Few shows have had a stranger and more arduous journey to their current status than True Detective. The show has gone through multiple directors and has seen to be on the verge of total extinction at several different points over the course of its run. True Detective: Night Country signaled the show’s revival, though, and it actually earned the best ratings for any season of the show.
Following the success of Night Country, many wanted to know whether True Detective would get another season at HBO. The show was renewed almost immediately, which has only fueled further speculation about the season and what it might contain. If you want to know what exactly will happen during True Detective season 5, we’ve got you covered with everything we know about the next season.
Who is writing True Detective season 5?
Nic Pizzolatto wrote the first three seasons of the show and also created the concept, but he was succeeded by writer/director Issa Lopez for the fourth season. Pizzolatto was pretty upset about that handoff, but it seems like HBO was perfectly happy with how things went, which is why Issa is returning to write the new season.
Issa told Variety that she was “in the writing process” on the next season, which suggests that it will be some time before the show goes into production. Issa did make one thing clear, though, which is that the show will not simply be a sequel to Night Country, which had a fairly satisfying ending in and of itself.
“It’s a blast. It’s completely different. Different characters, different setting, different story. And I’m enjoying it like crazy,” she said. She was asked if this new season would have any connection to Night Country, and her answer was similarly vague. “I still can’t tell, but I think you will be pleasantly surprised,” she explained.
What will the plot of True Detective season 5 be?
Because Issa is still working on the new season, we don’t really have any idea what it might be about. That includes basic details like where the show will be set, who its main characters will be, and what kind of crime it might be focused on.
What we do know about True Detective, though, is that the show typically follows detectives investigating a murder or disappearance of one sort or another. Often, their investigations take them into the realm of the occult or supernatural, and they’re forced to reckon with what they really believe. The exact story beats have varied from season to season, as have the archetypes that the show is playing with, but those general ideas of crime and the supernatural have been fairly consistent from season to season.
Who will star in True Detective season 5?
Although plenty of people loved seeing Jodie Foster take on such a meaty television role, Foster herself has been pretty clear that she wouldn’t be back for any more True Detective. That means, when the show does return for another season, it will likely have a largely or entirely new cast. Typically, each season of True Detective is anchored by a fairly recognizable name. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson took their roles in the first season when it was still somewhat rare for major movie stars to move back to TV. Subsequent seasons have starred Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Vince Vaughn, Mahershala Ali, and Jodie Foster, so HBO will likely look to book a pretty big name for the anthology series. Because the show is not ongoing, it’s a much lower commitment and can operate more like a movie shoot.
What will the release date for True Detective season 5 be?
We don’t really have any idea when the new season will debut, but given the fact that Lopez is very much still working on writing it, it’s safe to say that it could take some time. It took five years between seasons 3 and 4 of the show, and more than three between 2 and 3, but it might not take that long for us to get another season this time around. Because we already have an established writer working on it, the show could debut in late 2025 or early 2026. Of course, all of that depends on exactly how long it takes Lopez to finish writing the new season. From there, they’ll enter pre-production and then likely film the show roughly a year before it actually airs.
So, while we may not have to wait a half decade for more True Detective, you shouldn’t expect to see a new season of the show within the next year.
