‘True Detective’ Creator Nic Pizzolatto Is Entitled to His Opinion on ‘Night Country,’ Says Issa López: ‘It Is a Reinvention’

Samantha Bergeson
·2 min read
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It’s no mystery what “True Detective” creator Nic Pizzolatto thinks of the fourth season, “True Detective: Night Country.” Yet showrunner Issa López isn’t taking Pizzolatto’s public criticisms personally.

Ten years since Pizzolatto’s anthology HBO series starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson debuted, the screenwriter took to Instagram to comment on how “Night Country” connects to the first season of “True Detective,” calling it “so stupid.” Despite serving as an executive producer on “Night Country,” Pizzolatto wrote (via screenshots of the comments), “I certainly did not have any input on this story or anything else. Can’t blame me.”

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“Night Country” showrunner Issa López, who writes and directs all six episodes of the new season led by Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, told Vulture that Pizzolatto is certainly “entitled” to his beliefs.

“I believe that every storyteller has a very specific, peculiar, and unique relation to the stories they create, and whatever his reactions are, he’s entitled to them. That’s his prerogative,” López said.

She added, “I wrote this with profound love for the work he made and love for the people that loved it. And it is a reinvention, and it is different, and it’s done with the idea of sitting down around the fire, and [let’s] have some fun and have some feelings and have some thoughts. And anybody that wants to join is welcome.”

“Night Country” is the first “True Detective” season to air in five years. Season 2 starred Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, and Rachel McAdams, with the third season led by Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff.

López is also the first sole showrunner for the series, with Pizzolatto’s first season directed by Cary Fukunaga who alleged creator Pizzolatto tried to be his “boss” and not collaborator on set.

“As for their creative differences, Nic is a really good writer, but I do think he needs to be edited down. It becomes too much about the writing and not enough about the momentum of the story,” Fukunaga told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021. “My struggle with him was to take some of these long dialogue scenes and put some air into them. We differed on tone and taste.”

Fukunaga was later accused of inappropriate behavior on the “True Detective” set, including allegedly firing actress Raeden Greer after she refused to be topless in a scene that was not in the original script. Greer was cast as an exotic dancer but nudity was allegedly not disclosed in her contract.

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