While “True Detective” celebrated its fourth installment at Sunday’s Emmy Awards, showrunner Issa López revealed she’s already deep into writing Season 5.
“I’m deep, deep, deep in the writing and just in the smack of it,” López told TheWrap on the Emmys red carpet at the Peacock Theater. “It’s very strange to be submerged in another universe and then come back here and be talking again about Ennis.”
Even still, López, who created, wrote and directed all six episodes of “True Detective: Night Country,” noted Season 5 will exist in the “same universe” as Season 4, which made several references to the HBO drama series’ inaugural season starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, including some supernatural elements.
“The references are going to be more to Season 4,” López said of Season 5, adding that supernatural elements will still be present. “It’s the same universe, and the magical realism is my brand, so it will be there.”
López confirmed the new season would involve a “different case, different place [and] different characters, but so many connections that are going to come from Ennis.”
As for whether Season 4 stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, who played the first “Night Country” detective duo in Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro, respectively, might appear in Season 5, López said “you will have to watch it” with a wink.
While Foster and John Hawkes, who was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series, were the show’s heavy hitters, López embraced several less-known actors to fill up the cast for “Night Country,” including Reis, who also received a nod for Outstanding Supporting Actress, along with Finn Bennett, Isabella Star LaBlanc and Anna Lambe.
“It comes from the character,” López said of her casting process for Season 5. “You start writing a character, and it starts speaking and walking and moving, and then suddenly this character has a face, and then you toss the dice and see if you’re going to get the actor you dreamed of.”
“True Detective: Night Country” was also nominated for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series during the 76th Emmys, which ultimately went to Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer.” The fourth installment, which debuted in January 2024, quickly became the franchise’s most-watched season, outpacing viewership for the beloved first season of “True Detective.”
“You never know, so you end up taking the trip terrified, but hoping for the best, which honestly is the best position as a storyteller. You have to be scared to do it,” López said. “To go through shooting it and seeing that it worked and it connected, and getting good ratings … This recognition is the world — it is my first job in a language that is not my own. I am Mexican. I speak Spanish, so as an immigrant, it also means the world.”
