True Detective Season 4, Episode 3 Ending, Navarro’s Mom & More Explained

Warning! Contains major spoilers for True Detective season 4.

True Detective season 4’s episode 3 ends on an ambiguous note where Navarro’s past becomes deeply intertwined with her present, leaving viewers with several questions surrounding her backstory and its connections with her investigations. In its final arc, True Detective season 4’s episode 3 hints that the researchers at the Tsalal facility might have died long before they froze. Although Danvers and Navarro find a new lead, Oliver, in its opening moments, episode 3’s closing arc establishes that Oliver might have had nothing to do with the murders because he did not even know about them until Navarro told him.

After meeting Oliver in True Detective: Night Country‘s episode 3, Navarro and Danvers head straight to the hospital where they learn about Anders Lund’s deteriorating condition. Although Anders barely seems to be in a state to talk about anything when they arrive, he discloses some terrifying details about what came after him and the other researchers that night. When Danvers is not around for a few brief moments, Lund also seemingly delivers a cryptic supernatural message to Navarro.

Who Or What Was Anders Lund Warning Danvers About?

Anders repeats what Raymond had said before the Tsalal murders

When Danvers and Navarro visit Anders Lund at the hospital in True Detective: Night Country episode 3’s closing arc, he initially howls in pain. However, as soon as Danvers asks him what happened to him and his fellow researchers, something takes over the scientist, and he says, “She woke up.” He then adds that she came for them in the dark, without revealing who he is referring to. Although Anders reveals no names, his last words to Danvers seem reminiscent of what Raymond Clark had said in the first episode: “She’s awake.“

“She’s awake” was something Danvers and Navarro had also heard in True Detective: Night Country‘s episode 1 before experiencing something supernatural. The supernatural connotations surrounding the two words suggest that Anders could actually be talking about Annie awakening from her deathbed to seek vengeance on the ones who harmed her. How she returned after being dead for over six years remains unknown, but it might have something to do with what the scientists were trying to find at the Tsalal research facility.

The researchers at Tsalal were trying to sequence the DNA of an extinct microorganism that could stop cellular decay. Episode 2 also revealed that Raymond was having a hard time dealing with Annie’s death and had even created a straw doll that represented her. This suggests that the Tsalal researchers might have managed to unearth an ancient organism of some sort that Raymond might have used to revive Annie. However, instead of bringing Annie back to life, he created his own “Frankenstein,” who is out balancing the scales of justice.

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Was Anders Lund Possessed?

Anders Lund’s possession captures what is happening in Ennis

Navarro finds herself alone with Anders when Danvers briefly leaves to break a riot at the hospital. This is when Anders suddenly sits up and tells Navarro that her mother is waiting for her. Despite being in immense pain when Danvers and Navarro had previously arrived at his hospital room, Anders suddenly stops screaming when he briefly gets up in his bed to tell Navarro about her mother. Considering how Lund likely knew nothing about Navarro’s mother or Navarro, the fact that he was able to deliver such a personal message to her suggests he was possessed.

In an early moment from True Detective: Night Country, Rose says that Ennis is the place where the fabric that separates the dead from the living seems to be breaking. When Navarro and Danvers arrived at the hospital, Anders was already on the brink of death, perhaps somewhere in the middle of the fabric that separates life and death in Ennis. This might have allowed Navarro’s mother to possess him and send a final message to her daughter.

What Happened To Navarro’s Mom & How Is It Connected?

Anders’ message serves as a metaphor for Navarro’s unresolved trauma

In an early scene from True Detective: Night Country‘s episode 3, Navarro approaches Eddie to ask him if he knows anything about Oliver Tugac. Eddie promises to ask around but coerces her to reveal something personal about herself in return. After initially being a little apprehensive, Navarro discloses that her father was abusive towards her mother. To protect herself and her children, her mother decided to leave, but her mental health gradually declined.

Troubled by her visions and traumas, Navarro’s mother suddenly left their home one day and never returned. She was later found dead by an unknown killer. Navarro’s mother’s mysterious death is perhaps one of the reasons why she decided to join law enforcement. It also explains why she is obsessed with solving Annie’s murder case. A part of her seems to believe that she will get a semblance of resolution about her mother’s murder if she manages to serve justice to Annie’s killer.

Although Lund did seem possessed when he told Navarro her mother was waiting for her, his message seemed more like a metaphor for how Navarro would only find peace and come to terms with her mother’s demise if she solved Annie’s case. His message might have been a reflection of her conscience, reminding her that her mother would want her to confront her demons, resolve her past issues, and find closure. Danvers’ dead son also appears in True Detective: Night Country‘s episode 3, and he, too, seemingly sends out a similar message for his mother through Navarro.

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What Happened To Annie In The Cell Phone Video?

Annie’s cellphone video might have revealed the cause of her death

Before True Detective: Night Country‘s episode 3’s credits start rolling, Danvers, Navarro, and Peter play the last video Annie had recorded on her phone. In the video, Annie seems to be inside an ice cave and claims she found something. However, before she reveals what she has discovered, someone attacks her. The video seems to capture where Annie was initially killed. Considering how Navarro had found her body in a completely different location after she was murdered, it seems likely that whoever killed her took her body somewhere else to conceal the evidence and mislead the police.

Annie’s phone camera also briefly points towards the cave’s ceiling, revealing a red fossil-like structure shaped like a spiral. Suzan had told Navarro that Annie used to dream about the spiral when she was younger, but the dreams stopped when she got it tattooed. The researchers at Tsalal were also looking for an extinct organism that could help them reverse cell decay in humans. Maybe the spiral-like fossil Annie discovered was the same organism that Tsalal researchers were looking for, and someone did not want either of them to find the ancient organism in True Detective: Night Country.

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

Directors

Cary Fukunaga

Showrunner

Nic Pizzolatto