Inspired By... True Detective: Night Country Episode 01
Inspired By…True Detective: Night Country playlist available on Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube Music
Inspired By is a collection of tracks that fit the theme of a film or TV show I’m watching. We start with True Detective: Night Country, which had a great first episode last week. If you haven’t seen it and don’t want any spoilers, then maybe this mix isn’t for you.
Featuring Depeche Mode, Johnny Cash, Pink Floyd and Florence + The Machine.
Enjoy 🥰.
Photo credit: Alberto Restifo
Episode Plot (SPOILERS AHEAD!)
When researchers suddenly disappear, Liz Danvers orders a search but tempers expectations of finding the men; Navarro tries to convince a sceptical Danvers that the men's disappearance is connected to the murder of local activist Annie Kowtok.
Chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster)and Evengeline Navarro (Kali Reis)
Tracklisting
“...For we do not know what beasts the night dreams when its hours grow too long for even God to be awake.”
Arctic
Sleeping At Last
Alaska. 150 miles north of the Artic Circle.
Prelude / Last Day of Sun
Brian Reitzell
December 17. The last sunset of the year.
Caribou
Pixies
As eerie as the caribou scene was, the quality of the special effects took me out for a moment as it did look very CGI.
She’s Awake
Gazpacho
I was hooked from this scene onwards. Such a great establishing shots of what life is like inside of the Tsalal Artic Research Station. Everyday mundae tasks being done before everything turns to shit.
We Are Detective
Thompson Twins
“Not a Beatles fan, okay?”
Twist and Shout (feat. Jack Radics & The Taxi gang)
Chaka Demus & Pliers
Me too, Liz. Me too. Maybe because we were made to sing Beatles songs in every morning assembly in primary school. I'm not sure what Danvers's trauma is, though.
The Thing (1982) synopsis: A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
The Thing
Phil Harris
I’m sure there is a list of all of the DVDs and VHS films and shows behind Danvers at the research centre, but The Thing is so apt because this first episode ultimately had that vibe.
Book synopsis: Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, it traces the fortunes of the Kid, a fourteen-year-old Tennessean who stumbles into a nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving.
Blood Meridan
ILL Bill & Vinnie Paz
Photo credit: Michael K. Short/HBO
We’re All Dead (feat. Rogues Gallery)
GunnerB
“The ham and the sandwich may seem fresh, but the mayo’s like syrup. Mayo doesn’t go runny until a couple of days out of the fridge. But your processed cold cuts they’ll survive the apocalypse.”
Mayonaise
Smashing Pumpkins
Wagging Tongue
Depeche Mode
It’s A Mystery
Toyah
“All right, folks, Christmas is coming, can’t stop it. You have your presents lined up? Yeah, me neither. We’re gonna take calls, though. All right, anyone out there? Hello?”
Is There Anybody Out There?
Pink Floyd
Was that brief flashback hinting that Danvers lost her husband and child in a car crash?
Broken Glass
Sia
“Water’s bad. Turned to shit about three days ago.”
Bad Water
The Raelettes
I Want to Go Home
Johnny Cash
How is Stacy Chalmers constantly allowed to drink drive?
“You know, for the record, I have a fiancée...She’s not from the catalogue. She’s from Vladivostok. And she’s coming for Christmas. We’re getting married, just so you know.”
Russian Bride
John B
Photo credit: True Detective / HBO
“I got two running backs on IR. I got a wide receiver who’s a klutz.”
Wide Receiver
Michael Henderson
SpongeBob SquarePants Theme
Painty The Pirate and Kids
Merry Christmas, Motherfucker
Generation Boomer
Blair (the worker assaulted by her boyfriend), the polar bear toy, the polar bear that Navarro sees on the road, and Annie K all had their left eye either bruised or missing. I’m guessing the toy Liz Danvers picked up belonged to a child who died, possibly in a car crash. Only Navarro could see the polar bear, and it wasn’t real.
Girl With One Eye
Florence + The Machine
Photo credit: TV Insider / HBO
I’m hoping that they don’t lean too much on the spiral.
Spiral
YAIMA
Travis was miming drowning, right?
I Feel Like I’m Drowning
Two Feet
“Yeah, it doesn’t mean shit. It’s one parka. Could be thousands of ‘em.”
Winter Coats
Passenger
“All I’m picking up is your shitty fucking attitude.”
Shit Attitude
The Scratch-Offs
Cold as Ice
M.O.P.
The Terror
The Flaming Lips
One For Sorrow, Two For Joy
The Innocence Mission
Noticeable Mentions
Navarro is already being established as an unreliable narrator. Her visions are precisely that, hers alone. She is more like her sister than she realises. I wonder if her connection to Danvers is deeper than her ex-colleague because that would explain why she would see the one-eyed polar bear.
But so is Danvers. Possibly. Did she see the toy polar bear? Or did this scene show us what she dreamt about? Danvers is certainly sleepwalking through her grief.
Navarro is disconnected from her community. The scene in the crab factory quickly establishes some disconnect from her culture.
Pete’s son, being called Darwin, is not lost on me. Plus, he loves to draw scary blue entities. (Edited to add, could that be a drawing of Julia?).
Blue is prevalent in this show. From Hank’s choice of paint colour, Darwin’s drawing, and Julia’s hair colour.
She’s awake means different things to different characters. Raymond Clark, Liz Danvers, and Evangeline Navarro all hear it in this episode and react differently. Raymond’s being the worst and perhaps the most fatal. For Liz, it could mean that she is starting to wake up and face her grief.
I can see in the dark! Thank goodness this show allows viewers to see what’s going on. I’ve lost count of the number of shows and films with night scenes where I’m squinting to within an inch of my life because I can’t see what’s happening.
Thoughts
It should have been it’s own show
I do think that it’s a shame that some very online die-hard season 1 fans just came ready to dislike the show. Nothing stops you from moving on if it’s not for you. Nic Pizzolatto created a gem with the first season, but even he could not live up to the extremely high expectations that the next two seasons came with.
That being said, HBO should have gone a step further with their faith in Issa Lopez and allowed Night Country to be its own show. She’s such a talented writer and director that it wouldn’t have been much of a gamble. A few seasons in the company of Danvers and Navarro? Sign me up!
Although this episode had much to unpack, I didn’t feel overwhelmed. Beautifully shot and acted, with a production design that makes the town feel real and lived in, this is the first show since Mare of Easttown, where I am excited to watch the episodes multiple times to try and decipher them.
