The Main Color Tone and Hidden Information in "True Detective" Season 4

The initial episode of "True Detective" Season 4 is rich in content. Taking place during the Alaskan polar night, the town is enveloped in a dense fog, heightened by the accompanying music. While the series maintains its typical elements of mystery and suspense, this season appears to reintroduce the occasional humor that contributed to the allure of the first season. This is a departure from the relatively somber tone of the second and third seasons.

As an example, in the first season, one of the most amusing moments occurred when Marty urgently called Rust to join him in catching someone. However, Rust strolled leisurely step by step from the schoolyard, leading Marty to grumble, "Who walks that fxxking slowly?" In the opening of the fourth season, Danvers arrives at the missing scientific expedition site, and upon hearing The Beatles' "Twist and Shout," he promptly exclaims, "Where is that song?" and rushes into the site to turn off the music. "Not a Beatles fan," he adds. It's quite humorous.

The series continues to showcase stunning wide shots and aerial views that are familiar to fans. Additionally, the colors depicted under the polar night cast a magical spell, creating a fantasy world. The contrasting warm orange and cool blue tones are thoughtfully distributed throughout the series, contributing to a vibrant and captivating visual impact. The Tyndall effect in the cold winter further blurs the lines between dreamlike fantasy and tangible reality, adding an intriguing dimension to the visuals.

Numerous elements in the series are intricately tied to these dominant colors. The blue tone is notably more connected to Anne's old case, creating a thematic link, while the orange tone is generally associated with characters like Danvers and Peter, as well as visuals related to the new case. Even the interior walls and furniture of the scientific research station feature this color scheme. The scientific expedition team, currently connected to Anne's case through team member Raymond Clark, introduces a layer of complexity hinted at by the color choices. Notably, during the introduction of team members, each person's profile is showcased individually with a close-up shot, except for the last two, who appear together in one frame, deviating from the presentation style used for the rest of the team. This suggests that there might be more to their roles than initially apparent.

The first episode provides key information, revealing a significant connection between Danvers and her daughter related to a past accident caused by drunk driving. When they narrowly avoided being hit by a drunk driver on the road, Danvers' immediate response was to reassure Leah, indicating a personal history with such incidents. A flashback with broken glass suggests she had encountered a similar accident scene before. Later, Leah brings up the topic of drunk driving, hinting at a likely connection between Leah's father and Danvers' deceased daughter, Holden, to this previous accident. In a dream, Danvers is seemingly awakened by her daughter's hand and sees a polar bear doll with one eye missing, leading to speculation that the doll may have been held by her daughter during the accident.

The choice of Billie Eilish's "Bury A Friend" as the opening song appears to be connected to the expedition team members buried in the ice. The lyrics, especially the line "when we all fall asleep, where do we go," coincides thematically with the night and dream motifs prevalent in this season. The opening line, "For we do not know what beasts the night dreams when its hours grow too long for even god to be awake," makes a reference to Hildred Castaigne, a main character in the story "The Repairer Of Reputations" from "The King in Yellow." In the story, Hildred confesses to killing two people and ultimately meets his end in a mental institution for criminals.

In the first episode, the phrase "she's awake" is mentioned three times. The first time is when Raymond Clark, a member of the scientific expedition team associated with Anne, who was stabbed to death six years ago, says it. He is seen twitching and covered in snow, indicating that he has just returned from outside. When Danvers investigates his room, she mentions that he is the only person who doesn't share a room with others, suggesting that he has a special status. Raymond is a researcher in ancient microbiology, but nothing particularly unusual is observed about him.

The second mention of "she's awake" is when Danvers wakes up from a dream and hears her daughter Holden's voice saying it. After Holden speaks, Danvers picks up a polar bear doll. The third time is when Navarro almost hits a live one-eyed polar bear (is it a hallucination?), and the phrase is heard in the disrupted conversation.

The Tsalal research station receives its primary funding from an NGO, but there is also a discreet contribution from an undisclosed party. This detail could potentially resurface later in the storyline. Anne's backstory reveals her involvement in protesting a mining operation and based on dialogue from her brother and other main characters, it is suggested that her resistance activities were intense and may have led to her death. There seems to be a connection between Silver Sky and Tsalal, indicating that these elements are intricately intertwined in the unfolding narrative.

Danvers adds a touch of charm to her character by participating in Fantasy Football and sporting Minnesota Vikings merchandise at home, which adds a cute element to her persona. It remains uncertain whether she chose the Vikings due to their purple color scheme. Notably, orange and blue in specific proportions can create purple. Danvers serves as a significant link between the old and new cases in the series. While Navarro is also connected to these cases, the predominant color tones associated with Navarro lean towards blue, further emphasizing the color dynamics and associations in the storyline.

Navarro's blue down jacket and the blue items on Raymond Clark's bed, such as the pillow and the cabinet, indicate a strong connection between Raymond and Anne.

In the memory, where Anne's body is found is in a set of container-like houses, we can also spot the blue color. However, she also has a hat in deep purple.

The character Rose Aguineau appears to hold significance in the series. It remains unclear if the deceased Travis has any connection to Anne. During the scene where Rose is dissecting the wolf at the beginning, before the hallucination, the wolf twitches and emits a cry. Subsequently, the broadcast asks if anyone is there. The question arises: does Rose's appearance while dissecting the wolf resemble the local legend drawn by Peter's child? Additionally, the auditory hallucination effect she experiences aligns with the one Navarro encounters while making a phone call in the car, suggesting a consistent and potentially meaningful pattern in the storyline.

Under the guidance of the hallucination of Travis, Rose also discovers three horrifying frozen corpses. The clothes she wears when finding the bodies are a warm color similar to dark yellow .

The father-son duo Hank Prior and Peter also seem intriguing. However, Hank doesn't want Danvers and Navarro to reinvestigate Anne's old case. Hank's fiancée Alina, also likes the color blue. Hank intentionally painted one room blue in their warm-colored home. It is unknown if this woman from Vladivostok has a strong connection to Anne.

Hank's room where he keeps the case files is also blue. They brought the case files home back then due to a flood, but it's unclear whether it was natural or man-made. After all, a burst water pipe in the house can also be considered a flood. This may be a foreshadowing element.

In "True Detective" Season 4, each character introduced has a rich background, and it feels like their stories are worth exploring. However, the season has only six episodes instead of the usual eight, and with so much information introduced in the opening, hopefully, the narrative can be effectively conveyed.