‘True Detective’ Recap: ‘Hunters in the Dark’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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​There is a point in every single mystery story out there, where the clues that have remained buried for seemingly ages, can no longer hide in the shadows. They yearn to see the light, they’re dying to tell the world everything they know and well, it would seem that particular moment has finally arrived when it comes to season three of HBO’s True Detective. For last night’s episode of the show, ‘Hunters in the Dark’, blew the Purcell case wide open in ways we never thought possible, since it turns out that a grand conspiracy has indeed been brewing behind the scenes when it comes to this story.
 
But what made this episode and its stunning revelation so incredibly powerful, is the sheer fact that we never saw it coming. Because at first glance, it seemed as though it was going to be business as usual in this particular tale. For Tom was under investigation from the state for the strange phone call that came in from his daughter, and that meant that Wayne and Roland were force to dig deep into his affairs and they quickly discovered that Tom was hiding a great many secrets, the kind that quite frankly, didn’t need to be brought out into the light of day since they would embarrass him more than anything else, but that digging…helped to bring about the surprise in question.
 
For their investigation in 1990, prompted them to speak with Harris James once again, and his dodgy answers and odd persona were more than mere atmosphere, but more on that in a moment. Because the most important storyline of the night, revolved around Dan O’Brien, since he called Hays and Roland after seeing Dan’s plea on television, to offer up information, for a price of course, and it seemed for a brief moment that the boys were ready to pay to get the intel they so desperately needed. But Tom got wind of the plan to pay Dan by way of a little eavesdropping and that led to an ugly little showdown in an out of the way motel, wherein Dan revealed that he knew exactly who supported Lucy long after the case had initially come to a close and well, Tom was able to extract that name.
 
Which led him up the road a bit to deal with this mess once and for all and his travels found him at the Hoyt estate. Yes, that’s right, the family that runs the biggest plant in the state it seems, was paying off Lucy for mysterious reasons, and Tom’s attempt at a confrontation, brought about the stunning moment in question. For shortly after he snuck into the Hoyt mansion, Tom found himself behind a massive security door and inside a bright pink room, wherein it seems he discovered something about Julie, shortly before Harris James stepped into the room and there you have it. Something sinister has been brewing in this town for decades, and all the talk about Julie growing up in pink rooms was absolutely true and this revelation brings about all kinds of disturbing questions.
 
For example, why kidnap Julie? What was it that made her so special to Hoyt? Was she some kind of strange prize or toy that he eventually grew tired of and discarded? Or was her capture for far more nefarious purposes, as the young lady earlier in the episode eluded to? I would imagine those questions will be answered in time, but now, I’m suddenly wondering, exactly what did Roland and Wayne do back in 1990? Did they take justice into their own hands after all? Or stumble upon something so nefarious and so disturbing that they simply let the people in question devour themselves and keep it quiet? Either way, I’m intrigued, and this is big and what’s equally as impressive, is that all of this came our way at a mile a minute. There was no deeper meaning to be found in this one, just the facts, chilling as they may be and well, the season simply won’t be the same going forward. For now, we will be wondering who else is in on this heinous crime and more importantly, how these potential monsters will be brought to justice. Until next time.

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