A Nihilist Cop in Carcosa

The pseudo genre-bending classic that is the first season of True Detective

The first season of True Detective, which premiered on HBO in 2014, remains one of the most compelling contributions to the neo-noir subgenre, at least in terms of TV and film. Created and written by novelist Nic Pizzolatto and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the eight-episode season starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as Louisiana detectives Rust Cohle and Marty Hart. True Detective delivered a complete, self-contained story with philosophical depth, psychological decay, and a unique blending of traditional hardboiled and noir tropes blended with cosmic horror.

The season follows two mismatched detectives investigating a series of ritualistic murders that appear to span decades. Structurally, it’s the usual crime show fare. We get the disillusioned detectives, the slow-burning mystery, the rural decay, and the morally bankrupt institutions. But what made True Detective stand out was how it updated these trappings for modern times. Rust Cohle is perhaps one of the most distinct noir protagonists in recent memory. He’s nihilistic, haunted by grief, and obsessed with the idea that life itself may be a meaningless, cruel joke.

The season’s visual palette includes bleached swamps, abandoned churches, and desolate highways. It evoked a broken America that felt right at home in the noir canon. The story's darkness wasn’t just criminal but it was existential. This brought the show into the realm of cosmic horror, a genre rarely seen in mainstream crime dramas. Throughout the season, the audience is left to question whether something truly supernatural is occurring, or if it’s merely the product of damaged minds. This ambiguity added a chilling layer of tension, as viewers were never certain how deep or metaphysical the evil might go. Just your usual psycho killer or an actual monster from beyond?

The coolest spice in the boiling stew of True Detective was it drew heavily on The King in Yellow, an obscure collection of 19th century stories by Robert W. Chambers that blends decadence, madness, and an implied evil force. Each story in the collection is only related in that it features an ominous book containing a play that if read will instantly drive the reader insane. Phrases like “Carcosa” and “The Yellow King” were scrawled into the minds of viewers as the series wove those motifs into its more mundane murder mystery thread. This literary reference elevated the material and created a literary richness often missing from standard TV crime dramas, whether so-called prestige shows or not.

However, True Detective was not without controversy. As the season gained critical acclaim, some sharp-eyed viewers noticed striking similarities between Rust Cohle’s bleak worldview and the writings of horror writer and amateur philosopher Thomas Ligotti. In particular, Ligotti’s anti-natalist nonfiction book The Conspiracy Against the Human Race contained passages nearly mirrored in Cohle’s famous monologues to his normy Christian partner. While Pizzolatto acknowledged Ligotti as an influence, critics questioned whether the show should have given more direct credit to Ligotti.

Despite the controversy, True Detective Season One stands as a landmark in modern crime storytelling. It honored the conventions of noir. The alienated men, systemic corruption, and moral ambiguity. All the while injecting philosophical dread and psychological horror. Whether you see the show as a detective story with horror elements or a horror story disguised as a detective tale, it captured something timeless and terrifying. The result was a haunting meditation on evil, identity, and human meaning.

The subsequent three seasons of the show vary from mediocre to downright bad, and I think one key reason is their lack of that cosmic seasoning or even a newer alternative literary motif. But that first season has stood the test of time and is well worth viewing in 2025. I won’t spoil any details of the story, but I was especially pleased by the philosophy that appears to win at the end of the season-long debate.