True Detective season 1

The first season of True Detective, an American anthology crime drama television series created by Nic Pizzolatto, aired in eight episodes between January 12 and March 9, 2014 on the premium cable network HBO. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson lead a five-actor principal cast as Louisiana State Police homicide detectives Rustin "Rust" Cohle and Martin "Marty" Hart. Each True Detective season follows a self-contained story, characterized by distinct sets of characters, settings, and events with shared continuity.

Framed as a nonlinear narrative, True Detective season one explores Cohle and Hart's recollection of their investigation of the murder of Dora Lange from 1995 to 2002. In their personal lives, Hart's infidelity jeopardizes his marriage to Maggie (Michelle Monaghan), while Cohle grapples with the burden of his troubled past. The detectives must revisit the investigation ten years later, as new evidence implicates the perpetrator in a slew of other unsolved murders and disappearances.

Pizzolatto initially conceived True Detective as a novel, but pursued a television concept because of the story's shifts in time and perspective. Cary Joji Fukunaga directed the episodes, each funded with a $4–4.5 million budget and tax subsidies from the Louisiana state government. Filming for the season began in January 2013 and finished that June. True Detective season one has been read as work that examines philosophical pessimism, Christianity, and masculinity. Further discourse addresses the story's comic and horror fiction influences, the show's artistic merits under the framework of auteur theory, and its depiction of women.

True Detective season one received highly positive reviews in the media. Critics praised the show as one of the strongest dramas of the year, but occasionally criticized some aspects of the writing such as characterization. It was a candidate for numerous awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Drama Series and a Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film, and won several other honors for writing, cinematography, direction, and acting.