True Detective fans debate “supernatural” Season 4 theory

Episode 2 of True Detective Season 4 deepened the show’s central mystery, and speculation about what’s going on is now rife online, with fans currently debating a supernatural theory on reddit.

True Detective Night Country – which is Season 4 – has twin mysteries at the heart of the series. The first concerns eight scientists at the Tsalal research facility in the Alaskan town of Ennis. All of whom go missing without a trace.

The second is the unsolved murder of Annie K, who was stabbed 32 times, and had her tongue cut out. Evidence – including a parka jacket – connects a researcher named Raymond Clark (more on him here) to her death.

And he’s one of the first characters we see in Episode 1, shaking uncontrollably at the start of proceedings, and exclaiming “she’s awake.” Moments before the men disappear.

True Detective fans debate “supernatural” Season 4 theory

One Redditor (u/Ususal-Medium-3865) has this theory regards Clark (though we’ve changed the name Anna to Annie for the purposes of accuracy): “I’m assuming that the central issue is contamination of the townspeople (possibly prions) due to the digging of the mine or the scientists.

“The man who spasmed in the facility is the one who wore Annie’s pink coat. My guess is that he worked with Annie during her protests against the mines and she told him the folklore about the creature(?) (the woman-like creature drawn by the little boy).

“The creature is a metaphor for nature/for the disease that will come as a result of the digging. During his hallucination, the man says ‘she’s awake’ meaning the creature is awakened (he knows they are doomed by the sickness). I’m actually wondering if Danvers and Navarro’s ‘she’s awake’ are just artistic license. Any ideas?”

This theory has got people debating and speculating, with one commenter suggesting Clark might not even be there at the start of Episode 1…

Raymond Clark is an “hallucination” theory

Further down the page, u/fennario77 writes: “If you watch closely right before this, as the camera pans from the library area to the kitchen, it’s hugging a pillar on its left side. Then it cuts to an opposite view from the kitchen, and the guy who says “she’s awake” has suddenly appeared right where the previous camera was shooting from. 

“Maybe it’s a continuity error, but the combination of this and the fact he’s weirdly got snow on his shoulders makes me wonder if he was really there at all.

“My long shot theory is they’re going to power on the phone recording the cooking video, and when they see him turn around and look, there won’t be anyone standing there. He was just a hallucination of the guy shooting the cooking video.”

Which has precipitated u/ambient-lurker to follow-up with: “All of this sounds plausible. I think it’s likely that he was involved in her death. I see some people suggesting that he has the parka because they were friends. To me it doesn’t seem innocent that he has the parka, though it is ballsy or maybe just psychotic to wear it if he actually was involved in her death.

“Wearing a parka indoors is definitely something a sane person only does before or after going outside. I’m not from a parka weather region so maybe this is super obvious. But unfortunately our boy does seem to be batsh*t so it’s hard to say what it means for him; was he wearing it all the time like a madman, planning a trip outside, or just coming back from one? Or D – all of the above. As for she’s awake… we will have to learn more.”

And audiences can learn more when Episode 3 airs on HBO/Max in the US on Sunday, and Sky/NOW in the UK on Monday.