True Detective: Night Country showrunner Issa López has responded to original series creator Nic Pizzolatto's hostile remarks about the current season, saying he is "entitled" to his opinion.
The fourth season of True Detective marks a new chapter in the acclaimed HBO crime series, as it is the first installment without Pizzolatto onboard as showrunner or writer, but that hasn't stopped him from penning comments and sharing his views about the series when prompted by fans on social media.
Screenshots from Instagram, posted on a Reddit thread about True Detective, suggest Pizzolatto is distancing himself from the latest season. He allegedly called one of Night Country's callbacks to the much-loved first season "stupid" while declaring in another comment: "I certainly did not have any input on this story or anything else. Can't blame me."
True Detective: Night Country creator López, who directed all six episodes of the new season, has brushed the comments off, telling Vulture the writing team (including herself) crafted the story with "profound love" for Pizzolatto's work, but she recognizes that it is "different" from earlier iterations of the show.
"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 said. "I wrote this with profound love for the work he made and love for the people that loved it. And it is a reinvention, and it is different, and it's done with the idea of sitting down 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."
This isn't the first time López has responded to criticism about True Detective's fourth season. She previously called out the show's "bros and hardcore fanboys" for their suspected review bombing of Night Country, and, on another occasion, she joined a discussion about AI after fans spotted a strange poster in one scene.
The first episode of True Detective: Night Country premiered on Jan. 14, 2024. It received critical acclaim with praise for Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, who star as Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro, two tough detectives investigating the disappearance of eight men from the Tsalal Arctic Research Station in Alaska.
IGN awarded True Detective: Night Country 9/10, calling it "the best season of the series since the original" while commending López for thoughtfully engaging with the Alaska location "without sacrificing the intrigue of a good detective story," which, in this case, is led by the "formidable duo" of Foster and Reis.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X @AdeleAnkers.
