True Detective: Night Country Tops The Original To Be The Most Watched Season Yet

By god, she's done it.

"True Detective: Night Country," the fourth season of HBO's hugely popular series, had a lot to go up against. For one, it was the first season not helmed by show creator Nic Pizzolatto, who has been pretty vocal about his dissatisfaction with the new season. And yet, not only has "Night Country" writer/director Issa López handled his critiques with grace and professionalism, but she's also now got the data to back up the critical claims that "Night Country" is the best season since the first. According to a report first published at Deadline, as of episode 5, "True Detective: Night Country" has officially surpassed the debut season of "True Detective" to become the series most watched season yet. The series has brought in 12.7 million viewers across platforms, surpassing the 11.9 million viewer average of season 1.

However, it is important to note that the way people consume media has dramatically changed since the show arrived in 2014. For one thing, streaming was not the dominant landscape the way it is now. To have watched "True Detective" as it was airing, you needed to have HBO, a premium cable network that was cost-prohibitive for many households. Now with services like the Max streaming app, viewers have access to the series at a much lower cost. Additionally, with "True Detective" being such a huge hit, more and more viewers have gotten on board with the series thanks to that access. One could say that López's season is the fruit born of the seeds planted by Pizzolatto a decade ago. Fortunately, that "Night Country" fruit sure is delicious.

Admittedly, there's a sense of schadenfreude surrounding this announcement, because despite "True Detective: Night Country" boasting 1% higher critic ratings on Rotten Tomatoes compared to season 1, it's been review bombed by a bunch of obnoxious jagoffs. Sure, there are definitely those who dislike the new season and are more than entitled to their opinion, but when there are over 2x as many audience reviews as any of the other seasons ... the math ain't mathin' on this one.

Deadline reports that the first two episodes of "Night Country" have also surpassed massive HBO hits like "The White Lotus" season 2 and "Succession" season 4. Hmm, seems to think that despite the loud claims on social media that "no one likes this season," a whole hell of a lot of people are tuning in every week. It's almost like online discourse is not a mirror to real life, who could have guessed?! HBO would be foolish not to hand over a big ol' blank check to Issa López for a fifth season because she's clearly got her finger on the pulse of what audiences today are looking for in terms of a thrilling, genre-bending detective drama.

The season finale of "True Detective: Night Country" airs on February 18, 2024.