There's only one more episode of True Detective: Night Country to go, and this week's penultimate hour concluded with a shocking character death.
Major spoilers from this point on.
We never trusted Hank Prior (John Hawkes), but the full extent of the Ennis police officer's corruption became clear when he agreed to murder Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) in order to prevent her from uncovering the truth about the dead men from the research station and what exactly happened out there on the ice, as well as the unsolved murder of Annie Kowtok.
Towards the end of the episode, Hank has his gun on Liz after already killing a vital witness in the investigation, when his son Pete (Finn Bennett) arrives on the scene and points his weapon at his father. The Priors always had a strained relationship, but Hank does clearly love his son, and counts on familial loyalty when he moves to put a bullet in Liz.
Unfortunately for Hank, Pete makes a different choice and shoots his dad dead.
During an interview with THR, Bennett was asked about his character's fateful - and fatal - decision.
"I don’t think there was a right decision to make here. He made the least bad decision. Calling it a decision in the first place almost gives it too much weight, because it’s a snap, it’s almost a reflex. There’s something John told me that I’ve remembered ever since; that he really dislikes when actors say, “Oh, my character would never do that.” Because everybody in everyday life makes decisions and does things they would never expect from themselves. You’re a mystery to yourself. I don’t think Pete has decided to go with Danvers in this moment. It was just a thing he did. And it’s something that he will regret… maybe too harsh a word. But it’s definitely something he will think about every day for the rest of his life."
Pete stays behind to clean up the evidence as Danvers and Navarro set off to finally get some answers, and we'll find out what happens next in the season finale next Friday.
"When the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska, the eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanish without a trace. To solve the case, Detectives Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice."