True Detective has been dropping hints all throughout its third season that the disappearance of two children in Arkansas could be tied to the mythology of the Yellow King from season one.
First, there was the brief appearance of the 'crooked spiral' in the second episode, but the trailer for episode five isn't just a tease: it has an actual appearance from Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.
Watch the trailer below very closely to spot them:
Did you see Marty Hart and Rust Cohle? They're easy to miss, but if you zoom in on the laptop when Wayne (Mahershala Ali) is being deposed at around 16 seconds into the trailer, you'll see Rust and Marty.
Their faces are shown in a newspaper article with the headline 'Former State Police Officers Stop Alleged Serial Killers', referencing them taking down the Yellow King in the season 1 finale.
Think it's just a fun Easter egg and nothing more? Fans have also been gathering mounting evidence that the Arkansas disappearance is deeply connected to Carcosa and the network of evil from the first story.
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Below, one fan tries to fit some of the pieces together:
In spite of these continuing references, producer Scott Stephens recently told The Hollywood Reporter that there were no grand plans for a crossover between the seasons.
"I guess it's set in the same fictional world everything is set in, right?" he said. "The reference is kind of a nod to [season one]. The stuff in season one was based on the same sort of paedophilia stories that are mentioned by the documentary crew. That's kind of the connective tissue.
"It's just a fun way to tie things in."
Find out if Stephens is just trying to throw fans off the scent of a full-on crossover when True Detective continues on HBO in the US and Sky Atlantic in the UK.
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
