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The Best Episodes of True Detective

Every episode of True Detective ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of True Detective!

Best episode
S1E4 Who Goes There?
9.647,942 votes
Worst episode
S4E6 Night Country: Part 6
5.517,979 votes
Top season
Season 1
9.2avg
Binge time
1d 5h
30 episodes
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons5

All12345

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    True Detective Season 1 Episode 4 - Who Goes There?
    9.6/10(47942 votes)

    S1:E4

    Hart and Cohle hunt for their newly identified suspect, Reggie Ledoux, a meth cooker who shared a cell with Dora Lange's husband and recently skipped parole. As Hart's personal life collapses around him, Cohle immerses himself in an old criminal identity from his narco days, contacting an East-Texas biker gang known to deal with their primary suspect.

    Director:Cary Joji Fukunaga
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  2. True Detective Season 1 Episode 8 - Form and Void
    9.6/10(45125 votes)

    S1:E8

    An overlooked detail provides Hart and Cohle with an important new lead in their 17-year-old case.

    Director:Cary Joji Fukunaga
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  3. True Detective Season 1 Episode 5 - The Secret Fate of All Life
    9.5/10(37782 votes)

    S1:E5

    A violent denouement in the forest clears the Dora Lange case and turns Cohle and Hart into local heroes. Each man settles into a healthier rhythm of living as Hart returns to his family, and Cohle starts a relationship while gaining a reputation as a closer in interrogations. As time passes and his daughters grow older, Hart faces new tensions and temptations, and Cohle learns from a double-murder suspect that there could be much more to an old case than he'd once thought. In 2012, Gilbough and Papania put their cards on the table, presenting new intelligence that threatens Cohle and causes Hart to reassess everything he thought he knew about his former partner.

    Director:Cary Joji Fukunaga
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  4. True Detective Season 1 Episode 6 - Haunted Houses
    9.2/10(32648 votes)

    S1:E6

    Maggie reveals Cohle's activities in 2002, when his relationship with Hart fractured and he quit the force.

    Director:Cary Joji Fukunaga
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  5. True Detective Season 1 Episode 7 - After You've Gone
    9.2/10(32130 votes)

    S1:E7

    Hart and Cohle call a truce to investigate a series of disappearances that may be related to the Dora Lange murder and the Tuttle family.

    Director:Cary Joji Fukunaga
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  6. True Detective Season 1 Episode 3 - The Locked Room
    9.1/10(34549 votes)

    S1:E3

    A hidden image at the burned-out church leads Cohle and Hart to Joel Theriot, a tent-revival minister whose parishioners finger a scarred “tall man” seen with Dora Lange. Brought in for interrogation, a sex offender matching the description is quickly dismissed by Cohle, despite offering a confession. Hart gets sidetracked after Maggie sets Cohle up with a friend at a C&W bar. Looking to establish a pattern of murder, Cohle pores over old case files, finding a connection with a woman assumed to have drowned years earlier.

    Director:Cary Joji Fukunaga
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of True Detective

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  7. True Detective Season 1 Episode 1 - The Long Bright Dark
    8.9/10(41697 votes)

    S1:E1

    Former Louisiana State CID partners Martin Hart and Rustin Cohle give separate statements to a pair of investigators about the murder of a prostitute, Dora Lange, 17 years earlier. As they look back, details of the crime, replete with occult overtones, are accompanied by insights into the detectives’ volatile partnership and personal lives.

    Director:Cary Joji Fukunaga
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  8. True Detective Season 1 Episode 2 - Seeing Things
    8.8/10(35730 votes)

    S1:E2

    Under pressure to land a suspect in the Lange murder, Quesada warns Hart and Cohle that they might be replaced by three detectives from a new task force. The pair lobbies for extra time to follow up on a lead that takes them from a rural cathouse to an incinerated church. With his marriage to Maggie already strained by work, Hart finds respite away from home.

    Director:Cary Joji Fukunaga
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  9. True Detective Season 2 Episode 7 - Black Maps and Motel Rooms
    8.5/10(12915 votes)

    S2:E7

    Ray, Ani and Paul take precautionary measures to elude detection and untangle a dark mystery; Frank deals with the fallout of his betrayal.

    Director:Dan Attias
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  10. True Detective Season 3 Episode 1 - The Great War and Modern Memory
    8.5/10(12597 votes)

    S3:E1

    The disappearance of a young Arkansas boy and his sister in 1980 triggers vivid memories and enduring questions for retired detective Wayne Hays, who worked the case 35 years before with partner Roland West. What started as a routine case becomes a long journey to dissect and make sense of the crime.

    Director:Jeremy Saulnier
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  11. True Detective Season 3 Episode 7 - The Final Country
    8.5/10(8814 votes)

    S3:E7

    Following up on new leads, Wayne and Roland track down a man who left the police force in the midst of the Purcell investigation. Meanwhile, Amelia visits Lucy Purcell’s best friend in hopes of gaining insights into the whereabouts of the mysterious one-eyed man.

    Director:Daniel Sackheim
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  12. True Detective Season 3 Episode 5 - If You Have Ghosts
    8.3/10(8867 votes)

    S3:E5

    Wayne finds himself in a no-win situation as new clues emerge in the Purcell case. Roland wrestles with how to keep evidence secure as lawyers demand a new investigation. Amelia finds her relationship with Wayne imperiled by her writing aspirations and his jealousy.

    Director:Nic Pizzolatto
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  13. True Detective Season 3 Episode 6 - Hunters in the Dark
    8.3/10(8572 votes)

    S3:E6

    Wayne and Roland revisit discrepancies in the Purcell case that were hidden or forgotten over the years. Among those being reevaluated is Tom Purcell, as well as Lucy Purcell’s cousin, Dan O’Brien. The glitter of Amelia’s book release is tarnished by a voice from the past.

    Director:Daniel Sackheim
    Writers:Graham Gordy, Nic Pizzolatto

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  14. True Detective Season 2 Episode 6 - Church in Ruins
    8.2/10(11597 votes)

    S2:E6

    Desperate to locate a missing woman with intel about Caspere, Frank meets with Mexican drug dealers; Ani infiltrates an exclusive inner circle, with Ray and Paul keeping close tabs.

    Director:Miguel Sapochnik
    Writers:Scott Lasser, Nic Pizzolatto

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  15. True Detective Season 2 Episode 4 - Down Will Come
    8.1/10(12740 votes)

    S2:E4

    The detail works a pawn-shop lead to close in on a suspect in the Caspere case. Frank revisits his past to pay for his present. Velcoro, Bezzerides and Woodrugh struggle to keep the case straight in the face of corruption.

    Director:Jeremy Podeswa
    Writers:Scott Lasser, Nic Pizzolatto

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  16. True Detective Season 3 Episode 4 - The Hour and the Day
    8.0/10(8773 votes)

    S3:E4

    Hays and West see a possible connection between the local church and the Purcell crimes. As the detectives search for one suspect and round up another for interrogation, Woodard is targeted by a vigilante group.

    Director:Nic Pizzolatto
    Writers:David Milch, Nic Pizzolatto

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  17. True Detective Season 3 Episode 2 - Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
    8.0/10(10010 votes)

    S3:E2

    Hays looks back at the aftermath of the 1980 Purcell case in West Finger, Arkansas, including possible evidence left behind at the Devil's Den. As attention focuses on two conspicuous suspects--Brett Woodard, a solitary vet and trash collector, and Ted LaGrange, an ex-con with a penchant for children--the parents of the missing kids, Tom and Lucy Purcell, receive a cryptic note.

    Director:Jeremy Saulnier
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  18. True Detective Season 3 Episode 8 - Now Am Found
    8.0/10(11029 votes)

    S3:E8

    Wayne struggles to hold on to his memories, and his grip on reality, as the truth behind the Purcell case is finally revealed.

    Director:Daniel Sackheim
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  19. True Detective Season 2 Episode 8 - Omega Station
    8.0/10(14832 votes)

    S2:E8

    Frank, Ray and Ani weigh their options as Caspere's killer and the scope of corruption is revealed.

    Director:John Crowley
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  20. True Detective Season 3 Episode 3 - The Big Never
    7.7/10(9034 votes)

    S3:E3

    Hays recalls his early romance with Amelia, as well as cracks in their relationship that surfaced after they married and had children. Ten years after the Purcell crimes, new evidence emerges, giving him a second chance to vindicate himself and the investigation.

    Director:Daniel Sackheim
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  21. True Detective Season 2 Episode 5 - Other Lives
    7.6/10(10922 votes)

    S2:E5

    Ray and Frank contemplate new life choices. Ani and Paul follow a lead up the coast.

    Director:John Crowley
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  22. True Detective Season 2 Episode 2 - Night Finds You
    7.6/10(13313 votes)

    S2:E2

    Ben Caspar's autopsy reveals the gruesome details of his demise, and Ray and Ani wonder if it has anything to do with his fondness for prostitutes. Meanwhile, Frank looks into what might have happened to his missing fortune.

    Director:Justin Lin
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  23. True Detective Season 2 Episode 1 - The Western Book of the Dead
    7.5/10(18223 votes)

    S2:E1

    The disappearance of a city manager disrupts a lucrative land scheme and ignites an investigation involving three police officers and a career criminal who is moving into legitimate business.

    Director:Justin Lin
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  24. True Detective Season 2 Episode 3 - Maybe Tomorrow
    7.3/10(12005 votes)

    S2:E3

    The repercussions from Caspar's murder are felt by Frank and the Vinci Mayor's office. Ray and Ani are involved in a close call with the killer.

    Director:Janus Metz
    Writer:Nic Pizzolatto

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  25. True Detective Season 4 Episode 1 - Night Country: Part 1
    7.1/10(21176 votes)

    S4:E1

    When eight researchers at Tsalal Station vanish without a trace, Danvers orders a search. After handling a workplace dispute, Navarro tries to convince a skeptical Danvers that the men's disappearance is connected to the murder of a local activist.

    Director:Issa López
    Writer:Issa López

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Best Episodes Summary

"Who Goes There?" is the best rated episode of True Detective. It scored 9.6/10 from 47,942 votes. Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and written by Nic Pizzolatto, it aired on February 9, 2014.

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