We’re halfway through the critically acclaimed True Detective: Night Country six-episode season, and even the arrival of episode three hasn’t made the killer’s identity any clearer. Episode three opens with a trip seven years in the past and a visit with the murder victim at the heart of the investigation.
Ennis Police Officer Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) shows up to arrest Annie Kowtok for trespassing and destruction of the mines and is met with screaming from inside the building. The building turns out to be a birthing center, and Navarro discovers that Annie is currently busy performing midwife duties. Instead of immediately arresting Annie, Navarro finds herself helping with the delivery. The new mom-to-be realizes the baby isn’t crying and becomes hysterical. Annie works to revive the baby, and suddenly, the baby cries out.
Annie holds out her hands to be cuffed and says, “Now we can go.”
In the present time, the police gear up to hunt for Raymond Clark. (It was revealed at the end of episode two that his body was not among the bodies of the researchers found frozen.) Officer Hank Prior (John Hawkes) takes it upon himself to get locals to help, a decision Navarro views as a liability. Navarro – now a State Trooper – reminds Hank they want Clark alive, and he questions if they actually do.
Meanwhile, Ennis Police Chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) is at the station trying to get hold of Hank for going rogue. Officer Peter Prior (Finn Bennett) informs her the forensics tech is on his way, and surviving researcher Lund is still in a coma but now minus both his legs.
Clark’s belongings from his secret trailer are in the evidence room, and Liz tells Peter to contact Navarro to have her come in and look through the 19 boxes. She also wants Peter to work on cracking Annie K’s phone, but Peter reminds her he’s not a hacker. Liz is sure he’ll figure it out.
Peter wants the truth about the Wheeler case, the last case Liz worked with Navarro. Liz says it was a murder-suicide. William Wheeler was in and out of jail for sexual assault, assault and battery, and many more things. The last time he was out, he took up with an 18-year-old girl and beat her badly. However, the girl refused to report him even though Liz and Navarro could see the evidence and knew the truth.
As Liz tells the story, a flashback shows what happened but it’s not the same story she’s telling. She claims Wheeler killed the girl and then shot himself, but we see Wheeler is still alive when she and Navarro enter his residence. He’s sitting in a chair, whistling.
Liz claims Navarro blames her for the murder-suicide because they should have acted earlier. She and Navarro butted heads over it and Navarro was transferred to the troopers.
Navarro’s still out with Hank and the civilians when she takes an orange she found earlier and throws it out into the middle of nowhere. It rolls back to her feet as a voice whispers, “Help us!” Spooky!
Later, Liz and Navarro set to work going through the boxes of Clark’s belongings. They can’t help but wonder what they’re missing as they lay everything out. Liz looks at a picture from spring 2016; she believes Annie and Clark were already dating at that time. Liz compares photos of Annie to each other, determining their proximity in time based on the fading blue streak in Annie’s hair.
Navarro notes Annie and Clark look happy together.
Liz wants to play her “ask questions game” to try and work through this. Navarro begrudgingly obliges and asks why they kept their relationship a secret. Liz has a question of her own and wants to know if Navarro is still sleeping with Eddie Qavvik. Navarro fights back, asking if Liz is still sleeping with Chief Ted Connelly. Peter enters the evidence room and Liz shushes Navarro, not wanting Peter to know about Connelly. Navarro assures her that everybody already knows.
Liz wonders if Navarro really thinks no one knew about Clark and Annie K. If so, then who took a candid photo of them together by the water? It’s unusual since most of their photos were either selfies or timed. They look for more candid photos and find one with her hair dye smeared on it.
Liz and Navarro question Susan, Annie’s hairdresser, and Navarro asks why she lied about knowing Ray Clark. Susan reveals she used to go to the Tsalal Research Facility and give them haircuts. Annie asked to go with her, so she let her go once because Annie was obsessed with visiting the facility. Annie and Clark hit it off, and they talked all night.
Ray Clark was fixated on Annie’s tattoo, and Susan explains Annie got it because she dreamt about it in high school. The dreams stopped once she got the tattoo. Susan believes Clark was crazy about Annie and that she was the one who changed when they started dating.
Annie didn’t want anyone to know that they were together. Susan admits she was seeing a guy at the research facility by the name of Oliver Tagaq. Liz has never heard of him, and Susan explains he left right before Annie disappeared. When Liz asks for his location, Susan suggests he’s somewhere out on the ice and doesn’t want to be found.
Susan drops the bombshell news that she did call the police after Annie was found. She didn’t leave her name, and it was Hank who took her call.
Liz radios Peter to get hold of his dad and to start looking for Oliver Tagaq.
Navarro thinks it has to do with Annie leading protests against the mines, and half the town would want Annie gone. Liz disagrees and then mocks Navarro for believing in the voodoo stuff when it comes to the reappearance of Annie’s tongue and the researchers found frozen solid in the ice.
Hank visits the rink and asks his son, Peter, what Liz and Navarro are up to. Their discussion is cut short when an angry Navarro shows up demanding to know why Hank ignored Susan’s call about Annie K and Clark’s relationship. Hank claims Annie K was sleeping with half of Ennis. Liz steps in to calm down Navarro and threatens to file a negligence report on him for Annie’s murder case. He snidely remarks that maybe he should file a report on her for playing Mrs. Robinson with his kid. That earns him a cup of water tossed in his face by Liz.
There’s a blizzard in North Bay, and the forensic tech can’t make it. That’s devastating news as they’re running out of time before they must hand the bodies – and the case – over to Anchorage. Peter suggests using his cousin, who’s a veterinarian, to examine the bodies.
Navarro interrupts Eddie Qavvik (Joel Montgrand) as he’s ice-fishing to ask about Oliver Tagaq. He doesn’t recognize the name, so she asks him to ask around. He’ll do it for a price…he wants her to tell him something about herself in exchange for intel on Oliver.
Navarro storms off but then returns, desperate for his help. Eddie asks about her mom who was a local girl and then moved to Boston. Her dad was an abusive man, so her mom took her and her sister back to Alaska. She admits her mom was not okay. She had episodes, heard voices, and eventually left and never returned. She was murdered and her killer was never found.
Liz’s stepdaughter, Leah (Isabella Star LaBlanc), attends a rally against the mines and the miners. They have a moment of silence for another stillborn baby who just passed away in Ennis.
Liz is at home going through Annie’s file when she hears the faint sounds of “Twist and Shout” by The Beatles. Leah arrives home and she and Liz argue about Leah’s recent activities. Liz doesn’t want her involved in the protests and orders her to wipe the Kakiniit tattoo off her face. She accuses Liz of not caring about the native population.
Navarro is walking back to her SUV when she also hears the faint sound of a woman singing “Twist and Shout.” She sees a child running and chases after her, slipping and falling on the ice. She hits her head and is knocked out. While unconscious, she has a vision of a child holding a stuffed polar bear and whispering, “Tell my mommy.”
She comes to and groans. She’s barely on her feet when she receives a call from Kenny Hogan who’s at the bar covering for Qavvik. Her sister, Julia, had an episode. She was screaming that someone was coming, and then she started crying and praying. He says she ran off, and he’s not sure of her whereabouts.
Navarro finds her sister, and she admits she thinks bad thoughts.
Peter arrives home really late from work and tries to assure his wife, Kayla (Anna Lambe), who’s already in bed that this is just one case. Things will go back to normal after it’s over. Kayla is smart and knows Liz will call him and he’ll go running every time.
As if to prove Kayla’s point, their conversation is interrupted by Liz calling him. That’s followed by a text message wanting to know if he found Oliver yet.
December 23rd – the sixth day of night.
Liz shows up to a gathering for the loss of the most recent baby and feels incredibly uncomfortable. She rushes into the bathroom to gather herself. The water turns black, thanks to the mines, while she’s trying to wash her hands.
Peter’s cousin arrives to assess the bodies. He appears to be in over his head but does think they died before they froze. When people or animals die from the cold, they just go to sleep. It’s a peaceful death. It’s obvious these men were all in shock and scared. They possibly died from cardiac arrest, but they can’t be sure until they are properly examined.
Navarro joins Liz and Peter at the rink and announces that she found Oliver via the unofficial “Mukluk Telegraph.” Peter doesn’t believe it because there’s no record of him. Navarro explains Oliver’s living in a nomad camp on the North Shore.
Oliver’s not happy to have been found and threatens to shoot Liz and Navarro for being on Native land. They inform him his ex-colleagues at Tsalal have all died, and he seems shocked by this information.
Oliver becomes agitated and demands they leave.
A call comes in from the hospital that Anders Lund has been in and out of consciousness. Navarro and Liz head to the hospital to question him. They’re briefed on the state of his appearance, but nothing can prepare them for seeing it for themselves. Most of both legs are missing, gangrene is taking over his hands, and his eyes are a milky blue color.
Liz attempts to ask him what happened on the ice, and he begins wailing incoherently. He finally says, “We woke her, and now she’s out there in the ice.”
Lund adds that she came for them in the dark.
Chaos breaks out as hunters fight inside the hospital. As Liz runs out to handle it, suddenly Lund sits up and says in a very Exorcist-ish voice, “Hello, Evangeline. Your mother says hello. She’s waiting for you.”
Lund then flatlines.
Season four episode three ends with Peter revealing he’s cracked Annie’s phone. They watch a video of Annie saying she found it. She’s breathless and frightened as she tells her camera, “My name is Annie Kowtok. If anything happens to me…” She doesn’t get a chance to finish the sentence as the phone is ripped away. She screams repeatedly, and then the video ends.
- True Detective: Night Country Episode 1 Recap
- True Detective: Night Country Episode 2 Recap
- True Detective: Night Country Episode 4 Recap
- True Detective: Night Country Episode 5 Recap
- True Detective: Night Country Episode 6 Finale Recap
