What happened to Navarro in True Detective Season 4?

The True Detective Season 4 finale answered many of the questions we had, but one you might be left with is: what happened to agent Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis)? Here’s what you need to know. 

True Detective wrapped up its latest chapter, officially subtitled Night Country, last night (February 18), and what a way to go. Up until now, Navarro and Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) have been sent down a rabbit hole trying to figure out what happened to the Tsalal researchers. 

Along the way, they uncovered a potentially sinister conspiracy connecting the crime to Annie K, an Indigenous anti-mine protester who was found murdered six years prior. But the question remains: did they ask the right questions?

With the True Detective Season 4 finale out now, here’s what you need to know about the ending as we examine just what happened to Navarro. Warning: Spoilers ahead!

What happened to Navarro in True Detective Season 4?

In the True Detective Season 4 ending, Navarro has left Ennis. And while Danvers doesn’t know for sure where she went, she says, “Let’s put it this way: I don’t think you’ll find Evangeline Navarro out there on the ice.” Implying she likely hasn’t taken her own life and become one of the many “ghosts” on the ice.

Danvers says this while giving a statement to detectives about the Tsalal researchers who were killed. Prior to this, Danvers and Navarro discovered that the scientists had killed Annie K after she found out that they were paying Silver Sky Mining to purposely pollute Ennis to soften the ice, making their research easier. 

But this had also been poisoning the locals, and when Annie K found out she destroyed their work. In retaliation, they killed her and had her body discarded. Turns out, Tsalal cleaner Bee uncovered all of this while on the job, and so she banded together with Blair and a number of other women who worked at the birthing center with Annie.  

They rounded up the researchers, had them take their clothes off, and forced them onto the ice. They left their clothes there for the men to retrieve if nature would allow it. But as stated by Bee, “I guess she ate their dreams from the inside out, and spit their frozen bones.”

After finding this out, Danvers and Navarro agree to keep their secret, knowing that these women were only trying to protect their community. But Danvers is facing some serious questions, especially about Hank Prior. Having been part of the conspiracy, Hank was ordered to shoot Otis Heiss to prevent Danvers and Navarro from getting into the ice caves. 

After killing Otis, Hank threatened to shoot Danvers – but before he could, his son Peter shot him. Danvers and Navarro helped him to cover up the crime, knowing it’s for the greater good. While being questioned by detectives, Danvers suggests Hank was part of a “deal gone wrong,” and perhaps suffered an accident out on the ice. 

Talks turn to Navarro, and we’re shown a flashback of Danvers visiting her home, only to find it empty. But Navarro left the stuffed polar bear belonging to Danvers’ late son on her bed as an emotional parting gift. 

So while Danvers is going to continue working for the AFP alongside Peter, Navarro is gone, perhaps moving to a different town to start over. 

Night Country creator and showrunner Issa López has since spoken about the ambiguous ending, saying it was purposely left open-ended. “I’m not saying that she’s alive, and I’m certainly not saying that she’s dead,” she told Deadline. 

“I very carefully crafted this as an ink block test for you to discover yourself as an audience member. I do love that Navarro states very early in the series that she has this impulse to just walk away and leave everything behind. On the other hand, the entire series is an exploration of the fact that she feels a calling to the beyond. 

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“In the climax of the finale, and instead of fighting it and going in with pain and fear, she surrenders to it. And in doing it, she receives a piece of herself. So that call that she was afraid of is solved. 

“The Aboriginal people in Australia go and walk about, find themselves and then come back, which is I think is what Kali embraced [for the character]. However, there is a chance that she is also going to be with the women before her to visit them. 

“You can read it both ways and it’s up to you to interpret which one fulfills your heart.”

True Detective Season 4 is available to stream on Max now, which you can sign up for here.

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