This is the news that will not exactly make Nic Pizzolatto, the creator of True Detective, happy. And, while it is in the middle of controversy for being hostile towards the season titled True Detective: Polar Night written and directed by Issa López, giving voice to the detractors, HBO has renewed the series for a fifth season, which will be creatively led again by López.
“Let’s go there! Very proud of our Polar Night. Very excited about this new adventure. Very grateful,” shared the Mexican filmmaker until now known for the horror film Vuelven among other projects. “Congratulations, my love,” dedicated Kali Reis, who played Detective Navarro, and who this Thursday was delighted to have been able to work with “the legendary” Jodie Foster: “It has been a pleasure to do magic with you, friend, even the next. Thank you for one of the best experiences of my life.”
True Detective: Polar Night, which was well received by critics, has been at the center of controversy both due to the attitude of Pizzolatto, disassociated from the project, and due to the reaction of a sector of the audience, who did not seem to take well that a woman would have offered a female perspective of the creative universe and with two female detectives in the main roles for the first time in the franchise.
In order not to contribute to the controversy, Issa López defended Pizzolatto’s right not to have a favorable opinion of his approach to the work. “Every storyteller has a very specific, peculiar and unique relationship with the stories he creates, and whatever his reactions are, he has a right to have them,” he explained. At the same time, he argued that she had made “a reinvention” always out of respect: “I wrote this with a deep love for the work he did.”
In the industry, however, he has not lacked support among his colleagues. Robert King, creator of series such as The Good Wife or Evil, lamented that Pizzolatto’s attitude “does not give a good image for a showrunner, or even for a former showrunner.” And, upon announcing the renewal by HBO, Guillermo Del Toro, winner of three Oscars, wanted to personally congratulate López, referring to “good karma”:
The renewal, furthermore, should not surprise anyone. True Detective: Polar Night, despite a stream of haters, received largely positive reviews, remained in the series conversation these last six weeks and, to top it all off, has been a ratings success: with 12.7 million of viewers is the most watched season in the United States of the detective universe started by Pizzolatto.
