The first season of True Detective was a masterclass in directing, acting, episodic storytelling, and how to do neo-noir well without forcing the entire cast to talk real funny. True Detective season two, on the other hand, was a masterclass in stupid vape jokes and awful diet advice. Regardless, HBO decided to plow ahead with a third season, picking up Mahershala Ali of Moonlight to star, promising some “terrific” new scripts from creator Nic Pizzolatto.
On Sunday night, the network dropped the first minute-long teaser for the new season, which stars Ali as an Arkansas detective investigating a missing child case in the Ozarks. From the look of the trailer, this season might actually be the return to form that the show needs—with the same brooding, atmospheric tone of the original season, and, apparently, multiple timelines.
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“Before you ever knew me, I wasn’t scared much. That wasn’t a fear for me. Things I’ve seen, things I know, wouldn’t do anything but cause harm. My whole brain’s a bunch of missing pieces,” Ali says in the trailer’s voiceover, between shots of him on a case in the 1970s and as an aging man later in his life. “My job? There’s no certainty. This peace is more haunting than anything. I want to know the whole story.”
The short minute-long trailer looks at least a whole lot better than that godawful first look from season two, so that’s something. The third season doesn’t have an official premiere date yet, but the show is set to hit HBO in January 2019.
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