True Detective’s new season might be revealing a major connection to Matthew McConaughey’s character.
True Detective: Night Country isn’t a direct sequel to any of the show’s previous seasons, but there is definitely some connective tissue between them. Season showrunner Issa Lopez confirmed as much ahead of the Night Country debut, saying that the different seasons take place in the same universe and that there are some connections. A lot of fans have latched onto the theory that the biggest of those connections comes in the form of Travis, the dead man who reveals himself to Rose and leads her to the bodies of the scientists.
According to the theory, Travis is the father of Rust Cohle, the character famously played by Matthew McConaughey in True Detective Season 1. The second episode of True Detective: Night Country aired on Sunday night and actually doubled down on that theory, providing even more evidence of Rust’s father appearing in the new season. WARNING: This article contains spoilers for True Detective: Night Country! Continue reading at your own risk…
The Travis-Rust theory comes from the very little we learned about Rust’s father in the first season of True Detective. We know that Rust claimed his father moved from Texas to Alaska at some point in his life and that he had terminal cancer. We also know that Rust’s father’s name is Travis. Between that and his physical appearance in the season premiere, people connected a few dots and pondered the possibility. If you thought that theory might be true heading into Sunday night’s episode, you’ll probably leave it believing the theory without a shadow of a doubt.
In the new episode, Rose tells Navarro about Travis, her dead former lover who still sometimes appears to her. She confirms that he died out in the ice because he had leukemia and wanted to go out on his own before the cancer could kill him. So that’s one more nod in the direction of Rust’s father, but it’s the next bit of evidence that really seals the deal.
While talking with Navarro, Rose calls Travis by his full name one time: Travis Cohle. You’ll notice if you turn on the subtitles for the scene, the name is specifically spelled “Cohle” and not “Cole.” All signs are pointing toward Travis actually being Rust’s father, though that doesn’t mean we’re going to see McConaughey’s beloved character appear in the new season.
Travis Cohle Timeline
The one thing people will continue digging into is whether or not the timeline supports Travis in Night Country being old enough to be Rust Cohle’s father. The version of the character we see on screen obviously looks too young, but he’s a ghost so it’s not worth putting too much into his “current” appearance.
Rust was born in 1964, according to the first season of True Detective, which would make him around 60 at the time of Night Country, since it takes place in the modern day (the exact year hasn’t been mentioned but the episodes are filled with modern technology). That would put Travis likely in his 80s if he were still alive.
Rose doesn’t say when Travis died, but it couldn’t have been decades ago because we learn in this latest episode that Navarro is the person who found his dead body. The biggest curveball in the whole thing is that any information Rust shared about his dad in Alaska came when he was part of an undercover operation and could be fabricated.
All that to say there are definitely some question marks about Travis and Rust, but the connections are entirely too strong to ignore.
