True Detective: 8 burning questions after the Season 3 premiere

True Detective had a stellar two-episode return with an atmospheric season premiere. Here are 8 burning questions we have after watching the episodes!

Last night True Detective kicked off with a massive two episode premiere that brings the series back to its former glory. Most of this has to do with the amazing direction by Jeremy Saulnier of Green Room and an outstanding performance by Mahershala Ali. This will be a huge sigh of relief for fans that were overwhelmingly disappointed by the lackluster effort of Season 2.

This season has a ton of the same designs of season 1, including the broken timeline narrative crashing into each other. This season, however, involves a former detective looking back on a case involving two kids who went mysteriously missing in the 1980s. I’m sure fans of the show have already taken to Reddit to explode the internet with theories.

Here are 8 burning questions we have after watching the two episode premiere of True Detective:

#1 What’s with the peephole?

The new season has a lot of similarities to season 1, where the narrative follows two detectives in multiple timelines. This time we are journeying with Detective Wayne Hays (Mahershala Ali) and Detective Roland West (Stephen Dorff) as they uncover the mystery of two missing children. In the episode, they visit the house of the mother and father and while doing so, Hays encounters a hole in the closet which seems to peek into the next room.

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What room is it? We do not know but the family has a strange friend named Dan who was staying in the kid’s room. Did he have something to do with the Purcell children going missing?

#2 What was Tom Purcell hiding?

One of the other cryptic aspects of episode 1 was the subtle hint that Tom Purcell (Scoot Mcnairy) is hiding something. Just like in season 1, Hays is being interviewed by the department about his experiences with the Purcell case.

During the interview, Hays is pressed about whether he even considered Tom Purcell was lying. His response, “First impression, no, not about this.” The person questioning responds curiously, “Not about this?” Which seems to suggest there’s more that might be revealed as far as whether Tom is being completely honest. Does the father know more than he is saying?

#3 What is with the creepy dolls?

One of the strangest things to happen on the season 3 premiere was the placement of little straw dolls around the body of Will Purcell. As we discovered, Will was not lucky and was killed by whoever caused his disappearance. But the killer left a trail of bread crumbs to find his lifeless body using weird little dolls made of straw.

They are hard to explain but imagine the weird straw figures from The Blair Witch Project dressed up in pioneer clothing. It’s such a massive clue but also the creepiest one found by the investigators so far.

#4 Why was Will’s hands’ setup in a prayer formation?

On top of the weird unsettling pioneer dolls was the strange way Will Purcell’s body was structured for discovery. When found by Hays, his body was up on a rock laying flat but on an elevated rock that makes the placement almost feel ceremonious. Even weirder is instead of his hands being crossed over his chest or laying flat, they are positioned in a prayer-like formation.

Does this mean a religious sect–like a cult–is behind his death and the disappearance of Julie Purcell? No mater the reason, the image is very unnerving and only raises more questions.