True Detective season 3 review – Mahershala Ali carries three decades

🎬 The season that brings True Detective back

After a perfect season 1 and a disappointing season 2, I went into season 3 with mixed expectations. I came out of it pleased. Season 3 is clearly better than season 2. It has a structure that works and a lead performance that holds everything together, and Mahershala Ali is fantastic. It is not quite the outstanding first season, but it is the one that brings True Detective back. That is a 4 out of 5.

As with every season of the anthology, you do not need the others to follow it. Season 3 brings a new case, a new place and a new cast. If you have only seen season 2 and gave up, this is the season to try again with.

The setup: One case across 35 years

In 1980, a young boy and his sister disappear in rural Arkansas. Detective Wayne Hays and his partner Roland West take the case. What starts as a routine search turns into an investigation that never really ends for Hays.

The season tells it on three levels. There is the original investigation in 1980. There is 1990, when new evidence reopens the case ten years later and gives Hays a second chance. And there is the present, with Hays as a retired detective whose memory is failing, trying to make sense of a case he worked 35 years earlier, while he still can.

No spoilers in this part of the review. The plot details I give here come from the season’s own episode descriptions. My verdict on the ending is in its own section further down, clearly marked.

Three timelines that work

This is the first thing I liked, and it is the main reason season 3 is so much better than season 2. The three timelines are not a gimmick. They are how the season builds its tension. You see what young Hays does in 1980, what he finds out in 1990, and how the old man in the present struggles to hold all of it together. Each timeline answers a question the other two raise, and each episode leaves you with a new one.

It also changes what kind of story this is. A detective story is usually about finding out what happened. Here it is also about a man who is losing the ability to remember what he already found out.

Mahershala Ali is the season

The second thing, and the bigger one: Mahershala Ali is fantastic. He plays Wayne Hays in all three timelines, as a young detective, as a man in the middle of his life and as an old man with a failing memory, and every version is convincing. For me, he is the reason the season works.

That is also where the season’s weakness lies. Next to Ali, the other actors stay a little pale. Stephen Dorff plays his partner Roland West and Carmen Ejogo plays Amelia Reardon, who becomes important to Hays and to the case. But the season is built around Ali, and nobody else stands out next to him. In season 1, two leads carried it together. Here, it is one.

The case you will not remember

The other point where season 3 falls short of season 1 is the case itself. It is well told, and it holds your attention while you watch. But it is not the kind of case that stays with you. A few weeks later, what I remember is not who did what and why. It is Ali’s performance, and how the season ended. Season 1 had both: a case and leads you do not forget. Season 3 has the performance.

That does not make it a weak season. It just explains why it lands at 4 and not at 5.

The ending (spoilers)

This is the part I would not read before watching.

The ending is very well done. In the present-day timeline, the old Hays finally solves the riddle he has carried for 35 years, and it turns out that his missing girl, Julie, is still alive. And then, just as he has found her, he forgets it again. His memory lets go of the one thing he spent his life looking for. Because he forgets, she can go on living her life in peace, without the past catching up with her.

For me, that ending is the best thing about the season.

How the season is built

Season 3 runs eight episodes, most of them just under an hour, with a finale of about 73 minutes. Along the way, the season’s own episode descriptions name the threads it follows: the local church, a suspect targeted by a vigilante group, lawyers demanding a new investigation in 1990, Amelia’s book about the case, and in the present the search for a man who left the police force in the middle of the original investigation.

Where season 3 sits in the anthology

Season	Setting	Our rating
Season 1	Louisiana, 1995 to 2012	5/5
Season 2	Southern California	3.5/5
Season 3	Arkansas, 1980 to 2015	4/5

Season 1 remains the best and the place to start. Season 3 comes closest to it, and it shares something with it: a case told across different points in time, with the past and the present commenting on each other. If you liked that about season 1, season 3 is the season for you. The seasons 1 to 3 box set has all three on disc.

Watching it as a dad

True Detective is rated TV-MA and is a series for adults, and with a story about missing children at its center, season 3 is heavy in a way parents may feel more than other viewers. This one is for after the kids are in bed.

For crime fans, though, it is an easy recommendation. Eight episodes of about an hour each, one central case, and a lead performance that alone justifies the time.

❓ FAQ

Is True Detective season 3 worth watching?

Yes, for crime fans. It is clearly better than season 2, the three timelines work, and Mahershala Ali is fantastic as Wayne Hays. It does not quite reach season 1, and the case is less memorable than the performance. We rate it 4 out of 5.

Is True Detective season 3 better than season 2?

Yes, clearly. Season 2 is a 3.5 for us, season 3 a 4. Season 3 has one lead who carries everything and a structure across three timelines that pulls you through, where season 2 spread itself across four characters and lost its case along the way.

Is True Detective season 3 as good as season 1?

Not quite. Season 1 is a perfect 5 out of 5 for us. Season 3 comes closest of the later seasons, but next to Mahershala Ali the other actors stay a little pale, and the case does not stay with you the way season 1’s does.

Do I need to watch the earlier seasons first?

No. True Detective is an anthology, and season 3 tells a new, self-contained story with a new cast. You can start here, although season 1 is the better place to begin.

Who is in the cast of True Detective season 3?

Mahershala Ali plays detective Wayne Hays, Stephen Dorff his partner Roland West, and Carmen Ejogo plays Amelia Reardon. Scoot McNairy plays Tom Purcell, the father of the missing children, and Ray Fisher plays Wayne’s son Henry.

How many episodes does True Detective season 3 have?

Eight. They aired on HBO from January 13 to February 24, 2019, with the first two episodes on the opening night.

Is True Detective season 3 suitable for kids?

No. It is rated TV-MA and is a series for adults.

Where can I watch True Detective season 3?

In the US it streams on HBO Max, and it is part of the seasons 1 to 3 box set on disc.