'True Detective: Night Country': Is Kate McKittrick the Key to Unlocking the Mystery?

By Dustin Rowles | TV | February 12, 2024 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | February 12, 2024 |

There’s one episode of True Detective: Night Country left, and — as is appropriate here — the series is closing in on answers, but they still seem to be just out of reach. Here are the major questions remaining as we head into the finale:

Where is Raymond Clark? The missing TSALAL scientist seems to be the key witness to all the events. He was dating Annie K. when she died, and he had her phone, which contained footage of her final moments. He was there when the TSALAL scientists died. He was the first to say, “She’s awake.” He gave his coat to Otis Heiss, who believes that Raymond is in Night Country now. If Danvers and Navarro can find their way into Night Country, they may be able to find Raymond. However, he has been affected by whatever injuries affected Otis and the scientist — it’s why he sought out Otis to ask how he survived his injuries — so it’s unclear if Raymond would be coherent once he’s found.

Who is she from “She’s awake”? The answer to this question should unlock the entire mystery, as well. “She” is presumably what led to the scientists’ death. Is she a person? A prehistoric animal? A virus? A ghost, or the ghost of Annie K? Or something else?

What caused the injuries to Otis and the scientists? “She” seems to be responsible for the injuries. Before he was afflicted, Otis describes a scene in which men following something “screaming.” Otis also tried to follow up but woke up in the hospital with all of his “injuries.” That suggests “she” has some siren-like abilities or something.

What is the Night Country? Night Country apparently refers to the system of ice caves where the answers to the mystery lie. Those caves are owned by the Silver Springs Mine Co., which Kate McKittrick and the Tuttle United Group own. Tuttle also provides funding for TSALAL, and Danvers posits that Kate was paying TSALAL to basically fudge the pollution numbers for her. But there has to be more to it than that.

Then again, that source of pollution — whatever is in the water and killing babies — will probably be uncovered in the caves. Is the source of pollution also what caused the injuries to Otis and the scientists?

Who killed Annie K and why? — The motive seems to be clear — Annie K. discovered whatever it is in the ice caves that are behind all of this mess. Who killed her? We know that Hank moved her body, but someone else killed her. It has to be on behalf of Kate McKitrick and the Silver Springs Mine, right? She has to be behind the conspiracy because she controlled Hank and continues to control Ted Connelly. She is behind everything: The mines, the ice caves, TSALAL, the pollution, and Annie K’s death.

One Final Theory to Throw Into the Mix: The Kate McKittrick angle is interesting for another reason. At the end of the episode, after Hank shoots and kills Otis on behalf of Kate, his son Pete walks in. It’s an interesting scene because initially, Hank tries to talk Pete into helping him deal with the body of Otis. However, it becomes clear to Hank that his kid is not corrupt, and Hank seems to resign himself to suicide-by-cop/son. He delivers a deathbed confession, knowing he’s about to die: “You should know something. I didn’t kill Annie K. I just moved her body.”

After that, however, he says, “Blood is blood, Peter.” One would think that “blood is blood, Peter” would be part of his plea to get Pete to help him deal with Otis’ body. But the statement came after he resigned himself to death, which suggests to me that Hank was referencing someone else to whom Pete was related.

No one ever speaks about Pete’s mom, but “blood is blood” may be a reference to her. And what if she is Kate McKittrick? It would explain why she has such a hold over Hank. Why she calls him Henry. And why the two seem so familiar. Recall in the second episode, we first met Kate through her interaction with Hank when she told “Henry” to “get that son of yours to do some private skate lessons for my boys. Good money in it, you know, for a young dad.” Why would Kate be so invested in Pete?

“I’ll try to talk some sense into him,” Hank tells her.
“I’m counting on you,” Kate responds.

It’s a curious exchange, clearly loaded, and one that could suggest she’s “counting on” Hank to provide a means for Pete to spend time with her or his half-brothers, as well as provide a better source of income for her son. It’s also exactly the kind of bombshell that might bring several moments in this series into focus.