Inspired By… Series

True Detective: Night Country Episode 01

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Inspired By... True Detective: Night Country Episode 01 Continuous Mix

Inspired By is a collection of tracks that fit the theme of a film or TV show I’m watching. We start with True Detective: Night Country, which had a great first episode last week. If you haven’t seen it and don’t want any spoilers, then maybe this mix isn’t for you. Featuring Depeche Mode, Johnny Cash, Pink Floyd, and Florence + The Machine. Beware, spoilers ahead!

Episode Summary

When researchers suddenly disappear, Liz Danvers orders a search but tempers expectations of finding the men; Navarro tries to convince a sceptical Danvers that the men's disappearance is connected to the murder of local activist Annie Kowtok.

...For we do not know what beasts the night dreams when its hours grow too long for even God to be awake. — Hildred Castaigne

Tracks

1. Sleeping At Last - Arctic
2. Brian Reitzell - Prelude / Last Day of Sun
3. Pixies - Caribou
4. Gazpacho - She’s Awake
5. Thompson Twins - We Are Detective
6. Chaka Demus & Pliers - Twist And Shout
7. Phil Harris - The Thing
8. ILL Bill & Vinnie Paz - Blood Meridian
9. GunnerB - We’re All Dead
10. Smashing Pumpkin: Mayonaise
11. Depeche Mode: Wagging Tongue
12. Toyah: It’s A Mystery
13. Pink Floyd - Is There Anybody Out There?
14. Sia - Broken Glass
15. The Raelettes - Bad Water
16. Johnny Cash - I Want to Go Home
17. John B - Russian Bride
18. Michael Henderson: Wide Receiver
19. Painty The Pirate and Kids: SpongeBob SquarePants Theme
20. Generation Boomer: Merry Christmas, Motherfucker
21. Florence + The Machine: Girl With One Eye
22. YAIMA - Spiral
23. Two Feet - I Feel Like I’m Drowning
24. Passenger - Winter Coats
25. The Scratch-Offs - Shit Attitude
26. M.O.P - Cold as Ice
27. The Flaming Lips - The Terror
28. The Innocence Mission - One For Sorrow, Two For Joy

Not a Beatles fan, okay? — Liz Danvers

All right, folks, Christmas is coming, can’t stop it. You have your presents lined up? Yeah, me neither. We’re gonna take calls, though. All right, anyone out there? Hello? — Radio host

Noticeable mentions

• I was hooked from the first scene - Such great establishing shots of what life is like inside of the Tsalal Arctic Research Station. Everyday mundane tasks being done before everything turns to shit.

• Navarro is already being established as an unreliable narrator - Her visions are precisely that, hers alone. She is more like her sister than she realises. I wonder if her connection to Danvers is deeper than her ex-colleague because that would explain why she would see the one-eyed polar bear.

• But so is Danvers. Possibly - Did she see the toy polar bear? Or did this scene show us what she dreamt about? Danvers is certainly sleepwalking through her grief. Was that brief flashback hinting that Danvers lost her husband and child in a car crash?

• Navarro is disconnected from her community - The scene in the crab factory quickly establishes some disconnection from her culture.

• Pete’s son, being called Darwin, is not lost on me - Plus, he loves to draw scary blue entities. (Edited to add, could that be a drawing of Julia?).

• Blue is prevalent in this show - From Hank’s choice of paint colour, Darwin’s drawing, and Julia’s hair colour.

• She’s awake means different things to different characters - Raymond Clark, Liz Danvers, and Evangeline Navarro all hear it in this episode and react differently. Raymond’s being the worst and perhaps the most fatal. For Liz, it could mean that she is starting to wake up and face her grief.

• I can see in the dark! - Thank goodness this show allows viewers to see what’s going on. I’ve lost count of the number of shows and films with night scenes where I’m squinting to within an inch of my life because I can’t see what’s happening.

• The CGI 😬 - As eerie as the caribou scene was, the quality of the special effects took me out for a moment as it did look very CGI.

• I’m sure there is a list of all of the DVDs and VHS films and shows behind Danvers at the research centre - The Thing is so apt because this first episode ultimately had that vibe.
• The Thing (1982) film synopsis: A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.

Final Thoughts

It should have been it’s own show

I do think that it’s a shame that some very online die-hard season 1 fans just came ready to dislike the show. Nothing stops you from moving on if it’s not for you. Nic Pizzolatto created a gem with the first season, but even he could not live up to the extremely high expectations that the next two seasons came with.

That being said, HBO should have gone a step further with their faith in Issa Lopez and allowed Night Country to be its own show. She’s such a talented writer and director that it wouldn’t have been much of a gamble. A few seasons in the company of Danvers and Navarro? Sign me up!

Although this episode had much to unpack, I didn’t feel overwhelmed. Beautifully shot and acted, with a production design that makes the town feel real and lived in, this is the first show since Mare of Easttown, where I am excited to watch the episodes multiple times to try and decipher them.

Inspired By True Detective: Night Country Series