True Detective 1.08

Form and Void

Marty interrogates Steve Geraci, after showing him the videotape that he showed Marty in the previous episode. They learn from him that his predecessor, Sheriff Childress, is the one who buried the Fontenot case.

Rust and Marty continue to work the case. Their work leads them to an old house in the middle of nowhere. Marty checks the house. The only person inside is a woman. He wants to use their phone but it doesn't work.

Rust looks around the grounds. He spots the man with the scarred face. The man takes off running. Rust follows him into a building buried by nature. Rust eventually catches up to him but the scarred face man gets the drop on Rust, almost kills him. Marty who by then has gone looking for Rust, shows up, distracts the man with the scarred face. Marty almost gets killed but Rust recovers in time  to shoot the man in the head.

True Detective 1.07

After You've Gone

Rust and Marty talk over a few beers. Rust explains that he feels that they have unfinished business. He is referring to the case of Dora Lange. Rust is convinced that there was a third man in addition to Reggie and Dewall Ledoux, and he might still be out there. Rust's word and his impressions aren't enough to convince Marty. It isn't until Rust shows Marty some evidence he stole from one of the Reverend Tuttle's homes, some pretty horrific stuff, that Marty gets on board.

Marty goes to see Maggie. He asks about their girls. He also wants to know about what she told Detectives Gilbough and Papania. Later in the episode she goes to see Rust.

True Detective 1.06

Haunted Houses

Marty beats up the two young men who were caught having sex with his daughter. He seems to gives them an option before he does it: take the beating or else get charged with statutory rape. They seem hesitant so he makes the decision for them.

Rust continues to investigate cold cases, in 2002, cases that he thinks might be linked to the murder of Dora Lange. He gets in trouble for doing that. He doesn't get Marty involved in or keep him apprised of what he is doing. Among the people he talks to are the girl who they found locked up in Ledoux's home and the revival tent minister from the third episode. Eventually he gets in trouble with Salter, their boss, for working these cases on the side.

True Detective 1.05

The Secret Fate of All Life

Cohle uses Ginger to get a meeting with Reggie Ledoux in a bar. Ledoux isn't interested in doing business with Cohle. Ledoux leaves but Hart tails him. They find Ledoux's hideout. They try to take him but when Marty finds two kids, one dead and one alive, he kills Ledoux's accomplice. Ledoux accidentally kills himself while trying to escape by running into one of his own booby traps. Marty and Rust modify the facts for the official story. Only they know what really happened.

Life goes back to normal. The story flashes forward from 1995 to 2002. Marty has cleaned up and reconciled with his wife. His relationship with Audrey, his older daughter has gone downhill. She's caught in a car having sex with two guys who are about 20 years old. She is in her mid-teens.

True Detective 1.04

Who Goes There

Rust and Marty interrogate Charlie, Reggie Ledoux's old cell mate. They talked to Charlie once before; he's also Dora Lange's ex-husband. Dora was the murder victim from the first episode. Charlie helps them get a line on Tyrone Weems, who might know where to find Ledoux.

Lisa tries talking to Marty but he cuts her off and walks away. He goes home later only to find that Lisa was there. Maggie has packed up his stuff. Maggie and their daughters have gone to stay with Maggie's parents. Maggie has had enough. He wants to do something about it but his efforts prove to be ineffectual.

True Detective 1.03

The Locked Room

Rust and Marty track down the preacher who used to lead services in the church near Spanish Lake. They find him with a congregation under a tent. They listen to him for a while and argue about stuff while he is preaching. They talk to him and some of the congregants after the service. A couple women remember the dead woman. They remember seeing her with a tall man with a scarred face.

Marty and Rust argue about stuff. One day Marty comes home and finds Rust there talking to Maggie. Rust returned the lawn mower he borrowed and then mowed the lawn when he saw it needed mowing. Marty gets angry at him for mowing his lawn.

True Detective 1.02

Seeing Things

The two other detectives continue to interview Cohle and Hart in 2012. Rust and Marty, in 1995, continue to work the case. They interview people the victim knew. They learn from a friend of the victim that she might have moved south, to Spanish Lake. She might have gotten involved with a church down there.

Hart goes to see his girlfriend. Coehle goes and buys some drugs off a prostitute. He learns from her about a place called the Ranch, down near Spanish Lake. Marty and Rust head down that way the next day. They eventually find the place and talk to a couple of the women there. Marty doesn't like it at all. he thinks one of the women is under age. The woman who runs the place tells them that the local sheriff has a stake in the Ranch.

True Detective 1.01

The Long Bright Dark

Detectives Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson) and Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) of the Louisiana State Police investigate the murder of a woman in her late 20s. Her body is found bound and there are a deer's antlers attached to her head. There are symbols painted on her body. There are odd looking objects placed near her body.

Hart and Cohle have a tenuous relationship. They have only been partners for a few weeks when the woman is murdered. Hart has a wife and two young daughters. Cohle was once married but his marriage fell apart after his daughter died.

The two detective's investigation leads them to look into the case of Marie Fontenot, a young girl who went missing years ago.