"We don't like looking back to find the missing pieces"

Let's dispel any trepidation you may have from previous seasons of True Detective, and all the baggage they carry: True Detective: Night Country is astonishingly good television. A six-episode stunner in which a macabre murder unfolds in a layered exploration of an Alaskan town at the edge of the earth, its relationship with its indigenous people and the things the long arctic night can do to a person, Night Country is about as good a start as on tv 2024 we can request.

It only gets better when you hear creator Issa López talk about it. In the run-up to Night Country's premiere, the writer-director spoke with Polygon about taking over from True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto, and responding to the themes of the original series a decade later, and the horror that comes from being disconnected from our history.

Polygon: Night Country is only six episodes, shorter than previous True Detective seasons. Was there a tightrope to walk? It's both a lot of time and not much at all!