Rachel McAdams | True Detective

• Genre: Anthology, Crime drama, Detective, Mystery, Thriller, Neo-noir, Southern Gothic
• Created by: Nic Pizzolatto
• Written by: Nic Pizzolatto, Scott Lasser, David Milch, Graham Gordy, 
• No. of seasons: 3
• No. of episodes: 24 
• Running time: 54–87 minutes
• Original network: HBO
• Original release: January 12, 2014 – present

Seasonal anthology series in which police investigations unearth the personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within and outside the law.

"The Western Book of the Dead"

In the fictional industrial town of Vinci in California, city manager Ben Caspere disappears before he can present plans for his development of a high-speed rail line, leaving his criminal partner Frank Semyon to pitch to Russian businessman Osip Agronov, who refuses to go through with anything until Caspere is present. Corrupt and volatile detective Ray Velcoro is tasked by Semyon with finding Caspere, finding evidence in his house of a kidnapping. Highway Patrol officer and veteran Paul Woodrugh is falsely accused of sexual misconduct by an actress he pulled over, leading him to be put on paid leave temporarily. After his girlfriend Emily inquires about the scars on his body, he abruptly leaves and speeds dangerously down a dark highway until he comes across Caspere's corpse on a bench, his eyes burned out with hydrochloric acid.

"Night Finds You"

Velcoro, detective Teague Dixon, and Ventura County detective Antigone "Ani" Bezzerides are tasked with finding Caspere's killer, while Woodrugh joins them in hopes that helping will speed his misconduct investigation along. Velcoro's ex-wife Gena Brune learns that he attacked his son Chad's bully's father, and demands full custody. She threatens to get a paternity test, Chad being a possible product of rape and Velcoro being fearful of finding out who the real father is. Emily leaves Woodrugh after he continually refuses to discuss his past. Semyon learns that the money Caspere used in the rail deal was embezzled, losing Semyon most of his money. He learns from a prostitute that Caspere had a house where he would take women to have sex, and he passes this information to Velcoro. Velcoro finds Caspere's blood in the house and a camera recording the living room, but is shot in the chest with rubber bullets by a crow-masked assailant before he can investigate further.

"Maybe Tomorrow"

Velcoro regains consciousness to find the camera's drive stolen. Bezzerides and Woodrugh visit the mansion of Vinci mayor Austin Chessani, hoping to find a link between him and Caspere, and meet his delinquent son Tony. A car that may have been carrying Caspere on the night of his murder, stolen from a film set, is picked up on traffic cameras. As Bezzerides and Velcoro question an employee of the production company who recently quit, the nearby car is set on fire by another masked individual. Woodrugh crosses paths with Miguel Glib, an old friend of his from his former job at a private security firm, but he violently rejects him when he references a sexual encounter they almost had. Stan, one of Semyon's men, is found dead, his eyes burned out like Caspere's.

"Down Will Come"

Semyon begins to cut deals with drug suppliers to start making back the money Caspere stole. Velcoro gives Chad his grandfather's police badge. Bezzerides is placed on temporary leave after being accused of sexual harassment by a male coworker. Woodrugh awakens in bed with Miguel, leaving quickly. He later meets with Emily, who reveals she is pregnant, and he impulsively proposes to her. Having investigated nearby pawnshops, he learns that prostitute Irina Rulfo stole items from Caspere's house and tried to sell them. The police conduct a raid on her pimp Ledo Amarilla's meth lab, which escalates into a lengthy shootout that kills dozens of officers, criminals, and bystanders, Dixon amongst them. Amarilla is killed after he takes and kills a hostage, leaving Velcoro, Bezzerides, and Woodrugh as the only survivors.

"Other Lives"

Two months later, Amarilla is blamed for Caspere's murder, Velcoro works full-time for Semyon, Bezzerides is stuck in the evidence room, and Woodrugh settles his investigation but is unwillingly promoted to insurance fraud detective. After learning that attorney general Richard Geldof is planning to run for governor, his colleague Katherine Davis assembles the three and requests they look into Rulfo, suspecting that Caspere's true killer was covered up. Semyon orders Velcoro to tail Blake Churchman, one of his men that he is suspicious of, and Velcoro observes him picking up girls from Caspere's psychiatrist, Irving Pitlor, and delivering them to Agronov and Tony. He tortures Pitlor, who admits that Tony and Caspere bought the women for their "parties." Woodrugh investigates diamonds found in Caspere's safety deposit box, learning that Dixon had also been looking for them. While searching for missing woman Vera Machiado, Bezzerides investigates the last place she called from and finds a shed nearby with blood on the floor. Velcoro learns that Semyon lied to him about the identity of Brune's rapist, the murder of the man he thought was responsible being the event that corrupted him. He goes to Semyon's house and demands to talk to him.

"Church in Ruins"

Semyon convinces Velcoro that he got bad information and never meant to mislead him. Velcoro visits the real rapist in prison and promises to kill him if he does not get a life sentence. After an awkward, supervised visit with Chad, he breaks his two months of sobriety and calls Brune, promising her full custody so long as she never tests for Chad's true parentage. Semyon deals with the Mexican cartel for Rulfo's location and learns that she was hired by a police officer to steal from Caspere, but the cartel kills her for working with the police before she can give up a name. Woodrugh learns that the diamonds were stolen during the 1992 Los Angeles riots from a couple, the Ostermans, whose children were left orphaned by the robbers. Bezzerides poses as her ex-prostitute sister to infiltrate one of Tony's parties, where she sees both Geldof and Vinci chief of police William Holloway. She is forced to take powerful MDMA and hallucinates a man leading her into his car. She encounters Machiado and kills a guard to help her escape. Woodrugh steals documents from Agronov's office that prove he is colluding with Tony after observing him meeting with businessman Jacob McCandless, where he overhears them confirming they set up Semyon to lose his shares. They all escape with Velcoro.

"Black Maps and Motel Rooms"

Velcoro swaps information with Semyon and goes to talk to Davis, only to find her dead in her car. Semyon tortures Churchman until he admits that Agronov plans to replace Semyon and that he was working with him, he killed Stan when he was seen talking to Agronov, Agronov is planning a deal with McCandless the next day, and he intentionally gave Semyon bad information regarding Brune's rapist. Semyon kills him, tells his wife Jordan to go underground, and burns down his casino after Agronov announces his plans to take it over. Woodrugh researches the 1992 robbery and discovers that Holloway, Dixon, Caspere, and Lieutenant Kevin Burris were all involved, and that the shootout with Amarilla was orchestrated to get Dixon killed. Bezzerides learns from Machiado that Caspere's favorite prostitute planned to blackmail him over the robbery, and so she was killed in the shed. Velcoro realizes that the Osterman daughter, Laura, was Caspere's secretary under an assumed name. He and Bezzerides confess their mutual attraction and have sex. Woodrugh is blackmailed with pictures of him with Miguel and goes to the ordered meeting spot, learning that Miguel was still working for the security firm, which is now working exclusively for McCandless. Holloway, Woodrugh's blackmailer, demands the documents, but he manages to kill all of the security guards and escape, only to be killed by Burris as he exits the building.

"Omega Station"

Semyon finds Chessani dead in his home. Velcoro and Bezzerides recount their respective formative traumas, his being killing who he thought was Brune's rapist and hers being kidnapped as a child by the man she hallucinated. They realize that Laura's brother Lenny worked on the set the car that transported Caspere was stolen from, and bust into Laura's house to find her restrained, along with Lenny's crow mask. She explains that Lenny accidentally killed Caspere while torturing him for information, and that he has set a meeting with Holloway. Velcoro intercepts Lenny and convinces him to record Holloway confessing to his corruption, but he loses his cool when Holloway reveals that Laura was Caspere's daughter, getting them both killed by Holloway's backup. To get enough money so they can all escape to Venezuela, Velcoro and Semyon kill everyone at Agronov and McCandless' meeting and take their money. As Bezzerides finds Pitlor dead, Velcoro observes Chad at school, carrying the badge. He returns to his car to find it fitted with a transponder, and chooses to drive into the woods rather than risk Bezzerides' life. He attempts to send a final message to Chad before he is killed by Burris, but his phone's poor signal prevents it from going through. The cartel takes Semyon out to the desert and stab him for violating their deal by destroying his casino. He attempts to walk back to civilization but bleeds to death. Some time later, Velcoro is blamed for Davis and Woodrugh's murders, Brune gets a paternity test that confirms Velcoro as Chad's father, Tony becomes mayor, Woodrugh has a highway named in his honor, and Bezzerides lives in Venezuela with her and Velcoro's son, as well as Jordan. They meet with a journalist Velcoro previously attacked for Semyon and give him files that expose the corruption in Vinci.