'True Detective: Night Country': What's with the polar bears?

Lost called, it wants its polar carnivore back.

One of nan many mysteries of True Detective: Night Country is embodied by 1 of nan cutest and deadliest animals connected nan planet: nan majestic and terrifying polar bear.

In nan fictional municipality of Ennis, Alaska, 150 miles northbound of nan Arctic Circle, during "the agelong night", this tremendous pagophilic carnivore turns up again and again. It wanders done municipality successful very existent form; it appears successful characters' homes successful plush artifact form; images of it flash astatine america during nan opening credits. While these bears don't person thing to do pinch their island-dwelling kin successful Lost, they onslaught nan aforesaid chord of enigma successful True Detective.

What's nan woody pinch nan polar bears and why are they important to nan story? Each week, we're search nan polar bears of Night Country, tracing their appearances to propulsion this full point together pinch reddish yarn.

Opening credits bears

In nan True Detective: Night Country opening credits, we spot a rocking chair perched connected nan broadside of nan icy road. A plush polar carnivore sits connected nan chair, pinch a close-up revealing it's missing an eye. Seconds later, a polar carnivore wanders onto nan road, and different close-up shows it, too, is missing an eye. The plush polar carnivore is intelligibly important, arsenic it appears later successful nan credits, floating successful icy acheronian water. And of course, it turns up successful nan show from nan very first episode.

The plush polar bear

In section 1, Chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) is woken up successful nan mediate of nan nighttime to a fervent susurration declaring, "She's awake." It comes aft what seems to beryllium a representation aliases a dream for Danvers, involving a kid whose personality remains chartless — successful her dream, a child's manus touches her shoulder. Bleary-eyed, Danvers past finds a plush polar carnivore artifact connected nan level successful her room. It's missing an eye, and Danvers holds it looking beautiful unsettled.

In section 2, Danvers finds nan plush carnivore successful a container of Christmas decorations, and has a flashback to clip spent pinch a child, playing pinch nan carnivore and listening to The Beatles' "Twist and Shout" (the opus that triggers Danvers successful section 1, nan 1 that features successful Ferris Bueller's Day Off, nan movie nan Tsalal scientists were watching erstwhile they disappeared).

In section 3, erstwhile Navarro's retired connected nan ice, she hears an eerie sound singing "Twist and Shout" successful nan wind. Navarro past sees a kid moving into nan acheronian and goes to drawback up to them but slips and hits her head. She's transported to a imagination of her clip served successful nan military, sitting beside a burned home. A kid wearing pyjamas and holding a plush polar carnivore puts their manus connected Navarro's enarthrosis and whispers, "Tell my mommy."

The polar carnivore successful nan mediate of town

As Detective Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) investigates leads successful municipality successful Ennis successful section 1, she's driving around, calling imaginable witnesses and contacts, erstwhile her telephone stops working. A sound whispers nan aforesaid hissing "she's awake" connection Danvers heard successful her dream and Navarro hits nan brakes. A ample polar carnivore stands successful nan road, blocking her way and notably missing an eye. Standing its crushed pinch a growl, nan carnivore past retreats. As location are nary different witnesses to this bear, it's unclear whether Navarro is looking astatine a existent polar pal aliases not — but if it's not real, what does it mean?

What do nan polar bears mean successful True Detective?

As acold arsenic section 1, it's still unclear what domiciled nan polar bears person to play successful nan bid different than indicating a sinister beingness successful nan communicative aliases suggesting a representation for Danvers. Are nan polar bears connected to nan investigation the missing scientists were conducting astatine nan distant Tsalal Arctic Research Station? Does it link to nan reindeer that propulsion themselves complete nan cliff successful nan show's opening sequence? Is nan polar carnivore Navarro saw successful municipality real? Why do some nan existent polar carnivore and nan plush artifact person only 1 eye? Why has Danvers held onto this plush polar carnivore for truthful long?

We'll beryllium updating this portion each week pinch immoderate caller polar bears per section — we person a emotion they're not done.

True Detective: Night Country is now streaming connected Max.

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