‘True Detective’ Recap: ‘Now Am Found’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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Mystery and crime stories have evolved to the point where their endings now encompass a pretty solid format, in that; all will be revealed in disturbing and twisted fashion, and the people responsible for the crime in question are dealt with in epic fashion by way of a grand showdown, and for proof, look no further than HBO’s True Detective. For the season one finale of this show saw Rust and Marty square off with the Yellow King once and for all within the confines of his twisted labyrinth after learning everything they needed to know about his crimes and the season two finale of this series saw Ray and Frank unravel the conspiracy surrounding them before facing off against dark forces in bloody and brutal fashion. 
 
Which meant that the season three finale should also blow us away with epic moments that fit that mold, so imagine my surprise when I came to realize that ‘Now Am Found’, was going to buck all of those particular trends. For while this episode definitely answered all of our questions when it comes to what happened to Julie and Will Purcell, it handled the grand reveal in low key fashion, and the big-time showdown between good versus evil, was handled at a dinner table instead of an exotic locale. And really, it’s best we talk about those answers and that showdown first, since those were the moments, we were all waiting for, and as it turns out, the one-eyed man was the key to the truth and Junius Watts was more than happy to spill the beans about everything and anything.
 
As it turns out, our killer was in fact Isabel Hoyt, who saw Julie as a spitting image of her late daughter and she was the one playing with the kids in the woods, with the approval of Lucy Purcell. But an accidental push during a moment of levity led to Will’s death and the placement of his body and shortly after that, Isabel ‘adopted’ Julie, paying off Lucy and renaming Julie as Mary and drugging her for years to ensure compliance. And eventually, the day came where an adult Julie felt the need to get answers to long buried memories and to live a life of her own, free from the pink room she knew so well, and with Watts’ help, she was given her freedom. But alas, we know how that part of the story ends since she went on the run, and while eventually Junius was able to find her, his re-discovery of Julie came too late, since he discovered that she died in a convent in 1995.
 
But what was truly fascinating about this confession, is the sheer fact that Junius wanted to be brought in for his crimes, but rather than call their cohorts at the State Police, Wayne and Roland simply let him stew in his own madness as an ultimate punishment and that seemed as though it was the end of the story. However, while Wayne was reading his late wife’s book, a lucid revelation came over him, in that, the landscaper he and Roland ran into while visiting Julie’s grave, was the young man who took her loss the hardest, and the best way to fade away from trouble in this world is to outright disappear, and if people believe someone is dead, well…then they stop looking for you. And eventually, Wayne came face to face with a living and breathing Julie Purcell, who had help in faking her death in order to allow for her to finally live a normal life. But alas, Wayne may never know he came to the end of the case in that moment, for his dementia robbed him of it.
 
However, it’s not necessarily a bad thing that the case never fully comes to completion for Wayne. For the remainder of his memory, still has the answers he spent a lifetime seeking, and he has a family that loves him and is willing to put the past behind them to be together as one, and his best friend is back in his life as well and Julie can live her life free of terror and well…endings don’t get much happier than that. If anything, I applaud this season for taking a low key and upbeat approach to this finale, all while giving us a sense of closure at last, in every way imaginable, since it also tied up loose ends in the past and when all is said and done, this ended up being a phenomenal return for this series and I do hope that we don’t have to wait another four years for another incredible mystery from this magnificent series. Until next year.

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