Warning! Contains major spoilers for True Detective: Night Country’s episode 2.
True Detective: Night Country episode 2’s scary screaming corpse scene leaves viewers wondering what might have happened to the researcher. Unlike episode 1, which only set the stage for season 4’s overarching mysteries, True Detective: Night Country‘s episode 2 drops several revelations, hinting at how Navarro and Danvers will ultimately solve the central murder cases. However, before episode 2 unveils new details surrounding the murders of the Tsalal researchers, it features a terrifying scene in which a researcher’s corpse lets out a loud shriek.
Episode 2 begins with Danvers and her APF team attempting to get the frozen researchers out of their combined corpsicle. While Danvers and Peter take their job seriously and patiently chip away at the ice surrounding the researchers, the other police officers seem a little too casual about the whole ordeal. As a result, one police detective makes a grave mistake that leads to one of the most bone-chilling scenes of the series.
True Detective Confirms Huge Matthew McConaughey Connection In Season 4 (& Changes Rust Cohle’s Ending)
True Detective: Night Country episode 2 confirms a big theory about Rust Cohle, which has ramifications for season 1’s ending and season 4’s story.
Was The Screaming Corpse Him Dying, Or Something Supernatural?
The corpse in True Detective: Night Country‘s episode 2 started screaming after one of the detectives accidentally broke his arm. This indicated that the screaming man was not actually a corpse but had somehow miraculously survived. While most humans can die from hypothermia after getting frozen in ice, there have been rare cases where freezing has had a protective effect on the human body, allowing one to survive for hours after getting frozen. Unlike the rest of his team members from the Tsalal research facility, the screaming man somehow survived and felt excruciating pain when the detective snapped his arm.
Another scene in True Detective: Night Country‘s episode 2 proves this. While making her way to a geology teacher in Ennis’ local school, Danvers briefly talks to a nurse who informs her that the man is in an induced coma and is in no state to talk to the APF. She also mentions that at least one of his legs will have to be amputated, likely because he was severely frostbitten from the freezing. This establishes that the screaming man had nothing to do with the show’s supernatural underpinnings, and, in future episodes, he could also be the key to understanding what happened to the other researchers from Tsalal.
The Screaming Corpse Shows How True Detective: Night Country Nails Its Horror Tone
The screaming corpse scene is incredibly terrifying because the show initially establishes that all the researchers are dead but suddenly shocks viewers by revealing that one of them is still alive and in unimaginable pain. The horror genre often thrives on unpredictability because there is nothing scarier and emotionally jarring than the unknown. With its screaming corpse scene, True Detective: Night Country perfectly nails the essence of this fear of the unknown by prompting viewers to wonder what happened to the researcher.
Another example of True Detective: Night Country ingeniously exploiting unpredictability to instill fear comes towards the end of episode 2 when Navarro and Danvers find a human-like straw doll on Raymond Clark’s bed. While the screaming corpse scene scares by suddenly bringing life to something that was assumed to be lifeless, the straw doll scene does the opposite by suggesting that something inanimate has been imbued with supernatural forces. Both scenes portray how True Detective: Night Country‘s horror tone is right on point.
True Detective
In this anthology series, each season follows a different detective or set of detectives as they forced to confront some horrific truths about their town and themselves. No matter the setting and characters, each detective must unravel lies and clues to solve the chilling mysteries around them.
- Release Date
- January 12, 2014
- Cast
- Matthew McConaughey , Woody Harrelson , Colin Farrell , Rachel McAdams , Taylor Kitsch , Mahershala Ali , Carmen Ejogo , Michelle Monaghan , Michael Potts , Ray Fisher , Jodie Foster
- Seasons
- 3
- Story By
- NIC PIZZOLATTO
- Writers
- Nic Pizzolatto
- Network
- HBO Max
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu , HBO Max
- Directors
- Cary Fukunaga
- Showrunner
- Nic Pizzolatto
