True Detective (Night Country) Episode 2- Recap and Ending Explained: Rose Aguineau discovered the bodies of the missing Tsalal Arctic Research Center scientists. They just showed three of them on the screen at the end of ‘Part 1.’ Audiences learn the fate of a few more scientists in ‘Part 2’. How true is Billie Eilish’s ‘Bury a Friend?’ Very apt, per the events of this episode of Issa Lopez’s HBO series that is aptly subtitled ‘Night Country’. 

Below freezing temperatures, 24-hour nights, a killer on the loose- Ennis in the winter is truly something that compels its inhabitants to remain indoors. Bar a few…Travis isn’t one to remain indoors, but he is not alive… So how did Rose Aguineau see him? What is it that made him appear to her? On other tangents, audiences are keen to get more details on why Evangeline Navarro is so interested in this case. True Detective Night Country’s second episode focuses on all this and much more. 

True Detective (Season 4) ‘Part 2’ Recap

The episode starts off in the immediate aftermath of Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro finding the frozen scientists, i.e. on December 21. The duo begins their preliminary examination at the crime scene. They discover that the corpses are naked, have burned corneas and ruptured eardrums. Liz decides not to send the bodies to Anchorage despite the lack of an on site forensic team. She also quietly suggests Evangeline leave the case for someone else, but gets a reply that it is tied to Annie Kowtok’s case. 

The inexperienced police officers are unaware of how to get the body out of the ice. One of them breaks the hand off one of the scientists, who lets out a moan of agony! Are the scientists alive? One of them is!

Liz Danvers goes to a school to ask a teacher what the Tsalal Arctic Research Center does. The teacher says they were mad men who remained reclusive. Their aim was to sequence the DNA of an extinct microorganism that could stop cellular decay. Danvers heads to the station and learns her superior (Captain Connelly) wants to transfer the case to Anchorage. 

She refuses, he pulls rank; she uses the book to thwart him. The bodies need to thaw before a move can be made. Per Danvers, it will take 48 hours. That’s two days for a breakthrough to keep things in Ennis. Danvers makes a request to thaw the bodies at the local rink. 

Danvers and Peter Prior study the pictures. Why did the scientists run out in the ice without their shoes, who drew the sign on the forehead, and who folded their clothes? If it happened inside, it may have been the scientists. Outside, it is not possible that the scientists did it. Hence, it is a killer. Danvers sees the video of Clark convulsing as he says, “She’s here,” before the recording goes blank. 

Danvers investigates, but does not find anyone who can identify the sign (the exact shape she arranged the photographs in episode 1). Peter Prior’s questioning of Wallis gets the information that the scientist named Clark had the sign tattooed on his chest. Meanwhile, Hank Prior discovers his son stole some case files from the house. Hank reminds Peter that Danvers is not his family and “blood is blood.”

Peter Prior’s investigation yields information about the NGO that funds Tsalal station. It is a shell company named NC Global Strategies, which belongs to… wait for it… Tuttle United. (That’s a rather familiar name from True Detective Season 1. As of now, we do not know if it is the same Tuttle family, but the symbol is eerily similar and they did escape prosecution)

Evangeline talks to Rose Aguineau about Travis. She reveals Travis comes around when he wants something. Audiences learn Travis went into the ice as he did not want leukemia to take him. Rose Aguineau sees dead people and explains to Evangeline about how she copes with it. (Could it be connected to Annie Kowtok making an appearance?) Per Aguineau, they appear because, ‘some of them come and visit because they miss you, some because they tell you something you need to hear, some because they want to take you with them.’

Navarro narrates her sister’s story to Rose, who advises her to not confuse spirits and mental health. Rose and Evangeline head outside where the former draws a shape in the snow. Navarro says she’s seen it before and asks what it is. She gets a reply that the shape is something older than Ennis, and even older than the ice. 

It is the tattoo on Annie’s body that was also on Clark’s body. 

True Detective (Season 4) ‘Part 2’ Ending Explained 

How is the tattoo connected to the two murders? 

Liz Danvers gets hold of the tattoo artist via Clark’s credit records. She receives a photo of the tattoo on Clark’s chest and another one of it on Annie’s back (Clark’s chest tattoo is visible in the second photo as well). Liz takes the pictures to Evangeline and agrees to work with her as the cases are connected. She says they both will close their cases, and that’s it for them. 

Evangeline talks to Qavvik as she is clueless about why Danvers wants her on the case. He tells her that it is because she has the answers. Navarro focuses on asking the right questions, just as Danvers coached Peter Prior earlier in the episode. She thinks about HOW Clark is connected to Annie Kowtok. The HOW leads her to think about why Clark got a trailer and she concludes that this purchase was made to keep things a secret.  

What do Evangeline Navarro and Liz Danvers discover in the trailer? 

Evangeline finds the trailer at The Nook and peeks in. She then calls Liz Danvers to take a look inside. The duo discovers Annie’s phone, animal bones on a table, and observes that the trailer is some sort of cult shrine (just as displayed at the end of the opening credits). Even the symbol is present on the ceiling. Clark’s trailer has all this, and he had the same tattoo as a previous victim. He does seem to be a person of interest. 

Is Clark the killer?

Peter Prior informs Liz Danvers to get to the rink as quickly as she can. Once there, he informs her that only six scientists are present. Danvers makes a walk around the half thawed ice and counts the six of them (one is revealed to be in an induced coma per Danvers’ conversation at the start of the episode). She learns that Clark is missing. Navarro thinks they got separated, but Danvers says that he’s alive and out there. He could very well be innocent. However, given the beginning of episode 1 and the findings in episode 2-Clark is a person of interest. 

True Detective returns with ‘Part 3’ on Sunday January 28.