THE third season of HBO’s anthology series True Detective faced a difficult challenge from the offset.

After a very disappointing second season, fans were hoping that the crime drama could return to form.

To the relief of many the third season has reinvigorated the show and despite a finale that I found a little less than satisfying, I cannot wait to see what is in store for season four.

The latest series tells the story of a case that dominates one police officer’s life with the narrative split into three time periods.

The first of which takes place during the 80s, the second in the 90s and the last time period is the modern day.

The story revolves around the death of one child and the disappearance of another in the Ozarks.

The first thing to be said about True Detective’s third season is that the acting across the cast is stellar, with House of Cards’ Mahershala Ali and Blade’s Stephen Dorff both offering standout performances as detectives Hayes and Roland respectively.

The story becomes far more intriguing in the second half the show culminating in a penultimate episode which was simply stunning and a definite highlight of the series.

There are plenty of twists and turns along the way and it will keep you guessing until the very last episode.

It was disappointing however that the finale did not fully commit to the promises of the previous two episodes, instead pulling a complete U-turn.

Subverting fan expectations is what makes dramas like this so fascinating to watch but the execution to me felt a little rushed and considering the brilliance of what came before, it left me wishing they had gone in a different direction.

The finale may not have been what I was hoping but this was still an extremely well-crafted story, superbly written and acted – the future of True Detective looks a lot brighter now.

RATING: 8/10

ANDREW LEIVESLEY