True Detective fans finally got their fix with the last episode of the much anticipated Season 4 this week.
True Detective: Night Country is the fourth segment of HBO’s gritty crime series, and for many viewers, its intentionally ambiguous ending didn’t disappoint.
Set in the eerie darkness of Ennis, Alaska, it wasn’t until episodes five and six that the answers to this season’s burning questions were finally answered.
How did the Tsalal scientists freeze to death in the Alaska ice? Who killed Annie K? And what happens to Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) at the end of True Detective?
The ultimate episode finally revealed (most) of the answers to this, while leaving other questions tantalisingly up in the air.
Warning: there are spoilers lie ahead.
True Detective: Night Country ending explained
Having initially made audiences believe that this was some other-worldly murder mystery, episode six finally reveals how the Tsalal scientists met their fate.
After discovering the secret tunnel systems that the last remaining scientist had been hiding in, Navarro and Liz Danver (Jodie Foster) interrogate Raymond Clark about the death of Annie K.
He finally admits that Annie had discovered that the scientists were encouraging the local mine to release more harmful emissions as it was helping them melt the permafrost. The scientists, believing they were on a righteous mission to save the world, chose to kill Annie K so they could continue their work.
The local women eventually caught up with what the scientist had done and decided to take matters into their own hands. They attacked the researchers and forced them out into the ice, letting Mother Nature and the powers that be decide their fate.
Navarro and Danvers confront the women but quickly decide that the case is closed after hearing their side of the story — letting what really happened slide.
Danver chooses to remain in her role as Ennis's detective, ending one of the final scenes by telling investigators she’ll continue doing her job as usual. She also maintained she had ‘no idea’ who leaked the video of Clark’s confession.
While other-worldly forces weren’t to blame for the deaths of the scientists, much native mysticism appears to linger in the final scenes.
One of the biggest mysteries revolves around the fate of Navarro, who walks into the ice and appears to disappear. While she appears as a spectral figure as Danvers sits on her porch, there’s no real answer about her fate — leading to many fan theories.
What happens to Navarro in True Detective?
Throughout the series, Navarro finds herself navigating a delicate balance between the real and spiritual world, as well as the wisdom of her ancestors and her intuition as a detective.
Given that the whole season was enshrouded in the supernatural, it seemed fitting to see Navarro disappear into the snow at the end of episode six — as she’d promised all along.
Having discovered in the whispers of the wind that her Iñupiaq name was Siqiññaatchiaq, Navarro had finally achieved a sense of closure over her deeper quest to understand herself.
Her name also means “return of the sun after a long darkness,” which probably has some symbolic connection to her mysterious fate.
Leaving behind a polar bear teddy, as well as a video confession that shares the truth about what the Tsalal Arctic Research Station scientists were up to, Navarro disappeared into the snowy landscape. This left some viewers to presume she died in the wilderness.
Detective Danvers knew better as she sheepishly told investigators that they wouldn’t find Navarro on the ice. Mysterious sightings of Navarro around town could ultimately symbolise her return to Ennis as all its residents do — and just like her Iñupiaq name suggests.
It seems like True Detective’s showrunners similarly wanted this degree of ambiguity to allow audiences to make their own decisions.
Speaking to Deadline, Issa López couldn’t say whether Navarro was dead or alive — and that was her goal.
She said: “The Aboriginal people in Australia go and walk about, find themselves and then come back, which is I think is what Kali embraced [for the character].
“However, there is a chance that she is also going to be with the women before her to visit them. You can read it both ways and it’s up to you to interpret which one fulfils your heart.”
