True Detective: Night Country Part 3 Recap & Review 

@ClamsAndCockles Here is what happened for why the blue dye was on the back of the candid photograph of Clark and Annie: Annie and Clark go away for a couples' weekend, but not by themselves, they went with the hairdresser Susan and her squeeze at the time Oliver, the equipment manager for Tsalal station. For whatever reason, Susan and Annie wanted to keep their respective relationships under the radar, and since both men worked at Tsalal, they would have schedules that could align for a short getaway. So it was all four going away. You can tell that someone else took the photograph because even when allowing for camera timers, the setup of a photo, not just the settings on the camera but the camera placement, the angles chosen, the posing and action of the subjects leave that metaphorical fingerprint about who did or didn't set it up. Even if Clark and Annie were doing bursts and just chose one to have printed, we don't see any other photos of this type in the stack Danvers and Navarro are thumbing through. Additionally, the circumstances of the photograph make it unlikely to have been captured from a timer mechanism. Note that Clark and Annie are *both* in a small canoe-type boat, pushed off from shore, standing and in the midst of some lighthearted and endearing fishing activity; it would take a few minutes at least for a person to set up a camera, start the timer, walk to the boat, get in paddle out, snare a fish, stand up, and start trying to gather up the fish. And all this while remaining in frame to get the shot. It's a safe bet that given the lack of candid shots in their other photos and the difficulty of getting this one using a timer, we surmise that someone else took it. Given that it'd be weird to have a third wheel on a couple's weekend, we surmise that it was a couples' weekend, and since Clark worked with Oliver, we know with near certainty that all four went together, and further it was Susan that took this with her own camera. Remember that Navarro and Danvers noted that Annie and Clark were together long enough for her electric blue highlights to nearly fade out, and how the photograph actually ended up with blue dye on it approaches something like the following: Annie and Susan are chitchatting one day subsequent to the weekend with their beaus, probably on Annie's initiative since Annie wants to have Susan dye her hair again, and in talking while making the appointment, Susan says sth like 'Hey I had some pictures developed (or printed out) of our double date weekend a few weeks back. There's one I really think is nice of you and Clark that you didn't know I took.' Annie responds with a version of 'Really? Well, show me when I come over next Thursday when you dye my hair blue.' Remember, both women are keeping their flings private, so they aren't posting images to social media or trading photos in public. If Susan wanted to give Annie a photograph of her and Raymond Clark, there would be no better time or place than at Susan's since Annie is going there anyway to have her hair dyed, which she needed to do since the photos from that weekend depict Annie's blue having washed out, and the writers make sure the viewer knows this by having the detectives point it out. So the next Thursday or whenever comes and Annie is at Susan's place, getting her hair dyed. They've forgotten about the photo but as their salon-chair girl-talk carries on something jogs Annie's memory and she says 'Hey! What about that photo you said you got of me and Clark?' and at the time Susan was actively applying the hair dye, but because now in the privacy of her place is the perfect time for Annie to see the photo, Susan goes to get it and either tries to save a pair of gloves and leaves some dye on the photo, unintentionally, or she ditches the gloves and gives the photo to Annie who in reaching for it or putting it down brushes her hand against the still wet dye of her hair strands - remember, she's got appreciably long hair - and transfers the dye onto the photo. Navarro's sister has blue hair dye, and I think some other female characters do as well (not sure though) so maybe electric blue dye is a color Susan is often working with, but that doesn't actually matter. That the photo is smeared with blue dye and that Annie wore her hair dyed blue is the strong (very strong) evidence that the photo has dye on it not as a lucky break, but precisely because of the constraints Annie put on the openness of her relationship with Clark and the consequences thereof. In fact, an astute detective, having seen the blue dye and deduced that Susan had sth to do with it, could have feasibly also worked out that Susan must have been there with a guy of her own, since being there a single woman would have been awkward, and that whoever that guy is would need to be talked to, even before learning that he actually also worked at Tsalal. There are some contrivances in this season, I'll give you. But none of this particular bit is that. Given the circumstances, it's not only plausible but shows good detective work. Cheers!

You missed a crucial part! When they go to the nomad guys hut, he asks Navarro "What's your name?" She responds, "AT Navarro". He says "No. What's your REAL name?" referring to her indigenous name. She doesn't give it, and he responds , "Oh you forgot.". Now remember, Navarro told her "boyfriend" her mother died without ever telling her what her indigenous name is. This is important!

Ross nails it with the pace. Night Country is like nothing I've ever seen before. It really is a place where literally ... the sun never shines. To me it's fascinating. The Inupiaq people are fascinating. And the disorientation makes me feel like I'm entering a whole new universe every week. Plus, Jodie Foster has so many different layers. I love it.

This season has been so disturbing and unsettling. I feel disoriented and there is a true feeling of foreboding. This is true detective and it’s glorious. Can’t wait to see how this finishes up.

Love your reviews of Night Country because they’re deep and thoughtful - and utterly silly at the same time. About Hank showing up at the rink, remember that Kate McKittrick hinted to Hank that Peter would be a great skating coach - possibly suggesting that he leave the force and work for the corporation/mine. Kate and Hank are clearly in cahoots. And they’re both smart enough to know that Peter is an honest guy and would never go corrupt. And totally agree with your theory that it was Navarro who shot Wheeler and ironically, even though she is a flawed officer, she feels guilt about covering up the murder. I am loving this season and your pod makes the viewer experience so much better. Thank my Cockles bros

Just have to say that anyone who has used bright hair dyes knows it does and will get on everything everywhere haha. On another note, I took the Arianna thing as a little insight into Danvers and her stepdaughter's relationship? Like she does deeply care and takes interest, she isnt just hard all the time.

As a stand-alone episode I didn't really enjoy the 3rd episode very much. For my taste everything developed too slowly, considering that we are already half way through the show! The show-runners are juggling with so many balls that I wonder if they will really be able to resolve everything in the final episode! I truly hope that the 4th season will not end with a cliffhanger, which will be solved in the 5th season 😉 That said, so far I have enjoyed the 4th season of TD. The story is really intriguing, and I will definitely continue to watch. And Jodie Foster and Kali Rais are both great in very different ways. But I have never seen a subpar Jodie Foster, and she doesn't disappoint as Liz Danvers! I even started to like her character. It’s obvious that she has a well developed maternal streak. While she isn't really great with adults, she is very sweet with kids! Did anyone notice that Peter's kid, who did the spooky drawing of a mutilated woman, looks very much like her - probably - biological son Holden? And when she visits Peter's home she is a total disaster with Peter's wife and Peter's mother-in-law - but she is very sweet with Peter's toddler son. I think that Liz would've given the kid a nice bath if Peter's wife would've allowed it! I also believe that Liz truly loves her daughter Leah although Liz isn't her biological mother. Liz treats Leah so badly because she is afraid that something terrible will happen to her! However, I really hope that we will get rational explanations for the apparently paranormal and potentially sci-fi stuff! I wouldn't mind, though, if there would be some wiggle room for those who believe in genuine visions and ghosts. The new Hercule-Poirot movie "A Haunting in Venice" featured a lot of apparently supernatural stuff, but most of this is explained rationally by Hercule Poirot. But he also experiences a few visions which seem to be genuinely paranormal. I wasn't at all bothered by this because these visions didn’t help him or the audience to put it all together and solve the case. If TD season 4 goes down the same road as "A Haunting In Venice" I will be content!

Kade does such a good job producing, s/o

I went to grad school in Iceland for a few years. The twilight luminosity thing is real, you get a faux daylight for a couple hours where the sky is lighter than dark. You don't see the sun, but it reflects off the clouds and snow and is called an "effective daylight"

I agree with Boomer Barrett's first point about pacing. This was the first episode that for me seemed like they filmed the scenes in a certain order and then rearranged them in editing causing details to not add up (the Hank/Navarro interaction) definitely felt confusing this week

I watch y’all’s recap every week lol shit is hilarious and pointing out all the flaws

Seems like Danvers was promoted over Hank right before the season started. But half the town (the miners) still think of Hank as the chief. So Danvers has to tread lightly. Plus, it feels like the entire community is very split along gender. The men hang with the men and the women keep with their own kind. Very wild West.

Even when not much was happening with the case in s1 so much was happening with the characters. The chemistry between rust and marty was enough to carry every episode. This season just doesnt have that particular strength.

the whole hair dye thing I took to mean its a small town and only one person does the hair dye so if its on the picture she must have been near the photo at some point but idk

The desert with the flipped vehicle Navarro sees in her vision was from her war flashback in episode 1! From when she mentions her last tour.

Damn, I thought, that concerning Anders Lund, I had figured it all out and that he arrived at the corpsicle sculpture later than the other scientists - and that this is the reason why he is the only one who survived. He may not have been exposed to the cold as long as the others. This explanation still makes a lot of sense IMO. But after watching the third episode, I don't feel anymore that we will get this rational explanation. The show-runners may have jumped the shark after all, and Anders Lund's improbable survival was mainly introduced for the grisly shock effects! However, we still don't know how they got Lund separated from the ice block so quickly before he could be transported to the hospital and before the rest of the corpsicle sculpture was driven to the ice rink. I still hope, though, that we will get a rational explanation as far as Anders Lund and his survival is concerned. But one thing is obvious: Lund woke up long enough for being spooky as hell and for being able to tell the two detectives, that "she" is indeed awake and that "she" isn't done, yet. But after he has said that, he dies - which means that he won't be able to come up with more useful informations about what really caused the death of the scientists! The detectives didn't get a lot of help from Lund. That said, a pet peeve of mine has been finally acknowledged: the vet who looked at the bodies said tha4 the scientists didn’t freeze to death and their deaths must have been caused by something else. Mammals who freeze to death, don't arrange themselves into bizarre icy sculptures, since it's one of the more peaceful ways to die. Have the scientists been frighted to death by the appearance of "her"? If that is the case, it still needs to be explained, why all scientists took off their cloths! If they didn't freeze to death, the idea that they stripped themselves naked because they experienced paradoxical heat, doesn't work anymore if they didn't die from exposure! Something else must've happened to them. Has someone forced them to undress themselves by pointing a gun at them? And if that happened, was there only one or more than one perp?i think it's somewhat unlikely that a single perp with a gun could have managed to contain 7 - or if Lund arrived at the crime scene later - 6 people! And if Clark really is the perp, could he have managed this all by himself?? It's also very unlikely that someone who wants to kill so many people at the same time, would've chosen to frighten them to death. That's a very unreliable method! We need to know more about the cause of death.

We should look some more at the grisly real-life incident which allegedly inspired the show-runners: the mysterious Dyatlov-Pass incident! I have researched that case quite thoroughly a couple of years ago, and I am not at all convinced that the current officially accepted scenario - that there was a rare kind of avalanche, which forced the students out of their tent - is the correct solution. The area isn't avalanche-prone at all, and this scenario leaves far to many peculiar things unexplained. And the initial investigation didn't find any indications whatsoever that there had been an avalanche. But when the case was re-opened a few years ago, the Russian leaders of the investigation explicitly said that only natural causes would be considered. All scenarios which feature aliens, yetis, wolverines or human murderers, were ruled out before the new investigation even started! And that's the real reason why the avalanche theory gained so much traction. I don't think that Russian yetis exist and that wolwerines are capable of frightening 9 students out of a nice and warm tent. I also don't believe that aliens were involved 😉 However, after reading "Don't Go There", a book written ca. 10 years ago by the Russian investigative journalist Svetlana Oss, I believe that humans might've been responsible for the deaths of the nine students. Oss meticulously combed through the files of the original autopsy results and she asked modern pathologists to look into this baffling case. Some of the students had suffered horrible injuries, and these injuries definitely could've been afflicted by very violent humans! But who could've done this and what motives could the perps have had? Some investigators believe that the students had done this to themselves after having experimented with some magic mushrooms, which were used by the local indigenous people, who lived in that area, the Mansi. Others - including Svetlana Oss - believe that the students have been forced out of their tent by a group of Mansi who had ingested some shrooms, and who were outraged that the students had put up their tent in a forbidden area. The theory that humans who were under the influence of a locally available drug which caused hallucinations, had something to do with the demise of the students, is definetely compatible with everything which is known about the case. But many people reject the idea that the Mansi were responsible for the deaths of the students, because the Mansi were known for being peaceful, and they would never do such a thing. And it's not certain that the students may have set up their tent in a forbidden area. But it's known from the diary entries of the students that some Mansi hunters were indeed in the area, where the students passed through, and the Mansi regularly use shrooms in order to have more strength and stamina in certain situations. Oss also dug out a few things which the Mansi allegedly said back then. They conceded that indigenous people might be responsible, and they hinted at a small group of migrating hunters from another area who were present at the time, but who left before the bodies of the students were discovered. I won't go into more details here. Let's just say that I believe Svetlana Oss is on to something, and the students were indeed killed by humans. But we don't know who the perps were and what motives they had. It’s obvious that the TD show-runners have been inspired by the Dyatlov-Pass incident. There are many obvious overlaps. But I warn you! Researching the Dyatlov-Pass incident is very addictive 😉 And the case cannot be solved solely by looking at the openly available facts. This happened during the Cold War which gained traction at the end of the 1950s and a lot has been hushed up for various reasons. At the time there were illegal rocket tests left and right in the Soviet Union as well as in NATO countries , and many believe that the students were offed by the KGB because they had seen something which they were not supposed to see. Others say that an out-of-control missile may have crashed into the area near the tent, and that people who had been sent for picking up the debris, stumbled upon the students and they killed them. But It’s also possible that these illegal rocket tests had nothing to do directly with the violent demise of these nine young people. A lot of researchers rule the KGB out because they wouldn't have killed the students in such a grisly and violent way. But it's possible that some indigenous people might've connected the students with all bad things which happened to them at the time. Radioactive fallout is a bitch! I am very interested to find out how much material from the Dyatlov-Pass mystery has been borrowed by the show-runners.

It’s danvers who killed the guy once he whistled twist and shout! Can’t forget how she reacted from good ol ferris in episode one! She definitely popped him!

Great stuff. Thanks for the insights.

Re: the hair dye on the photograph - you’re not idiots. You’re just not girls. 😊 Navarro recognized the blue hair dye right away, because her sister Julia used it. Navarro knew the exact colour, because she probably bought it for Julia, who did her colour at home. It’s not really a stretch, since Susan is probably the only hairstylist in town. And she would have a limited selection of hair products to choose from. Because they were friends, Annie K. would’ve gotten her colour done at Susan’s place, where she also would’ve given her the pictures she’d taken. Annie probably looked through them, while sitting in the chair and simply dripped hair dye on them.

By the next episode, we'll start to see fingers twitching and zombie mania on the rink as the last bit of ice melts off their skin.

The Navarro-Lund connection: I think that it happened, and that Lund is connected to the death of Navarro's mother. Probably he didn't make a creepy pirate's voice, but that's how Navarro perceived it.

I think the thing they woke up is a volcano. She’s awake. She’s a volcano.

The gentleman who revived: look up Nando Parrado, of the Andes crash in the 70s.

Annie kept the relationship a secret because she was sleeping with that old cop dude that Danvers argues with. The guy was very possessive and she didn’t want to get Ray in trouble with him. Bet money on it.

I think i figured sth out, in s1 all the former SA victims talked about what happened to them as dreams, what if Annie K was a victim of the cult or some sort of follower?

Randy saying hot hot hot comes during his 2 record breaking shits during the Bono episode

Also, Juiceland 🐐

The last scene in the credits changed every episode

20:21 I just think she took the photo and then Annie K showed it to her during an appointment

Randy marsh is taking a world record crap during that scene hahaha

Danvers is maternal/mentor to Peter. I think they'll kill off Peter in the series.

U guys "get it", ty ty ty

The first 2 episodes reminded me of the story of Dyatlov Pass in Russia. I won't go into it if you don't know it. Check it out. Anyway, after that it all went to poop for me. Too much ignorant, meaningless sex. Everyone is drunk. I can't keep track of the characters names. I'll watch the last 2 episodes, but as of now it makes no sense in a bad way. It's not even exciting.

You cant almost have a still born baby. The baby is dead for weeks before the birth.

I love listening BUT you two really need a female perspective on this show. We could be helping you solve lots of the questions you’re raising. I’m happy to fly out when you’re ready ❤

It's the writing. It's written for people that don't think about the details, even sometimes walking the audience through very simple thinking through dialogue that doesn't need to be said.

This was the first episode that fell flat for me. It had some good moments, but also a few goofy awkward ones. And the voice from the possessed character at the end was lol awful.

I’m giving up on the show. The tone is all over the place.

Hard to find much to enjoy about this season so far. Basically just cops abusing power set within the backdrop of indigenous people being screwed by big oil. Just because the protagonists are women does not make them interesting characters. Absolutely none of their dialogue compares to Rust and Marty. I know the fellas love HBO and want to make this work but I highly doubt this season lives up to the hype. Plus the showrunner begging the audience for likes just makes me not want to like it. Maybe I’m biased but so far this has been incredibly meh imo