Is this name in True Detective Season 4 a huge clue?

True Detective Season 4, officially titled Night Country, features plenty of Easter eggs and clues along the way – and there’s one name in particular that may indicate where the story is going. 

The fourth chapter of the crime saga created by Nic Pizzolatto sees Issa López take the showrunning reins, while Jodie Foster and Kali Reis take the place of Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as the mismatched detectives on the case.

So far, True Detective Season 4 is a resounding success – as we said in our five-star review: “A story so dark shouldn’t be this much fun, but Night Country is a cracking whodunnit that will keep you guessing until the final few reels. It’s also the best True Detective since Season 1.”

With Episode 1 out now, fans have been busy putting forward their theories about where the narrative is going – and one name in particular may be a significant piece of the puzzle. Warning: Spoilers ahead for Episode 1!

Is this name in True Detective Season 4 a huge clue?

In Episode 1, Danvers is tasked with investigating the mysterious deaths of a group of Tsalal researchers in Alaska. One of them is named Raymond Clark, and this may be a clue about his involvement in the local unsolved murder of the Iñupiat woman and anti-mine activist, Annie. 

You see, Danvers is initially called into the research center after the men all disappeared, leaving behind a human tongue. She deciphers the tongue is that of an Indigenous woman due to the “repetitive markings” on it, which convinces Reis it belongs to Annie – whose tongue was removed after she was murdered six years prior. 

HBO

Although Danvers initially pushes back on Reis’ suggestion, she digs into the clues and finds a photo in which Clark appears to be wearing Annie’s pink jacket. Now, although this is just speculation, this could indicate Clark had something to do with Annie’s murder.

This theory is made all the more viable by the fact that Raymond Clark is a reference to Raymond J. Clark III, a real-life Yale laboratory technician who murdered a doctoral student in 2009. And if that weren’t enough, Clark’s victim was also called Annie – in the real case, her full name was Annie Le. 

Could this implicate True Detective’s Clark in the crime? Time will tell. There are still five more episodes of Night Country to go – to find out the full release schedule, head here.