Ben Ali Mohammadi

True Detective Season 4: Night Country True fans of detective fiction will be left feeling incredulous at the lazy writing and horrified at the contempt this series shows towards policing and the sanctity of the justice system. The series depicts two corrupt female cops (a detective and an officer) as they take part in multiple cover-ups, break every rule in the rulebook and turn a blind eye to serious crimes on the mistaken belief that justice has been served – on the basis of blatant misandry and incredibly flimsy evidence that would never stand up in court. The problem: none of this is portrayed as remotely problematic, and the viewer is supposed to leave feeling as though justice has been served by two righteous (though somewhat unlikeable) servants of the law. It's not unusual in the genre to have one of the main characters want to subvert the system in some way, in order to stop a perpetrator from getting off for example, but usually the character's partner will offer the counterargument, and through their conflict the show will debate the morality of such actions. Unfortunately, with True Detective: Night Country there is no one to take up this important role. There are only two pieces of actual detective work depicted in the whole series - one of which is performed by a side character and takes place off screen. Rather lazily, the rest of the plot is driven by ghosts and happenstance. The show eventually uncovers the mystery; however, the reality of the conclusion reached by the two lead characters (as well as us, the viewers) is seriously questionable and comes on the back of the discovery of a possible murder weapon (which isn't even seen by police, let alone forensically tested) and an unsafe confession extracted illegally from a vulnerable and unreliable source. The show and the actions of its main characters is incredibly problematic, and the only justice it seems to offer for its crimes is that the victims are all white men. A disgustingly misguided mess.