True Detective backdrop
Drama•Mystery

The Best Episodes of True Detective Season 1

Every episode of True Detective Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of True Detective Season 1!

Binge this in 7h 19m•Peaking at 9.6/10

An American anthology police detective series utilizing multiple timelines in which investigations seem to unearth personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within or outside the law.

Airs on
HBO
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons5

All12345

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    True Detective Season 1 Episode 4 - Who Goes There?
    9.6/10(47765 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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. True Detective Season 1 Episode 8 - Form and Void
    9.6/10(44948 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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. True Detective Season 1 Episode 5 - The Secret Fate of All Life
    9.5/10(37616 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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. True Detective Season 1 Episode 6 - Haunted Houses
    9.2/10(32488 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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. True Detective Season 1 Episode 7 - After You've Gone
    9.2/10(31981 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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. True Detective Season 1 Episode 3 - The Locked Room
    9.1/10(34390 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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 BEST Episodes of True Detective

    READ
  7. True Detective Season 1 Episode 1 - The Long Bright Dark
    8.9/10(41487 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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. True Detective Season 1 Episode 2 - Seeing Things
    8.8/10(35573 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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Season 1 Ratings Summary

"Who Goes There?" is the best rated episode of "True Detective" season 1. It scored 9.6/10 based on 47765 votes. Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and written by Nic Pizzolatto, it aired on 2/9/2014. This episode is rated 0.0 points higher than the second-best, "Form and Void".