Before Commissioner Wayne Hays (Mahershala Ali) leaves the newly discovered crime scene to fetch his colleagues, he gives the grotesquely arranged child's face a reassuring pat. As if he wanted to tell the dead boy that the worst was over now. The only one Hays could reassure is himself. But he probably already suspects that that too will be in vain and that the case of the dead boy will be followed until the end of his life.

The first thing to be clarified during the third season of "True Detective" (Germany start: January 14 on Sky), is the title of the series. A true detective seems to be someone who is already carrying some of his psychological baggage through his job before the case shown in each season completely throws him off track.

As in the first season, which has established the phenomenal reputation of the series, the impact of the case is shown by the inclusion of multiple time levels. In 1980, the body of 12-year-old Will is discovered and his 10-year-old sister Julie reported missing. In 1990, the case was reopened by a spectacular turnaround, and in 2015 an interview for a TV documentary (nicknamed "True Criminal") led to an increasingly dementia-stricken Hays facing the case one last time. On all three levels, the question arises what happened to the children and who is responsible for them - each with a different but with the same urgency.

A man of untapped potential

The second thing that clears up over the course of the new season is the question of whether the series will find its way back to its old strength after the legendary misguided, much-delayed second season. Series creator Nic Pizzolatto has spent more than three years giving HBO time to avoid another quick shot and strike the balance between exciting criminal cases, complex figure psychology and atmospheric cinematography.

At least at the second episode shows: Yes, it fits again. Or better: it fits, only now differently.

The biggest change within the "True Detective" cosmos is the focus on one main character: Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali ("Moonlight") plays Wayne Hays - over 35 years and various states of mind. We meet him in 1980 as an ambitious young commissioner hardened by the Vietnam War, and in 1990 we meet him again as a bitter official with a desk job. Finally, in 2015, we look back on his life as shocked as he, wondering what happened to him and his family.

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"True Detective" Season 3: What happened to the kids?

Ali covers this spectrum with a sense of proportion that one could almost overlook how brilliant he plays. His charm, with which he made "Moonlight" shine, he uses here so reduced that Hays becomes a man of unrealized potential. His marriage (wonderfully ambiguous: Carmen Ejogo as wife Amelia), his career - what would have happened if he had had more access to his feelings and needs?

And what if he had not been black?

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HBO:
True Detective Season 1

3 DVDs; 420 minutes; 9,97 euros

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According to Ali, he first had to press Pizzolatto to occupy the lead role with him and thus an African American. Luckily, Pizzolatto listened to Ali, because not only was he able to cast such an outstanding actor. The story is denser by the fact that identified with Hays a black man. In the Arkansas of the eighties, white people meet him with barely concealed disapproval, while black people are skeptical: in the service of which justice does he think he is?

His white partner Roland West (Stephen Dorff, whose deceased celebrity status skilfully uses the series) does not care about Hays' skin color. What counts for him is that they can rely on each other and agree on when to tackle a suspect sometimes really hard. But their superiors seem to have a problem with a black man in their ranks, and so institutional racism complicates the investigation and dynamics in the team.

In the video: The trailer for "True Detective Season 3"

All this is not at the expense of the criminal case, but rather couples him to additional worlds of experience. The previous season felt like showcase projects that were too busy with their own brilliance, finds "True Detective" here to a productive worldliness. If it took three years of development (and one Mahershala Ali intervention), it was worth it.

"True Detective" Season 3 will be available on Sky Atlantic from January 14th