‘True Detective: Night Country’ showrunner Issa López revealed how she handles online criticism.
Fans were divided over her approach to the show, but López has a straightforward way of dealing with negativity. She told Variety that not everyone will love the show, and that’s okay. She focuses on engaging with fans who appreciate her work and ignores trolls and hateful comments:
“I think we have a responsibility to contribute or not to the discourse online. And if the discourse is hatred — some people dislike the series, and that’s fantastic. It’s TV! Not everyone is going to love it. Some people love it, and some people dislike it. That’s fantastically OK.
But there was a sector of people that came just because of the change in the series between the first season and this was gender-based and color-based. You have two choices: engage and amplify or move on to the people that are connecting with what you’re trying to say and amplify that. So that’s what I did.”
The latest season’s setting is influenced by the real-life Dyatlov Pass incident, and López decided to have female protagonists to bring a fresh perspective. She also sees her work as a tribute to the original series creator, Nic Pizzolatto.
‘True Detective’ Creator Calls The Backlash ‘Hitlerian’
Pizzolatto is also involved in the conversation around ‘Night Country.’ He faced backlash for his comments on the new season and asked fans to keep the discussion on one Instagram post to avoid it interfering with his personal posts. He described the backlash as ‘Hitlerian,’ writing:
“This here is the place for all your trolling/support/infighting around ‘True Detective’ and the absolute moral degeneracy and misogyny of anyone who did not think it was good. Let’s move these screeds off my posts about my wife, true love, and my father’s death, kay? I’d say ‘stay civil’ but of course civility has no place when criticism of a television show indicates some form of Hitlerian evil that must be stamped out. So roll on, tide. Satire is welcome, and do try to have a nice day.”
Both López and one of the show’s lead stars, Kali Reis, addressed Pizzolatto’s criticism. Reis called his remarks a ‘damn shame,’ but López took a more diplomatic approach by saying it was his right to criticize the show.
‘Night Country’ has the highest-rated season of True Detective on Rotten Tomatoes. The season is currently available for streaming on Max.
