Creator Nic Pizzolato & Star Mahershala Ali Give First Details About ‘True Detective’ Season 3

Fittingly enough for the series, there’s been a lot of mystery surrounding season 3 of “True Detective.” After an Emmy-nominated first season, ‘Detective’ fell on hard times, as season 2 failed to excite audiences. Now, HBO hopes that the upcoming new season can revitalize the series, and while filming in Arkansas, creator, Nic Pizzolato, and star, Mahershala Ali, opened up about why “True Detective” will be back to its former glory.

According to the official media day announcement (via Arkansas Online), season 3 of “True Detective” follows “the story of a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks, a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods.”

And it’s the location in the Ozarks that Pizzolato and Ali say is one of the most important aspects of the upcoming season. “The mystery of the deep woods. The fog over the mountains. The rivers. The water. The sense of scale when you get out to some of this nature. Also, what the buildings say about the lives behind them,” Pizzolato said. “So I feel like people will see it as an extension of character, something that embodies characters’ emotional journeys while influencing those journeys.”

Ali reiterated those thoughts and said, “It would have been a disservice to the story not to shoot in the Ozarks, in Fayetteville, in Arkansas, because it’s such a character in the story.”

Judging by what has been reported and speculated, this new season of “True Detective” is much more aligned with the Matthew McConaughey-led first season than with the disappointing second, which should delight fans. And hearing Ali talk about his preparation for his role, it appears like the Oscar-winning actor is giving “True Detective” the same commitment that McConaughey did when he was nominated for an Emmy back in 2014.

“My character would not move or operate the same way if he was in New York,” he said. “I’ve given myself permission to go slower even if they want me to speed up a bit. You end up essentially aligning yourself with the frequency of the pace. And that’s how something will resonate as being truthful or not.”

Production on season 3 of “True Detective” started way back in February and is expected to wrap up in the coming week. There’s no official release date set by HBO, but fans can expect the series to hit some time in 2019.