There’s lots to unpack in True Detective Season 4 Episode 2, including a rather creepy detail spotted in a specific scene – and it may just involve AI.
True Detective: Night Country is filled with plenty of easter eggs and hidden details, including references to real-life mysteries that inspired creator Issa Lopez when writing the script.
As the mystery unfolds, we the viewers are tasked with paying close attention to make sure we don’t miss anything (which is all part of the sinister fun).
With True Detective Season 4 Episode 2 arriving last night (January 21), some noticed an uncanny detail in a scene involving one of the mine workers – and it’s not connected to the case at hand.
True Detective fans notice creepy detail in Season 4 Episode 2
Around the midway mark of True Detective Season 4 Episode 2, titled ‘Part 2’, Detective Navarro (Kali Reis) heads to the home of Ennis miner Chuck Mosley (Edward Fletcher) – and beside his bed are a couple of bizarre posters that appear to have been created by AI.
One poster shows a glam rock group called ‘Metal’, which features nondescript band members who resemble Kiss and a couple of tour dates – one is said to be the ‘1st’ date and the other is the ‘2st’, and it’s these odd mistakes that have viewers convinced this is an AI compilation.
While many of the details highlighted throughout the first couple of Night Country episodes are hidden clues as to where the plot might be heading, this one is odd yet inconsequential.
Lopez herself has commented on the posters after one viewer joked on X, “Can’t wait to see Metal on their US tour on the 2st!” In response, she quipped, “The story behind that poster is so long that the entire discography of Metal, The Band (9 albums and a 4st unreleased), couldn’t cover it.”
Not only have the AI-generated posters sparked questions, but so too have their contents, with one asking about the second K-pop poster, which appears to be a reference to the group IVE. “Wait. Why would that guy also have a kpop adjacent poster?” they commented.
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The posters have sparked plenty of speculation, ranging from them being a sign of the AI takeover in TV and film to budget cuts and copyright issues. “I noticed that but figured it was probably a lazy last minute replacement for something covered by copyright,” said one.
Another commented on Reddit: “Production budget can’t afford artists, so they paid a set designer $60 an hour to make AI images and print it off. This is the decline of artists being involved in set design.
“The bright side is you noticed it, so AI image generators still aren’t good enough to go unnoticed, and we can complain about it so they don’t do it again. Kind of conflicted as a TD fan, but also an artist.
“That said, pay a damn artist to make something that doesn’t look like absolute trash. The one poster literally says ‘Metal’ but the AI didn’t know how to fit the general idea of the word and the concept of a Metallica font together, so it crammed them together weirdly.”
“Why go to the effort of printing out an AI poster and not just an actual poster? It feels aggressively lazy,” asked a third, to which a fourth responded, “Same reason they don’t show brands in most movies/shows. You have to pay for it.”
True Detective: Night Country Episodes 1-2 are available to stream on Max now, which you can sign up for here.
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