was an elusive killer known as "The Reaper," whose only surviving victim was a man named George Foyet (C. Thomas Howell). However, the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit comes to discover that Foyet is The Reaper after all.

Beaver Assaulted Veronica (Veronica Mars)

The season 2 finale of Veronica Mars solves the long-gestating mystery behind the young, titular amateur investigator's (Kristen Bell) traumatic assault. The perpetrator is revealed to be Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas (Kyle Gallner), who is himself a victim of assault, which has led him to become a violent person, causing even more destruction than what Veronica had suffered.

Elliott Has Been In Prison The Entire Time (Mr. Robot)

Creator Sam Esmail's USA drama Mr. Robot is the kind of series that always keeps you guessing, thanks to central character Elliott Alderson (Rami Malek) being an unreliable narrator. In fact, the seventh episode of its second season reveals that the hacker's entire life up to that point has been a delusion, and he has really been serving a jail sentence during this time.

President Logan Is Corrupt (24)

Corruption in the White House is a horrifying concept, which Fox's 24 boldly touched on with one of its most shocking twists. At the end of the 16th episode of Season 5, President Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin) is seen having a phone conversation with Christopher Henderson (Peter Weller) that reveals he was behind the deaths of David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) and Michelle Dessler (Reiko Aylesworth).

Helen Is Killed (Ozark)

Few Netflix original TV shows have been as subversive as Ozark, which concluded its third season in an intense way. While it seemed that Marty Byrd (Jason Bateman) was doomed to suffer a grisly fate at the hands of Omar Navarro (Felix Solis), the cartel leader instead orders Nelson (Nelson Bonilla) to take out his lawyer, Helen Pierce (Janet McTeer), who attempted to frame Marty as an FBI informant.

Hank Realizes Heisenberg's True Identity (Breaking Bad)

The first half of Breaking Bad's fifth and final season came to a jaw-dropping end when DEA agent Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) arrived at a startling, long-awaited conclusion. He is sitting on Walt's toilet when he grabs a copy of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, signed to "W.W." by Gale Boetticher (David Costabile). This clues him in to the fact that the drug manufacturer he has been trying to find for more than a year has been his brother-in-law the whole time.

Ryan Killed Erin (Mare Of Easttown)

Near the end of the Emmy-winning HBO miniseries Mare of Easttown, it appears that Erin McMenamin (Cailee Spaeny) was murdered by her older cousin and lover, John Ross (Joe Tippett), but the truth is much darker. John's 13-year-old son, Ryan (Cameron Mann), learned of the affair and set out to intimidate her into backing out of the romance, but it ended up resulting in a fatal end for the young woman.

Cody Hoyt Dies (Big Sky)

It was heavily implied in the marketing for creator David E. Kelley's ABC drama Big Sky that Ryan Phillippe would be the star of the mystery thriller. Thus, seeing his character, a private investigator named Cody Hoyt, fatally shot by crooked Highway Patrol officer Rick Legarski (John Carroll Lynch) at the end of the pilot episode certainly caught viewers off guard.

Amma Killed Ann And Natalie (Sharp Objects)

In HBO's limited series adaptation of Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects, Camille Preaker (Amy Adams) comes to suspect that her abusive mother, Adora (Patricia Clarkson), was responsible for the murders of Ann Nash (Kaegan Baron) and Natalie Keene (Jessica Treksa). However, in the final scene, it is revealed that Camille's younger half-sister, Amma (Eliza Scanlen), killed the young women and even used their teeth as cobblestones for her dollhouse's patio.

Hilde Is Imogene's Mother (Death And Other Details)

For years, the hero of Hulu's clever whodunnit Death and Other Details, Imogene Scott (Violett Beane), has been haunted by the murder of her mother, Kira, which the renowned Rufus Cotesworth (Mandy Patinkin) was never able to solve. However, while investigating a mysterious death on a private cruise, Imogene discovers that Kira actually faked her death all those years ago and has been hiding in plain sight on the ship, disguised as Interpol agent Hilde Eriksen (Linda Emond).

Boyd Crowder Escapes Prison (Justified: City Primeval)

Walton Goggins denied multiple times that he was involved with Justified: City Primeval, the 2023 miniseries revival of the hit FX crime thriller starring Timothy Olyphant as old-school U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens. However, he turned out to be full of it, as a post-credit scene shows his character, Boyd Crowder, escaping prison.

Chloe Is A Godly Blessing (Lucifer)

The pairing of the Devil incarnate, Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis), with Det. Chloe Decker (Lauren German), as investigative partners, as well as lovers, would prove to be a match made in Heaven... literally. It is revealed in Season 2 of Lucifer that Chloe was created by God with the purpose of being the police consultant's perfect mate.

Sydney Wakes Up Two Years In The Future (Alias)

The second season of ABC's hit espionage drama Alias ends with a real gut-punch of a twist. Sidney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) wakes up in Hong Kong with no memory of how she wound up there and eventually discovers that she has been missing for the past two years. This leads her on a journey to piece together what happened to her during all that time.

Kima Greggs Is Shot (The Wire)

Kima Greggs (Sonja Sohn) was initially conceived as a smaller role on The Wire before creator David Simon was convinced by HBO executive Carolyn Strauss to keep her around longer. In other words, the shocking moment from the end of the first season's 10th episode, in which she is shot during a bust gone wrong, almost sealed the character's fate.

Peter Is From Another Dimension (Fringe)

In the second season of Fringe, Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) survives a deadly shockwave that leads him to realize that he was born in an alternate universe and was forcibly brought into this dimension by his father, Walter (John Noble). The twist completely recontextualizes the character's place in the show and brings to light the impact that his cross-dimensional transfer has on the world.

Paige Stays In America (The Americans)

In the series finale of The Americans, Paige Jennings (Holly Taylor) is seen exiting a train headed for the Soviet Union. This means that she has chosen to stay in the States, her true home, and that her undercover Soviet spy parents, Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell), will never see her again.

Georgia Trotman Is Thrown Out A Five-Story Window (Line Of Duty)

It seemed as if Detective Constable Georgia Trotman (Jessica Raine) was destined to be an important part of the second season (or, series, as they say in the U.K.) of the BBC's Line of Duty. However, the character's first episode also proved to be her last, in which corrupt DC Jeremy Cole (Henry Pettigrew) sends her plummeting to her death outside a hospital window.

Nina Myers Killed Teri Bauer (24)

By the end of the first season of 24, one of Jack Bauer's (Kiefer Sutherland) most trusted allies is not only revealed to be a mole, but the one who murdered his wife, Teri (Leslie Hope).

When it comes to specific channels on television, there is but one that has produced television shows that have genuinely taken the world by storm and got people talking for years on end. And that, my friends, is HBO. The premium channel – known as “Home Box Office” – has created some of the biggest shows of the last thirty years or so. And here are some that truly got the world talking.

Game of Thrones

You knew Game of Thrones would be on here somehow. The series, based on the novel series “A Song of Ice and Fire” by George R.R. Martin, was the biggest show for years on HBO, with several huge Game of Thrones shocking moments and a Game of Thrones cast that exploded onto the scene and became household names. It’s one of the best shows of the last decade.

Westworld

Running for three seasons, Westworld was a sci-fi western based on the novel of the same name. It was a huge show when it first came out. The Westworld cast was large and impressive, and the story took so many twists and turns that it was almost hard to keep up with it.

The White Lotus

Did you ever think a series about guests at a five-star hotel resort would become the phenomenon that it’s become? Because I sure didn’t. The White Lotus, which began as a limited series, has run for three seasons so far and has captured the hearts and attention of viewers worldwide, with views growing steadily with each new season.

Insecure

Created by Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore, Insecure is the kind of comedy-drama that everyone needs to see. With five seasons total, the series followed two young Black women who are navigating their twenties and just trying to survive everyday life. It’s hilarious, won several awards, and was popular for all the right reasons.

True Detective

With a new cast each season and a new mystery to solve, True Detective kept coming back with even better stories and excellent acting. From the lands of California to the snow landscape of Alaska, this series finds new ways to surprise its audience each time, making viewers return for more whenever a new season is confirmed.

The Last of Us

Based on the video game franchise of the same name, The Last of Us ended up becoming one of the biggest shows on the channel, as well as on Max, the streaming platform for HBO. The series follows the life of Joel, a smuggler in the apocalypse, and Ellie, a girl who is immune to the virus. They journey across the United States, where her immunity might be the cure to this whole thing. The series is beloved by most, and is one of the best video game adaptations out there.

Deadwood

Considered one of the best Western shows, Deadwood is the series to watch if you want a good, classic crime drama with some of the best acting. Featuring an all-star cast with so much to love, the show was so popular that it spawned a movie after it ended, which also premiered on HBO.

Euphoria

While there have been years between seasons of this show, there’s no denying that Euphoria is one of those series where, when it premieres, the world stops to watch. Starring an impressive Euphoria cast led by Zendaya, the dark teen drama altered pop culture when it premiered and has remained iconic years later.

Big Little Lies

Based on the novel of the same name, Big Little Lies is a mystery and dark comedy in which you never truly know who to trust. With two seasons and cast members who are mega-stars like Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and more at the helm, this series got people talking and more.

House Of The Dragon

While the Game of Thrones universe has continued to expand, the first series that came out after the main show concluded was House of the Dragon, based on the novel Fire and Blood. With more dragons than ever before, a civil war that has fans on the edge of their seats, and acting that takes your breath away, this series was primed to become one of the biggest shows out there the moment it premiered.

Six Feet Under

For five seasons, one of the biggest shows on HBO was Six Feet Under, a series that followed the lives of a family who ran a funeral parlor. I know, at first, that kind of premise sounds like it wouldn’t mean much entertainment, but this was a very well-received series and one that fans absolutely loved.

The Wire

Whenever anyone thinks of an HBO show, one of the first that comes to mind is always this one. The Wire was a crime drama set in Baltimore and told a different storyline each season about a new institution of the city, from drugs to the lack of education in the city. It’s extremely well-told.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

There are some comedies out there that become huge, and then there’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, a show that ran for twelve seasons, 120 episodes, and continued to remain critically praised for years. Fans could not get enough of Larry David in the lead role and the hilarity of the story that his fictional self would get into in this iconic HBO series.

Mildred Pierce

A miniseries on HBO, Mildred Pierce, is based on a book by the same name and stars Kate Winslet. Through five episodes, we watch a divorcee of the Great Depression trying to find herself again and establish a business within the restaurant industry while also dealing with her problems. The miniseries was a massive hit for HBO and earned several Emmy nominations – and a couple of wins.

Big Love

Running for five seasons, Big Love was a drama that took the world by storm. It followed the story of a Mormon man and his three wives who lived in modern-day Utah. The series was another huge hit for the channel and earned several major awards during its run.

The Sopranos

I mean, obviously, I have to include The Sopranos. I feel like The Sopranos is as synonymous with HBO as Game of Thrones is. The series made the channel huge and won many awards. The Sopranos cast is filled to the brim with incredible talent, and even now, years later, it has a long-lasting legacy.

Girls

Created by Lena Dunham, Girls was a comedy-drama that aired over six seasons and followed the lives of four women living in modern-day New York City. It had some hilarious storylines but wasn’t afraid to dive deeper into modern themes and darker subjects, which made the show such a hit.

Chernobyl

When I think of some of the best miniseries on HBO, Chernobyl is one that comes up every time. The series tells the true story of the Chernobyl disaster and was critically praised for its acting, accuracy, and fantastic cinematography. Once you watch Chernobyl, you’ll never return to who you were before.

Veep

I could go on and on for hours about Veep and how amazing it was. Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the Veep cast was hilarious. It told the story of a U.S. vice president and how she tried to deal with the modern-day politics of America while also working with an idiotic president next to her. It’s hysterical in every way, shape and form.

Watchmen

Based on the same comic series, Watchmen is an HBO miniseries that truly redefines the superhero drama of television. It tells bold and dark tales of a world of crime and justice. It also has an incredible cast that only cemented its legacy on HBO. I always wished there was a Season 2, but I’m content with it running for the one miniseries we got.

Barry

For four seasons, Barry was the best dark comedy on the channel – and later, it really turned into more of a drama than anything else. The series, starring Bill Hader as the lead of the spectacular Barry cast, tells the story of a hitman who finds some purpose in acting in L.A. and begins to question his life. The show takes twists and turns you would never expect.

Mare Of Easttown

This miniseries, Starring Kate Winslet, was a huge hit for HBO. With seven episodes, it tells the story of a detective who investigates a murder in a small town outside of Philadelphia while also dealing with her own personal life. The series won several Emmy Awards and was talked about for weeks.

The Leftovers

The Leftovers ran for three seasons, but it cemented itself on HBO’s roster the moment it did, and people still talk about it today. The series follows the lives of people on Earth who were left behind when 2% of the entire population of the world vanished. Now, it’s up to the leftovers to survive.

The Righteous Gemstones

The Righteous Gemstones is one of those series that has a cast that is too good to be true. The show stars Danny McBride, Adam DeVine, John Goodman, Walton Goggins, and so many other major stars – and what makes it better is that it’s so funny. With four seasons, the series follows a family of televangelists and their personal lives, and it’s just as hysterical as you can imagine it would be.

Band Of Brothers

The miniseries Band of Brothers was based on the novel of the same name and is a war drama that was praised for its impressive Band of Brothers cast, as well as how realistic the series was. The show was so popular that it spawned two spinoff shows years later – The Pacific and Masters of the Air.

Succession

Oh, you knew this show would be on here somehow. Succession was a huge HBO show that followed the story of a family fighting for control over their father’s media conglomerate when his health was put into question. The series was praised for its acting, from the incredible Succession cast, as well as its storyline that anyone could get into.

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver

While it’s not a scripted series like many of the others on this list, this talk show has become a massive hit for HBO and has won several Emmys throughout the years. Starring John Oliver, the talk show covers what has happened in the world in a funny way, mostly regarding politics, and always features clips that end up becoming huge on social media.

Silicon Valley

Running for six seasons, Silicon Valley is a comedy series that is exactly what you expect it to be—a series about tech bros in the iconic Silicon Valley of California and the struggles of working there. The series earned plenty of award nominations during its run, including Emmys, and was a major hit.

Oz

If you’re looking for a prison drama, then Oz is one that you have to check out, and it became a huge deal for HBO. The series follows the lives of prisoners and guards and everyone else involved in a maximum security prison, with enough drama to last a lifetime that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I May Destroy You

This single-series show took the world by storm. I May Destroy You is a black comedy about a young writer who is trying to rebuild who she is and her life after suffering a horrible sexual assault. The show was nominated for many awards and was a significant success for the channel.

Sharp Objects

Starring Amy Adams and based on the novel of the same name, Sharp Objects is about a reporter who is covering the murder of two girls and has to return to her hometown. Her hometown is filled with memories of her past that haunt her to this day. The miniseries was an award-winner and earned several acting nominations.

Mr. Show With Bob And David

While it’s one of the oldest shows on this list, Mr. Show with Bob and David was what kickstarted the careers of Bob Odenkirk and David Cross. The series was a sketch comedy that ran for four seasons with hilarious bits and moments that really cemented the two lead stars in the world of comedy.

There are so many other great HBO shows that people loved, but these are just a few of the ones that I enjoy watching every time I get the chance. If you haven’t checked them out, you need to now!

HBO is set to deliver the fifth season of True Detective at some point in the future, which will presumably be after the 2025 TV schedule has concluded, considering we don’t even know the cast or what the storyline will be, beyond the idea that it’ll loosely connect to how things went down in Night Country. And while Hollywood icon Matthew McConaughey will likely be watching, maybe don’t expect him to enjoy it more than the first season.

That occult-driven debut season of True Detective was a whirlwind success for HBO, and McConaughey and Woody Harrelson helped spark a new era of movie stars jumping ship to television. Promoting his first live-action role in six years for the upcoming 2025 movie The Rivals of Amziah King, McConaughey spoke with Variety about his highly influential small screen success when asked if he happened to watch Issa López’s True Detective: Night Country. As he put it:

I love how the Interstellar star didn't really namecheck anything specific that he appreciated about the season, which marked Jodie Foster's first big lead TV series role. Instead, he just gave it a blanketed compliment and then turned his complimentary attention to the HBO hit's eleven-year old debut season. There's about as much shame in his game as there is fruity-smelling soap inside Rust Cohle's home.

Not that he stopped there or anything, as he had more praise to rain down on his own efforts. (To be sure, it's noted that his tone was more tongue-in-cheek than obnoxiously self-important.) In his words:

As amusing as it is to hear Matthew McConaughey patting himself and his Season 1 colleagues on the back for bringing Nic Pizzolatto's debut storyline to life, it's also pretty aligned with how millions of viewers also feel. I can't imagine there are more people that would disagree with him than those who would nod accordingly.

Season 1 contained all of kinds of weirdness mixed in with its gripping murder case, and McConaughey's Rust Cohle could have delivered 100% of the exposition from his police interview and it still would have been must-watch TV. But with the rest of the talented ensemble mixed in with the brilliant direction from Cary Fukunaga, Season 1 quickly set a wildly high bar for the anthology series, and it's one that arguably hasn't been topped yet.

All four seasons can currently be streamed with a Max subscription, and I think there are arguments to be made for why Season 3 stands up to the first in certain ways, thanks to a stellar lead performance from Mahershala Ali. But Season 2 was too weighed down with its own sense of R-rated darkness, and Night Country's story was a bit too meandering and repetitive to stand taller.

But if nothing else, I think Season 4 gave the world a catchphrase that's just as practically repeatable as Season 1's "Time is a flat circle." Obviously I'm talking about the anti-mantra that Jodie Foster's Liz Danvers often brings out during the investigation process:

Here's hoping Matthew McConaughey one day chooses to make the jump back to television for another season of True Detective, even if he won't be reprising the mustachioed chain-smoker we knew before. And until we get a full cast list for Season 5 that confirms he's not involved, I'll continue to believe that it's possible.

The so-called "Golden Age" or "Peak TV era" of television is broadly (and roughly) defined as the running from the debut of The Sopranos to the finale of Better Call Saul. This isn't a perfect description, as there are still some really amazing shows that continue part, like, say, Severance, just to name one. But, for this article, we're going to stick to those parameters. Without further ado, here is our list of some of the truly great shows from the Peak Era of television.

Game Of Thrones

We certainly couldn't make this list without the grand dragon on them all, HBO's Game of Thrones. Though the ending made a lot of people mad and you can argue that the show declined greatly in its last couple of seasons, it doesn't diminish the greatest of the show's early years. With some of the most shocking moments in TV history, the show was must-watch TV for all eight seasons.

Atlanta

Creator and star of Atlanta Donald Glover proved yet again that he is a once-in-a-lifetime talent. Over six years and four seasons the show and its star were showered with acclaim and industry awards, including multiple Golden Globes and Emmys. Not only did Glover win an Emmy for acting on the FX series, but he became the first African-American to win Best Director at the Emmys in the show's first season.

The West Wing

There aren't a lot of network TV shows on this list, but one that simply has to be is The West Wing. For seven seasons in the early 2000s, the NBC hit was one of the best shows in network history. Featuring a long list of stars that included Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, and many other cast members, The West Wing gave us all a look into all that government can be if we want it to be.

Lost

Pardon the pun, but it's fair to say that ABC's Lost lost its way towards the end. A confluence of events, including a writer's strike, left fans more than a little annoyed with the show's final couple of seasons, but those first few years were simply incredible. The show, which debuted in 2004, was one of the first shows that was ever described as "bingable" and with good reasons, the cliffhangers were amazing.

Mad Men

In a lot of ways, AMC's Mad Men kind of came out of nowhere. Set in the 1960s, it was unlike anything on TV at the time and the longer it went on, the better it got, which is rare for any show. It made a star out of Jon Hamm and fascinated viewers each week both with its wonderful storytelling and its look back at one of the most turbulent and interesting decades in American history.

The Office

In an era when sitcoms were evolving and struggling to keep up with their dramatic counterparts, The Office was one of the biggest shows of all time (that's what she said). Steve Carell's performance as the worst boss in the world became one of the most quotable and memed shows ever. It's true the NBC show did suffer some when Carell left after Season 7, the legacy of the show was well-established by then.

Downton Abbey

If you had bet on a period piece set on an opulent estate during Edwardian England would be a massive hit, most of the time, you'd lose. If you placed that bet on Downton Abbey, however, you'd have won big. There are no action sequences, stunts, or special effects. It's simply a wonderfully told story with fantastic characters played by excellent actors.

Better Call Saul

As a spinoff to another Peak TV era show, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul found its own place in television history. It's a very different show from the show that birthed it, as it's a little more surreal and, frankly, funny. In some people's eyes, the AMC's show's finale in 2022 marks the end of an era.

The Wire

Famously, The Wire was never a monster hit for HBO. Certainly not on the level of The Sopranos, which ran during roughly the same few years. Still, it has maintained a spot at the top or near the top of almost any list of "Best TV Shows in History." The Wire plays out like a 60-hour movie or a great book. The character development is unrivaled and the storytelling is heartbreaking, uplifting, and frustrating (in a good way). There is no doubt that the show will be remembered as one of the best for a long, long time.

Breaking Bad

What can we write about Breaking Bad that hasn't already been written. Widely considered the best (or close to the best) TV show of all time, the Bryan Cranston-led show was wildly popular with both fans and critics alike. It is one of the darkest shows in history, but that never diminished the love for it.

Narcos

Netflix landed itself a massive hit with Narcos in 2015. Wagner Moura, who played the kingpin Pablo Escobar stole the show with his uncanny and incredible performance as the notorious drug lord and Pedro Pascal found a new level of fame as one of the DEA agents trying to bring Escobar down. The show's third season, which shifted away from the Escobar story after the character's death wasn't quite on the level of the first two, but the show was popular enough to launch a spinoff, Narcos: Mexico, which ran for three seasons as well.

The Sopranos

The Sopranos' debut on HBO in January of 1999 marks the unofficial beginning of the Golden Age of Television - or at least the modern Golden Age. The production value, storytelling, and acting on the show were unlike anything anyone had ever seen. the characters were fully formed almost from the moment they first hit the screen and the story that unfolded, about a mafia boss played by the late, great James Gandolfini trying to keep both his crime family and his actual family together was simply unparalleled. Right down to the end and the show's much-talked-about finale.

Grey's Anatomy

As one of the longest-running prime-time shows in history, Grey's Anatomy has run for almost the entire era of "peak TV." Since its debut in 2005 and over more than 20 seasons and 400 episodes, the show has just kept chugging along with a devoted fanbase who stayed with it over the decades and though the endless cast changes can be frustrating, the show is remarkable.

24

One of the very first "bingable" shows would have to be 24. The Kiefer Sutherland-led action show from Fox kept viewers on the edge of their seats for nine seasons, one TV movie (24: Redemption), and a couple of spin-offs. It all made 24 one of the most bankable franchises of the era.

Six Feet Under

The early 2000s were an incredible era for HBO. Along with The Sopranos and The Wire, the network had another one of the best shows of the era with Six Feet Under. The show told the story of the Fisher family and their trials and turbulations running the family business, a funeral home. Mix in some supernatural elements and HBO had a unique hit on their hands.

Modern Family

Network sitcoms that enter the general cultural zeitgeist are few and far between these days. Certainly not like they were in their heyday of the 1970s and '80s. There are still a few that break through though, like Modern Family. For a time, it seemed as those everyone in the country was watching the ups and downs of the most dysfunctional and wonder families in TV history. For 11 seasons, the ABC hit dominated the ratings and is still a hit on streaming years after airing its finale in 2020.

Orange Is the New Black

Orange Is the New Black wasn't the first "prestige TV" show from Netflix, but it's safe to say it solidified Netflix's spot among the biggest players in the industry. For seven seasons over six years, the prison comedy-drama told the semi-autobiographical story of Piper Kerman, whose book of the same name was the basis for the show. Kerman spent a year in prison and many of the stories in the show reflected or told the experiences she had while in jail.

Deadwood

Many of the best Westerns on film came out many decades ago. On TV, there were big hits in the '50s and '60s like Gunsmoke and Bonanza, but the best Western television show of the 21st Century, Deadwood has almost nothing in common with any of those. The show was dark, crass, and unlike anything else on TV. The verbose language and insane moments made must-see TV at the time. Sadly it was never quite as popular as it should have been and that made for some herky-jerky starts-and-stops between seasons, but the show never dipped in quality.

Friday Night Lights

"Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose," from a speech by Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) in Friday Night Lights has become part of the television canon, just as the show has. Based on the movie starring Billy Bob Thornton about the spectacle that is high school football in Texas, the show has outshined its source material in almost every way.

Veep

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is unique. She not only starred in the biggest sitcom of the 1990s, Seinfeld, but she's followed it up with two more hot shows. First in the '00s she won awards for The New Adventures of Old Christine and then in the 2010s had maybe her best performance as the hapless, power-hungry Vice President on HBO's Veep for which she won an incredible seven Emmys in a row.

House Of Cards

In 2013 Netflix loudly announced it was ready to be a player in the Peak Age of TV with House Of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. Based on a British show of the same name, the show highlighted the darkest corners of politics and despite the show losing some steam when Kevin Spacey got caught in the middle of a serious legal battle forcing him off the show and effectively ending his career, it still deserves recognition for all six seasons it ran for.

The Walking Dead

Over 11 seasons and 177 episodes, it's fair to say that not every moment on The Walking Dead was peak TV. That doesn't tell the whole story though, because when The Walking Dead was great, it was really great. The AMC zombie show was a ratings monster and cultivated one of the most dedicated fanbases ever, which led to multiple spinoffs that will seemingly run forever.

Boardwalk Empire

When Boardwalk Empire premiered on HBO in 2009, it came with a lot of hype as the mind behind it, Terrence Winter, had been of the key creative minds behind The Sopranos. While Boardwalk Empire never quite reached the lofty heights of The Sopranos, it was still one of the best shows on TV in its time.

Sons Of Anarchy

Like a few other shows on this list, FX's Sons Of Anarchy isn't a perfect show. There were some ill-advised plot decisions, like moving the gang to Ireland for a while, but like those other shows, when SOA was good, it was really, really good. The characters became our own dysfunctional family who we laughed, cried, and died with over the show's seven seasons. A spinoff, Mayans M.C., wasn't as good, but it also found a fanbase and lasted for five seasons.

The Americans

Of all the shows on this list, the one that maybe flew under the radar more than most has to be The Americans. The FX show was just... cool. It was a spy thriller that brought the Cold War back to U.S. television. Set in the '80s and starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, the show ran for six great seasons and never really fell off as so many other shows do.

30 Rock

How do you follow up an incredible run as a star and head writer on SNL? Well, if you're as talented and funny as Tina Fey, you create one of the most beloved sitcoms of the 21st Century with 30 Rock. If nothing else, the show left us with the important bit of advice that you should never go with a hippie to a second location.

Justified

FX's Justified updated the Western for the 21st Century. Based on a book for Elmore Leonard and starring Timothy Olyphant as a 21st-century lawman with with his heart in the 19th Century, Justified was as noir as you'd expect from a story by Leonard and the acting is, across the board, fantastic.

True Detective

One of the darkest shows during the Peak Era of TV had to be True Detective, especially the first season. The unconventional storytelling was brought to life brilliantly by stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson and while the show was still great for a couple of more seasons, it really was that first season that stood out and above the others.

Succession

On HBO's Succession, the entire Roy family are all awful people. It's a show entirely made of characters we love to hate. We hated them so much, we couldn't wait to tune in each week to see what awful things they would do and it made the show unique and magical in that way.

Homeland

Showtime's Homeland started with a bang in its first season, or rather, almost ended its first season with a bang that never happened. The spy thriller starring Claire Danes and Damian Lewis was the ultimate nail-biter as no one really knew how the season would end. While the end of that first season was probably the pinnacle of the show, it ended up airing for seven more excellent seasons.

Battlestar Galactica

Interestingly, though there are some exceptions, Sci-Fi wasn't a huge part of the era. One of those exceptions was Battlestar Galactica, a reboot of the old series from the 1970s. The new version was a mystery wrapped in a space adventure and featured some of the craziest twists of any show from the time.

Barry

It's always cool to see an actor known primarily for their comedic talents take on a more serious role and Bill Hader in Barry is a perfect example. Sure, there is some dark comedy in the show of course, but, especially as the show went on, the character played by Hader was as complex as any character we've seen on TV and Hader is amazing.

It’s been more than a decade since Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern movie failed to impress critically and and at the box office, but the time has finally come to give the Emerald Knights another shot at live action glory. Lanterns, the upcoming DC TV show set in the new DC Universe shared continuity, stars Kyle Chandler as Hal Jordan and Aaron Pierre as John Stewart, and DC Studios co-head Peter Safran once described the project as a “huge HBO-quality event” in the style of True Detective. While I like the sound of that premise, the latest casting for the Green Lantern series has now given me a specific concern: will it largely eschew supporting Green Lantern characters from the comics?

Lanterns is set to follow Hal and John investigating a murder that takes place in the American heartland, and Safran has also said that this mystery will tie into the main DC Universe storyline. A few days ago, Kelly Macdonald was announced to be playing Sheriff Kerry, and now Deadline reports that Fear the Walking Dead’s Garrett Dillahunt as come aboard to play a “modern cowboy” named William Macon, another character created specifically for this show. Per the outlet, Macon is “a self-righteous, conspiracy-minded man who masks his ruthless ambition behind a charming and calculated facade.”

A description like that all but points towards Macon being a villain in Lanterns, although since this is a Green Lantern-centric series, I think we can probably count on him being connected to a bigger alien threat in some form or fashion. But the news of Macon’s involvement has me wondering exactly how deeply we’ll get to explore Green Lantern lore from the comics. Namely, since Hal and John will trying to uncover the truth behind this murder in the American heartland, does this mean the show will barely give any screen time to characters like Carol Ferris, Tom Kalmaku and Kilowog, to name just a few.

Don’t get me wrong, the idea of Lanterns channeling True Detective, a fellow HBO show that can be streamed with a Max subscription, is intriguing, especially since showrunner Chris Mundy has experience with the crime genre through Netflix’s Ozark. It’s cool to see Green Lanterns like Hal Jordan and John Stewart fight bad guys with the constructs they create from their rings of willpower, but solving a mystery requires them to use their brains in ways beyond just imagining something cool to generate with hard light. Just so long as said mystery somehow ties back to the Green Lantern property’s cosmic roots, I’ll be a happy man, and bonus points if the investigation requires them to fly into space at some point.

At the same time, I don’t want this True Detective-style mystery to move Lanterns too far away from what makes the Green Lantern mythology special. Even if they’re not series regulars, I want to see Hal and John interact with characters from the source material beyond just each other, and I worry that they’ll only be surrounded by all-new faces in Lanterns. This isn’t to say that Sheriff Kerry and William Macon won’t be interesting to follow along with, but this show should also provide a platform for the people in Hal and John’s professional and personal lives to shine… except Guy Gardner, he’s already getting that next year in James Gunn’s Superman movie.

Hopefully my fears will be alleviated as new castings continue to be unveiled in the coming weeks and months. Lanterns doesn’t have a premiere date set yet, but filming will reportedly take place in Atlanta, Georgia from January to June 2025. Given the amount of visual effects that Lanterns will surely boast, that makes it doubtful, though not impossible, that it will be ready to air towards the end of the 2025 TV schedule.

Even the best shows have their fan-favorite seasons. The seasons that most fans are perfect, or at least close to perfect. It's hard to judge based on reviews and even on Rotten Tomato rankings which one fans think is the creme de la creme of their favorite show, so we looked at Ranker, Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB, and other spots to nail down just which season of these classic shows fans love the most.

The Office - Season 2

Season 2 holds the top spot for The Office. That makes a lot of sense as it's really when the classic sitcom came out from under the shadow of the British show on which it was based and found its own footing. Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) separated himself from David Brent (Ricky Gervais) and the rest is history.

The Sopranos - Season 3

The Sopranos is one of the few shows that most fans agree doesn't really have any bad seasons. Some are better than others, sure, but, especially out of the first four, how do you separate them? Season 3 is as good a choice as any as Junior gets out of prison and begins his power grab against Tony, Tony's mother is at her worst, and it ends with one of the most devastating murders in the show's run.

Atlanta - Season 1

It's no surprise here that the first season of Atlanta sits on top. The show's four-season run is great, but it never quite matched the incredible impact or lofty heights of that first magical season. It won a slew of awards in the first year, something it also never matched again.

Seinfeld - Season 5

"The Puffy Shirt," "The Marine Biologist," "The Dinner Party," and "The Hamptons" are just a few of the stone-cold classic episodes of Seinfeld in Season 5. This is a show where almost any season could be the favorite as there are classic episodes in all of them, even the first. But Season 5 seems to be the one fans love the most.

Cheers - Season 4

As much as hardcore fans of Cheers love Coach (Nicholas Colasanto), it's not surprising to see the first season with Woody (Woody Harrelson) rank at the top. Season 4 is when the show really came into its own and became the ratings monster it would remain for the rest of its run on NBC in the '80s.

The Wire - Season 4

This is one choice that some fans will definitely disagree with. Not because Season 4 of The Wire is bad, because, oh boy, it certainly is great, but because Season 3 is at least as good if not better in the eyes of many fans, with a bunch of the best episodes. Still, the season following the kids in school comes out on top here, as viewers are introduced to a whole new generation of corner boys and future crew members.

The West Wing - Season 2

It's hard to pick just one season out of the first four for The West Wing. What probably puts this one over the edge is the season finale, "Two Cathedrals," which is one of the best episodes of any television show, ever. The whole season is incredibly good, but the ending is magical.

Gilmore Girls - Season 3

Season 3 of Gilmore Girls hits the top spot for the WB favorite likely pushed to the top for moments like the big reveal of Jess' father towards the end of the season and other milestones throughout the season.

The Simpsons - Season 4

This one is sure to spur some debate. The general consensus of fans of The Simpsons is that basically Seasons 2 through 8 or 9 are basically perfect. Still, it's easy to see why Season 4 won out here, with classic episodes like "Marge vs. the Monorail," "Homer the Heretic," "Duffless," "Mr. Plow," "Last Exit to Springfield," and "Whacking Day," which has a number of the best quotes from The Simpsons.

This Is Us - Season 1

It's hard to argue that the first season of This Is Us isn't the best. The first episode ends with an incredible twist and throughout the rest of the season, audiences get, well, emotionally connected, to the characters in a way that few other shows have ever matched. The tears of later seasons would have never happened without that incredible foundation.

Saturday Night Live - Season 15

How do fans choose one season of a show that has been on the air as long as Saturday Night Live? Surely every generation has its own favorite, but Season 15 is as good a choice as any with a powerhouse cast that includes the great Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, Jan Hooks, and Mike Myers in his first season as a full cast member.

Breaking Bad - Season 5

Yet another show on this list that has multiple amazing seasons that could be in contention here. There have been very few shows that have ended as well as Breaking Bad so it tracks that its final season would come out on top here. Even the Guinness Book of World Records named it the "most acclaimed" series of all time after it ended.

Friends - Season 5

No doubt that hardcore fans of Friends will have something to say here, but most will agree that if Season 5 isn't the best, it's one of the best. The season starts with the aftermath of Ross saying "Rachel," and ends with their drunken wedding in Vegas, all while Monica and Chandler's relationship grows into more than just hooking up.

Game Of Thrones - Season 4

This one was pretty surprising as well, as most might expect Season 3, with The Red Wedding to rank at the top, but maybe the death of Joffrey at The Purple Wedding and the rise of Daenerys as a conquerer is too much to resist. Not to mention the fight between Oberyn and The Mountain. And Tyrion killing Tywin... Okay, yeah it makes sense.

Abbott Elementary - Season 1

Abbott Elementary burst onto the scene as the freshest and best network sitcom in years. It won every award it could after that first season and while it's remained consistently great, it's never matched those early heights when it was all so new and so funny.

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia - Season 5

Sometimes it feels like It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia has been on since the dawn of time, and it kind of has. There have been many great seasons, dozens of great episodes, and even more legendary scenes and lines. For fans, it reached its zenith in Season 5, but it's not like they've turned away from it in later seasons.

24 - Season 5

The most impressive thing about 24 is how it continued to raise the stakes season after season. Just when it seemed like it couldn't get any better, Season 5 came out and blew everyone away. It cleaned up at the Emmys and it's easy to see why as it was Jack's most exciting adventure, and at times the most devastating, of his brutal career at CTU.

Slow Horses - Season 3

Slow Horses is one of the outliers on this list because the seasons are so short, only six episodes in each, but they pack a ton into those six. Every season of the show has been acclaimed, with most having scores of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, Season 3 ranks best for fans, with Season 2 right behind it.

Sherlock - Season 2

The first two seasons of Sherlock are two of the best seasons of TV ever, even if they are only three episodes each. Season 2 ended with one of the all-time great cliffhangers - or cliff-fallers as it may be. In the third and final episode, "The Reichenbach Fall," Sherlock takes a dive off a building to outwit Moriarty, and viewers are left wondering about his fate.

Lost - Season 1

Lost is one of the most dissected, discussed, and disagreed over shows in TV history. One thing that almost no one argues over though, is how great the show's first season was. From the moment Jack's eyes open in the first episode to Jack and Locke looking down at the blown-open hatch in the last scene, it's a white-knuckle ride that takes viewers on one of the greatest adventures ever.

Grey's Anatomy - Season 6

Well, of all the seasons of Grey's Anatomy, and there are many, it's easy to understand why Season 6, which ends with a cliffhanger when multiple characters were shot in a mass shooting at the hospital. It was the peak of the show.

Mad Men - Season 4

Season 4 of Mad Men is really the downward descent into booze and bills for Don Draper as he continues to struggle with who he really is. It marked a shift in the decade in which it takes place as the wholesome early sixties start to get darker, just like Don's life. Of course fans are going to love this season most.

Blue Bloods - Season 1

Despite its controversial canceling, Blue Bloods has a ton of hardcore fans. Those fans still love Season 1 the most, which is understandable as it really sets the tone for the show and for the dynamics of the Reagan family and includes all the original members, some of whom left the show years before it ended.

Black Mirror - Season 3

Yet another show on the list that is sure to have people arguing over which season really is best. The consensus seems to be that Season 3, Black Mirror's first on Netflix is the best, though that may just be because of exposure. To be sure though, it's a great season with some powerful episodes that resonate, as well as some of the more controversial ones among fans.

Downton Abbey - Season 1

Downton Abbey is not a show anyone would have expected to gain such a large and loyal following, given that it's a period drama set in Edwardian England. But fans it has and passionate they are, especially for the show's excellent first season when we meet the upstairs and the downstairs parts of the Crawley family.

House - Season 1

Medical Procedurals often go on and on, but House is a show that only works with its main character so when Hugh Laurie was ready to go, so was the show. There is no question it felt like it was just running through the motions at the end, but in the beginning, there was no other show like it and that's what makes its first Season the fan favorite.

Dexter - Season 4

Season 4 of Dexter was unquestionably the peak of the show. The race to find the Trinity Killer was in full swing and by the end of the devastating season, viewers learned that maybe there was a killer out there more resourceful, more evil, and more cunning than Dexter as it ends with one of the most tragic seasons in TV history.

Luther - Season 1

Idris Elba got everyone's attention as Stringer Bell on The Wire but he proved he was more than a one-hit wonder with Season 1 of Luther. He could play a cop with loose morals as well as he could a criminal and we loved him for it.

True Detective - Season 1

Until the fourth season of True Detective, called True Detective: Night Country, there was no question that Season 1 would be at the top of fan favorites. Even now, with the show back on its feet after a couple of misses, Season 1 still wins, at least for now.

Law & Order - Season 5

Of all the Law & Order seasons, it makes total sense that Season 5 would top the list of favorite seasons. it's when the show cast really coalesced into the characters fans really love. Most notably, Sam Waterston joined as Jack McCoy and Chris Noth took his final bow on the show.

Curb Your Enthusiasm - Season 6

Is there really a "best" season of Curb Your Enthusiasm? There are great, cringy moments in every season but Season 6 comes out on top for fans for one important reason: it introduced Leon (JB Smoove) and the rest of his family to the show and the show began to reach new heights it never would have without them.

Westworld - Season 1

This one really isn't a huge surprise, as many fans really didn't like Seasons 2 or 3 of Westworld, but Seasons 1 and 4 are so good we had to include them. Season 1, especially, is brilliant.

Cop shows have been part of television since the medium's earliest days. From Dragnet in the 1950s all the way through into the first half of the 21st century police shows, and the detectives that make them great, have long been favorites, even if many have been forgotten. Here is a great list of those shows and the detectives who made them so memorable.

The Wire

There are a lot of detectives on The Wire. A few, like Kima Greggs (Sonja Sohn) and Lester Freamon (Clarke Peters), get promoted during the show's run. Others, like the great Bunk Moreland (Wendall Pierce) and Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West), have their own ups and downs. All of them are, of course, incredibly realistic in their strengths and their flaws and are a major reason The Wire is one of the best shows in TV history.

Law & Order

Over the shows many years, there have been quite a few detectives in Law & Order. Too many to name here except to highlight the dean of Law & Order investigators, Lenny Briscoe, who was played for 12 seasons by Jerry Orbach. His main partner, Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin) teamed up with Brisco for nine of those seasons.

Cagney & Lacey

It's pretty easy to guess who the main detectives are in the '80s hit Cagney & Lacey. Career-minded Christine Cagney, played by Sharon Gless for most of the show's run, and her partner, family woman Mary Beth Lacey (Tyne Daly), were the two detectives for all seven seasons. Female detectives were rare on TV, and two partnered together was unheard of, which is part of what made the show stand out.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

The original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was a little different than most of its predecessors in the police procedural genre, in that most of the main investigators weren't actually cops, but a separate branch of law enforcement tasked with crime scene science. There was a detective they worked with though, Paul Guilfoyle's character Captain Jim Brass.

Hawaii Five-0

There have been two versions of Hawaii Five-0, the original that debuted in 1968 and the reboot that began in 2010. The original featured Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett as the lead detective along with his partner Danny "Danno" Williams played by James MacArthur. In the reboot, McGarrett was played by Alex O'Loughlin and Danny, rarely "Danno," by Scott Caan.

Dragnet

Originally Dragnet goes all the way back to radio. It was a revolutionary show at the time, in the early days of commercial television, and completely the vision of its star, Jack Webb, who played Sergeant Joe Friday on radio and in the first and second versions of the show in the '50s and '60s. Friday had a few partners in the original series, but for most of the run, his partner was Frank Smith played by Ben Alexander. In the late '60s reboot, Friday's partner was Bill Gannon, played by Harry Morgan of MASH fame.

Without A Trace

Without A Trace was really more about the team than it was about any one investigator as the FBI agents worked to track down kidnapping victims. The team was led by Jack Malone (Anthony LaPaglia) and his team that included Samantha "Sam" Spade (Poppy Montgomery), Viv Johnson (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), Danny Alvarez, (Enrique Murciano), and Martin Fitzgerald (Eric Close)

NYPD Blue

When it debuted in 1993, NYPD Blue was one of the edgiest and grittiest shows ever seen on network TV. It was led by David Caruso, who played Detective John Kelly, and his partner Andy Sipowicz, played by Dennis Franz. Caruso left after Season 2 and Jimmy Smits stepped in as Detective Bobby Simone. Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Dana Delaney also played detectives at different times during the show's run.

Law & Order: SVU

Law & Order: SVU was the second show in the Law & Order franchise, which has seen countless actors show up in and over its many seasons, like its sister show, it has had quite a few detectives. From day one, however, Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) was a mainstay of the unit. Other detectives have included Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), Fin Tutuola (Ice-T), and John Munch (Richard Belzer), among others.

Homicide: Life on the Street

Richard Belzer's character Detective John Munch famously showed up in a whole slew of shows, including as a regular on Law & Order: SVU. The character's origin story comes from Homicide: Life on the Street. Some of the other main detectives on the show included Frank Pembleton, played by the late, great Andre Braugher, and Beau Felton, played by Daniel Baldwin.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

The late Andre Braugher made his name as a detective in Homicide: Life On The Streets. His work on that show is part of what makes his role as a captain on Brooklyn None-Nine so funny. He's not one of the main detectives though. Those roles are filled by Andy Sandberg as Jake Peralta, and Stephanie Beatriz as Rosa Diaz.

Blue Bloods

Donny Wahlberg has been in show business since he was a teenager in New Kids on the Block. And despite being a big part of the cast of Band of Brothers, the role he'll most likely be remembered best for in the end is Detective Danny Reagan on Blue Bloods. Danny had a couple of partners over the years. His first was Detective Jackie Curatola, played by Jennifer Esposito and his second was Maria Biaz played by Marisa Ramirez.

NCIS

NCIS isn't really a typical police show, as it's about the investigative unit within the US Navy. Still, there are investigators who operate just like detectives, led by Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and his team including Senior Field Agent Anthony DiNozzo (Micheal Weatherly) and Senior Field Agent Timothy McGee (Sean Murray) among others throughout the show's long run.

Hill Street Blues

When it debuted in 1978, Hill Street Blues was an instant hit. It won a slew of Emmys over the years and is generally considered one of the best cop shows of all time. It wasn't just about the detectives, though a few detectives were important to the story, including and most importantly Detective Mick Belker, played by Bruce Weitz.

True Detective

Since each season of True Detective is a stand-alone story, there have been multiple detectives, each unique to their season. In Season 1 it was Detective Rustin "Rust" Cohle, played by Matthew McConaughey, and Detective Martin "Marty" Hart, played by Woody Harrelson. Season 2 saw Colin Farrell as Detective Ray Velcoro and Rachel McAdams as Detective Ani Bezzerides. In Season 3, the two detectives were Wayne Hays and Roland West, played by Mahershala Ali and Steven Dorff, respectively. Season 4 saw Jodie Foster take over in the lead detective role.

CSI: Miami

Unlike its sister show CSI, CSI: Miami and its forensic unit are led by a detective. David Caruso played Horatio Caine, the lieutenant in charge. Rex Linn plays Detective Frank Tripp, who is one of the homicide detectives who works with the unit often.

The Shield

In The Shield, the lead detective, Vic Mackey, is played by Michael Chiklis. He leads a crew of sketchy cops and detectives in the gritty show. Detective Shane Vendrell, played by the great Walter Goggins is another key detective on the show.

Bones

Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) and Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel) are FBI forensic investigators on Bones. Together they investigate... well... bones and human remains. It's definitely a unique twist on the genre and one that was wildly successful for 12 seasons on CBS.

Cold Case

For seven seasons, Kathryn Morris starred as a homicide detective named Lilly Rush. As the name of the show implies, her specialty was cold cases, or cases that long run short on leads and promising clues. In the show's first season, her partner was Chris Lassing (Justin Chambers) and later she teamed up with Scotty Valens, played by Danny Pino.

Criminal Minds

Another FBI investigative show, Criminal Minds followed the office of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, led at first by Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin), followed by Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson) for much of the show's run. They over an office with a number of detectives over the years, including Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), JJ Jareau (A. J. Cook), and Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster).

CSI: NY

In the third installment of the CSI franchise, audiences were transported to the New York City version of the crime scene investigation where the team was led by Mac Taylor, played by Gary Sinise for the entire run of the show. He didn't work alone, of course, and some of his team members included homicide detective Don Flack (Eddie Cahill), and Detective Stella Bonasera (Melina Kanakaredes).

Miami Vice

In the 1980s, there was one detective duo that stood above the rest. Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and Rico Tubbs ( Philip Michael Thomas). The two coolest detectives north of Havana on Miami Vice got to wear stylish clothes and drive fast cars. It was a different kind of cop show for a new era and nothing says the '80s quite like it.

FBI

CBS's FBI is all about the team of investigators led by actor Jeremy Sisto as Jubal Valentine, the head of the "fusion center" and coordinating their operations from there. In the field, the two lead investigators are Maggie Bell (Missy Peregrym) and her partner OA Zidan (Zeeko Zaki).

Starsky And Hutch

Before Miami Vice hit the air in the 1980s, the two coolest detectives on TV were Dave Starsky And Ken Hutchinson, or "Hutch." The two, played by David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser respectively, starred in Starsky And Hutch for four seasons in the late '70s but they cast a much longer shadow over TV cop shows for decades. They were a little edgier, a little grittier than the usual TV detectives viewers were used to and that influence has been seen in shows ever since.

Rizzoli & Isles

As the name implies, the main investigators on Rizzoli & Isles are... well... Jane Rizzoli (Angie Harmon) and Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander). Though technically Only Rizzoli was a detective in the Boston PD. Isles was a medical examiner who teamed with Rizzoli to investigate crimes in the Bay State. The show is notably for being having two female lead detectives, though they had all the same tropes as two male leads who don't always see eye to eye.

21 Jump Street

In the early days of the Fox Network, they took some real chances and one of those risks was 21 Jump Street about a team of cops charged with going undercover in high schools to unearth crimes. The two main detectives for the first four seasons were Tom Hanson, played by Johnny Depp in his breakout role, Judy Hoffs (Holly Robinson), Harry Ioki (Dustin Nguyen), and Doug Penhall (Peter DeLuise). For the show's fifth and final season, much of the cast left, including Depp and a new bunch of detectives came in, like Doug's brother Joey, played by Peter Deluise's brother Michael. It's also worth nothing that Richard Grieco played a reoccurring character named Dennis Booker. Eventually, that character got its own spinoff, called Booker.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

The third installment of the Law & Order franchise, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, ran for 10 seasons on both NBC and USA and had four main five main detectives at various points. Some, like Detective Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe) and Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio), appeared in all ten seasons. Others, like Mike Logan (Chris Noth) and Zack Nichols (Jeff Goldblum), appeared in a few dozen episodes in the middle seasons.

Police Squad!

Leslie Neilson has delivered some amazing lines in his various roles in spoof movies in the late 20th Century, including The Naked Gun franchise. That franchise started with a very brief run as a TV show called Police Squad. Just like in the movies, the main detective, played by Neilson, was Frank Drebin, the hapless-yet-effective detective in the LAPD.

Body Of Proof

The short-lived Body Of Proof followed the professional and sometimes private life of a surgeon-turned-medical examiner played by Dana Delaney. She helped the main homicide detectives, played by John Carroll Lynch and Sonya Sohn solve the worst crimes in Philadelphia.

Person Of Interest

Really the two main detectives in Person of Interest aren't cops at all. Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) is a billionaire who developed a software program for predicting crimes and is basically the "guy behind the guy." On the street, John Reece (Jim Caviezel) is an ex-soldier who does the dirty work of stopping the crimes. Taraji P. Henson plays an actual police detective who works with Reece.

Crossing Jordan

In a lot of shows, the medical examiner is a key character, but not always the main investigator. On Crossing Jordan, that isn't the case. Jill Hennessy plays Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh, a forensic pathologist. There were quite a few Boston homicide detectives throughout the show's run, most notably Woody Hoyt, played by Jerry O'Connell.

Fred Dryer

In the 1980s, there was no tougher detective than Sergeant Rick Hunter on Hunter. Played by ex-football player Fred Dryer, Hunter wasn't a cop who always played by the rules, but he always got his man. The show was one of the more popular cop shows in the '80s and even had a very brief revival in 2005.

Just like there was no other filmmaker quite like David Lynch, there are not very many TV shows like Twin Peaks. The passing of Lynch in January 2024 inspired fans to revisit the most essential David Lynch movies and his most acclaimed contribution to television, which he co-created in the early 1990s with Mark Frost and later revived for Showtime in 2017.

If you have already used your Paramount+ subscription to revisit Special Agent Dale Cooper’s investigation of Laura Palmer’s murder but are now looking through the best streaming services to subscribe to for more series with a similar blend of grounded crime drama themes and dream-like atmosphere, I can help. Fire walk with me as I present my recommendations for shows (somewhat) like Twin Peaks, along with tips on where to watch them.

Wayward Pines (2015-2016)

Starring: Matt Dillon, Carla Gugino

What it’s about: A Secret Service agent’s search for two missing feds leads him to a rural community where there seems to be no exit.

Why it is a great TV show for fans of Twin Peaks to check out: One of the best horror TV shows on Hulu, developer Chad Hodge’s series adaptation of Blake Crouch’s Wayward Pines book series, received comparisons to Twin Peaks upon release, and not just because it is another story about a lawman in a strange town with big problems.

How to watch Wayward Pines

• Stream Wayward Pines on Hulu
• Buy Wayward Pines on Amazon
• Buy Wayward Pines on Blu-ray on Amazon

Breaking Bad (2008-2013)

Starring: Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul

What it’s about: A terminally ill high school chemistry teacher turns to drug manufacturing to support his family.

Why it is a great TV show for fans of Twin Peaks to check out: While Vince Gilligan’s Emmy-winning masterwork is not quite as strange, Twin Peaks could be considered a show like Breaking Bad for its similar slow-burn structure, shocking twists and turns, and unsettling depiction of the potential dark truths hidden within the seemingly average American.

How to watch Breaking Bad

• Stream Breaking Bad on Netflix
• Buy Breaking Bad on Amazon
• Buy Breaking Bad on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Curse (2023-Present)

Starring: Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder, Benny Safdie

What it’s about: Mysterious circumstances derail a newlywed couple’s reality series chronicling their bid to create their own eco-friendly community.

Why it is a great TV show for fans of Twin Peaks to check out: Renowned filmmaker Christopher Nolan brought up Twin Peaks when voicing his praise of the acclaimed A24 TV show The Curse, which similarly boasts a subtle, malevolent aura in even the most seemingly mundane moments.

How to watch The Curse

• Stream The Curse on Paramount+ with Showtime add-on
• Buy The Curse on Amazon

Northern Exposure (1990-1995)

Starring: Rob Morrow, Janine Turner

What it’s about: An urban medical professional is forcibly relocated to a small town in Alaska where he struggles to adapt to the local culture.

Why it is a great TV show for fans of Twin Peaks to check out: Created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey, Northern Exposure is a hit series with a now obscure reputation that was often compared to Twin Peaks when it first premiered, mostly for being a fish-out-of-water story set in a peculiar town with lovably quirky characters.

How to watch Northern Exposure

• Stream Northern Exposure on Amazon Prime
• Buy Northern Exposure on Blu-ray on Amazon

The X-Files (1993-2018)

Starring: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson

What it’s about: A skeptical FBI agent and her more open-minded partner deal with crimes that are anything but normal.

Why it is a great TV show for fans of Twin Peaks to check out: Like Twin Peaks, the protagonists of creator Chris Carter’s beloved sci-fi TV show The X-Files are FBI agents whose investigations lead them to stumble upon strange and unexplainable phenomena.

How to watch The X-Files

• Stream The X-Files on Hulu
• Buy The X-Files on Amazon
• Buy The X-Files on Blu-ray on Amazon

Atlanta (2016-2022)

Starring: Donald Glover, Brian Tyree Henry, Lakeith Stanfield, Zazie Beetz

What it’s about: A struggling father sees an opportunity for success in becoming the manager for his cousin, an up-and-coming rapper.

Why it is a great TV show for fans of Twin Peaks to check out: While mostly a satire of the music industry and of Black culture, FX's Atlanta, one of the funniest shows on Hulu, boasts undoubtedly Lynchian elements and, according to Vulture, creator Donald Glover promoted the series as "Twin Peaks for rappers" early on.

How to watch Atlanta

• Stream Atlanta on Hulu
• Buy Atlanta on Amazon

The Leftovers (2014-2017)

Starring: Justin Theroux, Carrie Coon

What it’s about: Years after two percent of the world's population mysteriously vanishes from the face of the Earth, the remaining souls struggle to maintain stability.

Why it is a great TV show for fans of Twin Peaks to check out: Teaming up with Damon Lindelof, author Tom Perrotta seems to take inspiration from Twin Peaks when adapting his bestselling novel, The Leftovers, into a twisted and visually surreal fantasy drama that keeps the mystery and suspense ratcheted high throughout.

How to watch The Leftovers

• Stream The Leftovers on Max

Lost (2004-2010)

Starring: Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lily

What it’s about: A plane crash leaves a group of strangers stranded on a desert island where nothing is quite as it seems.

Why it is a great TV show for fans of Twin Peaks to check out: For many of the same reasons The Leftovers is a show like Lost, the survival drama (also co-created by Lindelof with J.J. Abrams and Jeffrey Lieber) is also a show like Twin Peaks in the way it keeps its audience in mystery throughout by starting off mostly grounded before slowly revealing its supernatural elements.

How to watch Lost

• Stream Lost on Netflix
• Stream Lost on Hulu
• Buy Lost on Amazon

True Detective (2014-Present)

Starring: Various

What it’s about: A seasonal anthology TV show following different police officers at different periods of time investigating cases that are increasingly dark.

Why it is a great TV show for fans of Twin Peaks to check out: The crimes that Dale Cooper investigates on Twin Peaks are so bleak and bizarre that they practically border on horror, which is how some might describe True Detective — an Emmy-winning, star-studded HBO drama from creator Nic Pizzolatto.

How to watch True Detective

• Stream True Detective on Max
• Buy True Detective on Amazon

Fargo (2014-Present)

Starring: Various

What it’s about: A hitman creates a deadly ripple effect in a charming small town, a probation officer plans to rob his wealthy twin brother to afford his lover’s engagement ring, a seemingly average housewife struggles to outrun her violent past, and more stories about regular people in big trouble.

Why it is a great TV show for fans of Twin Peaks to check out: An anthology crime thriller series that has even more in common with Twin Peaks is Fargo — Noah Hawley's FX hit inspired by one of the Coen Brothers' best movies — in the sense that it is set in quaint, midwestern communities and gets progressively weirder with each season.

How to watch Fargo

• Stream Fargo on Hulu
• Buy Fargo on Amazon

Outer Range (2022-2024)

Starring: Josh Brolin, Lili Taylor, Imogen Poots

What it’s about: A Wyoming rancher makes a life-changing discovery on his land that begins to affect his career and his relationship with his family.

Why it is a great TV show for fans of Twin Peaks to check out: One of the best Amazon Prime original TV shows, creator Brian Watkins' Outer Range, is yet another sci-fi drama set in a rural community hiding some very strange secrets that deal with murder, corruption, and even time travel.

How to watch Outer Range

• Stream Outer Range on Amazon Prime

Gravity Falls (2012-2016)

Starring: Jason Ritter, Kristen Schaal, Alex Hirsch

What it’s about: After they are sent to live with their great uncle Stan, twins Dipper and Mabel find themselves at odds with a series of freaky occurrences.

Why it is a great TV show for fans of Twin Peaks to check out: Following David Lynch’s death, creator Alex Hirsch revealed on X that Twin Peaks was an inspiration for his surreal, acclaimed animated TV show, Disney Channel’s Gravity Falls, and that his voice for Bill Cipher was a “crummy Lynch impression.”

How to watch Gravity Falls

• Stream Gravity Falls on Disney+
• Buy Gravity Falls on Amazon
• Buy Gravity Falls on DVD on Amazon

Looks like you do not have to travel too far into the Black Lodge to find the Twin Peaks companion series you have hoped for.

Based on the novel by Carl Hiaasen, Bad Monkey is a new Apple TV+ original TV show starring Vince Vaughn as former detective Andrew Yancy. Now working as a restaurant inspector in Miami, he gets a second chance at real investigation work when he is asked to find the origin of a severed arm found by a tourist.

Developed by Scrubs and Shrinking creator Bill Lawrence, the new 2024 TV show is being hailed as a morbidly funny crime thriller, made even funnier with Vaughn's improvisational skills. If the series has you laughing and on the edge of your seat and you are looking to find more shows like Bad Monkey to watch on streaming, you have come to the right place.

Florida Man (2023)

A former cop (played by Édgar Ramirez) is thrown into a tailspin when he is asked to return home to the Sunshine State and look for a mob boss’ missing girlfriend (played by Abbey Lee).

Why it is a great show to watch if you are a fan of Bad Monkey: Ramirez leads the Florida Man cast as a disgraced detective on an assignment in Florida that proves hazardous in creator Donald Todd's series that became available with a Netflix subscription roughly a year before Bad Monkey premiered.

Stream Florida Man on Netflix.

Burn Notice (2007-2013)

After suddenly losing his job, a skilled secret agent (played by Jeffrey Donovan) is relocated to his hometown where he works as a private investigator for the time.

Why it is a great show to watch if you are a fan of Bad Monkey: Created by Matt Nix and also one of the best Bruce Campbell TV shows, Burn Notice is yet another funny crime drama set in Miami that, instead of a former cop, follows a former international spy using his expertise on odd jobs.

Stream Burn Notice on Hulu.
Buy Burn Notice on Amazon.
Buy Burn Notice on DVD on Amazon.

Death In Paradise (2011-Present)

Successful, London-based detective inspector Richard Poole (Ben Miller) is sent to a more tropical location to solve a slain cop's murder and ends up becoming his replacement.

Why it is a great show to watch if you are a fan of Bad Monkey: Creator Robert Thorogood's long-running British series, Death in Paradise, is another great example of a funny mystery series set in a paradisical location (in this case, the Caribbean island of Saint Marie).

Stream Death in Paradise on Britbox through Amazon. 

The Resort (2022)

While celebrating their wedding anniversary, Emma (Cristin Milioti) and Noah (William Jackson Harper) stumble upon a clue in a 15-year missing persons case.

Why it is a great show to watch if you are a fan of Bad Monkey: Creator Andy Siara's Peacock original is yet another funny mystery set in a place like paradise (in this case, the Mayan Riviera) despite not being told from an actual (or former) cop's perspective and, as revealed in the Resort ending, has some more bizarre twists than Bad Monkey boasts.

Stream The Resort on Peacock.

Death And Other Details (2024)

Renowned detective Rufus Cotesworth (Mandy Patinkin) and his protégé, Imogene (Violett Beane), are tasked with uncovering the secret behind a passenger's death on a cruise ship.

Why it is a great show to watch if you are a fan of Bad Monkey: From creators Heidi Cole McAdams and Mike Weiss, one of the best Hulu original TV shows, Death and Other Details, is a cheeky, amusing whodunnit that is also set in paradise (here it's a luxury Mediterranean cruise liner).

Stream Death and Other Details on Hulu.

The White Lotus (2021-Present)

An inside look at the secretive lives of guests at a luxurious vacation resort.

Why it is a great show to watch if you are a fan of Bad Monkey: Creator Mike White's acclaimed, Emmy-winning HBO original series is another dramedy set in an idyllic location (a resort chain in Maui, Sicily, and Thailand in the upcoming White Lotus Season 3) featuring a stellar cast and an aura of danger and mystery.

Stream The White Lotus on Max.
Buy The White Lotus on Amazon. 

Bodkin (2024)

A trio of true crime podcasters (played by Siobhán Cullen, Will Forte, and Robyn Cara) uncover more than they bargained for about a small Irish town while investigating the case of three missing people.

Why it is a great show to watch if you are a fan of Bad Monkey: While not necessarily set in a heavenly place (unless you fancy rural Ireland), Jez Scharf's Bodkin is similar to Bad Monkey in the sense that it is a bizarre dark comedy mystery series starring a beloved American comedy actor in a lead role.

Stream Bodkin on Netflix.

Poker Face (2023-Present)

After she is forced to go on the run, Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) finds herself using her uncanny ability to detect dishonesty to solve murders she happens to stumble upon.

Why it is a great show to watch if you are a fan of Bad Monkey: Creator Rian Johnson's Poker Face, which has Season 2 in the works, is a funny mystery series that takes place in a variety of locations where our wisecracking protagonist finds herself facing danger each time.

Stream Poker Face on Peacock.

Search Party (2016-2022)

A young woman's (played by Alia Shawkat) amateur investigation into her college friend's disappearance ends up getting her and her friends into a heap of trouble. 

Why it is a great show to watch if you are a fan of Bad Monkey: Originally debuting on TBS before becoming available with a Max subscription, Search Party is another funny and deeply twisted mystery series that also features Bad Monkey cast member Meredith Hagner in the memorable role of Portia.

Stream Search Party on Max. 

True Detective (2014-Present)

A collection of dark stories recalling harrowing cases from the perspective of the cops investigating them.

Why it is a great show to watch if you are a fan of Bad Monkey: While wildly different in tone, Nic Pizzolatto and Issa López's acclaimed HBO drama, True Detective, is a seasonal anthology of captivating, twisted mystery stories with talented stars (including Vince Vaughn in Season 2).

Stream True Detective on Max.
Buy True Detective on Amazon. 

We hope you go ape for these shows that reminded us of Bad Monkey.

Alexandra Daddario has had quite a career. She started out with her breakthrough role in Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and later transitioned into more adult roles, which includes leading the Mayfair Witches series inspired by Anne Rice’s novels. Like many actors, Daddario has experienced all the ups and downs that Hollywood throws at you. From box office bombs to small screen hits, the Baywatch actress recently opened up about what different roles have done for her career, and how True Detective and The White Lotus are touchstones. 

In a profile for Man of Many, Daddario chatted with the publication about some of her experiences within the entertainment world, and the “finicky” nature of a creative career. While some roles never truly hit for her, there are many formative ones that hold a special place in her heart for personal reasons. Others, however, did gain traction. 

True Detective, for example, was a major moment for her and did wonders for her landing jobs, which she has embraced. She explained: 

For context, Daddario appeared in four episodes of the first season of True Detective. She played Lisa Tragnetti, a court reporter and mistress of Woody Harrelson’s Martin Hart. 

Due to the popularity of the show, and one notable racy scene between Harrelson and Daddario, the spotlight on the actress got bigger, leading to her becoming a much more recognizable face. 

However, Alexandra Daddario’s career started to dwindle before the buzzy HBO series, The White Lotus. However, after Mike White's show came out, her acting career really took off. She said:

Such a life-altering career moment doesn’t come every day, and she knows that from personal experience. The actress received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her work on the first season of The White Lotus, and she seemingly out of nowhere became one of the biggest young stars on the small screen. 

She is hyper-aware of the rarity of the moment, and she expressed gratitude towards her career success as a result. Daddario also reflected on the experience in the context of it being a COVID production, where they were mostly isolated at the Four Seasons resort in Maui, Hawaii. She said:

The anthology nature of The White Lotus means Daddario likely won’t be coming back for another season of the successful show, however, she has expressed the desire to return to the hotel-centered dramedy. Even if she isn’t able to reprise her role, the positive life changes she’s had as a result of the series continue. 

She is no longer an up-and-coming actress, but a must-have leading lady. She also continues to participate in indie films, with her latest, A Tree Fell in the Woods expected to hit cinemas in the near future. 

You can see Alexandra Daddario in The Mayfair Witches, which was recently renewed for a second season and will be available to stream for AMC+ subscribers next year. You can also revisit her career-altering performances in True Detective and The White Lotus, which are both streaming now with a Max subscription. 

One of the main things classic mystery shows like Columbo and modern crime dramas like Sherlock have in common is that they center around not just good detectives, but incredibly intelligent investigators who find unique ways to solve crimes or other mysteries.

But who are the smartest detectives to ever grace the small screen? Well, let us solve that mystery for you as we break down a few dozen of the greatest of all time.

Inspector Columbo (Columbo)

“One more thing” is a phrase that viewers of Columbo loved to hear just as much as the show’s various criminals and bad players feared it. Peter Falk’s titular detective often put on the impression that he wasn’t putting it all together, but in that brain of his, he had it all figured out, which makes him seem even brighter.

Theo Kojak (Kojak)

Telly Savalas’ Theo Kojak wasn’t just a tough-as-nails, no-nonsense detective, he was also one who had the perfect mix of street and book smarts. Don’t let his iconic lollipop fool you, this NYPD investigator didn’t mess around one bit and could stand up to anyone and everyone both with his brawn and his brain.

Luther (Luther)

John Luther, played by Idris Elba throughout the duration of the BBC series’ run plus a Netflix movie, wasn’t necessarily a morally superior detective, but the high-ranking and embattled member of London’s SCU was the best when it came to solving crimes. He always had a plan, as well as one on the back burner when stuff eventually hit the fan.

Jimmy McNulty (The Wire)

Dominic West’s Jimmy McNulty, a character from The Wire who appeared in the most episodes, could have probably been Baltimore’s greatest police officer if he didn’t allow himself to get in the way. Despite his relationship issues, insubordination, and morally questionable decisions, he was a cop through and through and an extremely intelligent investigator.

Batman (Batman: The Animated Series) 

They don’t call Batman the world’s greatest detective for no reason. Throughout Batman: The Animated Series, the Caped Crusader gets to the bottom of a myriad of crimes, disappearances, and strange happenings in his tireless fight to clean the streets of Gotham and put no-gooders in Arkham.

Jessica Fletcher (Murder, She Wrote)

There are countless reasons why we miss Murder, She Wrote, but at the top of that list is the intelligence, warmth, and pure likeability of the series’ main character, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury). The idea of a mystery writer becoming a detective and solving all manner of crimes seems far-fetched, but the qualities listed above made Fletcher one of TV’s great criminal minds.

Rustin "Rust" Cohle (True Detective)

Do you think a big dummy could come up with something like “Time is a flat circle”? Nah, Rustin “Rust” Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) in True Detective’s first season is without a doubt one of the smartest detectives to ever take the screen. This guy spent decades getting to the bottom of what some thought was an unsolvable crime. Was he odd? Totally. Dumb? Not at all.

Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock)

There have been so many different Sherlock Holmes movies and TV shows over the years, but one of the best representations of the iconic detective is Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal in Sherlock. Though rude and hard to deal with at times, this remarkably talented sleuth with an unparalleled intellect was in a league of his own.

Adrian Monk (Monk)

Tony Shalhoub’s Adrian Monk could very well be one of the greatest TV detectives of all time, no matter how you cut it. Tasked with solving all kinds of unconventional cases, this private detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder and a range of other issues could do just about anything unless his various phobias got in the way.

James "Sonny" Crockett and Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs (Miami Vice)

James “Sonny” Crockett and Richard “Rico” Tubbs from Miami Vice were good detectives on their own, but together they were the best South Florida had to offer. Throughout the series, the due balanced their personal issues with those of the department all while getting to the bottom of some nasty crimes requiring both their brains.

Olivia Benson (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)

Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson has been a major force on Law and Order: SVU ever since the show’s debut back in 1999, and during that time, she’s been instrumental in solving some serious crimes. Though she can sometimes lose her cool, the detective-turned-commanding officer can get to the bottom of some perilous situations better than most.

Hercule Poirot (Agatha Christie's Poirot)

There have been some great portrayals of Hercule Poirot over the years, including David Suchet’s take on the famous character in Agatha Christie’s Poirot. Throughout the show’s 13 seasons, the legendary detective used his brains and wits to bring an end to all kinds of mysteries. And just when it looked like Poirot was about to be outdone, the mustached detective would pull off some trick and bring it home. 

Lennie Briscoe (Law & Order)

If there is one character from the original Law and Order series that folks remember the most (at least on the detective side of the show), it would have to be Jerry Orbach’s Lennie Briscoe. Despite his rough-and-tumble demeanor and hardened attitude, this homicide detective had no problem solving murders, even if he had to put someone in a corner.

Lester Freamon (The Wire)

Behind just about every great idea in The Wire was Clarke Peters’ Lester Freamon, an intelligent, wise, and loyal detective from the Baltimore Police Department. Though a bit prickly at times (aren’t they all?), Lester was essentially the father figure of the Major Crimes Unit and had decades of experience.

Frank Pembleton (Homicide: Life On The Street)

Frank Pembleton, played by the late, great Andre Braughter, was essentially the key member of the Homicide: Life on the Street ensemble cast and one of the smartest characters ever created by Tom Fontana and David Simon. Both eccentric and intelligent, the young detective constantly found new and unorthodox ways to go about murder investigations.

Veronica Mars (Veronica Mars)

Don’t let Veronica Mars’ (Kristen Bell) age make you think she’s not a capable, or smart, detective, as this crafty private eye is probably one of the best to ever do it on the small screen. Throughout the original Veronica Mars series, the film adaptation, and the revival series years later, this sleuth was wise beyond her years.

Jim Rockford (The Rockford Files)

On top of having a banger of a theme song, The Rockford Files also featured one of the best TV detectives with James Garner’s Jim Rockford. Brash, daring, and wildly smart, this private eye could hold his own both physically and mentally.

Bunk Moreland (The Wire)

Though prone to make mistakes and lapses in judgment alongside Jimmy McNulty, Bunk Moreland (Wendell Piere) was honestly one of the smartest and hardest-working detectives featured on The Wire. Plus, that one scene in “Old Cases” is perhaps one of the greatest TV moments of all time.

Virgil Tibbs (In The Heat Of The Night)

Taking over a role made famous by Sidney Poitier two decades earlier was no easy task, but Howard Rollins did a masterful job of playing Virgil Tibbs on In the Heat of the Night. Not only was he great when solving cases, but his mental chess with Carroll O’Connor’s Police Chief Bill Gillespie was about as good as it gets.

Dale Cooper (Twin Peaks)

Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) is technically an FBI special agent on Twin Peaks, but there’s no way we could make a list of the smartest TV detectives and not include the iconic character. His idiosyncrasies, his love of coffee and pie, and his inability to let things go all make Agent Cooper someone anyone would want investigating a case.

John Munch (Homicide: Life On The Street)

Richard Belzer’s John Munch is undeniably one of the most annoying detectives to ever grace the small screen, but part of that is because he’s also undeniably one of the smartest. Throughout Homicide: Life on the Street and Law and Order: SVU. 

Thomas Magnum (Magnum, P.I.)

Thomas Magnum is up there in the rankings of the best Tom Selleck characters, and it’s not just because he looked cool and kicked a lot of butt on Magnum, P.I. Behind the mustache, behind the cool shirts, behind the great cars there was a big brain, one who knew that nuns don’t work on Sundays.

Shawn Spencer (Psych)

Did Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez) actually have psychic abilities that allowed him to solve “unsolvable” crimes? It’s debatable. What isn’t though is the fact that this crime consultant was outrageously smart, had a photographic memory, and used unmatched observational skills to pull off some impressive feats.

Peter Burke (White Collar)

The more by-the-books and old-fashioned member of White Collar’s FBI White Collar Crime Unit, Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) is as smart as he is thorough in anything he does. He definitely takes a more no-nonsense approach to his day-to-day than Matt Bomer’s Neal Caffrey, which makes them a dynamic duo.

Kima Greggs (The Wire)

When talking about incredibly smart characters from The Wire, Kima Greggs (Sonja Sohn) is near the top of the list. Throughout the show’s five seasons, she constantly pushed herself to the next level, both physically and mentally. One of the most dedicated members of the show’s core unit, she was also one of the most articulate and methodical.

Stella Gibson (The Fall)

Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) from The Fall is not only one of the smartest TV detectives, she’s also one of the best. Her tactics in tracking down serial killer Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan) were both unorthodox and ahead of the curve, and it’s hard to imagine the killings would have stopped without her.

Sergeant Philip Fish (Barney Miller)

Though some will remember the late Abe Vigoda more from his portrayal of Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather, for the sake of this story we’re going to focus on his brilliant take on Sergeant Philip K. Fish on Barney Miller and the spinoff series, Fish. He didn’t appear in every episode of the classic sitcom, but the wise-cracking detective did make his mark on the series throughout its run. Grumpy, smart, seasoned, and hilarious, Fish knew how to solve a case while also making us laugh. 

Danny Reagan (Blue Bloods)

Whenever the conversation comes up about the Blue Bloods cast, it doesn’t take all that long before Donnie Wahlberg’s Danny Reagan enters the conversation. One of the major characters throughout the show’s historic run on CBS, this hard-nosed NYPD detective has both street smarts and keen police skills up his sleeve and is ready to use both whenever and wherever needed. If there’s a CBS detective you’d want on your case (or not covering it if you’re a perp), this would be the guy.

Gil Grissom (CSI)

Even though Gil Grissom (William Petersen) is technically a forensic entomologist and not a detective, he’s still a worthy addition to this list. For the first nine seasons of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Gil was the man of the CBS crime drama. With a high level of expertise, an unmatched intellect, and attention to detail, this Las Vegas-based investigator could solve just about anything that crossed his desk.

Patrick Jane (The Mentalist)

Simon Baker, who was great in George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead, was also superb in his portrayal of Patrick Jane on CBS’ The Mentalist. Jane, a psychic-turned-consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation, used his unique set of skills and mental abilities to help the CBI solve all kinds of murders, most of which couldn’t have been wrapped up if not for him.

Jim Brass (CSI)

Played by Paul Guilfoyle, Jim Brass was a dedicated Las Vegas Police detective who worked closely with the key team on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Though not soft on crime, Brass did play things by the book and preferred to use conversation and other non-violent police skills over more aggressive and violent methods. 

Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds)

Portrayed by Matthew Gray Gubler, Dr. Spencer Reid was a quirky and hyper-intelligent special agent who was crucial to the happenings of Criminal Minds. Though his personality rubbed some the wrong way, there’s no denying the fact that he was legitimately the smartest person in any given room.

How To Watch House of the Dragon Season 2

Watch House of the Dragon Season 2: Synopsis

House of the Dragon Season 2 has reached the end of its spectacularly dramatic run, and fans now have a long wait until the explosive third instalment. The Golden Globe-winning show proved a hit once again, drawing in a weekly audience of millions who were mesmerized by its jaw-dropping battles, blood-curdling revenge plots, and epic dragon action. If you’re a Game of Thrones fan, or simply want to recap the whole series ASAP, follow our guide below for how to watch House of the Dragon Season 2 online, and stream every episode with Max in the US.

The death of King Viserys (Paddy Considine) and the almost wilful misinterpretation of his final words by his wife Alicent (Olivia Cooke) brought us to the precipice of war at the end of Season 1. But it was Prince Aemond and his dragon Vaghar whose actions led to ongoing atrocity between the Black and Green factions, setting kin against kin in a bloody tussle for power.

This being a George R. R. Martin production, more than a few characters have met a grisly fate (we won’t spoil who here). Luckily, however, the majority of the show’s cast suited up again for Season 2. On Team Black, that included Emma D’Arcy as the usurped Queen Rhaenyra, and Matt Smith as her volatile husband/uncle, Prince Daemon.

Eve Best and Steve Toussaint returned as Princes Rhaenys and Lord Corlys Velaryon respectively, wedding their forces to Rhaenyra’s against King Aegon II, Team Green’s usurper of the Iron Throne, magnificently played by Tom Glynn-Carney. Season 2 also welcomed new actors like Clinton Liberty in the role of Addam of Hull, and Freddie Fox as Alicent Hightower’s brother Ser Gwayne.

Martin’s Fire & Blood is thrillingly realized here; an improvement, even, on the show’s debut. Tempestuous dragons reign fire down on their foes, and conflicts like The Battle of Rook’s Rest deliver scenes of spectacular carnage, with the Chicago Sun-Times' critic Richard Roeper calling the follow-up “a visually glorious epic that once again feels like appointment TV.”

Season 3 has been greenlit, but it will likely be another two years (!) before the next chapter of the “Dance of the Dragons” begins. That’s good news, at least, to those who haven’t yet caught the show. As per our guide below, here’s how to watch House of the Dragon Season 2 online now, and stream all eight episodes from anywhere in the world.

Watch House of the Dragon Season 2 online in the US

House of the Dragon Season 2 premiered on Sunday, June 16 on HBO and Max, and came to its nail-biting conclusion on Sunday, August 4. All eight episodes are now available to binge immediately.

You can purchase a Max subscription with plans starting from $9.99 a month. But if you want to skip commercials and download shows to watch on the go, you’ll want to pick the $16.99 a month plan instead. Max has also introduced a more premium tier which throws in 4K streams for $20.99 a month.

Alternatively, save up to 20% by signing up to its annual rates ($99.99/$169.99/$209.99 a year respectively).

How to watch House of the Dragon Season 2 from anywhere

If you're a US citizen on vacation or working overseas, you can still watch House of the Dragon Season 2 online just as you would at home.

While services like Max block access from IP addresses outside of the US, there's a handy piece of software called a VPN that can change your IP address to make it look like you're accessing streaming services from any country in the world. 

For example, US citizens overseas can subscribe to a VPN, join a US-based server and access their subscription from anywhere in the world, just like they would back home.

How to use a VPN to unblock streaming services:

1. Choose your ideal VPN and install – our go-to recommendation for unblocking is NordVPN, costing from $3.99 a month with its 2-year plan

2. Connect to a server – for Max, for example, you'll want to connect to a server based in the US

3. Go to the stream you wish to access - for House of the Dragon, head to Max.

Watch House of the Dragon Season 2 in the UK

All eight episodes of House of the Dragon Season 2 are available to stream either through Sky or with a subscription to NOW.

Sky TV packages start from £26 a month. For a more flexible streaming option, you can sign up to NOW's Entertainment pass. It costs £9.99 a month, with the option to cancel your membership at any time. You can also pick the £6.99 deal currently, but that will tie you into a 6-month contract.

How to watch House of the Dragon Season 2 in Australia for free

If you’re located in Australia, you’ll want Binge to watch House of the Dragon Season 2. Every episode of the show is currently available to stream.

With Binge you can stream shows like House of the Dragon at your leisure and pay as little as $10 a month for your subscription. That's only after Binge's very generous 14-day free trial period.

In Australia you can also watch the show through linear channel Foxtel Showcase, or through streaming service Foxtel Now. The latter comes with a 10-day free trial, after which memberships start from AU$25 a month.

Watch House of the Dragon Season 2 in Canada

Canadians can watch House of the Dragon Season 2 with a Crave subscription. The finale aired on Sunday, August 4, so all eight episodes of the latest season are now available to stream on-demand.

You have a choice of three plans to subscribe to with Crave. Basic is its cheapest plan at CA$9.99 a month (+tax), but you're limited to a HD stream on one device. The Standard plan costs CA$14.99 a month (+tax) with top resolutions and the ability to watch across four devices, while the Premium option is ad-free, includes offline downloads and live channels, and costs CA$22 per month.

House of the Dragon Season 2 Trailer

While one’s mileage may vary when it does to each season as a whole, HBO’s True Detective is undoubtedly one of TV’s most talked about shows when it’s airing, and that first season with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson will likely forever be viewed as a Peak TV gem. With the fourth season, subtitled Night Country, having resolved its Alaska-set murders early in 2024 ahead of the Season 5 renewal, the wait is on to see where showrunner Issa López takes the dark and occult-ish series next. 

But that doesn’t mean TV audiences have to completely miss out on intense murder mysteries, attention-grabbing investigators, and all the string-covered suspect boards one can handle. Here are more than a dozen TV shows that are like True Detective enough to warrant watching an episode or two to test the waters.

Fargo

When it comes to brainy and quirky anthology series that keep audiences on their toes, True Detective shares common ground with the film-to-TV transition of Noah Hawley’s Fargo. And I don’t mean the snowy ground seen in the FX drama’s midwestern settings. Of course, Fargo works on a slightly different wavelength than the hyper-serious HBO series, incorporating far more dark and offbeat comedy into its crime-filled plots, while also utilizing star-studded ensemble casts, as opposed to focusing so squarely on a central pair of detectives. Not to mention featuring flashbacks that go back further into the past than the timeline shifts in T.D.

Stream Fargo Seasons 1-5 on Hulu.

The Missing

The two-season series The Missing, as well as the Tchéky Karyo-starring spinoff Baptiste, take a step back from murder investigations to focus on cases involving missing children, and are thus that much more emotionally charged in such ways. With James Nesbitt and Frances O’Connor leading the first, and David Morrissey and Keeley Hawes taking over for Season 2, The Missing is as gripping and shocking as it is disturbing, and tells slightly more personal stories than the HBO Emmy winner. That said, it would be amazing if Tchéky Karyo’s crime solver Baptiste was somehow able to crossover into the True Detective-verse. 

Stream The Missing Seasons 1-2 on Starz.

The Outsider

Stephen King miniseries used to be a TV mainstay, but recent years have given way to longer limited series that better suit the loquacious author’s storytelling. HBO delivered a doozy with The Outsider, based on King’s 2018 novel. Starring Ben Mendehlson, Mare Winningham and Paddy Considine, among others, The Outsider runs largely parallel to True Detective’s more occult-embracing nature, in that this horror tale actually does go full-on into supernatural territory, rather than keeping its most bonkers moments steeped in mystery. It only helps that it was created by novelist Richard Price, with the also esteemed author Dennis Lehane as part of the writing staff. 

Stream The Outsider’s lone season on Max.

Only Murders In The Building

Not everything about figuring out homicides has to be 100% dour and depraved, and Only Murders in the Building is easily one of the breeziest whodunnits imaginable, led by the comedic talents of stars Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez, with a slew of other actors making their way through the Arconia apartment building that seems to attract corpses like a magnet. (What other shows here can boast guest stars like Sting, Shirley MacLaine and Mel Brooks?) The resolutions to Only Murders’ investigations aren’t quite as vital for the narrative’s sense of worth in the way it goes with True Detective, given all the comedy. But the plethora of clues, red herrings and gotcha moments definitely spice things up.

Stream Only Murders in the Building Seasons 1-3 on Hulu.

Dexter

One of TV”s marquee serial killer TV shows, at least for most of its TV run, Showtime’s Dexter takes a different approach to corpse-filled investigations in the sense that its main character, as portrayed with self-narrating stoicism by Michael C. Hall, is both a respected Miami police officer (with an expertise in blood spatter) and a vigilante of sorts. Dexter Morgan is no angel in any respect as he attempts to rid the city of evil murderers and villains the only way he knows how: by murdering them himself. Though the show initially wrapped with one of the worst final seasons and series finales of all time, Hall’s Dark Passenger was redeemed in part by the one-and-done revival season Dexter: New Blood. 

Stream Dexter Seasons 1-8 and the New Blood revival on Paramount+.

Mindhunter

Based on the 1995 book of the same name written by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, Mindhunter shares a similarly studious approach to investigations with True Detective, albeit while focusing on cases that actually happened in real life. With acclaimed filmmaker David Fincher as one of its creative forces, Mindhunter centers on a trio of brainiacs in FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Trench (Holt McCallany) and psychology professor Wendy Carr (Anna Torv), with such killers as Cameron Britton’s Ed Kemper, Jack Erdie’s Richard Speck and Oliver Cooper’s David Berkowitz among the many killers whose infamous crimes were showcased. Unfortunately, while HBO has kept the door open for more of its mystery thriller after each season, Netflix won’t foot the bill for Mindhunter Season 3.

Stream Mindhunter Seasons 1-2 on Netflix.

Sherlock

Anyone aiming to watch a gripping mystery would be remiss to skip over the most famous detective who’s ever existed (at least in a fictional sense): Sherlock Holmes. While a countless number of series, specials and films have been crafted over the years, arguably the crown jewel belongs to Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ Sherlock, with Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular brainiac and Martin Freeman as his equally adept sidekick Watson. To date, four three-part (three-case) seasons have aired, and though hopes for a fifth season have gone unheeded so far, fans will no doubt continue hoping for a return to 221B Baker Street. 

Stream Sherlock Seasons 1-4 on BritBox.

Mare Of Easttown

Obviously not all of HBO’s prestige mystery dramas are the exact same, but viewers can take assured comfort in knowing that most are of an equal level of quality. Such as it goes with the single season of Mare of Easttown, with Kate Winslet earning an Emmy as the titular Pennsylvania detective who tries to keep her personal and professional life afloat after the death of her son, while investigating the questionable murder of a young local woman. With excellent performances from co-stars like Jean Smart, Evan Peters and Julianne Nicholson, Mare of Easttown digs into the mindsets that creep through smaller communities, taking a more localized approach to the murder-mystery genre.

Stream Mare of Easttown’s lone season on Max.

The Woman In The Wall

A flip from the usual investigative narrative, The Woman in the Wall features Ruth Wilson as Lorna Brady, an Irish woman whose life is upended after she finds another woman’s dead body inside her home. In trying to figure out what happened, the show travels back in time to Lorna’s past, where some of her sleepwalking-sparking traumas took place, specifically how it all relates to the country’s notorious Magdalene “laundries,” which were essentially prison-esque workhouses for impoverished females and sex workers. Its dark and brooding nature, mixed with the mysteries and timeline shifts, make it a great watch for True Detective fans.

Stream The Woman in the Wall on Paramount+ with Showtime.

Broadchurch

Those Brits really know how to turn on the emotionally debilitating plot points when putting together its mystery-driven crime dramas, and Broadchurch is no exception. Starring the always excellent duo of David Tennant and Olivia Colman as its core detectives, the series revolves around the death of an 11-year-old boy, and the negative effects it has on the surrounding community, in part due to all the media attention. Though the second season’s court case and third season’s rape investigation are solid enough, it’s that first season’s heavy whodunnit tale that feels the most like a True Detective installment.

Stream Broadchurch on Plex (as well as on Tubi and PBS Passport).

The Afterparty

One of the most intriguingly crafted murder-mysteries is easily Apple TV+’s genre-hopping comedy The Afterparty, co-created by the superb duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller of LEGO Movie and Clone High royalty. Across its two seasons — led by stars Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson and Zoë Chao — The Afterparty centered on deadly events that took place after a high school reunion (Season 1) and after a billionaire’s wedding (Season 2). Unlike True Detective, this show features wacky comedy, musical moments, animation, themed episodes and more unique details, while also still managing to deliver pulp-style murders and explanations. 

Stream The Afterparty Seasons 1-2 on Apple TV+.

Twin Peaks

It’s rather impossible to voice the words “kinda weird murder mystery” without immediately thinking about David Lynch and Mark Frost’s seminal and relatively short-lived phenomenon Twin Peaks. Like True Detective, the Kyle McLachlan-starring drama gets a lot of its personality from its setting, the Pacific Northwest, and the details surrounding the main case. For Twin Peaks, the core mystery surrounded the death of Laura Palmer, portrayed by Sheryl Lee, but tied back into deeper and darker characters and events that I’m sure True Detective’s Tuttle family would voluntarily get mixed up in. Though the network-forced resolution midway through Season 2 doomed its initial network run, this twisted universe returned anew 26 years later for Showtime’s Twin Peaks: The Return.

Stream Twin Peaks Seasons 1-2 and Twin Peaks: The Return on Paramount+

Jodie Foster began acting when she was 3 years old, and she’s been consistently working basically ever since. With two Oscras, many nominations and a stack of acting and directing credits under her belt, she has proven over and over again that she’s not only here for the long haul, but that she’s a shining example of what a long, successful, and balanced career looks like. 

From The Silence of the Lambs to Nyad and so much more, this woman has made it clear that she is not only a master, but one who has been able to sustain her excellence across her decades-long career. And that, my friends, is why Jodie Foster is such an empowering role model. 

Jodie Foster Got Her First Oscar Nomination In 1977 For Taxi Driver At The Age Of 14 

When Jodie Foster was hired to work on Taxi Driver she was only 12 years old, however, she already had over 30 credits to her name. This made Martin Scorsese’s team feel intimidated, however, casting her proved to be a masterful decision as the actress went on to get an Oscar nomination for playing the child sex worker Iris Steensma opposite Robert DeNiro.

At only 14 years old, Foster attended the Oscars, and while she didn’t win, this film marked a shift in the tide and the beginning of the actress’s dominant career as a powerful performer. 

Not long after Taxi Driver, Foster was even offered the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars, but she had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts. This film from Scorsese made the actress a household name, and a critical darling. From there her career flourished, and to this day, the drama is considered one of her best films.

In 1989 Jodie Foster Won Her First Oscar For The Accused

In her late 20s, Jodie Foster returned to the Academy Awards. In 1989, she was nominated for her role in The Accused. In the legal drama, she starred as Sarah Tobias, a woman who was gang-raped and the subject of the case that followed. Ultimately, this performance won the actress her first Oscar, and you can see her acceptance speech here:

The Accused, which came out in 1988, is a vital movie that tells the story of how the legal system helps and harms victims of rape, an issue that is still incredibly relevant today. Foster’s brave performance was moving, and rightfully award-worthy. It also marked the end of her second decade working as an actor, and at the time she wasn’t even 30 years old yet. 

Little Man Tate Served As Jodie Foster’s Directorial Debut In 1991

Now, Foster’s career as a young actress is empowering as is. Her choice of projects is powerful, and her fearlessness on screen is admirable. However, in 1991 she became even more of a role model when she directed and starred in the film Little Man Tate.

The actress’s ability to take on new roles is commendable, and her successful feature directorial debut is even more reason to look up to her. It’s also well known that the child prodigy at the center of this film shares a lot in common with Foster herself. In Roger Ebert’s review of the film he complimented the actress and her work, writing:

This move into directing shows Foster’s skill, and it helped illuminate how well she had transitioned from being a child star into a grown-up one. 

Jodie Foster Earned Her Second Oscar In 1992 For Silence Of The Lambs 

To this day, The Silence of the Lambs is probably the film Foster is best known for, and rightfully so. While Meg Ryan, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Laura Dern were all considered for Clarice, ultimately, Foster won the part. The story goes that she passionately campaigned for it, and her persistence, determination and passion are what got it for her. In the end, she proved to be perfect for the character of the equally determined FBI agent in training, because on the film’s dominant night at the Oscars, she took home one of them:

With this win, Jodie Foster became one of only a few folks under the age of 30 who had won two Oscars. 

What I’ve learned from all this is just how passionate and committed Foster is. It’s admirable to pursue a project like she did, and the film's critical and commercial success goes to show just how much hard work pays off. 

She’s Also Directed Two Other Features And Episodes Of Iconic Television Shows

While I’m only mentioning a few of her acting gigs, it’s vital to note that Foster has been acting consistently for decades. This is important, because along with performing, she also took up directing again.

Following Little Man Tate, she led the feature film Home for the Holidays in 1995 and The Beaver in 2011. Then in the 2010s, she helmed episodes of some of the earliest Netflix hits, like Orange is the New Black, House of Cards and Black Mirror. While her career began in television, she didn’t really come back to it until she started directing these shows. Her versatility as an actress and a director, along with her desire to take on a myriad of projects is really on full display here, and it's incredibly empowering. 

Almost 30 Years After Her Nell Nomination, Jodie Foster Got A Nod For Nyad

When I look at Foster’s career, a movie like Nyad isn’t necessarily something I’d expect her to do. However, as she’s proven over and over again, she can do anything – as her first Oscar nomination in over two decades proved. 

In 1995 Foster received her fourth Oscar nomination for Nell. Then 24 years went by before she received her next one at the age of 61 for Nyad. That’s how she found herself on the list of 2024 Oscar nominees for her role as Bonnie Stoll, Diana Nyad’s best friend and swim coach, in the sports biopic (which you can stream with a Netflix subscription). Along with Foster’s performance in this uplifting film being incredible, it’s also a film about queer friendship, and it’s a lovely representation of the LGBTQ+ community. Showing, once again, the importance of her work.

True Detective: Night Country Was Jodie Foster’s First TV Role Since The 1970s

If you tuned in to True Detective: Night Country when it aired on the 2024 TV schedule (you can still stream it with a Max subscription) then you witnessed Foster’s fantastic performance, proving that her work continues to be just as meaningful and prolific as it always has been.

Both Nyad and True Detective marked a turn in Foster’s career, as she hadn’t consistently worked in TV since the ‘70s, and her role in Nyad was unlike anything she’d taken on. In an interview with Interview Magazine, the actress explained how her work now is different from her work when she was younger, saying:

Whether you are looking at the work Jodie Foster did as a kid, in her 20s or the projects she’s releasing today, there’s no denying that she’s an absolute powerhouse. She’s maintained an admirable work ethic and a magnificent reputation for her entire life. As she continues to work on more projects, and as her older movies and shows’ legacies live on, there’s no question that she is a role model to many women all over, myself included, and it’s for good reason, too. 

Fans of True Detective who were expecting to go a long time before hearing about a fifth season of the popular HBO neo-noir crime series were in for some good news in February 2024. The cable network announced a fifth season just days after the Night Country finale. Though we don’t yet know where the next season will be set, whether it will include any of the characters we’ve met over the years, or if it will have a subtitle like its most recent predecessor, there are some key things we know about the show’s return.

Stick around as we break down everything we know about True Detective Season 5 including what showrunner and writer Issa López has said about the crime series and its future moving forward. We’ll surely be working on the details in the coming weeks and months, but this is as good a place as any to get started… 

What Is The True Detective Season 5 Premiere Date?

The first question many fans probably have right now is when can we expect to see True Detective Season 5 on HBO or streaming with a Max subscription? Well, we don’t yet know when the show will return to the airwaves, but it’s safe to say it will be at least 2025 (or later) before we start the next adventure and mystery for the decorated crime show.

And since we don’t know when cameras will start rolling on the next slate of episodes, it’s hard to say when a premiere date will even be announced.

The True Detective Season 5 Cast Has Not Yet Been Announced

Again, we’re very much early in the development stages of True Detective Season 5 (the new season was given the green light days before this writing), so we don’t yet know who will make up the cast the next time around. But considering three of the past four seasons have been headlined by Academy Award-winners like Matthew McConaughey, Marerhsala Ali, and Jodie Foster, it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing some big-time stars anchor the cast the next time around.

We still have a lot of questions after True Detective: Night Country, and another we can add to that list is if we’ll see any of those characters again in the future. The show has referenced characters from previous seasons in the past, and though no one has returned in the flesh, there’s no reason to think that couldn’t happen this time around.

We Don’t Know The Story At The Center Of True Detective Season 5, But It Will Probably Be A New Tale

As mentioned above, each of the first four seasons of True Detective were isolated stories (for the most part) with the only connective tissue being the references to characters, events, and organizations of previous chapters. And while we don’t yet know if that will be true for the show’s fifth season, a post by showrunner Issa López on X seems to imply that we will be starting a “new adventure.” Sharing a tweet by the official True Detective X account, López had this to say:

The original message to which she was responding had a caption reading “As one mystery ends, another will begin,” which could be taken in a variety of ways. It seems to suggest the next season will keep up the tradition of focusing on new stories, but it could very well be another chapter set in the Arctic Circle.

Issa López Will Once Again Be The Writer And Showrunner For True Detective Season 5

As was the case with True Detective: Night Country, Issa López will once again be serving as the writer, showrunner, and executive producer of the upcoming season, HBO announced in February. However, it is not yet known if she will direct any or all of the episodes during the show’s return at a later date. 

López helmed all six episodes of Night Country, her first time doing so on a TV series, and she directed movies like Tigers Are Not Afraid and  Efectos Secundarios, so it wouldn’t be outside of the realm of possibility for her to do so again. However, we will just have to wait and see what happens. 

Issa López Has Said She’s Tempted To Continue The Alaska Story, But Doesn’t Think She’ll Take That Route

Issa López hasn’t revealed exactly where the show is heading in the future, but based on comments she made during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter following the True Detective: Night Country finale, it sounds like she doesn’t really want to go back to Alaska story. In the chat, she said that while it was “very tempting” to work with those actors and characters again, it didn’t feel like the right direction. In her words:

Earlier in the conversation, López said returning to Ennis after concluding the mystery would be a disservice to the character and the story they all told.

It Is Not Yet Known If True Detective Creator Nic Pizzolatto Will Be Involved At All

It is not yet known if Nic Pizzolatto, who created the True Detective franchise, and who later served as an executive producer on Night Country despite not having any say in the direction of the show, will be sticking around in a similar fashion for the upcoming fifth season. Though there have been a lot of supportive critics of Night Country since its release, Pizzolatto has not been one of the champions of the show, taking to his social media channels on multiple occasions to share some since-deleted comments (via Variety) before creating a thread where similarly-minded individuals could share their criticisms on his Instagram. 

That being said, it’s hard to say if Pizzolatto will serve as an executive producer once more if he’ll simply walk away from the franchise he helped launch a decade ago. Only time will tell…

Expect to hear much more about True Detective Season 5 in the near future, but in the meantime, check out our rundown of the 2024 TV schedule to see what’s coming out later this year.

For the past decade (which includes some sizable breaks), True Detective has been one of the most riveting shows on TV, and with the series being picked up for a fifth season, it looks like it’ll be that way for some time. The HBO crime saga created by Nic Pizzolatto and then later taken over by Issa López for its fourth season, subtitled Night Country, has been a fun, engaging, and oftentimes mind-bending experience like no other.

But, after finishing the True Detective: Night Country finale, I’ve been left with not only questions about the latest season, but also many thoughts on what the series could do moving forward to not only keep the momentum going but also get even better. Below is a breakdown of six things I think True Detective should do moving forward, be it retooling several characters of the series or doubling down on others. But before I get started, please don’t take this as an overly critical view of the show, for I have long been obsessed with True Detective and its thoughtful stories.

Go Full Supernatural With The Story Instead Of Taking The Scooby-Doo Approach

There have been supernatural elements here and there throughout the entire run of True Detective, but nothing like what we saw in Night Country, which teased everything from angry spirits forcing a group of scientists to march to their deaths in the tundra, to similar beings convincing people to walk out onto the frozen ocean. And while the supernatural teases worked well throughout the fourth season, they were later revealed to be just that, and there were no otherworldly elements at play. In the end, it was revealed that local cleaners, upset over the murder of Annie K., killed the Tsalal scientists as revenge.

What I would love to see instead of this “Scooby-Doo” approach in future seasons is a full-on supernatural story where there is a real payoff with some kind of demonic or otherworldly forces behind whatever crime is at the center of the story. Would it be difficult to make this work within the scope of the series? Yes. But, Issa López is talented enough to figure it out.

Continue To Explore More Diverse Settings Outside Of The South

One thing that helped True Detective: Night Country stand out from previous seasons was its remote, isolated, and extreme setting, the unforgiving town of Ennis, Alaska. Shrouded in darkness and blinding wind and snow, the location was a major departure from earlier seasons, especially the first and third installments, which were set in and around the American South. For all its misgivings, Season 2 branched out, as well, with its Southern California setting, but not to the level seen in the most recent story.

I’m not saying we have to return to Alaska during the long day or anything like that, but it would be great to see True Detective explore some other territory in its fifth season. It doesn’t even have to be America. Send us to Australia, send us to Japan, send us to Argentina.

Keep Up The Great Representation Of Local Cultures

There are reasons to nitpick True Detective: Night Country, but there’s no denying that Issa López did a tremendous job when it came to representation and the depiction of local tribes and cultures seen throughout the season. This is mostly because the HBO show collaborated with the Iñupiaq Advisory Council to make the story and those depictions as accurate as possible, according to Alaska Public Radio. We saw this in earlier seasons, especially with the portrayal of the various cultures that make up Southern Louisiana, but with Night Country it reached new heights.

This kind of goes hand-in-hand with my last point, but it still needs to be stressed. Finding a way to tell new stories while also introducing audiences to a culture they may have never heard of before is something, that when done properly, can make a good show into a great show.

Find A Way To Craft A Story That Doesn’t Revolve Around A Corrupt Official/Preacher/Businessman

It’s sort of become a hallmark of the show over the years, but I wish True Detective would find a way to craft a story that doesn’t fully revolve around a corrupt preacher, businessman, or government official pulling the strings. Sure, it has added another dynamic to the show over the years, but it’s sort of become a distraction at this point, as I am constantly trying to figure out which big wig is pulling some nefarious scheme in the background.

Again, it works, so it’s doubtful HBO will remove this aspect of the series moving forward, but this could be a creative exploration worth undertaking to figure out a way to offer a unique spin on the crime drama. 

Have A Story That Isn’t Connected To Past Seasons

There were a ton of references to True Detective Season 1 throughout Night Country, so much so that it became a major distraction partway through the Ennis murder story. These connections to Matthew McConaughey’s Rust Cohle, the Tuttle family, and the famous “time is a flat circle” line caused me to lose focus of the events that were unfolding on the screen, and instead of trying to figure out the mystery, I was left trying to find more clues.

Again, referencing past events is cool and all, and does a great job of building and expanding the lore of the franchise, but it would be nice to have a standalone story that isn’t tied to anything that came before.

If We're Going To Keep Referencing Tuttle United, Can It At Least Lead To Something?

Tuttle United, in varying capacities, was the entity behind pretty much everything that went down in the first and fourth seasons of True Detective, and there’s probably some connection from Seasons 2 and 3 that I’m missing. That being said, if we’re going to keep referencing the company that has its hands in everything from Southern churches and politicians to mining operations in Alaska, can it all lead to something instead of having the nefarious corporation being nothing more than a puppet master?

Like, will we ever see a case so extreme and so devastating that it finally leads to Tuttle United being taken down once and for all? If so, sign me up. If not, I wish the show would find some other villain to prop up, some new direction to take.

If you’re like me, there’s a good chance you’re excited to see where Issa López takes us with the series moving forward. But while we wait to learn more about True Detective Season 5, now would be a good time to go back and watch the entire series with a Max subscription, which will also give you access to some of the biggest shows on the 2024 TV schedule.

Rejoice, True Detective fans! Rather than the anthology crime series taking another long break as it did between Season 3 and Season 4, another season is already in the works over at HBO. Plus, Issa López, the creator of True Detective: Night Country, is coming back for the next round. Following the renewal, López shared her thoughts on the good news.

It’s been just a few days since the True Detective: Night Country ending aired on HBO, and the network has already greenlit Season 5. Check out what Issa López wrote on Twitter: 

Issa López came onboard for True Detective for the first time for Season 4 and has called it the “most beautiful collaboration and adventure” of her “entire creative life.” Following the announcement that she’ll return as creator for another installment of the crime series, she shared how “proud” she is of Night Country and “excited” she is to keep it moving with Season 5. López is a Mexican director, writer, and producer who previously was behind ten Spanish language features before transitioning to this Hollywood production. 

Along with the official True Detective account making the announcement on Thursday, Variety reported the news alongside some impressive numbers regarding how many people were tuning into this Sunday’s finale. Apparently the last episode (of six) was the most-watched episode of True Detective: Night Country with 3.2 million viewers. The finale’s numbers had the show see a 57 percent increase from the viewers of the premiere, which goes to show that more and more people started tuning in each week to the show. 

Night Country, which was often compared to the critically acclaimed Season 1 of True Detective (along with it having some major connections to the Matthew McConaughey season as well) was the most-watched season of the show overall as well. No wonder Issa López was kept on board when HBO decided another True Detective season was in order! 

While the finale of Night Country definitely left fans with some questions regarding where things were left for Jodie Foster’s Liz Danvers and Kali Reis’ Evangeline Navarro, we expect that López will continue the trend in True Detective where a new cast and setting is chosen each season. Prior to Season 4 following two detectives solving a case in Alaska, Season 3 (which was led by Mahershala Ali) took place in the Ozarks, Season 2 (starring Colin Farell, Vince Vaughn, and Rachel McAdams) took place in California, whereas the events of McConaughey and Woody Harrelson’s premiere season happened in Louisiana. 

You can check out every season of True Detective right now with a Max subscription and take a look at what 2024 TV show premieres are next now that Night Country is over. 

True Detective: Night Country has come to an end, providing viewers with an explanation for the Tsalal researchers’ deaths and the murder of Inupiat woman Annie Kowtok. Reactions to the HBO anthology’s fourth season have been mixed but, perhaps unexpectedly, one of the more vocal critics of Night Country has been True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto. In fact, after the season finale aired Sunday night, Pizzolatto took to social media to share others’ negative reactions, drawing the ire of Season 4 star Kali Reis, who clapped back with some thoughts of her own.

Night Country was the first season of the anthology series that didn’t involve Nic Pizzolatto, though he remained credited as an executive producer. It was instead Issa López who wrote and directed Season 4, and Pizzolatto seemed intent on making sure people knew these six episodes did not come from him. He posted several Instagram Stories (via Uproxx) following the finale that called the fourth season a “massive fuck you” to the previous seasons and fans with its “lazy, nonsensical” story. Kali Reis, who co-starred as Evangeline Navarro opposite Jodie Foster, didn’t hold back as she wrote on X (Twitter): 

Night Country was originally conceived by Issa López as a standalone series but was tweaked when it was picked up as the fourth installment of True Detective to include connections to Matthew McConaughey’s Season 1. The six-episode Season 4 drew favorable comparisons to that first season from critics, although many viewers found enough cracks in the foundation to keep from going all in.

After a fan commented on Kali Reis’ post that Nic Pizzolatto had the “right” to repost the criticisms as the creator of the series, the actress shot that down, saying: 

Nic Pizzolatto did, in fact, share his thoughts on True Detective: Night Country earlier in the season, responding to other fans’ criticism by saying Season 4 was “so stupid." Issa López said at the time that, “whatever his reactions are, he’s entitled to them,” and while Kali Reis echoed that sentiment in another post, she pointed out that True Detective is an anthology, which means it’s open to other filmmakers’ perspectives. She wrote: 

I guess they’ll agree to disagree then? Despite Night Country’s sixth episode filling in a lot of the blanks regarding the mysterious Alaskan darkness, fans were still left with plenty of questions after the Season 4 finale — including what exactly happened to Kali Reis’ character. If you want to relive any of the four True Detective seasons, they are all available to stream with a Max subscription, and now that it’s over, be sure to check out our 2024 TV schedule to see what premieres are coming up. 

Major spoilers below for the season finale of True Detective: Night Country, so be warned if haven’t yet seen all the big reveals, which are available to stream with a Max subscription.

In its first five episodes, True Detective: Night Country set up a slew of sunless mysteries and questions for viewers to ponder going into the horror-tinged thriller’s season finale. By and large, showrunner Issa López delivered the answers that a murder-mystery needs, with all of the unresolved deaths being explained by the end, some in far more detail than others. But what about story threads that weren’t fully contextualized, such as Navarro’s fate or Annie’s tongue?

Let’s indulge in a three-fingered handful — we see you, Blair — of the darker curiosities and unanswered questions that audiences were left with by the time “Part 6” was in credits mode. Some of them have been addressed with varying levels of clarity by Night Country’s writer/director López and star Kali Reis, such as our first mega-inquiry.

Did Navarro Die At The End Of True Detective: Night Country?

The final time we get a full-on shot of Reis’ Navarro, she’s on the other side of learning the truth — or at least a substantial part of it — about Annie’s death, while also having come to terms with the voices that she believed were haunting her throughout the season. She sets out walking into a snowy abyss as she’d done earlier in the season, but without the same heaviness that pulled at her before, making it appear like less of a suicidal instinct. Navarro also seemingly pops up in the final moments within what’s believed to be Liz Danvers’ lakeside home. But what’s the truth here?

As it turns out, Issa López is fully behind the idea of viewers taking and embracing whichever ending and meaning they choose to, and laid the story pieces out as such to stoke multifaceted reactions. Speaking with Variety, the showrunner was asked if Navarrow was “in a place of peace,” and if she was still alive, to which López replied:

The last scene is then addressed, concerning the idea that it's not exactly clear whether or not Navarro is with Liz in both body and spirit at that point, or if that's mean to represent the former Trooper's essence that her former partner can never shake. To be expected, perhaps, López is all about that dichotomy. While holding back her own thoughts, she said:

During my initial viewing, I read things as totally literal, with Liz and Navarro touching base again months after the fact, Shawshank Redemption-style. But upon rewatching, I can't say for certain if Liz fully acknowledges Navarro's presence or not, so I'm more open to the idea of a ghostly presence, even though I don't want the character to have actually wandered to death.

Were The Supernatural Elements Real?

As we’ve talked about in the past, Night Country leaned heavily into connections to True Detective Season 1’s Rust Cohle and other elements, and it similarly toed the line between supernatural and rational. That said, the season ended without any surefire clarification on whether the ghostly experiences had by Navarro, her sister Julia, Rose and others were legitimate, or only figments of mental illness. Perhaps the most convincing moments of truly otherworldly forces were the times when they got the ever-skeptical Liz’s attention, but she blew everything off immediately. (Who finds a crucifix in their hair and then goes on with their day?)

As far as all the major mysteries went, the answers were laid out without the need to rely on unexplained events, from the women forcing the scientists into the cold at gunpoint, or the scientists being responsible for Annie’s assault and murder. But when it comes to other things, like Travis Cohle’s dancing specter, what should we believe? Showrunner Issa López told Variety this when asked about the show's stance:

Obviously not the most pleasing answer for anyone who abhors ambiguity, but I think the important thing to take away is what she isn't doing: ruling out supernatural events. Because to do that would be to say that Navarro was just hallucinating or dreaming when her given name was revealed by her mother, which would be a devastating blow to the character herself. So while I'm not sure how I feel about Julia's terrifying experiences or where Liz's son falls in all of this, I am comfortable believing in the supernatural for the sake of Navarro's peace of mind.

Who Is Leah's Father?

For all that True Detective: Night Country delved heavily into the emotional traumas of all of its main characters, the story quite purposefully held back on specific details about the past and personal lives of Liz and Leah Danvers. It’s an interesting choice, considering the characters shown the least are the ones that so directly connect the stepmother and stepdaughter. But that decision necessarily means audiences came away wondering more about the late family members. Who was the man who was Leah’s father, a role he held before he and Liz got together?

What we do know is that his name was Jake Peterson (as portrayed by Svend Hardenberg), and that he and Liz had a biological son named Holden. It was heavily implied that the husband and son died in a vehicular collision, though without any further details being spelled out in full. But while the relatively few times Jake popped up seemed to be joyous, the lack of flashbacks set up the possibility that those happy times were fewer and farther between than what might have been expected. 

For instance, flashbacks with Leah were all but absent, even though she was also Jake’s daughter. Leah and Liz’s relationship apparently stayed strained over the years, presumably because of the lack of closure over the deaths, which also possibly speaks to the family’s home life not being akin to fairy tales. Is it possible that Jake was responsible for the wreck that killed him and Holden? Could that be why we don’t see him in a more loving light?

Who Cut Out Annie's Tongue?

True Detective’s fourth season offered up no concrete answers about Annie’s severed tongue, which served as the only initially obvious connective tissue between the activist’s long-unsolved murder and the deaths of the Tsalal scientists. Of course, it became quite clear in the finale that Annie’s death was wholly connected to the Tsalal engineers, which provided the “why” for it being left at the lab when the scientists went missing.

But the series never explicitly revealed who was responsible for cutting Annie’s tongue out of her mouth, or at what point that act was committed. Some fans such as myself believe that Hank was tasked with mutilating Annie’s body to make it look more related to mining protests than Tsalal itself, though that wouldn’t explain how it showed up at the lab all those years later. And if it was Bee and the other women who kept it, when did they gain access to it? Or, as a third option, what if it was Annie herself who left the icky clue?

This is another mystery that the showrunner is leaving up to viewers to conclude what went down, and she laid arguments for all sides in her interview with Variety. That said, it does sound like Hank chopped it out, and the women were the ones who left it as a calling card for their vengeful actions after discovering Annie’s fate. It’s hard to argue against this: 

And since her breakdown for how Annie the spirit might have done it isn’t quite as detailed, I’m choosing to go with Bee & Co. as the keepers of the tongue.

Hopefully it won’t be long before HBO makes a decision about True Detective Season 5, but there are plenty of upcoming goodies on the 2024 TV premiere schedule to look forward to before more spirals start popping up all over the place.

Major spoilers below for the season finale of True Detective: Night Country, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched or streamed with a Max subscription.

It’s hard to say the dust officially settled on True Detective’s fourth season, since Night Country’s snowy setting made dust particles harder to pick out. But the HBO murder mystery did indeed wrap up its six-episode run with a rather revealing (and extended) finale that provided more or less official explanations for the variety of unexplained deaths that were established in the first five eps. 

Though there were definitely some plot points that didn’t get spelled out entirely, such as whether supernatural events occurred or not, True Detective: Night Country’s “Part Six” offered up enough conclusions to keep viewers sated and still curious. So let’s get bundled up and head down into the ice caves for some answers to all these deaths.

Who Killed Annie?

Answer: Raymond Clark and the other scientists

To be expected, the answers for Ennis’ biggest cold case murder (at least in Navarro’s eyes) were anything but simple, though nothing overtly otherworldly had anything to do with it. Rather, Annie discovered both the ice cave research station and the truth behind Tsalal’s connection with the Silver Star Mine, and she ragefully destroyed years worth of samples and research. In the midst of their own fits of rage, the other men brutally attacked Annie, with one stabbing her over and over again with a star-tipped tool. 

At least that was how Raymond Clark said it all went down in his confession to Liz and Navarro, though the visuals told a slightly different story. Because Annie didn’t actually die from the wounds or blood loss; her last-ditch gasp of consciousness was quickly subdued by Clark suffocating her with his T-shirt. Because even though he might have been perfectly honest when declaring his love for Annie, those emotions weren’t enough to risk compromising the facility’s mission.

Who Killed The Tsalal Scientists?

Answer: Bee, Blair and other native women were indirectly responsible

Per the report that Christopher Eccleston’s Ted Connelly apparently ran with as official record, it was a slab avalanche that did the six scientists in, but that’s obviously not the real story. It was definitely a force of nature that was responsible, but not so much snow as a deadly blend of deep-seated vengeance.

Though it took years, L'xeis Diane Benson’s Bee eventually discovered the ice cave lab while doing some routine cleaning, and was able to then piece together how and why Annie was attacked. In response to the men’s monstrous actions, Bee led a large group of gun-toting women to the Tsalal facility, rounding up all the engineers (save for Clark) and marching them outside. The six murderers were driven out to the middle of the icy depths, were forced to strip down (with their clothes folded and organized), and were seemingly held at gunpoint until they succumbed to the cold.

Like many other “confessions” made during True Detective: Night Country’s run, the story Bee tells doesn’t entirely line up with what we’re shown. She explains things as if the women offered the men's fates up to the gods, instead of forcing them to choose between death by the elements or death by gunshot.

Granted, that reveal also didn’t totally explain why the men had bite marks, nor how one of them managed to survive throughout that terrifying ordeal. But there’s definitely some poetic justice in the answers that were revealed.

Who Killed William Wheeler?

Answer: Navarro

Arguably the only real example of Liz and Navarro working together prior to the Tsalal deaths, the William Wheeler case is one that has haunted both of them professionally and personally. It was already clear that their official report didn’t jive with real events, with Pete pulling off some impressive detective work to reach his assumption, but it wasn’t clear until the finale what actually went down. 

After Wheeler creepily started to whistle “Twist and Shout” — without any clear reasoning for why he picked that song — Liz called out to Navarro, who instinctively put a bullet into the murdering abuser’s head. Not much more was revealed there, though Liz did say later that she was only a moment away from ending Wheeler’s life herself, and likely would have if Navarro hadn’t pulled the trigger. 

Assuming everything remains kosher as far as the avalanche story goes, and assuming Pete doesn’t have any lapses in ethics, Navarro’s actions that day will likely remain undiscovered and unpublicized.

What Happened To Raymond Clark?

Answer: Intentionally froze to death

The finale finally showed viewers where Raymond Clark went on that fateful night after having his seizure and saying “She’s awake!” I’m not entirely certain what bolstered his specific reactions, but Clark immediately took off to hide in the tunnel hatch, which allowed him to survive the night’s events. And since then, he was apparently sticking it out inside the ice cave, which is where Liz and Navarro found him. 

Once he was in their grasp, Clark opened up almost entirely about his part in Annie’s murder and Tsalal’s involvement with the mine. Rather than killing him outright, echoing her actions with Wheeler, Navarro instead presumably got Clark to agree to record his confessions on her phone, so that he would be allowed to end his life on his own terms: frozen to death in turmoil just like the others with ideals of changing the world, no matter what the cost. But at least he apparently also got to put on a clean shirt and wipe up his messy face before going through with it.

Interestingly enough, Clark also offered up another undeniable connection to Season 1’s Rust Cohle in uttering Matthew McConaughey’s meme-quote of legend “Time is a flat circle.” And he seemed to experience that concept first-hand when that quasi-portal opened up between Clark and Navarro, but that’s a wholly different conversation.

What Was Causing All The Stillbirths?

Answer: Mining pollution, made worse by Tsalal

True Detective: Night Country’s finale rather firmly disproved my theory about the lab and its purpose, revealing the facility and its staff were going above and beyond in terms of creating a more poisoned water supply for the local area. Though it was already clear that the water was responsible, what with all the protests, what wasn’t previously known was the extent of the cover-up. 

Not only was Tsalal falsifying documents and data regarding pollutants and health risks, but they were actually pushing for the mine to go harder on that front, since the pollution affected the permafrost in a way that made it easier for the engineers to collect their samples. Illness and death to others were mere side effects for the greater good in the eyes of the men and those funding the research (i.e. the Tuttle family). 

It’s easy to understand why creator Issa López already wanted to bring this story to life as a murder-mystery before HBO execs suggested it as an entry into the True Detective anthology. Similar to virgin sacrifices and other such concepts, the scientists had something of a technically sound argument for their actions, in that they had the potential to alter the course of the human race with their work. And omelets can’t happen without eggs being cracked. 

But considering this largely indigenous community amounts to far more than a bunch of eggs — not to mention the lack of guarantees that their research would have gone anywhere outside of Tuttle United — that shit can’t fly. Had the Tuttles’ shell companies paid every single person living in the area to change locations, there still would have been ethical concerns for animal and plant life, but it would have been more defensible than “nothing at all.”

How Did Liz’s Husband And Son Die?

Answer: Via car wreck

Similar to previous episodes, True Detective’s Season 4 finale didn’t really deliver any concrete details concerning the deaths of Liz’s late husband and son, but did at least make it look very much like the largest theory behind their fates was confirmed. With earlier callbacks such as glass getting stuck in Liz’s shoe and a rolling hubcap, the finale later offered up a wide, if brief, shot of the vehicular wreckage that almost definitely took the father and son’s lives.

As far as I could tell, the particular cause for the wreck wasn’t laid out, with fans theorizing that a drunk driver was to blame. In the scheme of things, it probably doesn’t matter exactly what happened, since their deaths overall were what caused Liz’s trauma. Although I guess I wouldn’t have minded if it was revealed that a one-eyed polar bear drove a moving van into the Danvers’ vehicle. 

At this point, it’s hard to know whether or not a fifth season of True Detective will follow Night Country, but it likely won’t be part of the 2024 TV premiere schedule if it does. Until finding out more, check out all the upcoming horror shows to scratch that occultish itch.

Major spoilers below for the first five episodes of True Detective: Night Country, so be warned if you haven't yet gone down the spiral.

With its penultimate fifth episode — which HBO made available to stream early for those with Max subscriptions — True Detective: Night Country delivered a pair of unexpected murders, an “official” solution to the Tsalal scientists’ deaths, and ever-so-slightly widened the scope of the conspiracy surrounding Annie K.’s unsolved death. Not to mention the utter destruction of whatever sanity Peter Prior may have had left. 

Ahead of the season finale, I’ve got one big back-burner theory that “Part 5” seemed to supply some evidence for, as well as a handful of questions about other this storyline’s endgame, and what it means for Jodie Foster’s Danvers, Kali Reis’ Navarro and others. (I’ve given up on this story’s connections to Matthew McConaughey’s Rust Cohle actually meaning anything major.) So join me in ignoring past gripes about the show and falling below the ice to figure out what’s actually going on in the Night Country.

THEORY: Tsalal Isn’t A “Real” Lab, And Only Exists To Keep The Mine Open

Clearly, something isn’t 100% kosher when it comes to what’s happened at Tsalal, and I don’t just mean all the mysterious deaths. Viewers have heard all kinds of facts and claims about the scientists and engineers that worked within the research facility’s walls, but without ever seeing any actual science or research taking place. Let’s not forget that before things went haywire in the premiere, the Tsalal crew was fixing up sandwiches, popcorn, and beer while watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

We now know exactly how Season 1’s cult family is involved, as Pryor discovered Tuttle United’s deal with the shell company Norbank Securities, which is a founding partner of Ennis’ Silver Sky Mining. And we now know that the Tsalal team was responsible for crafting and releasing pollution reports whose falsified data went in favor of the mining company, data that went in the face of the tragic stillbirths of nine babies in the area. 

But while we’ve seen proof of these deaths, with Liz herself stepping foot in the room where the mini-coffins were kept, we’ve seen zero proof of the Tsalal team’s previously stated mission to find an organism with the potential to affect the aging process. As such, I think that goal has just been used as a heightened justification for keeping the facility running for so many years, and that Tuttle United is more interested in money made from mining than anything overtly scientific. (Religious pederasts and murderers aren’t usually science buffs.)

This would offer a clearer explanation for why some of the men who worked at Tsalal were less than savory characters who weren’t esteemed geniuses in their fields, such as Otis Heiss and Raymond Clark. It’s quite likely Tuttle and/or Silver Sky Mining gave those jobs to whoever was desperate and willing enough to sequester themselves to that gig for years on end.

QUESTION: Did An Avalanche Actually Kill The Scientists?

For all the Tsalal research facility’s shady practices and non-objective studies, none of that info seems to point directly to the cause for the horrors that left nearly the entire crew dead and frozen. And so whenever Christopher Eccleston’s Ted and Dervla Kirwan’s Kate relay to Liz that the forensics report pointed to a snowslide being responsible for all the nude corpses, it didn’t sound THAT wild or over the top. As Scooby-Doo has taught us time and again, anything that seems impossibly unnatural is probably just a dude in a mask. 

But because audiences were able to witness some of the moments prior to their deaths, we know that something weird was happening with the electronics and the men themselves that didn’t necessarily speak to disastrous natural events such as avalanches. So we know they weren’t anticipating such an event, and thus weren’t all outside watching for it, as Ted suggested.

That said, there’s obviously a chance for the forensics report to be true while still not telling the whole story. It’s possible that whatever event that made the electronics go wonky could have caused some kind of earthly tremor that in turn sparked an avalanche. It doesn’t explain why Clark wasn’t there, as well as some of the other details, but would at least make it seem like not everyone above Liz’s pay grade is part of the cover-up.

QUESTION: What Are Kate’s Story And Evil Motivations?

One of True Detective: Night Country’s biggest non-secrets is that many of the women in Ennis don’t like Liz because of her sexual proclivities, with Silver Star Mining boss Kate McKitterick at or near the top of that list. So it’s no surprise that she isn’t offering any pure-hearted assistance by way of Liz’s investigation, but how far up the duplicitous ladder is she, and what are her actual goals here?

On the one hand, she could be mostly “innocent,” as it were, when it comes to whatever Tuttle United’s overarching goals are. Which would still make her an ogre just for working so hard to keep the mine open in the face of tainting the land and local population, but that’s at least the kind of authority figure that people are used to. Plus, the mine employs so many people in the area that it would take several acts of God to shut it down entirely. 

Then on the other hand, Kate could be in full knowledge of whatever Tuttle United is doing with the mine, the Tsalal station, and whatever is in the caves. She doesn’t wholly seem like a ruthless, hands-rubbing-together monster, but she also doesn’t come across as someone who would stand up against a more powerful cause to fight for what is virtuous. She’s a cog, but where do her intentions lie?

Who Is The “She” That Everyone Is Saying Is Awake Now?

True Detective: Night Country has hinted at actual supernatural moments going down in this world, largely tied to ghostly visions experienced by Navarro, her late sister Julia, and Fiona Shaw’s Rose. Both those and the dream messages haven’t always seemed like concrete proof, though, since we haven’t seen two characters witnessing the same ghoulish events. (Although something tells me a slightly unexplainable incident went down at the Wheeler household surrounding his falsified suicide.)

One elusive detail that we have seen multiple characters referring to is the idea that something happened in the caves that got “her” attention, and “she” is now awake. I cannot imagine anyone is talking about a corporeal human being, since that wouldn’t make any sense. Which would mean Otis and other engineers were presumably talking about a spiritual being of some kind, but that doesn’t line up with all the science on display. 

Is this all part of a group hallucination caused by gasses and other underground elements being released into the air through mining? Or is there genuinely a female entity involved who was lying dormant before being roused from slumber? And what does she have to do with the spiral stones that were apparently used as ominous warnings?

What Happened To Liz Danver’s Husband And Son?

Liz Danvers’ personal life is the subject of much scrutiny and judgment among the residents in Ennis, with her stepdaughter Leah as antagonistic as anyone else. Viewers have been made privy to many of the skeletons in her closet, but we’re all still largely in the dark when it comes to exactly what happened to Liz’s late husband and their son, whose name was Holden. 

Most of the moments relating to the kiddo tie into the one-eyed polar bear doll that ghostly Holden is seen carrying, which Liz held on to (before angrily throwing it out).  But because Navarro’s visions out on the ice appear to show a vehicular accident involving a large truck, it’s possible those are her memories of the day Liz lost most of her family. It’s maybe safe to assume a drunk driver was at fault, too, given the chief’s reaction to an intoxicated local behind the wheel in the premiere. (Although that was potentially squashed when boozed-up Liz had zero issues with getting behind the wheel herself.)

I can’t fully grasp why showrunner Issa López has held back on sharing more details about Liz’s tragedies before the finale, unless her husband and son’s deaths end up being directly related to other mysterious events in Ennis. Could that be part of why Jodie Foster’s character is so vocally against Navarro’s spiritual nature, because she can’t explain what killed her loved ones? Here’s hoping answers are coming in the final episode of Season 4.

True Detective: Night Country's finale will air on Sunday, February 18, at 9:00 p.m. ET, and will be available to stream on Max. Head to our 2024 TV premiere schedule to see what other new and returning shows are on the way.

It’s been five long years since True Detective last aired, but Season 4 finally premiered on the 2024 TV schedule last month, with reviews drawing comparisons to the first season. While the long-awaited True Detective: Night Country has made plenty of fans happy, especially with the murder mystery storyline, creator Nic Pizzolatto is not very fond of it. Now, Season 4’s head honcho, Issa López, is responding to his comments.

This started when Pizzolatto replied to a fan who didn’t like True Detective’s storyline on Instagram (via screenshots of the Instagram interaction from @ExileGrimm), even despite the connections to Matthew McConaughey's first season. Pizzolatto was quick to say he didn’t have any input on the story or anything else. He then replied to another fan, who was criticizing the storyline and lack of connection to previous details, to which Pizzolatto said it was “so stupid.”

Issa López, who helms True Detective’s fourth season and wrote the scripts, told Vulture what she thinks of Pizzolatto’s comments. She basically noted that everyone is entitled to an opinion, saying that every storyteller is different:

It is disappointing to know what Nic Pizzolatto thinks of Night Country, especially since he was such a big part of the first three seasons. He has remained on as an executive producer but, even then, he had no say in writing or directing. However, López responded in probably the best way she could. It is hard to please everyone, and taking over a show from someone else is no easy feat. Of course, some things are going to be different, as she says:

While not everything is perfect with True Detective: Night Country, the new season definitely works on some levels. It’s even Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 93% approval rating and 67% audience score. Fans have already been throwing in their theories, and they are intrigued by the storyline. It also helps that the Night Country cast includes Jodie Foster and Kali Reis. Each season has been different since it is an anthology series, so of course, it’s not going to be the same, and some things may be different. All that Issa López cares about is people are watching, and she is welcoming any and all to share their opinions. 

There are still a few more episodes left of Night Country, which has been airing on HBO and is available with a Max subscription. There is much to look forward to in the season, especially following the Shining callback and freaky scene in the most recent episode. It’s hard to tell how the season will wrap up, and while it may not please everyone, fans should still watch these remaining episodes and come to their own conclusions.

Spoilers are out and about for anyone who isn’t yet caught up with True Detective: Night Country’s latest episodes, so be warned and stay warm!

Across its first two episodes, True Detective: Night Country set up various direct connections to Season 1, while also building out its own currently unexplained and death-filled mystery. But “Part 3” stuck largely to the events surrounding the fourth season’s characters, and featured at least two moments that, at least when taken at full face value, stuck one foot entirely into supernatural waters. (Or ethers, I guess.) But how much are we actually meant to believe things at face value in this show? And was that actually a callback to Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining?

To clarify right up front, I know that Night Country already introduced Fiona Shaw’s Rose as someone who regularly sees the dancing-and-pointing ghost of the dude she used to bang (Rust Cohle’s dad), and that Rose claims others in the town also see ghosts. But one person’s testimony, even combined with the visuals of Spectre Travis’s interpretive footwork, isn’t verifiable proof. So now let’s shift our focus over to what happened to Navarro. 

Navarro Maybe Dealt With Some Ghosts, Shining-Style

In the midst of the manhunt for missing scientist Raymond Clark, Navarro went on a brief walk out into the icy darkness, all by herself. After pulling an orange from her pocket — an ominous cinematic reference unto itself — she chucked it out into the black. I’m not exactly sure why, since she wasn’t far from a trash can, and she didn’t seem intent on hitting anything. 

Navarro definitely didn’t expect for the orange to come rolling back to her feet, either, indicating that someone else was out there. It may not have been a direct callback to Danny Torrence’s red ball in The Shining, but it definitely felt like it to me, so it’s part of my head-canon either way. I’m still a bit confused over why she had a net-negative reaction to that bizarre moment, though, as I would have at least hollered asking if anyone was out there before completely losing my shit. 

Later in the episode, when Navarro is once again out by herself in the snow staring into the darkness, she sees a figure running away, but slips and hits her head on the ground before she can give chase. With the sound of child’s laughter heard in the sound mix, the figure appeared to be a kid holding a stuffed animal in one hand, an assumption strengthened by Navarro's unconscious vision. Upon touching her, the child whispered, "Tell my mommy," indicating it is/was Danvers' child.

And if that’s the case, that's a big implication that the child's ghost is still hanging around Ennis, though isn't appearing to Danvers herself. Though I guess I can't say with certainty that this area's spirits ever populate city centers, as they're more prone to wandering around the snowy abyss. So maybe Danvers just needs to go out there for a while by herself to find a bit of closure, assuming the ghost is legit, and does have a message for his mom. 

The Surviving Scientist Spoke To Navarro In A Possessed Voice

As weird as the aforementioned moments were, they were totally watered down compared to Navarro’s half-conversation with Dr. Lund, the Tsalal scientist who somehow managed to survive the group’s frozen tomb, only to suffer a miserable hospitalized existence. With frostbite covering his body, resulting in the loss of several limbs, Dr. Lund’s main reaction to everything was “blood-curdling screams.” 

He did manage to get a few clear words out that echoed some of the other vague language we’ve seen and heard:

Characters keep referring to this mysterious threat as “She” and other feminine pronouns, though without any names being used that I’ve heard. It came up again at the end of the episode when the characters were watching what’s presumably the final video Annie K. made on her cell phone before she was killed. 

But then when Danvers and others were called away to deal with the violent scuffle happening elsewhere in the facility, Lund and Navarro were left alone together. That’s when shit got real freaky, with Lund suddenly sitting up in bed in a pseudo-lucid state, speaking directly to Navarro in a raspy possessed-by-demons voice. 

Non-coincidentally, it was just earlier in this episode when Navarro opened up to Qavvik about her past, sharing that her mom was an abused woman who escaped back to Alaska with her daughters, but suffered mental health issues after the move. Things only got worse, with the mother suddenly leaving home one day, only to be found murdered, with her killer never caught. 

It’s a tragic tale, and certainly helps explain why Navarro is so dedicated to solving Annie K.’s murder, without being able to deliver justice for her mom. But are we meant to believe that the mom’s spirit is connected to whatever monstrous threat is responsible for the baffling deaths? 

Why Navarro's Experiences Aren't The Best Evidence Of The Supernatural

I’m admittedly one of the many True Detective viewers who would whole-heartedly love for this series to pull a layer off of reality to reveal something truly unnatural and outside reality’s norms. (And no, not Episode 2's questionable A.I. concert poster.) But even though Night Country showrunner and director Issa López has crafted some truly chilling moments that are far more overtly horrific than the occult weirdness in Season 1, I think López already showed viewers why we shouldn’t put a ton of stock into ghosts and monsters being responsible. 

For one, mental illness appears to be common enough within Evangeline Navarro’s family, even if the pool of evidence is certainly limited. But unless she was lying to Qavvik, her mom apparently suffered from having visions and hearing voices, and her sister Jules has also experienced two breakdowns just in these first three episodes. Navarro can say all she wants that Jules is nothing like their mother, but she can’t change genetics. 

So it’s logical, and even probable, that Navarro’s ghostly experiences are just in her head, with one of the bigger secondary arguments being that she was completely alone each time something bizarre happened. And possibly why her reactions to impossible instances have been so strangely subdued. (Which may just be a gripe-worthy issue more than a story beat, but still.)

But the mental shenanigans may not even be the fault of the Navarro bloodline specifically, and could be more of an unpredictable side effect of whatever is happening in Ennis itself. Perhaps the city is built atop pockets of gas that causes mass hallucinations, and the Tsalal scientists tapped into one of those pockets when seeking their potentially miraculous microorganism. 

That wouldn’t entirely explain why some people are affected by visions and things far more than others, since Danvers and Peter haven’t been shown to be plagued by ghostly sights. So maybe it is a bloodline thing, at least as far as families native to the area. 

At the moment, I’m happily stuck between not knowing which way True Detective: Night Country is going to take its story, even if I fully suspect that the mysteries at hand will be resolved in the most secular and scientific manner possible. I’m just hoping it leaves a slightly bigger crack in the door than Season 1 did, as far as allowing for otherworldly shit to come into this world. I’ll leave some coffee on, just in case the monsters are cold and thirsty.

True Detective: Night Country airs new episodes Sunday nights on HBO (and streaming with a Max subscription) at 9:00 p.m. ET. Head to our 2024 TV premiere schedule to see what else is haunting the small screen soon.

Spoilers below for the second episode of True Detective: Night Country, so take heed if you haven't yet watched!

After two episodes, the fourth season of True Detective is already a third of the way through investigating its corpse-filled mysteries, all while setting up various connections with Season 1’s Rust Cohle. The latest season is a critical mixed bag, with the Alaskan-set storyline more or less viewed as being more successful than other elements. (Check out my personal gripes here.) But for all its genuine suspense and tension, Night Country caused some viewer confusion over that baffling A.I. wall poster in Episode 2 (available to stream now with a Max subscription).

For those who may have missed it, the poster in question appeared whenever Kali Reis’ Navarro went to question Edward Fletcher’s Chuck Mosely, whose taste in music appears to be K-Pop and glam rock. Not the most bizarro combination, but when only one of the groups on display is legitimate (IVE), head-scratches are imminent, and though Night Country’s showrunner Issa López spoke up about the A.I. poster being an intentional choice, I’m not really sure it cleared anything up.

Issues With The A.I. Poster

Before addressing what this season's writer/director had to say about the poster, let's first point out just how silly the thing looks in the first place. Here are just a few questionable details:

• The band's name is just Metal
• The logo itself is broken
• The band members and their poses are kind of horrifying
• "2st" instead of "2nd"
• The inserts seem to show meaningless phrases "Coundown Live" and "Comeback Live"

Is it just me, or does it seem like a couple of the bandmates are in Charlie's Angels poses? And I'm more than a little unnerved by how their hair just looks like ushankas resting atop their blandly painted faces. In some ways, it's kind of awesome, but maybe not the kind of thing a True Detective viewer is expecting to see. 

What The Showrunner Said About The A.I. Poster

Even if plenty of audience members likely glazed over what was hanging on the wall during that quasi-interrogation scene, quite a few who did notice it hit up social media to share their flabbergasted-ness. One viewer questioned the decision on X, saying that the shoddiness of the image disrupted the immersion, to which López responded by saying:

I can totally understand why she didn't echo the "ad nauseam" discussions had about the poster within her tweet response, and she gets credit for responding to the online criticism at all, since social media can wreak havoc on anyone's mental health. All that said, I dunno if I understand.

There's something genuinely intriguing, and potentially disturbing, about a group of isolated brainiacs using A.I.-created designs to decorate the entire Tsalal facility, with walls plastered in examples of not-quite-reality. Even if it all of them were just mock-ups of KISS posters and album covers. But since only the one example exists here, Issa López's explanation feels incomplete. 

When someone else brought up the errors on the poster, the showrunner replied with:

Still, the meaning isn't quite clear. In that I'm not sure if she meant the show was trying to hold A.I. in a negative light by showing its limitation, or if the limitations themselves are what she and the creative team weren't feeling kind about. 

Another viewer asked her to clarify the messaging about metal and boomers when the other poster was for a K-Pop band, and López said:

Again, not quite addressing the question while provoking further questions by what she did say. But at least we know Chuck has a daughter who likes K-Pop, I suppose. Since that will obviously become a major plot point in Season 6 or later. 

For now, though, it's unclear whether or not we'll see anymore A.I. "art" from the HBO series, but the best way to find out is to tune in each Sunday night on HBO at 10:00 p.m. And head to our 2024 TV premiere schedule to see all the human beings and otherwise that'll be on the small screen soon.

Spoilers below for the first two episodes of True Detective: Night Country, so tread carefully if you haven’t yet watched or streamed with a Max subscription!

With its first three seasons, True Detective played somewhat fast and loose with the connective tissue tethering the murder cases to the same universe. But the change in showrunner from creator Nic Pizzolatto to Issa López has allowed the horror-tinged mystery thriller to delve into the biggest series callbacks to date, which of course just inspires fans like me to rashly conclude that every seeming reference is a definite easter egg. 

So even beyond the similar critical responses, let’s run through the obvious and probable parallels between Jodie Foster’s Night Country and the debut season with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson leading the investigation. (Totally understood if some want to watch True Detective Season 4 while going through the list.)

Travis Cohle Is Almost Definitely Rust’s Father

Barring a baffling narrative reversal, True Detective: Night Country’s second episode appeared to relatively quickly confirm the fan theory about Rose’s ghostly messenger being Rust Cohle’s father, though without ever flat-out declaring that he had a kid with a slow Texas drawl. But Rose did make it clear that his name is Travis Kohle, and that they had a romantic fling together ahead of his death due to leukemia. (She’s definitely not Rust’s mom, though.)

In Season 1 of True Detective, Rust’s limited input about his early life with his parents included the admission that his father got his mother pregnant while on military leave. He didn’t return from his Vietnam tour until Rust was already two years old, at which point the mom took off, with father and son moving up to Alaska. Rust eventually left, preferring the warmth of the Southern U.S. to the snow.

Perhaps most interestingly, Rust says his father was not pleased that he left, and said Rust lacked loyalty for making that choice. Why was Travis so obsessed with staying up in Alaska, though, and why was it a blow to familial allegiance for Rust to move away. Was living in that area partly responsible for Rust’s mental hiccups, and not the substance abuse issues as presumed?

The Tuttle Family Likely Funded Tsalal's Research

For all that True Detective telegraphed its Cohle connection, the show came out of nowhere with that wild reveal that Tsalal Research Facility is funded by a non-governmental organization run by the shell company NC Global Strategies. And who runs that company? A little outfit called Tuttle United. 

Though not spelled out in full, the indication here is that Reverend Billy Lee Tuttle, or someone else within the cultish family, was paying for the reclusive scientists to crack the DNA code of whatever formerly ice-bound microorganism they were studying. But is this all directly connected to Errol Childress and Carcosa, or something even more sinister?

All Those Spirals

As True Detective viewers are aware, swirly shapes played heavily into the first season’s murders, with the “crooked spiral” symbol representing the occult, child-abusing, human-sacrificing cult at its center. The descriptor also came up in relation to pedophile rings during a brief Season 3 moment.

While the direct meaning behind it all still isn’t clear yet, we do know that the symbol was drawn (or inked or branded) onto one of the corpsicle scientists’ foreheads, and it was tattooed onto the  murdered Annie K. and the AWOL Raymond Clark. As well, it was scrawled onto the ceiling of Clark's snowed-in camper, where a whole bunch of other weird shit came up. So it’s definitely a connective force within this story, but how much weight is there to Rose’s theory that the spiral is older than the ice surrounding Ennis.

Crafted Dolls And Writing On Walls

Season 1's backwoodsy occult vibes presented the perfect environment for handmade straw dolls, stick-people and other creepy AF craftwork. Other straw dolls surfaced during Season 3, but Night Country took it up to 11 when Liz and Navarro investigated Clark's camper.

The humble abode was all kinds of creepy and ominous, with an assortment of figures and shapes hanging from the ceiling, as well as a human-sized doll (presumably) laid out in the bed, surrounded by other garbage/art supplies. As well, much of the walls, ceiling, and cabinet doors were filled with the scrawls of a lunatic, often with the same phrasings repeated, but with enough variety to make it impossible to draw clear conclusions from. 

Lots of references to a mysterious female entity, and lots of pleas for things to stop. As well as a big message saying "Don't Sleep," which could possibly be a super-loose reference to Rust Cohle being an insominiac. 

The Hildred Castaigne Quote

TV shows kicking off with textual quotes isn’t exactly new or rare, but True Detective: Night Country took an interesting swing by starting with a quote from “Hildred Castaigne.” He isn’t a historical figure, but rather the unreliable narrator relaying the contents of “The Repairer of Reputations,” one of the tales within Robert W. Chambers’ short story collection The King in Yellow, which is notably one of the first season’s core influences. 

And what’s more, the quote isn’t even actually taken from the story itself, but was conceived by showrunner Issa López. So right from the opening seconds, the onion of references was already being formed.

Lone Star Beer

Perhaps the only visual callback to Season 1 that is largely just a visual reference, and not an opaque mystery wrapped in an enigma, is the sight of the Lone Star beer bottle within the Tsalal facility. It's on the living area table in front of the TV playing Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and is soon joined by the big bowl of popcorn before the unexplained inciting incident made everything go haywire. 

One of the most memorable motifs from Season 1 was alluminum can art that Rust put together by ripping open and reshaping cans of Lone Star that he drank throughout his interviews with Dets. Papania and Gilbough. Harder to do that with a bottle for sure.

Both Danvers And Rust Lost Children (And Ruined Relationships)

Might as well end this one on a dark note, since that's the True Detective way. Episode 2 of Night Country made it pretty clear that Liz Danvers suffered the heartbreak of losing a child at one point in life, and that it's the kind of memory that will send her off into the night to find a distraction. As well, the show is laying it on pretty thick that Liz has slept her way into and out of a few friendships, and has been banging her boss for the better part of the previous two decades. 

On the flip side, Rust's marriage with Claire fell apart after the death of his two-year-old daughter Sophia, who was hit and killed by a car. His actions in the following years invovled undercover operations and addictions to controlled substances, and the self-destructive behavior never quite left his system, as evidence when he fractured his friendship and partnership with Marty by having sex with Maggie. 

Stay tuned for new episodes of True Detective: Night Country every Sunday night on HBO at 10:00 p.m. ET, and streaming on Max. 

Spoilers below for the second episode of True Detective: Night Country, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched on HBO or streamed with a Max subscription!

We’re just two weeks into the fourth season of HBO’s mystery thriller, and True Detective: Night Country surprisingly already confirmed its genetically direct connection to the Carcosa-bound first season, proving true the fan theories about Matthew McConaughey’s Rust Cohle. It was cool and all, and I’m definitely invested in the baffling murder mystery on the whole, but several nitpicks have arisen just as quickly as that reveal.

I can’t wait to see what in the world went on at the Tsalal Research Station that doomed the eight scientists working there, as well as what led to their frozen-in-shock fates. But I now realize in full that getting to such answers means having to deal with some of the complaints critics had with Night Country amidst all the praise. So let's drive an icepick into the most annoying details about this season so far. 

It's Never Ever Clear What Time Of Day It Is

By all means, I fully grasp and embrace that one of True Detective: Night Country’s biggest hooks is its fairly unique Alaskan location and its seasonal lack of sunlight. I can think of more than a few unsettling attributes of living in constant darkness, and it’s certainly an interesting and effective backdrop for a bizarro murder case, where potentially all characters are susceptible to darkness-related mental stress. (The opposite approach fueled Christopher Nolan’s daytime-filled thriller Insomnia.) 

So I’m not knocking that idea at all, but rather how the show has handled it in these initial installments. Because for the most part, it seems like Ennis’ hustle and bustle is taking place at any and all hours, with only a few instances where specific times of day were brought up. And even in those moments, time doesn’t seem to really drive what anyone is doing. 

Episode 2 hits upon that awkwardness with flying colors, particularly when it comes to the actions of Chief Liz and her daughter Leah. After seemingly a full day, Liz arbitrarily begins unboxing Christmas decorations, which Leah avoids by saying she’s in bed, though she actually sneaks out for a romantic tryst. Liz immediately gets frustrated with tangled lights and seeks out a tryst of her own. Both of those happen, with Leah’s walk home sidetracked by her visiting Finn Bennett’s Peter while he’s on duty watching the melting corpse. 

And then even more shit happens, and at no point does anyone share any worries or concerns about it being so late. In fact, seemingly the only time anyone in True Detective: Night Country needs sleep is when the narrative requires a dream sequence or something in that vein. 

Does that mean I want there to be a constant flow of time updates popping up along the top or bottom of the screen as the story goes on? Not necessarily, but it might be helpful if the eps would at least mark when one day and date changes to the next. 

Nobody In Ennis Locks Their Doors Or Respects Other People's Privacy

Even after only two episodes, I’ve come to the conclusion that everyone who lives in Ennis just fully expects others to enter their homes willy nilly, whether the owners are there or not. And I’m not altogether certain whether this is meant to be representative of small-town folksiness, the long and access-friendly arm of the law, or if the notion of locked doors and privacy just wasn’t a big push for showrunner Issa López.

Regardless of what the reasoning is, I cannot imagine it could ever be proper police protocol to leave that ice rink unlocked and unsecured, with only a single officer keeping watch. Whenever Hank waltzed in unannounced and assaulted Peter for the box he stole, I figured he probably had keys to the building. But that wouldn’t explain how Leah was also able to spring up on Peter unannounced. What if someone legitimately wanted to fuck with those corpses?

Even more befuddling was Kali Reis’ Navarro arriving home to find Liz already inside, and making a comment about hiding her key rather than freaking the hell out. Which implies that it’s not at all the first time Liz would have done such a thing, despite the fact that these women actively dislike and avoid each other. 

On the one hand, this kind of detail could be seen as screenwriting shorthand, in that characters’ conversations and confrontations happen quicker. But it comes at the expense of believability. If True Detective wanted to set up Liz as the kind of guileful cop who can find her way into any room or building, that’s one thing, but it waters down the effect when everyone in Ennis has the same power. 

Every Time A True Detective: Night Country Character Acts Like A Simple Concept Is Super-Complicated

One of my biggest movie and TV pet peeves involves a scientist (or similiarly non-moronic character) trying to explain something, only for a blue-collar lead character to rudely interrupt and whine about the language being too intricate. Or when a project's fairly simple themes, patterns, and/or visual elements are over-complicated  to the point of ludicrousness. Somehow, True Detective: Night Country already tapped into both of those. 

First, there's the familiar spiral shape that serves as one of Night Country's connections to Season 1's case. More than one of the Tsalal scientists boasted it as a tattoo, and it's also been seen scrawled in other places, so it's clearly an important clue. But Liz and others treat the symbol as if it's some inscrutable ancient glyph or something far more complicated. Sure, it's not the traditional hypnotic swirl, but it's still just a spiral.

I also case some doubt on any tattoo artist actually remembering inking a spiral of any shape/size onto someone without a passionately detailed diary entry to reflect on. But maybe.

Then there was Liz's high school visit to see her teacher fuckbuddy in the hopes of gleaning some info about the Tsalal facility. I was already wondering why someone of her authority wouldn't have prior knowledge, but then Liz opened up a window into her general level of intelligence during this exchange:

• BRYCE: They spent decades trying to sequence the DNA of an extinct microorganism that could potentially stop cellular decay.
• LIZ: Try it in English, nerd.

Absolutely no parts of that sentence should be difficult to grasp for most adults, or a good number of teens and younger children. The actual act of sequencing DNA presumably takes a high level of education, but grasping a single sentence about it, and how cells work, requires going to elementary school. And if all it takes to be called out as a "nerd" in Liz's eyes is the ability to retain basic-ass information, how am I supposed to think she's going to solve any case that goes beyond two already interlinked puzzle pieces?

These gripes are all a bit hyperbolic, obviously, but this is the one that really put me over. Because I actively stopped comprehending the presumably vital exposition as soon as Liz unwittingly donned her dunce cap, and could then only question whether she would also get confused by such novel ideas as times tables and food pyramids. And that's not the best audience reaction to provoke for a show that theoretically wants its audience to be poring over every line of dialogue and piece of set decoration for clues. 

For all that I've prattled on about above, none of it is going to stop me from tuning into HBO every Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. ET for the remainder of True Detective: Night Country's episodes, because I gotta see what the hell happened to these scientists. (And hopefully it's in English, ya friggin' dorks.) Until then, head to our 2024 TV premiere schedule to see what other shows are on the horizon.

True Detective: Night Country introduced the newest mystery in the series in its premiere on HBO last week, and already there seem to be supernatural forces in play that echo the tone of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson’s highly praised first season. In fact, critics who screened Season 4 ahead of its release compared the two stories favorably, but is it possible their connections run even deeper? A wild theory is circulating that Travis, who is dead in the current season, could be related to McConaughey’s Rust Cohle, and I have to admit, the evidence is compelling.

Jodie Foster and Kali Reis star as Night Country’s dynamic law enforcement duo, as Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro look into the disappearances of eight scientists from a research station in Alaska. At the end of “Part 1,” a ghost named Travis leads a woman named Rose Aguineau (Fiona Shaw) to the bodies. True Detective fans were quick to pick up on the possible Season 1 connection, with one Reddit user musing: 

While True Detective’s first season was set in the Louisiana heat, Matthew McConaughey’s character does, indeed, say that he had lived in Alaska for a while with his father Travis. At one point he told investigators that he’d visited his father, who was dying of leukemia, but that was never able to be confirmed, as Travis had apparently been off the grid for 30 years.

The name and location alone seem too big to be a coincidence, but one fan on X (Twitter) noted a striking similarity between the two men:

Another Redditor pointed out that the name of Fiona Shaw’s character — Rose Aguineau — is French in origin, which could possibly be another connection to Rust. They said: 

Rust didn’t say much about his mother in Season 1, so it will be interesting to see if any of these connections play out as we get deeper into Night Country’s story and learn more about the barefoot, dancing ghost that is Travis. 

Showrunner Issa López has already confirmed that there will be common threads between Seasons 1 and 4, including the spiral symbol, and she even told NBC that characters in Season 4 “are related to characters in the first season.” Did she mean that literally? 

We're only one episode into True Detective: Night Country, so it may still be too early to tell, but it seems like there's a good chance Travis is related to the Season 1 character, especially with the showrunner confirming that there are connections to be made between the two seasons. 

We’ll have to see what else we can uncover when Season 4 continues at 9 p.m. ET Sunday, January 21, on HBO. Episodes are also available to stream with a Max subscription, and keep up with all of the upcoming premieres with our 2024 TV schedule.  

How To Watch True Detective Season 4

Watch True Detective Season 4: Synopsis

After nearly five years away from our screens, the True Detective crime anthology returns for a fourth season, subtitled Night Country. This brand new instalment is airing on both HBO and Max, and we explain exactly how to watch True Detective Season 4 online where you are.

The True Detective franchise debuted back in 2014 with an acclaimed first season starring Matthew McConaughey (at the height of the McConaissance) and Woody Harrellson as two Louisiana homicide detectives investigating murders with links to unsolved cases from the past. The show’s use of horror tropes and philosophical themes set it apart from other crime dramas and it soon became a smash hit. The second and third seasons were less well received, although they were still popular enough to justify a fourth visit to the world of True Detective with Night Country. 

The Alaskan set Night Country follows detectives Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) as they investigate the disappearance of the Tsalal Arctic Research Station’s eight man team. Set against the long nights of the Alaskan winter, the pair’s search will expose both the darkness in themselves and the long buried secrets of their wilderness town.  

With John Hawkes, Christopher Eccleston and Fiona Shaw also in the cast and Issa López on scripting duties, the fourth volume of the dark anthology is proving to be the franchise at its best. Read on for full details of how to watch True Detective: Night Country online from anywhere.

Watch True Detective Season 4 online in the US

True Detective: Night Country (Season 4) premiered on HBO and Max on January 14 with new episodes now airing every Sunday at 9pm ET / PT.

You can get a Max subscription with plans starting from $9.99 a month, but to skip commercials and download shows to watch on the go, opt for its pricier $15.99 a month plan. Max has also introduced a more premium tier which throws in 4K streams for $19.99 a month.

Or save up to 20% by signing up to its annual rates ($99.99/$149.99/$199.99 a year respectively).

How to watch True Detective online from anywhere

If you're a US citizen on vacation or working overseas, you can still access your regional streaming service while abroad.

As streaming services like Max are blocked outside of the United States, there's a handy piece of software called a VPN which can change your IP address and make it look like you're accessing streaming services from any country in the world. 

For example, US citizens in the UK can subscribe to a VPN, join a US based server and access their subscription from anywhere in the world, just like you would back home.

Step-by-step of using a VPN to unblock:

1. Choose a VPN and install it - our go-to recommendation is ExpressVPN, with the 12-month plan offering the best value

2. Connect to a server - for Max you'll want to connect to a server based in the US

3. Head over to your stream of choice - in this instance, Max

Watch True Detective Season 4 in the UK

Sky is where you want to go to watch True Detective: Night Country in the UK. The first episode aired on Sky Atlantic on January 15, with episodes now airing on Mondays each week. It is also be available to watch via Sky's pay as you go option, NOW.

Sky TV packages start from £24 a month. For a more flexible streaming option, you can sign up to NOW's Entertainment pass. It costs £9.99 a month, with the option to cancel your membership at any time.

How to watch True Detective Season 4 in Australia for free

Binge is the place you want to go to watch True Detective Season 4 online in Australia. The crime drama premiered on Monday, January 15, with one episode a week airing thereafter.

With Binge you can stream shows like True Detective at your leisure and pay as little as $10 a month for your subscription. That's only after Binge's very generous 14-day free trial period.

In Australia you can also watch the show through linear channel Foxtel Showcase, or through streaming service Foxtel Now. The latter comes with a 10-day free trial, after which memberships start from AU$25 a month.

Watch True Detective Season 4 in Canada

True Detective Season 4 landed in Canada on Crave on Sunday, January 14 alongside the US with the same weekly release pattern. 

You have a choice of two plans to subscribe to with Crave. Crave Mobile is its cheapest plan at $9.99 a month (+tax), but you're limited to a HD stream on one device. Crave Total costs $19.99 a month (+tax) with top resolutions and the ability to watch across four devices and download for offline viewing.

True Detective: Night Country Trailer

True Detective: Night Country Full Episode Guide

Episode 1: “Part 1” - Sunday, January 14

When eight researchers at Tsalal Station suddenly disappear, Danvers (Jodie Foster) orders a search but tempers expectations of finding the men. After handling a workplace dispute and checking-in on her sister Julia (Aka Niviâna), Navarro (Kali Reis) tries to convince a skeptical Danvers (Foster) that the men’s disappearance is connected to the murder of local activist Annie Kowtok, a case that has long gone cold. 

Episode 2: “Part 2” - Sunday, January 21

As Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Prior (Finn Bennett) set out to learn more about Tsalal – and find an unlikely location for the physical evidence – Captain Connelly (Christopher Eccleston) threatens to move the case to Anchorage. Later, Navarro (Kali Reis) and Danvers (Foster) separately find a connection between one of the Tsalal men and Annie, prompting the former partners to agree to work the case together. 

Episode 3: “Part 3” - Sunday, January 28

While Hank (John Hawkes) leads the search for Clark (Owen McDonnell), Prior (Finn Bennett) asks Danvers (Jodie Foster) about the murder-suicide case that drove a wedge between her and Navarro (Kali Reis). After sifting through the contents of Clark’s trailer, Navarro (Reis) and Danvers (Foster) seek out a local hairdresser for insight on Annie – which leads to a tip about another former Tsalal worker. Later, tensions grow between Danvers and her stepdaughter Leah (Isabella Star LeBlanc). 

Episode 4: “Part 4” - Sunday, February 4

When Julia’s (Aka Niviâna) mental health struggles resurface, Navarro brings her to a local facility, promising that this time will be better. Later, Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Navarro (Kali Reis) confirm the location of Annie’s murder – and Danvers (Foster) levies a harsh punishment on Leah (Isabella Star LeBlanc) following her act of protest.  

Episode 5: “Part 5” - Sunday, February 11

As Prior (Finn Bennett) digs into the links between Tsalal and mining company Silver Sky, Navarro (Kali Reis) rescues Leah (Isabella Star LeBlanc) from a local protest that has turned violent. At a meeting with Silver Sky exec Kate McKitterick (Dervla Kirwan), Danvers (Jodie Foster) balks when Connelly (Christopher Eccleston) shares the official cause of the Tsalal men’s deaths – and gets a warning against pursuing the case any further. Later, Hank (John Hawkes) receives a quid pro quo offer.  
Written by Katrina Albright & Wenonah Wilms and Chris Mundy and Issa López; Directed by Issa López 

 Episode 6: “Part 6” - Sunday, February 18

In the midst of a brutal storm, Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Navarro (Kali Reis) find themselves stuck at Tsalal with no electricity or means of contact. As the truth about what happened to Annie and the Tsalal men unfolds, Navarro (Reis) and Danvers (Foster) each confront the demons from their past.  

Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson were an instant hit with fans when True Detective premiered on HBO in 2014, and exactly one decade later, Jodie Foster and Kali Reis will follow in their footsteps, with the newest installment, True Detective: Night Country, featuring another crime story whose trailer promises disturbing violence and undertones of horror. Critics had the chance to screen the six-episode fourth season ahead of its January 14 premiere, and while this is the first season without Nic Pizzolatto running the ship, Issa López’s project is drawing favorable comparisons to the series’ first season.

Jodie Foster stars in True Detective: Night Country alongside professional boxer-turned-actress Kali Reis, John Hawkes, Christopher Eccleston, Fiona Shaw and Isabella Star LaBlanc. Season 4 of the anthology — whose first three seasons are available to stream with a Max subscription — takes place in the fictional town of Ennis, Alaska, and follows the investigation behind the disappearance of eight men from a research station. Caryn James of the BBC rates it a perfect 5 stars, writing: 

Not only is Season 4 the first without Nic Pizzolatto, but it’s also the first to feature two women in the leading roles, and Daniel Fienberg of THR describes the new season as “refreshing and frequently potent.” However, he points out that it may see some of the same criticism as the first season and its Yellow King revelation. Fienberg continues:  

Carly Lane of Collider rates the series 9 out of 10, saying that Issa López silences any doubters from the very first episode, and that Jodie Foster and Kali Reis breathe life into the chilling thriller that fits right into the True Detective franchise. In the critic’s words: 

Patrick Cavanaugh of ComicBook.com says the showrunner brings the series back to its unsettling roots by delivering her own twisted and terrifying story, rather than attempting to replicate what made True Detective’s debut season such a success. Cavanaugh rates Night Country 4 out of 5, writing: 

Meghan O’Keefe of Decider says Season 4 hits the same notes as its predecessors with its tortured detectives, gnarly murder mystery and hints of occult. Everything you love about True Detective is back, O’Keefe says, despite the slight change in tone. The critic continues: 

It sounds like True Detective: Night Country should be a hit with fans of Matthew McConnaughey and Woody Harrelson’s first season, so if you’d like to check out Jodie Foster in her first television role in decades, Season 4 will premiere on HBO at 9 p.m. ET Sunday, January 14, and can also be streamed on Max. Be sure to check out our 2024 TV schedule to see what other premieres are coming soon. 

When it comes to those channels that we all need to pay a little extra for – such as Showtime, Starz, etc. – they all seem to produce some of the absolute best shows. But you want to know which channel I think has made stars even bigger? HBO. 

The channel, which stands for 'Home Box Office,' has produced some of the best TV shows of the last twenty or so years, and with that, several actors and actresses have come and gone and left their mark, earning plenty of awards recognition for their work in the shows. Today, we'll be going over 32 of them. 

Emilia Clarke (Game Of Thrones)

Of the Game of Thrones cast, Emilia Clarke probably became one of the most-known actresses in the world after her portrayal of Daenerys Targaryen. On the show for the entirety of its eight seasons, Clarke earned plenty of awards recognition and was nominated several times for a Primetime Emmy Award for her role in the show, including her last nomination in the Lead Actress category. 

Jonathan Groff (Looking)

While Jonathan Groff never earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for his role in the LGBTQ+ show Looking, he did win plenty of other awards for his time on the show. Groff is known to be a triple threat with his acting, singing, and dancing talents. He was even a part of the original Hamilton cast, but his starring role in Looking brought on plenty of recognition.

Zendaya (Euphoria)

The Euphoria cast is filled with talent, but let's be honest – Zendaya is the main star we're all looking towards. Nominated several times for the show for a Primetime Emmy, Euphoria has taken this once Disney Channel star and given her the chance to show off her incredible acting skills, one I'm sure she'll continue to do. 

Peter Dinklage (Game Of Thrones)

Peter Dinklage has been around in movies and TV for some time, but everyone recognizes him as Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones, a performance he did for eight show seasons. Out of the entire cast, Dinklage was the one to be nominated for the most Primetime Emmys – and he won four times. 

Lena Dunham (Girls)

Girls lasted for six seasons and gave plenty of stars shining lights, such as Allison Williams, Adam Driver, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and more, but Lena Dunham was certainly the award-winner of the group. The actress, who also created the comedy for HBO, earned several nominations at the Primetime Emmys, the Golden Globes, and more. 

Tony Hale (Veep)

The Veep cast is highly talented, and Tony Hale is just one of many. And his role as Gary Walsh in Veep is undoubtedly one of his best. Among several other awards that he was nominated for this role, he won the Primetime Emmy award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series twice before the series ended. 

Bill Hader (Barry)

This show – especially Barry Season 4 – was a rollercoaster ride from beginning to end, and Bill Hader's performance has been hailed as one of the best of the show. Hader has been nominated for several Primetime Emmy Awards, and the show has also been nominated for Outstanding Comedy.  

Michael C. Hall (Six Feet Under)

While Michael C. Hall gained a lot of fame for another role he did – the still rewatchable Dexter on Showtime – he gained a lot of fame at first for his role in Six Feet Under, where he played David, one of the brothers who owns a family-funeral home. His role in the show earned him several nominations, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. 

Jeremy Strong (Succession)

Succession’s success is awesome to watch, growing larger and more prominent over the years, and one of the lead actors, Jeremy Strong, has gained a lot of award recognition throughout the series' four seasons. Among Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Drama Series, and more, Strong has also earned nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the Primetime Emmys. 

Lena Headey (Game Of Thrones)

Cersei Lannister is undoubtedly one of the most-hated villains of Game of Thrones, but I don't think anyone could hate Lena Headey's performance. Throughout the series, the actress earned several nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, among several other awards at the Golden Globes, the Poppy Awards, and more. 

Anthony Carrigan (Barry)

I don't know where it came from, but NoHo Hank became my favorite character in Barry, and I think it's because of Anthony Carrigan's portrayal of him. While Carrigan's character didn't get as much hype at the beginning of Barry, the actor has earned several awards for his role in the show, including Primetime Emmy nominations. 

Diana Rigg (Game Of Thrones)

Olenna Tyrell had to be the best player in Game of Thrones, and I'm pretty sure we all were heartbroken when Diana Rigg passed away. The actress earned several nominations for her role in the show, including Primetime Emmys for her guest appearances. Who could ever forget Olenna? 

Brian Cox (Succession)

I don't think anyone could forget Brian Cox as the patriarch of the Roy family in Succession, Logan Roy, the leading man we were all following for years on end. And, of course, Cox earned plenty of praise for his portrayal in the show, including several Primetime Emmy nominations and wins. 

Sydney Sweeney (The White Lotus And Euphoria)

Sydney Sweeney is an exceptional case on this list, as two of her shows on HBO have earned her nominations. She was a part of The White Lotus Season 1 cast, which earned her a Primetime Emmy nod, and for the second season of Euphoria, she also earned a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress. Both of which were certainly deserved. 

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)

As the lead of Veep, I don't think we could get through a list like this without mentioning Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her role as Selina Meyer. The series, which ran from 2012 - 2019, was a massive success for her and earned the actress several nominations and wins for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy and the series for Outstanding Comedy Series at the Primetime Emmys. 

James Gandolfini (The Sopranos)

We can only have an HBO list by mentioning James Gandolfini from The Sopranos. As the patriarch of the Soprano family, Tony, James Gandolfini won several awards over the series, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the Emmys three times. The show itself also won Outstanding Drama Series several times. 

Evan Peters (Mare Of Easttown)

Mare of Easttown was a limited series on HBO, and the entirety of the cast was incredibly impressive. Evan Peters has gained fame over the last decade for his roles in movies like X-Men and the anthology series American Horror Story, but his role as Detective Colin Zabel has been hailed as one of his best. His portrayal earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, among other awards. 

Henry Winkler (Barry)

Henry Winkler is a TV legend from Happy Days, but his role in Barry is one of my favorites. And the people who award these actors agreed too, as Winkler earned several awards for his character, Gene Cousineau, including Primetime Emmy wins. 

Kate Winslet (Mare Of Easttown)

Kate Winslet was the star of Mare of Easttown, a limited series on HBO, and out of everyone on the cast, she won the most awards for her time on the show. Some of her accomplishments include Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the Primetime Emmys, TV Film of Miniseries Lead Actress of the Year for the Gold Derby Awards, Best Television Movie or Miniseries Actress for the Critics Choice Awards, and more. 

Edie Falco (The Sopranos)

For the six seasons of the American crime series The Sopranos, my favorite out of the entire cast was Edie Falco. Carmela was possibly the best TV wife out there and was the only person who would keep up with Tony's mess. Falco's portrayal of her went down in history. The actress was nominated for (and won) several Primetime Emmy Awards, Golden Globes, and more. 

Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos)

Michael Imperioli played Christopher Moltisanti, the protégé of Tony in The Sopranos and someone who seemed to get some of the best storylines in the show. During his time on the series, Imperioli was nominated for his role in several awards, such as  Emmys, Golden Globes, Prism Awards, and more. 

Jake Lacy (The White Lotus Season 1)

The White Lotus cast for Season 1 had some impressive talent, but everyone seriously loved to hate Jake Lacy's character, Shane Patton. But everyone also loves his performance — which earned the actor several nominations across awards shows, including a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. 

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game Of Thrones)

Game of Thrones created several big names for Hollywood, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is another that we saw plenty of in the awards sphere. His character of Jamie Lannister is often credited as having one of the best character arcs in television and earned several award nominations, including the Primetime Emmys. Game of Thrones itself won Outstanding Drama Series several times. 

Sarah Snook (Succession)

The entire Succession cast is filled with talent, but one of my favorites has always been Sarah Snook, who played Shiv in the popular HBO series. Portraying the character for all four seasons, Snook has been nominated for several awards, including Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. 

Alexandra Daddario (The White Lotus, Season 1)

Daddario has been in the industry for some time, but her role in The White Lotus Season 1 is considered one of her best. The anthology series gave the actress the chance to shine as Rachel, and she was nominated for several awards, including Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the Primetime Emmys.  

Matthew McConaughey (True Detective, Season 1)

True Detective is an anthology series from HBO, and many lovers of the show agree that Season 1 had one of the best storylines, led by a captivating performance from Matthew McConaughey. The Academy Award-winning actor earned several awards for his lead performance in the first season, including a Crime Thriller Award, a Critics' Choice Award, a Primetime Emmy nomination, a Golden Globe nomination, and more. 

Issa Rae (Insecure)

Insecure is a comedy-drama from HBO, featuring co-creator Issa Rae in the show's lead role. The series was extremely well-received, and Rae was nominated for several awards, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series at the Primetime Emmys and Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes. 

Kit Harrington (Game Of Thrones)

Jon Snow is probably the most known character from Game of Thrones aside from Daenerys and Tyrion – which is not surprising considering the character is getting his own Game of Thrones spinoff series. The actor behind him, Kit Harrington, was nominated for several awards during his time on the show, including the Primetime Emmy award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama for the show's final season. 

Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus, Seasons 1 And 2)

While The White Lotus is an anthology series, Jennifer Coolidge was a part of the main cast for the first two seasons (and only the first two). And her time on the show as Tanya was exceptionally well-received and loved. Among many other awards, Coolidge won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series of Movies. 

Anthony Hopkins (Westworld)

Anthony Hopkins is one of the most critically acclaimed actors of our time, and of course, he has been praised for his TV performances. This time around, it's Westworld, where he earned several nominations from the Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, and more. The series was also nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the Primetime Emmys. 

Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus Season 1)

Murray Bartlett was a part of The White Lotus Season 1 and he was honestly one of the show's funniest characters. For his performance as Armond, Bartlett earned several nominations. The show was also nominated for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series for Season 1.

Jeffrey Wright (Westworld)

Jeffrey Wright is a great actor who has been in various movies and TV shows, but one of his most critically acclaimed roles was portraying Bernard Lowe in Westworld, a series he starred in for some time. Wright earned several nominations, including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. 

There are so many amazing actors and actresses who have gone on to do incredible things. And truthfully, this makes me want to see all these shows again to see their talent. Is anyone up for a Game of Thrones rewatch?

One of the most exciting debuts on the 2024 TV premiere schedule is the upcoming thriller True Detective: Night Country, which is set to give audiences all the spine-tingling shivers when it arrives for HBO subscribers (and those with Max subscriptions) in January. And as a horror fan, I couldn’t be more pumped that the fourth season’s first full-length trailer (seen above) is full of the creepy and dread-soaked elements that made the first season such a winner.

With EP Jodie Foster heading up the cast of talented actors, and a new creative force in showrunner and director Issa López, it’s an all new era of True Detective for Season 4, which comes with its own subtitle. This time around, it’s the snowy expanses of Ennis, Alaska that are plagued with dark and grisly incidents, stemming from the unexplained disappearance of a group of eight scientists stationed at an Arctic Research facility. 

As the trailer shows, Jodie Foster plays Detective Liz Danvers, who is drawn to the case along with Kali Reis’ Det. Evangeline Navarro, who looks ready to fearlessly stare down whatever this season’s biggest threat might be without blinking. Unless, of course, the biggest threat is whatever inner baggage has made her so on edge to begin with.

Both investigators will struggle with their inner turmoil, as well as their apparent history together, while trying to figure out what the hell is happening to all these bodies. Such as whatever frozen monstrosity is hidden beneath this tarp.

Nothing like a mangled pile of frozen corpses to bring the horror vibes to a murder mystery. I can't even tell if everything under there is human. But I'm of course hoping that's not the case at all. 

The most straightforward horror moment in the trailer is no doubt the ghoulish spectre pointing at the camera, as seen below. 

I have to assume this visual comes from someone's nightmare sequence, or a hallucination of some kind, since True Detective hasn't explicitly delved into supernatural territory, even if the subject matter feels like it's veering in that direction. 

But as it's indicated several times in the trailer, there will indeed be ties to the occult subject matter at the heart of Season 1, from the spiral symbols on walls to the tattoos seen on corpses and others. 

Even if True Detective: Night Country is more of a psychological serial killer thriller than a straight-up horror series, it still wins points in my book for toeing the line when possible. Some people don't even consider Jodie Foster's The Silence of the Lambs a horror movie, but it's still one of the more disturbing films out there, so if this hits anywhere in that vicinity, we're all winners. (Also, we totally ranked SotL as one of the 50 Best Horror Movies of All Time.)

Pull out those bloodstain-proof magnifying glasses (which probably amounts to most of them), because True Detective: Night Country will hit HBO and Max on Sunday, January 14. Even if this show doesn’t tip its genre hat too far, check out all the awesome upcoming horror TV shows.

We’re in the final stretch of the 2024 TV schedule. After months of the best streaming services and traditional channels giving us unforgettable moments like those seen in the traumatizing House of the Dragon Season 2 premiere and those escapades on The Boys. And with weeks to go before the 2025 TV schedule gets underway, there are still a few more shows we can't wait to check out.

Below are all the current dates for new and returning shows scheduled to land on the small screen throughout the second half of the year. Oh, and one last note before we get started… all times are in Eastern Time and all new shows are written in all caps. With that out of the way, let’s break down all the 2024 TV premiere dates for your favorite shows and those you have yet to discover...

December 2024 Premieres

The final month of the 2024 TV schedule will end the year with a bang, as we'll finally get to see Disney+'s Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and the long-awaited Creature Commandos animated series on Max, and that's just the beginning.

2024 TV Premiere Dates TBD

While some of the 2024 TV premiere dates have already been ironed out, there are a number of new shows expected to arrive at some point in the year that have not yet been finalized. Let’s look at some of the most anticipated shows that don’t have release dates, including several upcoming Star Wars shows, a handful of promising Marvel shows on Disney+, and much, much more.

January 2024 Premieres

The year kicked off with quite an eventful January, as several new and returning shows hit the airwaves (and streaming services) the first few weeks of 2024. One of the biggest premieres was HBO's True Detective: Night Country, the latest chapter in the popular anthology crime series. January also saw the debut of one of the most anticipated Apple TV+ original series, with the debut of Masters of the Air limited series, the third addition to Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' World War II epic.

February 2024 Premieres

February 2024 saw the premieres of some high-profile shows. This included the debut of the National Geographic Channel's Genius: MLK/X, the fourth installment in the network's biographical drama series. Another big addition was the Hulu original series, Life & Beth starring Amy Schumer, which returned for a second season on the popular streamer.

March 2024 Premieres

The final month of winter and the first of spring, March 2024, saw the return of the Starz original, BMF, when the crime drama's third season. But that was just the beginning...