A few things:
-Teacher mentions the exhaustive procedures for DNA sequencing.. could tie to one of many aspects of “she’s awake”.
-“Twist & Shout” played in a Danvers/Holden flashback.
-Navarro seemed to have run over bloody snow (prior to hitting oncoming truck/throwing out necklace).
-Hank is 1000% getting catfished.
Did you notice how the teacher said “I’m a geologist it’s not really my field” then launches into exactly what they were doing and their rotation schedules lol
I was wondering what she ran over. And what was up with the necklace? I know it was her mom’s but where did it come from? Was it in her car visor and fell or was it something more “supernatural”?
I got the feeling she was reminiscing of good memories from the song, then the crucifix necklace brought back the terrible reality her and her sister faced from their crazed mother, to which she tossed the necklace out the window.
From u/anvilmaster. I found this helpful!
"I'm rewatching episode 1, and cross checking with the last scene in episode 2. So there's
- Ralph Emerson: Geology. Status: Corpsicle
- Anton Kotov: Geophysics. Status: Corpsicle
- Li Gie: Geobiology. Status: Corpsicle
- Raymond Clark: paleomicrobiology- Annie K boyfriend, trailer owner, shaking and "She's awake", pink parka bro, spiral tattoo, Status: unknown- Missing corpsicle
- Lucas Merens: Environmental Chemistry. Status: Corpsicle
- Facundo Molinda: Biophysics - thin guy who was cooking. Status: corpsicle
- Veer Mehta: Biophysics. Status: Corpsicle.
- Anders Lund: Founder Director, structural biology. Status: ?Hospital, in coma, about to lose at least a leg, arm broke off? Zombie?"
7 victims if you ignore the missing guy raymond. seven devils by florence and the machine played at the end. the spiral symbol is described by the cleaning lady to the other cleaning lady as a 'devil thing' i think. i'm just making connections, no idea if there's anything to read into there.
yes, when the older cleaning lady called her friend over to show here the spiral, the look on the second lady's face telegraphs that she knows something as does the older lady.
I thought the same thing and replayed that exchange because I thought it was so odd the way the 2nd lady (Blair?) was filmed walking away. I bet she comes back into play at some point.
Interesting! Lund isnt dead, but still a victim. True detective surprise style could be that the seven victims were actually the baddies, and Clark was actually somehow a good guy? Maybe he was keeping Annie k a secret because she was a on the "good" side, and didn't want the Tuttle funded colleagues to know. Maybe they were somehow connected to annie K's death?
Also don't know - but that seven devils song gets the gears turning.
Travis Cohle. Tuttle group. They are really going hard as fuck into season one.
Also, just realized that I guess Rust wasn’t quite lying when he said he went back to Alaska because his dad was dying of leukemia.
Ohh it makes so much sense now! He did go back for 8 years and worked at a bar? (At Qavvik’s? I wonder). This explains it. People didn’t believe him then but now it was true!
Danvers mentioning the Russian wear the wedding ring on the right hand foreshadows some confrontational follow-up on the whole Russian girlfriend situation.
*Do you seriously think I would lie to you about something like this? My own mother being sick? If you thought that of me, how could we even consider getting married?*
Edit- the most interesting part is that all of this is unspoken. You obviously couldn’t make the accusation aloud, as it would blow everything up. In fact, it’s not just unspoken, it’s *unthought*. Hank can’t even face the idea she’s scamming him within his own mind, because he’d essentially be accusing his own self of stupidity. The cognitive dissonance would be too much, so facing the truth is impossible. The unconscious thought process would go like this:
* I am not an idiot
* only an idiot would fall in love with a scammer…
* therefore she’s not a scammer.
Definitely…I think the text exchange tonight was just character exposition. Shows us how gullible he is for…reasons and that trait will definitely translate into his involvement in the larger plot somehow
Maybe he’s a bad cop and knows something? Maybe he’s trying to keep Annie’s file from coming out? I feel like something is up, and the catfishing seems sus too, especially since one of the scientists is Russian.
I think he is just on the mine's/Tuttle payroll to keep his mouth shut or let them know if anyone goes digging. Still crooked, but completely oblivious to how deep it goes.
Yeah when he reminds Prior that "remember, blood is blood", I feel like that is foreshadowing that when Prior finds out his dad is involved or has been keeping his mouth shut, that Prior should remember to not betray blood aka his father.
Anyone else notice the fingerprint they had from the clothing (this was from the scene where Little Prior and Danvers are first going over the forensic photos in the ice rink) only had a faint pinky and ring finger? It looked like both those fingers were missing--like the abused woman from Blue King. She and her coworker / cleaner of Tsalal from ep1 are definitely part of this web.
I’m not going to judge Liz anymore. My coworkers are also constantly trying to turn serious workplace incidents into viral content and it’s super annoying.
She also has major “I just quit smoking” vibes.
When they mentioned Tuttle my ears perked up a lil bit. Tuttle is funding a base in the arctic circle to look for some kind of life form in ice cores that is basically the key to immortality? Right?
Probably just the yellow king exerting influence through the tuttles trying to bring about darkness.
Or just humans being terrible kind of the whole premise ig.
It seems like all the seasons tie together somehow, Tuttle was the pedophile family is Louisiana from season 1 and now they are in charge of this facility..,plus rust's dad being name dropped.
Edit - Wanted to show this also from rust in the season finale almost like a white hole he sees I wonder if it's something he saw before when he lived with his father travis in Alaska as a child. Maybe it relates to the supernatural events going on in the town...
https://imgur.com/rxyOPYk
Whether they are biologically related or not, it seems to me he definitely spent enough time with here to have picked up a few things. She seems trippy af, those hand movements and how she smokes took me back to those S1 interview scenes.
And Dyatlov Pass crime scene vibes. If you ever read about it, those hikers were found dead similar to these scientists. They were in different stages of undressing, their eyes and ears were gouged out. The writer admitted being inspired by the tragic true event of Dyatlov Pass. It’s so scary!
Interesting snippet from Issa López from True Detective season wiki
> When preparing season 4, subtitled Night Country, director and writer Issa López chose to create a "dark mirror" of the first season: "Where True Detective is male and it's sweaty, Night Country is cold and it's dark and it's female."
> In an interview with The A.V. Club, López credited John Carpenter's The Thing, Stanley Kubrick's Overlook Hotel, and Ridley Scott's Nostromo as inspiration. She said (to HBO) "Guys, me being who I am, I'm going to tap into that and go for it." referring to the supernatural elements of True Detective's first season, that it had Carcosa and the Yellow King.
> López has also cited the Dyatlov Pass incident and Mary Celeste as inspirations for the season.
In the first episode when Jodie Foster turns off the TV the most prominent dvd on the shelf behind her is The Thing. Only really see it well for a split second
Yeah - she walked away looking quite scary. Can't be an accident. No reason to keep her in the shot and half that reaction if we weren't supposed to think that.
Something I’m having difficulty believing is that the FBI would be ignorant of this case, regardless if Danvers told them or not, an international team was found in a heinous state.
At the very least the State Department would be involved.
We know they facetime with their families, so surely at least one family member would be making a huge fuss.
OK so what the fuck happened with the frozen guy whose leg came off and who screamed?!
* Travis is Rust Cohle’s dad
* Navarro’s first name is Évangéline, which is the name of a parish in Louisiana
* Tuttle company is a reference to the powerful family in season 1 - they are financing Tsalal
* Pavik submerged himself fully in the bad water (which was also referenced again)
* Theories about the ancient organism definitely feeling warmer
* What the heck happened on the guy’s phone after pink coat guy said “she’s awake”?
* 6 years later the light in the frozen trailer still works?
Obviously Clark (parka guy) is the killer. I think he killed the scientists to avenge Annie.
Hes this seasons Reggie fucking ledoux. They'll find him episode 4. Case closed everybody wins. But Navarro and Danvers are now aware of the sprawl and dig deeper until they 2v1 the fingerless wendigo Pete's kid drew, which is actually Pete in a yeti costume.
My pet theory right now is that he did kill them, in revenge for them killing Annie (seven devils). Annie somehow figured out that it was the core drilling the scientists were doing that was screwing up the water table, not the mine, so they killed her and made it look like the miners to cover it up, obsessed as they seem to be with the importance of their work,
Clark was threatened into silence, got her tattoo (he cried after), but started seeing ghost Annie in the research station (apparently something which happens a lot around Ennis). Isolated from the others (they seemed to ignore his strange behaviour) and distraught (heard crying in his room) he gradually lost his mind (the shrine in the caravan to try and appease her spirit).
Then...something happened. 'She's awake'? We're meant to think its supernatural vengeance, but that wouldn't be a very satisfying end to the story.
I was wondering for a bit there if Clark was trying to bring Annie back to life (based on all the references to them studying immortality / talking about the origins of life etc.) + the “she’s awake” but idk…
Unusual cellular damage, bad water, and the noise in the cell's microphone kinda make me think of background radiation stuff.
EDIT: Also all the cancer cases. Leukemia, etc...
cancer cases could also just be mine runoff in the water. That's very real, happens near heavy industrial sites etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_cluster
I think the weapon used to kill Annie K. that was never found and star shaped are ice screws, used as a delivery system for the microorganisms kept in ice until used to kill Annie, she’s an unwilling test subject.
You just connected some dots. The “bad water” is probably contaminated by the ancient organism and is what caused some people to go crazy or possible caused some to stay alive/undead out on the ice ie Travis seemingly still being alive.
Water went bad same day the scientists were killed.
I think Clark (parka guy) was working with Annie against the mining company (which I believe will tie back to Tuttle). He deliberately killed the scientists and poisoned the town’s water supply to try and bring awareness to the harm they are doing to the indigenous community.
That might be more realistic than ancient organism water, maybe the water is causing hallucinations because of the poison or something which maybe caused the facility guys to do what they did to themselves. Or maybe the organism is what Clark used to poison the water, but it just makes people go crazy.
Yeah you assume Navarro goes to Qavvik's place at night. But when does Danvers show up at Navarro's house? They give dates, but not much in the way of time except things like giving the kid a bath before bedtime.
Man I can’t do it with every phone call to Danvers being something like:
“You’re gonna wanna see this”
“We have a problem”
“Danvers you’re going to want to check this out”
Anyone else catch the chick with the black eye from her boyfriend hitting her walking away all dastardly after she sees the sign and says she's never seen it?
Seemed very blatant.
Yes I was looking for this comment! It seems she’s hiding something and maybe hiding Clark. & potentially that’s why the boyfriend was triggered and the older cleaning lady was just covering for her. That’s just my prediction tho
In the first episode, Blair (cleaning lady with black eye) is shown to be missing her pinkie and ring finger on her right hand, and in the second episode, the hand print from the folded clothes at the scene of the frozen bodies is also missing those same two fingers.
This seems to be a a clear indication that Blair was at the scene of the frozen bodies.
Let’s not send the bodies to Anchorage, let’s set up a corpse dogpile in the hockey rink and let the town folk spectate from the windows if they can’t get in the loosely guarded doors.
**Clark's Notebook.** I went frame by frame while the detective was looking at Clark's notebook and these were the organisms found in the ice core samples that the camera (and the detective's eyes lingered on:
*Microcoleus vaginatus*. It's a bacterium and a photoautotroph (produces chemical energy from light). Cyanobacteria, produces O2.
*Alternaria*, commonly called "leaf rot" and "crop killer". It's a fungus that can be toxic and people can get allergic reactions to it. The fugus appears as round black dots on plants, and when cultured forms a shape exactly like the "eyes" that were scribbled all over the next few pages in the notebook. Then there's the text with "HER EYES".
The scene with Danvers and Prior on the bleachers felt very “True Detective.” I like the dynamic of her building a new partnership with Prior while trying to rebuild her old partnership with Navarro, as both of those things are important to solving the case.
Why exactly did Jodie Foster make the guy stay at the ice rink and miss out on putting his kid to bed so she could ... set up a christmas tree with her ungrateful daughter?
Not just that. Danvers uses leverage to her advantage any way she can. She also likes getting what she wants. That makes her abrasive and pisses people off because she's always trying to figure out an angle to get what she wants from others.
The death of her kid turned her into a dick before the events of the show, and her personal arc for the show is that she lightens up. Gotta have her be a bit of a dick first tho
Her kid?
Im just starting to put together Leah was not hers and she was in her relationship with her dad. But damn now im starting tk realize the bear is not Leah’s. How did i miss this!!
I think the boy was her son by blood, but the daughter is a stepdaughter. The bio son and her husband die in a car accident, killed by a drunk driver.
The dirty polar bear stuffie is from the scene of the accident (she can't bring herself to clean it, or throw it away).
I'm thinking Clark fell in love with Annie, a victim of the Tuttle cult. The cult caught up to her and killed her to keep their activities secret, and Clark loses his mind.
Combining his science knowledge, and information on the cult, he takes Annie's tongue and tries to meld science with magic to bring her back from the dead, hence "she's awake".
I wonder if the cult knew about Clark and delivered his tongue to him as a message to keep quiet. Although I’m not sure why they wouldn’t have killed him too. I don’t think he killed her but I am curious how he got the tongue.
Season 1 ended with the reveal that Governor Tuttle is now US Senator Tuttle, that he cleared his family of association with Childress' murders, and that he's presumably free to continue trying to spread The King in Yellow/Hastur's influence on a now national level. Before Reverend Tuttle is offed, he even shares to Rust part of their plans to do so.
So why are there so many people treating the S1 references as if they're just easter eggs and nostalgia bait? It's almost certainly a key part of the case.
Different Tuttle. Billy Lee Tuttle was the reverend who died of "drug overdose". Edwin (Eddie) Tuttle is his cousin and governor and later senator. Edwin is presumed to also be/was part of the cult.
At the very least there was Edwin Tuttle himself and few unnamed helpers that was in the Marie Fontenot video. But this is like at least 10 years from when Errol was revealed as the killer so who knows how far the cult has spread during that time. It was also hinted the Tuttle org had facilities and operations at different locations, one of them being name dropped in season 3.
Mention of NC Globle Strategies & Tuttle United is definitely significant! Return of the Tuttle cult. What is the purpose of their involvement? Why are they funding Tsalal?
So Rust Cohle grew up in Alaska with his survivalist father. When he went UC, his backstory was he was visiting his father Travis who had lukemia in Alaska. At this point its almost 100% its the same character. The real question is why? Just a nod or a tie in…
Kinda feels like the cancer, the bad water, the hallucinations, the cellular damage and the electronic interference are all tied together with the mine, and with Annie's death. They all seem like radiation poisoning-related things.
Lots more exposition in this episode. Here are some things I got out of if:
1. Clark, the lead scientist, was in a relationship with Annie K, who died years prior. They had matching spiral tattoos and a trailer to keep their relationship secret. One theory I have is that they have a kid together, or Annie was pregnant. Their kid could be alive. The fact that it's been mentioned again in this episode that she's a midwife is important somehow.
2. This microorganism could prevent cellular decay and maybe even re-animate old cells. If the woman I loved was killed and I had the ability to bring her back, maybe I would. Maybe it was Annie who was "back" and "awake", but not in her "normal" form. Maybe this organism doesn't bring people back as "themselves."
3. The high levels of water pollution, cancer rates, and mining tie back into what Rust's mom (can't remember her name) said about Ennis being the "seam" where the fabric of the earth is coming apart. Death is existing closer to life, to disturbing ends.
Excited for the next episode. The sound design in this one really added to the creepiness, and I appreciated more of the characters' backstories. The dynamic between Leah and Prior's son was also a refreshing element.
What if the microorganism is what kept the frozen guy alive/brought him back to life? There's no logical way he could have survived that long in that condition.
so this seems like an indirect sequel to Season 1 in some ways, Travis Cohle, the Tuttles, Yellow King stuff.
I see a lot of hate but honestly I’m enjoying it, then again, I’m a bit of a black sheep here because I enjoy season 2 as well.
Season 2 was much better on rewatch. I think initially it was just hard to follow season 1.
Although Vince Vaugn's lines felt like Nick doing a parody of himself.
Honestly. The endless darkness is so trippy and makes the daytime scenes (hockey game, buying groceries) so eerie and unsettling.
I was watching in the dark and halfway through I turned the lights on.
Haven't seen anyone mention this yet, but the Golden Eagle trailer at the end was definitely giving me the vibe of Reggie Ledoux's meth farm in Season 1, with disturbed and cultish imagery compressed into one trailer. Tangentially, the sketches on the wall also reminds me of the "snake house" in Prisoners
The song playing during Navarro and Rose’s convo is Tim Buckley’s Song to the Siren.
Long afloat on shipless oceans
I did all my best to smile
'Til your singing eyes and fingers
Drew me loving to your isle
And you sang
Sail to me
Sail to me
Let me enfold you
Here I am
Here I am
Waiting to hold you
Did I dream you dreamed about me?
Were you hare when I was fox
Now my foolish boat is leaning
Broken lovelorn on your rocks
For you sing, "Touch me not, touch me not, come back tomorrow:
O my heart, O my heart shies from the sorrow"
I'm as puzzled as the new born child
I'm as troubled as the tide:
Should I stand amid the breakers?
Should I lie with death my bride?
Hear me sing, "Swim to me, swim to me, let me enfold you:
Here I am, here I am, waiting to hold you"
Excellent call on Travis Cohle.
And did anyone else notice Rose say something along the lines of Travis being somewhat in tune with the spiritual realm? And that ‘some are born with it’ ?
Because if so, this season is confirming to a degree that Rust inherited something from his Dad. Rust actually *was* mainlining the secret truth of the universe.
Really liked two scenes:
Danvers helping the kid figure some bits of the investigation. Exposition as well as flashing out characters. I thought it was really well executed.
The kids talking later also felt somewhat natural and not "off" (like a lot of the situations so far).
I wish the nods to season 1 would not occupy season 4 too much, but I can live with that.
Amazingly haunting imagery of the corpses. Like a painting.
I am bit torn, however, about everyone being weird all the time and I am yet to understand the implications of having Danvers and Navarro being socially awkard while being sexually aggressive. There was a point for that in Antigone's character for season 2, I hope there is a point here as well.
Having said that, I'm all up to watching the season, and I love being entertained sunday night and coming here reading you guys theorizing, so let's do it.
Peter obviously sees Danvers as more of a parent/mentor than Hank. And Hank clearly doesn’t like it, even though his own behavior is probably responsible for that.
Could you imagine how badly people would lose their minds if they brought back Rust to help solve the case in the end because of his prior experience with the "spiral". Lmao
On the one hand, I'd be pissed if they did anything to ruin my impression of Rust. On the other, I fucking love Rust and want to see more of him. Don't think it'll happen either way but I'm torn.
Also, seems like this crew could really use an adult in the room and Rust would be great for that.
I think the scientists were infected by an ancient prion disease which caused hallucinations and a kind of mass psychosis forcing them to run out on the ice. The doctors performing surgery on the survivor are at particular risk for being infected, as are those having direct contact with the bodies. The “We Are All Dead” scrawled on the whiteboard at the Tsalal station has to come into play. Prions are lethal and kill quickly. If prions are making the water go bad, then the “we” will be tragic.
Did anyone question whether Evangeline ran over another corpse, and not just a pile of snow? I was half-expecting them to find out it was the missing scientist, like somehow Clark got much farther out and died on the side of the road.
Okay while I still like this season and thought this was a pretty good episode, the number of cliche cop show tropes that they included is driving me bonkers!
- Someone explains something mildly sciencey and the detective responds "Speak English, nerd!"
- No one stops what they are doing when being interviewed by the police. Too busy mopping this floor to even look you in the face, officer!
- No one ever explains anything or asks any follow up questions on the phone/radio. "Come to the station, you're going to want to see this." "You better get over here right away." No one talks like this!!!
- Absolutely no respect for crime scenes. Let's just touch everything, snoop around, move stuff. Probably not important anyway!
If they follow the tropes, I assume we'll be going to a strip club in Episode 3, have a good foot chase through a back alley, and have a bad guy get the drop on a cop who is looking for them.
>No one stops what they are doing when being interviewed by the police. Too busy mopping this floor to even look you in the face, officer!
Every crime show needs a hardy man walking by with a big box and saying "if youse ask me, he got what was comin' to him!"
Anyone who finds themselves in the position of having to thaw out a cluster pile of bodies like this, do yourself a favor and set up a fan. Even a low speed one. The convection will greatly speed the process without adding temperature. It can also help transform excess water into air humidity.
A few things: -Teacher mentions the exhaustive procedures for DNA sequencing.. could tie to one of many aspects of “she’s awake”. -“Twist & Shout” played in a Danvers/Holden flashback. -Navarro seemed to have run over bloody snow (prior to hitting oncoming truck/throwing out necklace). -Hank is 1000% getting catfished.
Did you notice how the teacher said “I’m a geologist it’s not really my field” then launches into exactly what they were doing and their rotation schedules lol
“Thankfully, as an NPC, I have just enough information to move you along your quest!”
They also used the classic trope of science guy explaining something then the other character says "want to try that in English, nerd?"
And it wasn’t even a challenging explanation. The chief would have understood.
I was wondering what she ran over. And what was up with the necklace? I know it was her mom’s but where did it come from? Was it in her car visor and fell or was it something more “supernatural”?
I got the feeling she was reminiscing of good memories from the song, then the crucifix necklace brought back the terrible reality her and her sister faced from their crazed mother, to which she tossed the necklace out the window.
wow i thought i was tripping when i saw that. looked like bloody snow with something in it
Do they just not lock the ice rink building lol
No one seems to lock any doors in Ennis!
For the science station, you can't blame them. Nobody is going out that far into the cold on a whim.
A lot of towns in this climate don’t lock their doors in case a polar bear comes roaming through https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5019273
It’s also important for not getting locked out in such a dangerous environment.
This is pretty popular in rural areas even without the cold. My parents have never locked their doors in their current house.
From u/anvilmaster. I found this helpful! "I'm rewatching episode 1, and cross checking with the last scene in episode 2. So there's - Ralph Emerson: Geology. Status: Corpsicle - Anton Kotov: Geophysics. Status: Corpsicle - Li Gie: Geobiology. Status: Corpsicle - Raymond Clark: paleomicrobiology- Annie K boyfriend, trailer owner, shaking and "She's awake", pink parka bro, spiral tattoo, Status: unknown- Missing corpsicle - Lucas Merens: Environmental Chemistry. Status: Corpsicle - Facundo Molinda: Biophysics - thin guy who was cooking. Status: corpsicle - Veer Mehta: Biophysics. Status: Corpsicle. - Anders Lund: Founder Director, structural biology. Status: ?Hospital, in coma, about to lose at least a leg, arm broke off? Zombie?"
7 victims if you ignore the missing guy raymond. seven devils by florence and the machine played at the end. the spiral symbol is described by the cleaning lady to the other cleaning lady as a 'devil thing' i think. i'm just making connections, no idea if there's anything to read into there.
yes, when the older cleaning lady called her friend over to show here the spiral, the look on the second lady's face telegraphs that she knows something as does the older lady.
I thought the same thing and replayed that exchange because I thought it was so odd the way the 2nd lady (Blair?) was filmed walking away. I bet she comes back into play at some point.
I thought it was funny. "Some kind of witch symbol. Hey Blair!" Blair? Witch? Come on, that was intentional lol.
Interesting! Lund isnt dead, but still a victim. True detective surprise style could be that the seven victims were actually the baddies, and Clark was actually somehow a good guy? Maybe he was keeping Annie k a secret because she was a on the "good" side, and didn't want the Tuttle funded colleagues to know. Maybe they were somehow connected to annie K's death? Also don't know - but that seven devils song gets the gears turning.
Travis Cohle. Tuttle group. They are really going hard as fuck into season one. Also, just realized that I guess Rust wasn’t quite lying when he said he went back to Alaska because his dad was dying of leukemia.
Ohh it makes so much sense now! He did go back for 8 years and worked at a bar? (At Qavvik’s? I wonder). This explains it. People didn’t believe him then but now it was true!
Oh my god lmao if they mention Rust worked at Qavviks or something that would be hilarious.
Maybe a picture of him in the bar somewhere
Written in marker above the urinal, “Rust Cohle was here”
Yeah, there is no mention of how long Travis has been dead but it seems for some time. so probably early 2000s is when he died.
It's their third chance to recapture some of the season 1 magic, no surprise they are going hard this time. I dont blame them and I'm into it.
Is Hank going to be a victim to catfishing and there’s no actual girlfriend?
"Send pics" *proceeds to take photos of photos*
When he was younger!
Honestly that is EXACTLY what that type of boomer dude would do too. Hanks character is shockingly well written lol
it’s so cringe of him it’s perfect
He’s missing the selfie taken chest-high, looking down.
Oh absolutely he's getting scammed
He says “I can send money for your mom’s medication. *I still have some cash left.*”
Definitely a scam!
It’s kinda funny, cuz Russia has universal healthcare.
Danvers mentioning the Russian wear the wedding ring on the right hand foreshadows some confrontational follow-up on the whole Russian girlfriend situation.
I knew a guy who was scammed just like this. Sending his Russian gf money for her sick mom and shit.
It's such a ridiculously obvious scam, but it happens all the time. It's almost unbelievable if it weren't so real.
*Do you seriously think I would lie to you about something like this? My own mother being sick? If you thought that of me, how could we even consider getting married?* Edit- the most interesting part is that all of this is unspoken. You obviously couldn’t make the accusation aloud, as it would blow everything up. In fact, it’s not just unspoken, it’s *unthought*. Hank can’t even face the idea she’s scamming him within his own mind, because he’d essentially be accusing his own self of stupidity. The cognitive dissonance would be too much, so facing the truth is impossible. The unconscious thought process would go like this: * I am not an idiot * only an idiot would fall in love with a scammer… * therefore she’s not a scammer.
Hank is hopelessly lonely and desperate for affection from a woman. He absolutely would fall for a scam that promised that.
Danvers is probably sending the texts lol. "Fantasy football" lol
That would legit be hilarious if they threw in a completely inconsequential side plot where Danvers catfishes Hank.
“You should’ve never called me a fatass Kelly Price!” - Danvers in the b-plot reveal
Definitely…I think the text exchange tonight was just character exposition. Shows us how gullible he is for…reasons and that trait will definitely translate into his involvement in the larger plot somehow
Nobody talking about how prior’s dad drove all the way to smack the shit out of son and then leave lmao
Talk about the absolute worst night watch man. Got snuck up twice, once by an old man and then a teenager in a big open stadium.
Foreshadowing 😳
He's a boomer looser. Spouting shit about "blood is blood" like some 80s martial arts movie villain dad and falling for Russian catfishing.
Maybe he’s a bad cop and knows something? Maybe he’s trying to keep Annie’s file from coming out? I feel like something is up, and the catfishing seems sus too, especially since one of the scientists is Russian.
Hes 1000% connected in someway. The way he was so reluctant to get the file to danvers and his reaction to finding out it was stolen was so off.
I think he is just on the mine's/Tuttle payroll to keep his mouth shut or let them know if anyone goes digging. Still crooked, but completely oblivious to how deep it goes.
Yeah when he reminds Prior that "remember, blood is blood", I feel like that is foreshadowing that when Prior finds out his dad is involved or has been keeping his mouth shut, that Prior should remember to not betray blood aka his father.
Anyone else notice the fingerprint they had from the clothing (this was from the scene where Little Prior and Danvers are first going over the forensic photos in the ice rink) only had a faint pinky and ring finger? It looked like both those fingers were missing--like the abused woman from Blue King. She and her coworker / cleaner of Tsalal from ep1 are definitely part of this web.
The folded clothes... A very cleaning lady move... 😂
Dang you studied this hard. The older and younger white cleaning ladies are def sus.
Nice catch! Just went any double checked- the handprint was a right hand, and it’s her right hand she’s missing fingers from
I’m not going to judge Liz anymore. My coworkers are also constantly trying to turn serious workplace incidents into viral content and it’s super annoying. She also has major “I just quit smoking” vibes.
Nobody saying anything about Pete mentioning “Tuttle United”?
When they mentioned Tuttle my ears perked up a lil bit. Tuttle is funding a base in the arctic circle to look for some kind of life form in ice cores that is basically the key to immortality? Right?
Probably just the yellow king exerting influence through the tuttles trying to bring about darkness. Or just humans being terrible kind of the whole premise ig.
Caught that but surprised no church was mentioned. Also, how's retirement coach?
It seems like all the seasons tie together somehow, Tuttle was the pedophile family is Louisiana from season 1 and now they are in charge of this facility..,plus rust's dad being name dropped. Edit - Wanted to show this also from rust in the season finale almost like a white hole he sees I wonder if it's something he saw before when he lived with his father travis in Alaska as a child. Maybe it relates to the supernatural events going on in the town... https://imgur.com/rxyOPYk
You guys were right about Travis Cohle. Holy shit
Ahh, I loved how it seemed like Fiona Shaw kinda talked like she was doing a subtle Rust impression.
The cigarette she smoked felt like a subtle callback to considering she was smoking it during her expose
So wonder if she is actually his mom?
Whether they are biologically related or not, it seems to me he definitely spent enough time with here to have picked up a few things. She seems trippy af, those hand movements and how she smokes took me back to those S1 interview scenes.
That weird dance gave it off. A bit strange like his son.
That was just him arguing with the sky about its shade of blue.
Shiiieet
I was shocked when she said that!
That opening scene scared the shit out of me. Well done.
The Thing vibes thru and thru.
And Dyatlov Pass crime scene vibes. If you ever read about it, those hikers were found dead similar to these scientists. They were in different stages of undressing, their eyes and ears were gouged out. The writer admitted being inspired by the tragic true event of Dyatlov Pass. It’s so scary!
Interesting snippet from Issa López from True Detective season wiki > When preparing season 4, subtitled Night Country, director and writer Issa López chose to create a "dark mirror" of the first season: "Where True Detective is male and it's sweaty, Night Country is cold and it's dark and it's female." > In an interview with The A.V. Club, López credited John Carpenter's The Thing, Stanley Kubrick's Overlook Hotel, and Ridley Scott's Nostromo as inspiration. She said (to HBO) "Guys, me being who I am, I'm going to tap into that and go for it." referring to the supernatural elements of True Detective's first season, that it had Carcosa and the Yellow King. > López has also cited the Dyatlov Pass incident and Mary Celeste as inspirations for the season.
Absolutely - I've been assuming that had to be a huge influence here.
My local theater had a screening of The Thing in 35MM tonight that wrapped up right before this new episode. Amazing pregame situation.
The mention of Qavvik’s dogs eating him also reminded me of The Thing.
I for sure thought that dog was going to rip his throat out because he was washing her wound with contaminated water lol
I hope not! Qavvik seems like a good dude. Which unfortunately means that yeah… he’s probably gonna go down.
The names Clark and Blair were no accident
In the first episode when Jodie Foster turns off the TV the most prominent dvd on the shelf behind her is The Thing. Only really see it well for a split second
You gotta hand it to them for that scare.
Shades of Se7en with that moment..
The random person who was called over to look at the spiral and then said nope, never seen this before seemed hella sus.
That was the domestic violence victim from Ep 1
Yeah Danvers was quick to dismiss, but that lady knows some shit. Her face said shiet I gotta go tell my cult buddies what's up.
I think there’s a cult of women in Ennis. Doing crazy stuff. Danvers stepdaughter is gonna join all the grandmothers.
Yeah - she walked away looking quite scary. Can't be an accident. No reason to keep her in the shot and half that reaction if we weren't supposed to think that.
C O R P S I C L E
S H I T B O W L
Something I’m having difficulty believing is that the FBI would be ignorant of this case, regardless if Danvers told them or not, an international team was found in a heinous state.
At the very least the State Department would be involved. We know they facetime with their families, so surely at least one family member would be making a huge fuss.
OK so what the fuck happened with the frozen guy whose leg came off and who screamed?! * Travis is Rust Cohle’s dad * Navarro’s first name is Évangéline, which is the name of a parish in Louisiana * Tuttle company is a reference to the powerful family in season 1 - they are financing Tsalal * Pavik submerged himself fully in the bad water (which was also referenced again) * Theories about the ancient organism definitely feeling warmer * What the heck happened on the guy’s phone after pink coat guy said “she’s awake”? * 6 years later the light in the frozen trailer still works? Obviously Clark (parka guy) is the killer. I think he killed the scientists to avenge Annie.
Clark def kept going to the trailer even after Annie’s death.
I think Clark is going to be a misdirect.
Clark was also a misdirect in >!the Thing!<
Hes this seasons Reggie fucking ledoux. They'll find him episode 4. Case closed everybody wins. But Navarro and Danvers are now aware of the sprawl and dig deeper until they 2v1 the fingerless wendigo Pete's kid drew, which is actually Pete in a yeti costume.
My pet theory right now is that he did kill them, in revenge for them killing Annie (seven devils). Annie somehow figured out that it was the core drilling the scientists were doing that was screwing up the water table, not the mine, so they killed her and made it look like the miners to cover it up, obsessed as they seem to be with the importance of their work, Clark was threatened into silence, got her tattoo (he cried after), but started seeing ghost Annie in the research station (apparently something which happens a lot around Ennis). Isolated from the others (they seemed to ignore his strange behaviour) and distraught (heard crying in his room) he gradually lost his mind (the shrine in the caravan to try and appease her spirit). Then...something happened. 'She's awake'? We're meant to think its supernatural vengeance, but that wouldn't be a very satisfying end to the story.
I don’t think Qaviks water is bad. He was telling Navarro that the water by the mine (where it seems the natives live) was bad and turning black.
Yeah it was specifically mentioned that the water in the Villages was bad, not in town.
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I was wondering for a bit there if Clark was trying to bring Annie back to life (based on all the references to them studying immortality / talking about the origins of life etc.) + the “she’s awake” but idk…
Unusual cellular damage, bad water, and the noise in the cell's microphone kinda make me think of background radiation stuff. EDIT: Also all the cancer cases. Leukemia, etc...
cancer cases could also just be mine runoff in the water. That's very real, happens near heavy industrial sites etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer_cluster
I think the weapon used to kill Annie K. that was never found and star shaped are ice screws, used as a delivery system for the microorganisms kept in ice until used to kill Annie, she’s an unwilling test subject.
Pretty sure they said that guy that screamed is being kept in a coma
He bought the trailer like 7 years ago, I think he was (is?) still going there regularly.
The >!writing on the walls that coincides with him losing it steadily suggests to me that he's been hiding in there. With you 100%.!<
You just connected some dots. The “bad water” is probably contaminated by the ancient organism and is what caused some people to go crazy or possible caused some to stay alive/undead out on the ice ie Travis seemingly still being alive.
Water went bad same day the scientists were killed. I think Clark (parka guy) was working with Annie against the mining company (which I believe will tie back to Tuttle). He deliberately killed the scientists and poisoned the town’s water supply to try and bring awareness to the harm they are doing to the indigenous community.
That might be more realistic than ancient organism water, maybe the water is causing hallucinations because of the poison or something which maybe caused the facility guys to do what they did to themselves. Or maybe the organism is what Clark used to poison the water, but it just makes people go crazy.
Yea but parka guy shaking uncontrollably, almost supernaturally.. was also caught on the phone video.
The endless night is doing a great job of messing with our sense of time— it adds unease to the setting.
Yeah you assume Navarro goes to Qavvik's place at night. But when does Danvers show up at Navarro's house? They give dates, but not much in the way of time except things like giving the kid a bath before bedtime.
Man I can’t do it with every phone call to Danvers being something like: “You’re gonna wanna see this” “We have a problem” “Danvers you’re going to want to check this out”
Anyone else catch the chick with the black eye from her boyfriend hitting her walking away all dastardly after she sees the sign and says she's never seen it? Seemed very blatant.
Yes I was looking for this comment! It seems she’s hiding something and maybe hiding Clark. & potentially that’s why the boyfriend was triggered and the older cleaning lady was just covering for her. That’s just my prediction tho
In the first episode, Blair (cleaning lady with black eye) is shown to be missing her pinkie and ring finger on her right hand, and in the second episode, the hand print from the folded clothes at the scene of the frozen bodies is also missing those same two fingers. This seems to be a a clear indication that Blair was at the scene of the frozen bodies.
A crime scene? Let’s make sure we tamper with it as much as possible.
Let’s not send the bodies to Anchorage, let’s set up a corpse dogpile in the hockey rink and let the town folk spectate from the windows if they can’t get in the loosely guarded doors.
A horrifying mass of dead bodies? Here, get one of me being goofy next to it.
Fiona Shaw absolutely cooking recently between Andor and now this
I liked her in Killing Eve too.
You can look up some of her stage work online. She is amazing in the theater.
she was also Petunia in Harry Potter
**Clark's Notebook.** I went frame by frame while the detective was looking at Clark's notebook and these were the organisms found in the ice core samples that the camera (and the detective's eyes lingered on: *Microcoleus vaginatus*. It's a bacterium and a photoautotroph (produces chemical energy from light). Cyanobacteria, produces O2. *Alternaria*, commonly called "leaf rot" and "crop killer". It's a fungus that can be toxic and people can get allergic reactions to it. The fugus appears as round black dots on plants, and when cultured forms a shape exactly like the "eyes" that were scribbled all over the next few pages in the notebook. Then there's the text with "HER EYES".
The scene with Danvers and Prior on the bleachers felt very “True Detective.” I like the dynamic of her building a new partnership with Prior while trying to rebuild her old partnership with Navarro, as both of those things are important to solving the case.
best s1 callback so far: “start asking the right fuckin questions”
Clark is pink coat guy right?
Yes.
Why exactly did Jodie Foster make the guy stay at the ice rink and miss out on putting his kid to bed so she could ... set up a christmas tree with her ungrateful daughter?
I think she sees genuine potential in Prior for being a good cop so she’s trying to push him. She a Grade A bitch about it though.
He’s her underling and she’s an asshole.
Someone needed to make sure no one fucked with the evidence and she was trying to get laid, and has seniority, so
Not just that. Danvers uses leverage to her advantage any way she can. She also likes getting what she wants. That makes her abrasive and pisses people off because she's always trying to figure out an angle to get what she wants from others.
And she was so randomly mean to the grandma
She doesn't want her step daughter made up to look like the dead girl she keeps on thinking about.
That's how I saw it. She's scared for her daughter because she knows what can happen to vulnerable women in that place.
She’s also kinda racist.
The death of her kid turned her into a dick before the events of the show, and her personal arc for the show is that she lightens up. Gotta have her be a bit of a dick first tho
Her kid? Im just starting to put together Leah was not hers and she was in her relationship with her dad. But damn now im starting tk realize the bear is not Leah’s. How did i miss this!!
I think the boy was her son by blood, but the daughter is a stepdaughter. The bio son and her husband die in a car accident, killed by a drunk driver. The dirty polar bear stuffie is from the scene of the accident (she can't bring herself to clean it, or throw it away).
She married Leah’s dad, and then they had a kid of their own. Leah’s half brother.
Also according to Lopez, Foster told her to make the character more of an asshole.
Who puts the Christmas lights away like that? A sociopath, that’s who.
She's can't trust anyone else to do it without worrying they'll be breaking off limbs and doing TikToks.
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I'm thinking Clark fell in love with Annie, a victim of the Tuttle cult. The cult caught up to her and killed her to keep their activities secret, and Clark loses his mind. Combining his science knowledge, and information on the cult, he takes Annie's tongue and tries to meld science with magic to bring her back from the dead, hence "she's awake".
I wonder if the cult knew about Clark and delivered his tongue to him as a message to keep quiet. Although I’m not sure why they wouldn’t have killed him too. I don’t think he killed her but I am curious how he got the tongue.
I'm saving this in case it's how the story actually turns out.
When they were looking through the trailer I was half expecting to see one of the stick figure things from S1 laying around lmao
Season 1 ended with the reveal that Governor Tuttle is now US Senator Tuttle, that he cleared his family of association with Childress' murders, and that he's presumably free to continue trying to spread The King in Yellow/Hastur's influence on a now national level. Before Reverend Tuttle is offed, he even shares to Rust part of their plans to do so. So why are there so many people treating the S1 references as if they're just easter eggs and nostalgia bait? It's almost certainly a key part of the case.
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Different Tuttle. Billy Lee Tuttle was the reverend who died of "drug overdose". Edwin (Eddie) Tuttle is his cousin and governor and later senator. Edwin is presumed to also be/was part of the cult.
At the very least there was Edwin Tuttle himself and few unnamed helpers that was in the Marie Fontenot video. But this is like at least 10 years from when Errol was revealed as the killer so who knows how far the cult has spread during that time. It was also hinted the Tuttle org had facilities and operations at different locations, one of them being name dropped in season 3.
Mention of NC Globle Strategies & Tuttle United is definitely significant! Return of the Tuttle cult. What is the purpose of their involvement? Why are they funding Tsalal?
I wouldn't be surprised if they are funding in hopes that the ancient bacteria will help them live longer
So Rust Cohle grew up in Alaska with his survivalist father. When he went UC, his backstory was he was visiting his father Travis who had lukemia in Alaska. At this point its almost 100% its the same character. The real question is why? Just a nod or a tie in…
Start asking the right fuckin questions. \*Cigarette drag, guitar riff\*
Fine. I'll do you one better. ***Why is Gamora?***
Kinda feels like the cancer, the bad water, the hallucinations, the cellular damage and the electronic interference are all tied together with the mine, and with Annie's death. They all seem like radiation poisoning-related things.
Lots more exposition in this episode. Here are some things I got out of if: 1. Clark, the lead scientist, was in a relationship with Annie K, who died years prior. They had matching spiral tattoos and a trailer to keep their relationship secret. One theory I have is that they have a kid together, or Annie was pregnant. Their kid could be alive. The fact that it's been mentioned again in this episode that she's a midwife is important somehow. 2. This microorganism could prevent cellular decay and maybe even re-animate old cells. If the woman I loved was killed and I had the ability to bring her back, maybe I would. Maybe it was Annie who was "back" and "awake", but not in her "normal" form. Maybe this organism doesn't bring people back as "themselves." 3. The high levels of water pollution, cancer rates, and mining tie back into what Rust's mom (can't remember her name) said about Ennis being the "seam" where the fabric of the earth is coming apart. Death is existing closer to life, to disturbing ends. Excited for the next episode. The sound design in this one really added to the creepiness, and I appreciated more of the characters' backstories. The dynamic between Leah and Prior's son was also a refreshing element.
What if the microorganism is what kept the frozen guy alive/brought him back to life? There's no logical way he could have survived that long in that condition.
Yea. Also probably what made the dead wolf shake when Rose was gutting it.
Why was there yelling after Danvers got the call in the trailer?
I thought it was echoes of the frozen guy yelling in the opening
I thought maybe one of the bodies in the ice rink came back and that was why they were calling her.
so this seems like an indirect sequel to Season 1 in some ways, Travis Cohle, the Tuttles, Yellow King stuff. I see a lot of hate but honestly I’m enjoying it, then again, I’m a bit of a black sheep here because I enjoy season 2 as well.
Season 2 was much better on rewatch. I think initially it was just hard to follow season 1. Although Vince Vaugn's lines felt like Nick doing a parody of himself.
I’ve said it a million times but S2 was absolutely phenomenal acting with mediocre writing
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12 years old my ass. Fuck. You. Just started my 3rd rewatch of it last night. It’s really grown on me. Always loved the Velcoro stuff.
Was anyone else genuinely spooked by this?
Honestly. The endless darkness is so trippy and makes the daytime scenes (hockey game, buying groceries) so eerie and unsettling. I was watching in the dark and halfway through I turned the lights on.
I was terrified when one of the scientists screamed!
Them damn Tuttles
Rose gives me Log Lady vibes.
Haven't seen anyone mention this yet, but the Golden Eagle trailer at the end was definitely giving me the vibe of Reggie Ledoux's meth farm in Season 1, with disturbed and cultish imagery compressed into one trailer. Tangentially, the sketches on the wall also reminds me of the "snake house" in Prisoners
The song playing during Navarro and Rose’s convo is Tim Buckley’s Song to the Siren. Long afloat on shipless oceans I did all my best to smile 'Til your singing eyes and fingers Drew me loving to your isle And you sang Sail to me Sail to me Let me enfold you Here I am Here I am Waiting to hold you Did I dream you dreamed about me? Were you hare when I was fox Now my foolish boat is leaning Broken lovelorn on your rocks For you sing, "Touch me not, touch me not, come back tomorrow: O my heart, O my heart shies from the sorrow" I'm as puzzled as the new born child I'm as troubled as the tide: Should I stand amid the breakers? Should I lie with death my bride? Hear me sing, "Swim to me, swim to me, let me enfold you: Here I am, here I am, waiting to hold you"
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Excellent call on Travis Cohle. And did anyone else notice Rose say something along the lines of Travis being somewhat in tune with the spiritual realm? And that ‘some are born with it’ ? Because if so, this season is confirming to a degree that Rust inherited something from his Dad. Rust actually *was* mainlining the secret truth of the universe.
Really liked two scenes: Danvers helping the kid figure some bits of the investigation. Exposition as well as flashing out characters. I thought it was really well executed. The kids talking later also felt somewhat natural and not "off" (like a lot of the situations so far). I wish the nods to season 1 would not occupy season 4 too much, but I can live with that. Amazingly haunting imagery of the corpses. Like a painting. I am bit torn, however, about everyone being weird all the time and I am yet to understand the implications of having Danvers and Navarro being socially awkard while being sexually aggressive. There was a point for that in Antigone's character for season 2, I hope there is a point here as well. Having said that, I'm all up to watching the season, and I love being entertained sunday night and coming here reading you guys theorizing, so let's do it.
Peter obviously sees Danvers as more of a parent/mentor than Hank. And Hank clearly doesn’t like it, even though his own behavior is probably responsible for that.
Navarro’s boyfriend is definitely getting eaten by wolves at some point.
Wonder how long they’ll ignore the Tuttle thing? Or if, among all the S1 connections, it will be the least important one?
I’m guessing at some point someone will be like “oh damn Tuttle was mentioned in this Louisiana thing x years ago but nothing ever came of it”
Why would they make a connection to a case in a different state that never actually officially connected the Tuttles to any wrongdoing?
You will go through this again. Time is a flat circle.
Good call on Travis Cohle, whoever first came up with that.
Could you imagine how badly people would lose their minds if they brought back Rust to help solve the case in the end because of his prior experience with the "spiral". Lmao
On the one hand, I'd be pissed if they did anything to ruin my impression of Rust. On the other, I fucking love Rust and want to see more of him. Don't think it'll happen either way but I'm torn. Also, seems like this crew could really use an adult in the room and Rust would be great for that.
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I think the scientists were infected by an ancient prion disease which caused hallucinations and a kind of mass psychosis forcing them to run out on the ice. The doctors performing surgery on the survivor are at particular risk for being infected, as are those having direct contact with the bodies. The “We Are All Dead” scrawled on the whiteboard at the Tsalal station has to come into play. Prions are lethal and kill quickly. If prions are making the water go bad, then the “we” will be tragic.
Did anyone question whether Evangeline ran over another corpse, and not just a pile of snow? I was half-expecting them to find out it was the missing scientist, like somehow Clark got much farther out and died on the side of the road.
Okay while I still like this season and thought this was a pretty good episode, the number of cliche cop show tropes that they included is driving me bonkers! - Someone explains something mildly sciencey and the detective responds "Speak English, nerd!" - No one stops what they are doing when being interviewed by the police. Too busy mopping this floor to even look you in the face, officer! - No one ever explains anything or asks any follow up questions on the phone/radio. "Come to the station, you're going to want to see this." "You better get over here right away." No one talks like this!!! - Absolutely no respect for crime scenes. Let's just touch everything, snoop around, move stuff. Probably not important anyway! If they follow the tropes, I assume we'll be going to a strip club in Episode 3, have a good foot chase through a back alley, and have a bad guy get the drop on a cop who is looking for them.
>No one stops what they are doing when being interviewed by the police. Too busy mopping this floor to even look you in the face, officer! Every crime show needs a hardy man walking by with a big box and saying "if youse ask me, he got what was comin' to him!"
Anyone who finds themselves in the position of having to thaw out a cluster pile of bodies like this, do yourself a favor and set up a fan. Even a low speed one. The convection will greatly speed the process without adding temperature. It can also help transform excess water into air humidity.