The BEST episodes written by Nic Pizzolatto

Form and Void
star
8.65
7805 votes

#1 - Form and Void

True Detective - Season 1 - Episode 8

An overlooked detail provides Hart and Cohle with an important new lead in their 17-year-old case.

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The Secret Fate of All Life
star
8.36
7954 votes

#2 - The Secret Fate of All Life

True Detective - Season 1 - Episode 5

A violent denouement in the forest clears the Dora Lange case and turns Cohle and Hart into local heroes. Each man settles into a healthier rhythm of living as Hart returns to his family, and Cohle starts a relationship while gaining a reputation as a closer in interrogations. As time passes and his daughters grow older, Hart faces new tensions and temptations, and Cohle learns from a double-murder suspect that there could be much more to an old case than he'd once thought. In 2012, Gilbough and Papania put their cards on the table, presenting new intelligence that threatens Cohle and causes Hart to reassess everything he thought he knew about his former partner.

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Who Goes There
star
8.36
8229 votes

#3 - Who Goes There

True Detective - Season 1 - Episode 4

Hart and Cohle hunt for their newly identified suspect, Reggie Ledoux, a meth cooker who shared a cell with Dora Lange's husband and recently skipped parole. As Hart's personal life collapses around him, Cohle immerses himself in an old criminal identity from his narco days, contacting an East-Texas biker gang known to deal with their primary suspect. Cohle's undercover work takes him to a dangerous edge where the law has no place, and both men must confront the cost of living a false life.

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Haunted Houses
star
8.27
7441 votes

#4 - Haunted Houses

True Detective - Season 1 - Episode 6

In 2002, Cohle and Hart begin to fall back to familiar and violent obsessions. Hart exacts savage vengeance on a pair of teenage boys, and Cohle becomes convinced they left something undone in 1995. Working on his own, Cohle traces a sinister connection between missing children along the coast and evangelist Billy Lee Tuttle's Wellsprings Program. Hart is reintroduced to a former prostitute he met during the Lange investigation. In 2012, Papania and Gilbough question Maggie, now divorced from Marty, about Cohle and Hart during 2002, the year their relationship fractured and Cohle quit the force following a suspension.

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After You've Gone
star
8.24
7481 votes

#5 - After You've Gone

True Detective - Season 1 - Episode 7

Hart and Cohle call a truce to investigate a series of disappearances that may be related to the Dora Lange murder and the Tuttle family.

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The Locked Room
star
8.17
8508 votes

#6 - The Locked Room

True Detective - Season 1 - Episode 3

A hidden image at the burned-out church leads Cohle and Hart to Joel Theriot, a tent-revival minister whose parishioners finger a scarred “tall man” seen with Dora Lange. Brought in for interrogation, a sex offender matching the description is quickly dismissed by Cohle, despite offering a confession. Hart gets sidetracked after Maggie sets Cohle up with a friend at a C&W bar. Looking to establish a pattern of murder, Cohle pores over old case files, finding a connection with a woman assumed to have drowned years earlier.

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Orpheus Descending
star
8.07
2118 votes

#7 - Orpheus Descending

The Killing (US) - Season 1 - Episode 13

The identification of the mysterious Orpheus provides a vital connection to the case. Mitch and Stan reflect on the past while contemplating their family's future.

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The Long Bright Dark
star
8.00
11320 votes

#8 - The Long Bright Dark

True Detective - Season 1 - Episode 1

Former Louisiana State CID partners Martin Hart and Rustin Cohle give separate statements to a pair of investigators about the murder of a prostitute, Dora Lange, 17 years earlier. As they look back, details of the crime, replete with occult overtones, are accompanied by insights into the detectives’ volatile partnership and personal lives.

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Seeing Things
star
7.96
9279 votes

#9 - Seeing Things

True Detective - Season 1 - Episode 2

Under pressure to land a suspect in the Lange murder, Quesada warns Hart and Cohle that they might be replaced by three detectives from a new task force. The pair lobbies for extra time to follow up on a lead that takes them from a rural cathouse to an incinerated church. With his marriage to Maggie already strained by work, Hart finds respite away from home.

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The Great War and Modern Memory
star
7.93
3416 votes

#10 - The Great War and Modern Memory

True Detective - Season 3 - Episode 1

The disappearance of a young Arkansas boy and his sister in 1980 triggers vivid memories and enduring questions for retired detective Wayne Hays, who worked the case 35 years ago with his then-partner Roland West. What started as a routine case becomes a long journey to dissect the crime and make sense of it.

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The Final Country
star
7.89
2569 votes

#11 - The Final Country

True Detective - Season 3 - Episode 7

Following up on new leads, Wayne and Roland track down a man who left the police force in the midst of the Purcell investigation. Meanwhile, Amelia visits Lucy Purcell’s best friend in hopes of gaining insights into the whereabouts of the mysterious one-eyed man.

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Hunters in the Dark
star
7.85
2617 votes

#12 - Hunters in the Dark

True Detective - Season 3 - Episode 6

Wayne and Roland revisit discrepancies in the Purcell case that were hidden or forgotten over the years. Among those being reevaluated is Tom Purcell, as well as Lucy Purcell’s cousin, Dan O’Brien. The glitter of Amelia’s book release is tarnished by a voice from the past.

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Now Am Found
star
7.84
2646 votes

#13 - Now Am Found

True Detective - Season 3 - Episode 8

Wayne struggles to hold on to his memories, and his grip on reality, as the truth behind the Purcell case is finally revealed.

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Black Maps and Motel Rooms
star
7.82
3746 votes

#14 - Black Maps and Motel Rooms

True Detective - Season 2 - Episode 7

Ray, Ani and Paul take precautionary measures to elude detection and untangle a dark mystery. Frank deals with the fallout of his betrayal.

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The Hour and the Day
star
7.77
2777 votes

#15 - The Hour and the Day

True Detective - Season 3 - Episode 4

Hays and West see a possible connection between the local church and the Purcell crimes. As the detectives search for one suspect and round up another one for interrogation, Woodard finds himself targeted by a vigilante group.

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If You Have Ghosts
star
7.77
2669 votes

#16 - If You Have Ghosts

True Detective - Season 3 - Episode 5

Wayne finds himself in a no-win situation as new clues emerge in the Purcell case. Roland wrestles with how to keep evidence secure as lawyers demand a new investigation. Amelia finds her relationship with Wayne imperiled by her writing aspirations and his jealousy.

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Down Will Come
star
7.76
4091 votes

#17 - Down Will Come

True Detective - Season 2 - Episode 4

The detail works a pawn-shop lead to close in on a suspect in the Caspere case. Frank revisits his past to pay for his present. Velcoro, Bezzerides and Woodrugh struggle to keep the case straight in the face of corruption.

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Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
star
7.75
3137 votes

#18 - Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye

True Detective - Season 3 - Episode 2

Hays looks back at the aftermath of the 1980 Purcell case in West Finger, AR, including possible evidence left behind at the Devil's Den, an outdoor hangout for local kids. As attention focuses on two conspicuous suspects--Brett Woodard, a solitary vet and trash collector, and Ted LaGrange, an ex-con with a penchant for children--the parents of the missing kids, Tom and Lucy Purcell, receive a cryptic note from an anonymous source.

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Church in Ruins
star
7.70
3731 votes

#19 - Church in Ruins

True Detective - Season 2 - Episode 6

Desperate to locate a missing woman with intel on Caspere, Frank meets with Mexican drug dealers. Ani infiltrates an exclusive inner circle, with Ray and Paul keeping close tabs.

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What You Have Left
star
7.67
2083 votes

#20 - What You Have Left

The Killing (US) - Season 1 - Episode 6

Sarah and Holder intensify their investigation on a suspect's family and friends. Gwen and Richmond disagree over strategy for the next debate with the mayor. Meanwhile, Rosie's funeral takes place and Stan concentrates on his own investigation into her death.

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Omega Station
star
7.62
3867 votes

#21 - Omega Station

True Detective - Season 2 - Episode 8

Frank, Ray and Ani weigh their options as Caspere's killer and the scope of corruption is revealed.

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The Big Never
star
7.61
2923 votes

#22 - The Big Never

True Detective - Season 3 - Episode 3

Hays recalls his early romance with Amelia, as well as some cracks in their relationship that surfaced after they married and had children. Ten years after the Purcell crimes took place, new evidence emerges, giving Hays a second chance to vindicate himself and the investigation.

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Other Lives
star
7.44
3784 votes

#23 - Other Lives

True Detective - Season 2 - Episode 5

Ray and Frank contemplate new life choices. Ani and Paul follow a lead up the coast.

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Night Finds You
star
7.39
4527 votes

#24 - Night Finds You

True Detective - Season 2 - Episode 2

Ben Caspar's autopsy reveals the gruesome details of his demise, and Ray and Ani wonder if it has anything to do with his fondness for prostitutes. Meanwhile, Frank looks into what might have happened to his missing fortune.

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The Western Book of the Dead
star
7.38
5713 votes

#25 - The Western Book of the Dead

True Detective - Season 2 - Episode 1

The disappearance of a city manager disrupts a lucrative land scheme and ignites an investigation involving three police officers and a career criminal who is moving into legitimate business.

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Maybe Tomorrow
star
7.20
4167 votes

#26 - Maybe Tomorrow

True Detective - Season 2 - Episode 3

Paul works the prostitute angle, while Frank receives the first casualty in a secret war, and steps back into a world he’d left behind.

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