True Detective: Night Country showrunner Issa López has labelled review bombing "sad" after noticing a significant discrepancy between the critics' and audiences' scores for Season 4 after its debut.
The fourth season of True Detective premiered on HBO and Max on January 14 and received glowing reviews from critics. It currently boasts 92% on Rotten Tomatoes from 76 reviews, with the consensus being that "Night Country is a fresh and frosty variation on True Detective's existential themes."
However, the audience score sits noticeably lower at 72%, though Variety notes this has increased from an earlier 69% reading. The outlet highlighted López's pleas to her social media followers to help combat the apparent review bombing by sharing a review to boost the ratings if they enjoyed the opening episode.
"So, if you liked last night's [episode] of [True Detective: Night Country], and have a Rotten Tomatoes account, maybe head over there and leave an audience review?" López reportedly wrote on X/Twitter. The bros and hardcore fanboys of [Season 1] have made it a mission to drag the rating down, and it's kind of sad, considering all the 5 star ones."
López has since deleted the post and followed up with another. "I despise review bombing of any kind, but A: our audience score in RT is much better now, and B: I used a generalization about who was bombing. And generalizations are ALWAYS a mistake," López posted, adding, "SO MANY beautiful bros and TD S1 hardcore fans loved our ep 1!"
Review bombing is a tactic often adopted by internet trolls that has become a huge problem and has caused sites like Rotten Tomatoes to show user scores for films and shows far lower than they should be. Some companies have considered ways to combat the problem, such as Amazon rolling out a 72-hour delay for user reviews.
True Detective: Night Country marks a new chapter in the acclaimed HBO crime series, as it is the first season without series creator Nic Pizzolatto onboard as showrunner or writer. López has instead taken up that mantle while also directing all six episodes, with Part 1 introducing True Detective's most chilling installment yet.
The episode received critical acclaim with praise for Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, who star as Detectives Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro, as they investigate the disappearance of eight men from the Tsalal Arctic Research Station. IGN awarded Night Country 9/10, calling it "the best season of the series since the original."
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X @AdeleAnkers.
