True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto is defending his ability to complain about new season Night Country without being accused of “Hitlerian evil.”
The HBO anthology series’ fourth season, Night Country, stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as a pair of police detectives investigating the disappearance of eight men from a research station in Alaska. Helmed by writer-director Issa López, it’s the first season of the series that Pizzolatto has not been a part of. His overall deal with HBO expired following the conclusion of season three, and he instead formed an ultimately short-lived pact with Disney, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
True Detective Creator Nic Pizzolatto Responds to Backlash Over His Night Country Criticisms
“This here is the place for all your trolling/support/infighting around True Detective and the absolute moral degeneracy and misogyny of anyone who did not think it was good. Let’s move these screeds off my posts about my wife, true love, and my father’s death, kay?” Pizzolatto wrote in the caption of an Instagram post on Wednesday.
“I’d say ‘stay civil’ but of course civility has no place when criticism of a television show indicates some form of Hitlerian evil that must be stamped out. So roll on, tide. Satire is welcome, and do try to have a nice day,” he added. “We’ll be capping comments at 1350, which seems like plenty of space for this manufactured proxy culture clash. Alas, all things must end, and boredom is real, so get your fill while you can. And again, do have a nice day.”
The screenwriter has been openly sharing his distaste for López’s work on Night Country since it premiered in Jan., calling one plot point about the Tuttle family funding a research station in the arctic “so stupid” in the comments section of one of his Instagram posts, according to screenshots captured by ScreenRant before his comments section was hidden. He wrote in another screenshotted comment, “I certainly did not have any input on this story or anything else. Can’t blame me.”
Reps for Pizzolatto declined to comment.
Also Read: True Detective: Night Country Director Issa López on Closing a Flat Circle With Jodie Foster
In late Jan., current director Issa López responded to Pizzolatto’s criticism of her season in an interview with Vulture. She will continue to helm the show in its fifth season, which just got renewed by HBO on Thursday alongisde her new multi-year overall deal with the streaming service. Night Country is the most watched season in the show’s history, HBO reports.
“I believe that every storyteller has a very specific, peculiar, and unique relation to the stories they create, and whatever his reactions are, he’s entitled to them. That’s his prerogative,” López told Vulture. “I wrote this with profound love for the work he made and love for the people that loved it. And it is a reinvention, and it is different, and it’s done with the idea of sitting down around the fire, and [let’s] have some fun and have some feelings and have some thoughts. And anybody that wants to join is welcome.”
Reis has also spoken out against Pizzolatto’s criticisms of the new season, calling it a “damn shame” on X (formerly Twitter), adding, “But hey I guess ‘if you don’t have anything good to share, shit on others’ is the new wave.”
The first season of True Detective premiered in 2014, starring Mathew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as a pair of detectives from Louisiana on the hunt for a serial killer. It was a breakout hit. But season two, starring Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn and Rachel McAdams, did not enjoy quite as much popularity — or Emmy nominations — as the first, which had earned 12 nods compared to only one for season 2. Season three, Mahershala Ali, fared better, earning nine total Emmy nominations.
Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO Programming and head of HBO Drama Series and Films had the following to say in support of López: “Issa López is that one-of-a-kind, rare talent that speaks directly to HBO’s creative spirit. She helmed ‘True Detective: Night Country’ from start to finish, never once faltering from her own commendable vision, and inspiring us with her resilience both on the page and behind the camera. Alongside Jodie and Kali’s impeccable performances, she’s made this installation of the franchise a massive success, we are so lucky to have her as part of our family.”
The new cast and plot of the anthology series’ upcoming fifth season has not yet been revealed.
Main Image: A still from True Detective: Night Country. Credit: HBO
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