Photo used courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Despite an iconic initial season (regardless of what you think of that ending), but a legendarily reviled follow-up (which this writer still finds things to like about), HBO has given True Detective season three a go, and just announced that Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin, Green Room) will be co-directing this new installment of the crime anthology series with its creator, Nic Pizzolatto.

We already knew that Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, The Place Beyond the Pines) was set to star, so many outlets are labeling this greenlight something of a “formality”. Along with the announcement came this rather sparse premise:

“…the story of a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks, and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods. Ali will play the lead role of Wayne Hays, a state police detective from Northwest Arkansas.”

Also fascinating is the fact that True Detective will return to Pizzolatto being the sole writer of every episode, with the exception of the fourth, which will be co-written by David Milch (Deadwood). For fans of colorful profanity and rhythmic dialogue, this hour will prove especially exciting, as Milch has not written episodic television since helping to pen his ill-fated Michael Mann collaboration, Luck, for HBO. The exact season three episode count has yet to be finalized (a total of five teleplays have been handed in by Pizzolatto thus far), but both previous seasons ran a total of eight chapters, respectively.

But let’s get down to business: Jeremy Saulnier (who is also a two time Fantastic Fest vet) is one of the great young genre directors working today, as both Green Room and Blue Ruin are bona fide small scale stunners, full of an immaculate sense of craft and beautiful performances. Seeing him make the jump to a project of this magnitude is simply thrilling. Being no stranger to brutal violence or hazy morality certainly makes him a perfect match for True Detective, and we can’t wait to see how he and Nic Pizzolatto work together.

Now, can we get a role for Macon Blair?