HBO's True Detective season 3 sets a filming start date for Arkansas next month. More than two years have passed since True Detective season 2 aired, and the gap between seasons has been full of rumors and growing buzz.

Over the course of 2017, information about True Detective's third season gradually trickled out, from confirmation of the season's existence to details about the main cast and plot. Now, the show is poised to move from rumors and concepts to actual creation, with filming set to start in February on the next installment in the anthology crime series.

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Omega Underground reports that HBO expects to begin filming on February 12 in Arkansas, where the season will be set. Season 3 will take place in the Ozarks (a location perhaps familiar to viewers of Netflix's Ozark, set in the Missouri part of the region), and star Mahershala Ali as Wayne Hays, a police detective. Carmen Ejogo will play Amelia Reardon, a teacher connected to a 1980 missing children case. Omega Underground mentions that both Ali and Ejogo recently finished working on film projects: Ali on Green Book, and Ejogo on Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

When season 3 was officially confirmed last August, also confirmed was who would be handling the show's directing: Nic Pizzolatto, the series' creator, and Jeremy Saulnier, director of films such as Blue Ruin and Green Room. True Detective's first season was a tremendous success, garnering critical and popular acclaim. Season 2, however, proved more contentious, and many of its critics attributed its decline in quality to the absence of Cary Fukunaga, who had directed every episode of season 1. Season 2's directing was more scattered; the eight-episode season included six different directors.

True Detective season 3 promises to be at least a bit more focused, with Pizzolatto and Saulnier splitting directing duties. David Milch, creator of Deadwood, has also been helping on the show, a fact that many fans view as a plus. But ultimately, the greatest attention-getter has been Ali. The actor has been on a meteoric rise that hit new heights in 2016 with roles in Hidden Figures and Moonlight, the latter of which won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. And with Ali and Ejogo leading the way, season 3 seems intent on providing an alternative to the first two seasons' focuses on predominantly white characters.

At this point, it appears that whether season 3 more resembles the acclaimed season 1 or the divisive season 2 is a question of the show's writing and directing. True Detective has the stars - now it's up to Pizzolatto and Saulnier to put them to good use.

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True Detective season 3 does not yet have a premiere date.

Source: Omega Underground