The universal disappointment of True Detective Season 2 owed at least somewhat to the absence of Season 1 director Cary Fukunaga, who himself acknowledges his continued producing credit as perfunctory. HBO hasn’t offered much in the way of any potential True Detective Season 3 news, but don’t expect Fukunaga to return as its saving grace.

Speaking to Vulture of his upcoming Netflix film Beasts of No Nation, Fukunaga inevitably addressed questions of his True Detective role, adding that he’d yet to watch any of the second season, despite having a producer credit. “I had no part in it whatsoever,” reiterates the director, who also admitted work on Beasts to have taken precedence. “[Creator Nic Pizzolatto] has his own directors, he didn’t need any input from me.”

And while HBO has yet to confirm or address any specific development on a potential True Detective Season 3 (nor has Pizzolatto done any significant press), Fukunaga assures “I’m always involved as an EP. Am I directing it? No.”

HBO will likely update on True Detective Season 3 before long, but can the franchise recover without Fukunaga’s uniform vision? How should the series handle a third season creatively, after Pizzolatto’s mixed reception?