True Detective has officially been confirmed to be returning in 2018 with its third season, with Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali set to star in the lead role and Nic Pizzolatto to return as writer.
This new season of HBO’s popular crime drama will focus around a mystery that takes place in the Ozarks. Ali will be playing a state police officer from Northwest Arkansas who is assigned the case.
The anthology series began in 2014 with an eight-episode season starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, which received great critical acclaim and went on to win five Emmys. However, the second season — starring Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell — was widely considered a let-down by fans and critics.
Seeing how Pizzolatto worked on both Season 1 and Season 2, it’s hard to say how Season 3 is going to turn out. Fans are hoping for the best, as Ali is one of the more talented actors currently working in Hollywood — having appeared in Moonlight, Luke Cage and House of Cards.
Along with Pizzolatto, David Milch (Deadwood, NYPD Blue) is getting writing credit for one episode in Season 3 and Jeremy Saulnier is said to be directing several of the episodes.
“I'm tremendously thrilled to be working with artists at the level of Mahershala and Jeremy,” said Pizzolatto in a statement via The Hollywood Reporter. “I hope the material can do justice to their talents, and we’re all very excited to tell this story.”
HBO has yet to release an episode count or official premiere date. For now, all we can do is hope for the best for True Detective.