Crime drama enthusiasts searching for their next binge-worthy obsession should look no further than a series still celebrated as a masterpiece to this day. True Detective first burst onto screens in 2014 on HBO, featuring Hollywood heavyweights Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as police officers attempting to crack a serial killer case steeped in the occult spanning 17 years.
The production streaming on HBO Max cleverly employed two parallel timelines running simultaneously, with the storyline masterfully intertwined by creator Nic Pizzolatto. True Detective arrived at a pivotal moment when prestige television as we recognise it today was still in its early stages, with A-listers gracing the small screen in impressive, slow-burn productions.
The anthology series proved so enormously popular that it spawned three further seasons, including the most recent instalment in 2022: True Detective: Night Country. Each series tackled a fresh case with new officers, though the third run did draw connections back to the original series. Yet nothing has come close to matching the brilliance of season one, with countless viewers heaping praise on True Detective via IMDb, where it currently holds an impressive 8.8/10 rating on the platform.
One viewer entitled their 10/10 review: 'Season 1 = Masterpiece' and elaborated: 'Season 1 still remains the greatest television I've ever seen. McConaughey's best performance to date and Harrelson goes toe-to-toe with him. Everything from the acting (including every minor character) to the writing to the cinematography to the score is phenomenal.' A second highly-rated review mirrored those feelings, declaring the show an outright 'masterpiece'. The user elaborated: 'Season 1 of True Detective may be the best television I've ever seen. It's written brilliantly and has some of the best performances I've ever witnessed with Woody and Matthew.'
A third glowing review stated: 'Before season one aired I had never seen anything so compelling in storytelling or filmmaking in my entire life. The following two seasons are watchable and well-made but nowhere near as phenomenal as season one.' Another viewer commented: 'I watched season 1 again last week and I am still in awe of every element of this masterpiece. The pace, the acting, everything is so perfect it is mind-blowing.' True Detective is available to stream on NOW and HBO Max UK now.
