Scoot McNairy Joins ‘True Detective’ Season 3

HBO has a lot to make up for after that dreadful second season of “True Detective.” But with the cast they’re assembling for season three, we’re more than happy to wait until 2019 to see it. Take all the time you need.

The always excellent Scoot McNairy, who is coming fresh off “Godless” and was key in the underseen “Halt And Catch Fire,” has joined Mahershala Ali, Carmen Ejogo, and Stephen Dorff in “True Detective” season three. The next installment will tell the story of a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks, with a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods. Ambitious in its mixing of eras, Ali will play a state police detective from Northwest Arkansas, Ejogo is an Arkansas schoolteacher with a connection to two missing children in 1980, Dorff is Ali’s partner, with McNairy as Tom, a father whose terrible loss connects him with the detectives.

Creator/showrunner and writer Nic Pizzolatto will direct the next round episodes with Jeremy Saulnier (“Blue Ruin,” “Green Room”), though it’s unclear how many they’ll each do. Production will begin sometime this year, but as mentioned up top, “True Detective” won’t be back until 2019. [Deadline]