‘True Detective: Night Country’ Shares a Throughline of Parental Grief With Season One

True Detective: Night Country wrapped up its six-episode run with a powerful finale that answered many questions while leaving others open to interpretation. One question that is answered (mostly) regards the death of Chief Liz Danvers’ (Jodie Foster) husband and her son Holden.

Throughout the series, we see Danvers flashback to the traumatic event. She’s triggered by many things, like the Beatles’ song “Twist and Shout” and the crunch of broken glass under her boot. We also catch glimpses of her in the past with her son, the two of them playing together while lit with a golden glow. But Danvers never gets into the details of what happened to her family, and she doesn’t discuss it with her estranged step-daughter Leah (Isabella Star LaBlanc).

The finale reveals that Holden and his father died in a car crash. Danvers remains haunted by the accident and her lost son, feeling his presence in ghostly whispers and visions. Navarro is also haunted by Holden, who gives her a message to relay to his mother. But when Navarro tries to broach the subject with Danvers, she is shut down.

When Danvers chases Navarro (Kali Reis) onto the ice outside the Tsalal station, she sees Holden trapped under the ice. She frantically breaks the ice to rescue him and falls into the freezing water. Navarro fishes her out and warms her by the fire. After falling into the water, Danvers is finally ready to hear Holden’s message. He says, “I see you,” which he says to her in the flashbacks.

It’s this message that finally allows Danvers to break down and grieve her son aloud. She’s spent the series keeping such tight control over her emotions and shutting everyone out. Her cathartic emotional release at the station opens a new chapter from which she can begin to heal.

Holden’s death also evokes the death of Rust Cohle’s (Matthew McConaughey) daughter in season one of True Detective. Cohle’s two-year-old daughter, Sophia, was hit by a car and killed. This tragedy destroys his marriage and sends him on a downward spiral.

(featured image: HBO)