Since HBO released the premiere date for its new drama series True Detective last month, the network has begun advertising for its high-profile series in earnest. This week, the network released the second trailer for the drama, which follows two detectives looking for a seriously twisted serial killer.
True Detective follows Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson) as a couple of detectives who are on a manhunt for a serial killer in Louisiana. HBO’s initial trailer spent a lot of time with its two leads, oozing a murder mystery that somehow ties in with the two detectives' personal lives and personalities. It was a trailer that highlighted some steady and sure-to-be-interesting acting performances from two top-notch actors in the field and it helped to build the tension that is sure to keep things creepy in the new series.
The new trailer is similar. We see plenty of shots of Louisiana landscapes from fields to creepy buildings and from car rides on lonely roads to rough roadhouses and bars. The different settings help to set the tone for the dark drama, but we still don’t know much about the case or the personality of the serial killer that is at the heart of True Detective. We do get a hint though, that makes this trailer even more compelling/frightening than the first one. At one point, Cohle is sitting in an interview room talking about his experiences during the case when he says, “Life is just a nightmare you keep waking up to,” adding that “there’s a monster at the end of it.”
In addition to the new trailer, HBO has also released a promotional poster for the 2014 drama. The poster, too, is eerie, highlighting a dark landscape filled with trees. In the background, a ghostly-looking man holding some sort of weapon lingers. The poster is captioned with the phrase, “Man is the cruelest animal.” Maybe that’s not enough to give you the heebie jeebies, but is leaves me rather discomfited…
If all of this footage is old hat, you can keep in touch with the latest True Detective information via the site Darkness Becomes You. We still have a while before the series officially premieres on HBO, as the subscription cable network is currently airing programs like Eastbound & Down and Boardwalk Empire. True Detective will hit the schedule on the same night Girls premieres its third season. It’s a weird match-up, to be sure, but if you’re willing to give the winter Sunday lineup a shot, you can catch the new series on Sunday, January 12 at 9 p.m. ET.
