During one of Cohle’s philosophical ramblings, he says, “This is a world where nothing is solved”: an alarming reminder that even if a case is officially closed, unanswered questions linger, especially within the context of the Yellow King, who doubles as a literary reference and a symbol emblematic of the evil that the Tuttle cult indulged in. Much like the spiral, some mysteries always remain open-ended, snaking around like a labyrinth whose center offers no real closure or resolution.
While Rust and Marty (Woody Harrelson) catch the perpetrators, we do not have clear answers about who the Yellow King is, or how these symbols weave together to form a grander picture. Cohle challenges this open-endedness with his “time is a flat circle” metaphor, while reluctantly indulging in the idea that the light might eventually seep through the cracks. “Night Country” deliberately destabilizes this tender hope, with its dark, cold setting where light is not only a luxury but an impossibility due to natural cycles that cannot be broken, or challenged. This literal darkness intensifies with the re-emergence of the unsolved Annie K. case, which comes back to haunt every individual in Ennis for better or for worse.
As the spiral evokes themes of looped histories, recurring inevitabilities, and monsters at the heart of a circular maze, it is interesting to liken it to Nietzsche’s theory of “Eternal Recurrence” or Return, where he posits a hypothetical situation where every joyful, anguished, painful, or hopeful moment in one’s life would play out time and again in an inescapable loop. While Nietzsche’s hypothetical query is more of a litmus test for personal integrity, “True Detective” remolds this into an unspoken natural law that leads to cyclical instances of good, evil, and everything in between throughout history.
Source link
