True Detective Season 3 Trailer Reveals A Dark, Haunting Mystery

The first season of HBO's True Detective was one of the most acclaimed new shows of recent years, and while Season 2 was a bit of a disappointment, expectations are high for Season 3. The series returns in January and the full trailer for the new season has now been released.

Unlike August's first teaser, this new trailer reveals a bit more about the plot. It's set across three decades, and stars Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Luke Cage, House of Cards) as a cop who investigated the disappearance of a child in the Ozarks and is clearly still haunted by the case many years later. It certainly seems to have the dark and mysterious atmosphere that made Season 1 such a hit--check it out above.

True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto has written the entire season, with Deadwood creator David Milch lending a hand. The cast also includes Stephen Dorff (Blade), Ray Fisher (Justice League), Carmen Ejogo (Alien: Covenant), and Scoot McNairy (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice). Hold the Dark and Green Room director Jeremy Saulnier helms the first two episodes.

In a recent interview with Indiewire, Pizzolatto spoke about the striking setting for Season 3 and explained that the surroundings were vital to the season's story. "The mystery of the deep woods," he said. "The fog over the mountains. The rivers. The water. The sense of scale when you get out to some of this nature. Also, what the buildings say about the lives behind them. I feel like people will see it as an extension of character, something that embodies characters' emotional journeys while influencing those journeys."

"Sometimes we found things that seem to come straight out of the imagination, like this particular house that I don't want to go into it too much because of spoilers, but once we found it we couldn't believe it existed. It was almost exactly what I had written, and it needed to be very specific."