True Detective: 5 Reasons Why Season 3 Is Already Better Than Season 1 (And 5 Why It Never Will Be)

There are few shows in recent memory that have experienced the highs and lows quite like True Detective. Season one premiered in January 2014 and was HBO's most popular freshman show since Six Feet Under. It was nominated for a litany of awards and was beloved by fans and critics. Season two came along in June 2015 and was nowhere near as acclaimed, with most people dismissing it. A long gap of three and half years went by before season three debuted in January 2019 and it's been a true return to form. But is it as good as season one?

Here are five reasons season three is better than season one, alongside five reasons it never will be!

BETTER: COMPELLING MYSTERY

With the season three mystery of the disappearance of the Purcell children, True Detective returned to its roots somewhat. Season two had gotten away from the macabre rural crime vibe of season one and viewers didn't respond positively, so it made sense to go back to the well.

But, crucially, the mystery Nic Pizzolatto has come up with for season three is incredibly compelling from from the very first minute. The audience is right there with Detective's Wayne Hays and Roland West as they try to unravel the clues and work out who killed Will Purcell and took Julie, as well as the all-important why. Theories abound online already.

NEVER WILL BE: IT'S HARD TO TOP CERTAIN ASPECTS

While the Purcell mystery has indeed captured the imagination of the season three audience, it's hard to imagine how it will improve upon season one's mystery. It saw Louisiana State Police detectives Rust Cohle and Marty Hart investigating the ritualistic murder of prostitute Dora Lange.

Her corpse is found posed as if praying, her head crowned with deer antlers and her body surrounded by creepy twig figures that closely resemble Cajun bird traps. The mystery then deepened to involve Robert W. Chambers' short story collection The King In Yellow and left viewers trying to understand what in the hell 'Carcosa' was.

BETTER: THE NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

Another similarity in True Detective's first and third seasons is their narrative structure. Both series' are told across three distinct timelines, showing the main characters at three very different points in the long-running investigations, but also highlighting the terrible toll the crime has exacted on their lives. Both series' make great use of the narrative device, but for our money it has been perfected with season three.

Events are shown out of order but somehow each scene informs the last, and deepens the intrigue every time. The 2015 timeline has also showcased arguably the greatest aging makeup ever put to screen; Ali and Dorff's transformations are stunning.

NEVER WILL BE: IT CAUGHT CULTURAL ZEITGEIST

Season three might have perfected the narrative structure, which has invested viewers in the mystery even more than it would in a more conventionally structured show, but it'll never be able to recapture the cultural phenomenon that was season one.

Fans went wild during that eight episode run, with message boards awash with theories that stretched from plausible to the downright absurd. The hints at a supernatural element to the show fuelled a lot of this, leading to record viewing figures for HBO. In fact, so many people watched the finale on the HBO Go streaming service that the app crashed!

BETTER: NIC PIZZOLATTO IS MORE SEASONED

After season one blew everyone away, Nic Pizzolatto was an in-demand writer in Hollywood. He was signed to a deal with HBO through 2018 and began work on True Detective season two. He also co-wrote the screenplay for The Magnificent Seven remake in 2016, adapted his own novel Galveston into a screenplay, and assisted David Milch with writing the film version of Deadwood.

By the time it came to write season three, he was very seasoned in the industry and had seemingly learned from the mistakes of the lacklustre season two. We believe season three features his strongest writing yet.

NEVER WILL BE: PIZZOLATTO WAS FRESH & EXCITING

When Nic Pizzolatto wrote True Detective season one, he was fairly unknown in the world of television. He had published a short story collection in 2006 and a novel in 2010 (Galveston, which was made into a movie in 2018) and wrote two episodes of The Killing in 2011. He seemed to come out of nowhere, with an exciting and fresh new voice unleashed on the TV landscape.

As opposed to most shows, which are written by a writer's room staff, Pizzolatto was allowed by HBO to write all eight episodes himself. He felt only his isolated, idiosyncratic and novellistic approach could achieve his desired singular result. He was right.

BETTER: MAHERSHALA ALI IS AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME

Mahershala Ali in True Detective Season 3 Key Art

Mahershala Ali is undoubtedly one of the best actors working today and he is giving the world some of his best work in True Detective season three. The actor, veteran of TV shows such as House Of Cards, The 4400 and Luke Cage, broke out in 2016 with his Academy Award-winning role in Moonlight.

He went on to become Oscar-nominated for a second time with his role as Dr Don Shirley in Green Book and then somehow squeezed in his role as Detective Wayne Hays as well. Ali brings an intensity and versatility to Hays; Wayne in 1980 and 1990 are worlds away from his heartbreaking 2015 incarnation.

NEVER WILL BE: THE HEIGHT OF THE MCCONAISSANCE

As good as Mahershala Ali is, it's difficult to compete with Matthew McConaughey's magnetic performance as Rust Cohle in season one. In fact, True Detective was released at the absolute peak of the 'McConaissane', the period in which McConaughey reminded the world just how great an actor he was, going from lazy romcom roles to his Oscar-winning turn in Dallas Buyers Club in just a few years.

He was nominated for the Outstanding Lead Actor In a Drama Series award at the 2014 Emmy's and it was richly deserved. It's not often that a freshman show features an Oscar winner in the lead and True Detective made the most of it.

BETTER: SUPPORTING CAST IN SEASON THREE IS BETTER

True Detective Season 3 Cast and Character Guide

Season one's pairing of Rust and Marty was compelling and so is season three's duo of Wayne and Roland. Season one also had Michelle Monaghan, Alexandra Daddario and Michael Potts, so the supporting cast was good, but we reckon the main attraction was McConaughey and Harrelson. Season three, though, surrounds Ali and Dorff with a higher calibre of supporting player.

There's Carmen Ejogo giving a beguiling performance as Amelia and Scoot McNairy is utterly superb as grieving father Tom Purcell. Michael Greyeyes is also a revelation as Native American Vietnam veteran Brett Woodard.

NEVER WILL BE: SEASON 1 OPENING IS ICONIC

It's hard to say how much a top notch title sequence improves a show, especially considering so many modern shows eschew title sequences altogether, in favor of a more basic title card. But we believe True Detective season one's utterly fantastic title sequence went a long way to cementing it in the eyes of viewers as something important.

The theme music (The Handsome Family's 'Far From Any Road') was catchy and atmospheric, and the visuals, created by the studio Elastic, were a work of art. The season two and season three title sequences emulate this one and are excellent, but just not as iconic as the first.