“I wrote this with profound love”: Issa López Responds to True Detective Creator Trolling Season 4
True Detective is an anthology crime drama series created by Nic Pizzolatto for HBO. The series is in its fourth season where Issa López serves as the writer and director of the show. Season four marks the first time that series creator Nic Pizzolatto has not served as the writer or showrunner.
The first season of the series upon its premiere received widespread acclaim which was followed by mixed reactions for season two. Season three of True Detective received positive responses from the audience and critics but witnessed comparatively a drop in the viewership and season four has also managed to earn good reviews. Creator Nic Pizzolatto however shares his view on the new season helmed by Issa López.
Issa López addresses criticism from Nic Pizzolatto for True Detective Season 4
Season four of True Detective starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis is written and directed by Issa López and premiered on 14th January 2024 on HBO. The fourth season follows Foster and Reis’ characters investigating the disappearance of eight men from a research station. Upon its premiere, the latest season titled True Detective: Night Country has received a positive response from the audience and critics.
Night Country is the first season of the series where creator Nic Pizzolatto had not been involved but serves as an executive producer. According to a report by Variety, the series creator allegedly commented on a now-deleted social media post that some of the plots included in Season 4 which connects it to Season 1 are ‘stupid’ Pizzolatto commented on one of the posts and said,
“I certainly did not have any input on this story or anything. Can’t blame me.”
Show runner Issa López in an interview with Vulture had decided to address the comments from Pizzolatto and said,
“I believe that every storyteller has a very specific, peculiar, and unique relation to the stories they create, and whatever his reactions are, he’s entitled to them. That’s his prerogative.”
López continued,
“I wrote this with profound love for the work he made and love for the people that loved that. And it is reinvention, and it is different, and it’s done with the idea of sitting around the fire and let’s have some fun and have some feelings and have some thoughts. And anybody that wants to join is welcome.”
While the show has received glowing reviews, there is a section of fans who are not happy with the latest season. Issa López urged the fans who like the new season to rate the show on Rotten Tomatoes as the audience score on RT is 69%.
Issa López states True Detective season 4 is ‘female-forward’ story
The writer and director of season four during an interview with NBC News had mentioned that she gave thought to what makes the show unique. She noted that she reached a conclusion that it was the backdrop of a world where one can feel the secrets brewing under the surface, things people don’t see portrayed in media.
López continued to explain that for Night Country, she wanted to tap into those brewing underlying secrets to create a story about two detectives which can also connect to season 1. According to an NBC News report, seasons 1 & 4 are in various ways inverted images of each other and she describes her female detectives as;
“Characters who are holding a lot of darkness, a lot of doubts, and a lot of obsessions.”
She went on to explain that her female forward story with Jodie Foster can pay homage to her 1991 movie The Silence of the Lambs. Talking about picking Foster’s partner for the show, Issa López said,
“Originally the character was Latina, because I am Latina and I wanted to portray the experience. The more I understood about the specificity of the landscape, the more I understood the characters should be an agent that comes from the same culture.”
Kali Reis was picked up to play Evangeline Navarro on the show. True Detective: Night Country airs new episodes on Sunday Nights on HBO and Max.
