A New Year's Eve storm rages in the True Detective season 4 finale. Still, nothing is going to stop Chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) from discovering the truth about who killed Annie K (Nivi Pedersen) and the Tsalal researchers.
Conditions prove dangerous and they must go it alone without any support. The duo also contends with personal demons that have been long haunting them. Meanwhile, Peter Prior (Finn Bennett) is left to clean up any evidence that will link him to killing his father, Hank (John Hawkes).
Let's dive into True Detective season 4 episode 6.
Searching the caves
Accessing the caves proves successful, and Danvers and Navarro find the spot of Annie's murder when they fall through the ice to the level below. When they spot missing researcher Raymond Clark (Owen McDonnell), they chase him into a secret underground lab, but he seemingly vanishes into thin air.
Danvers finds a star-shaped tool that matches Annie's wounds and the whale bones in the ice, confirming this is the spot on the video. A search of the area reveals a hidden ladder leading to the Tsalal research station, where the two investigators split off to look for the suspect.
Unfortunately, Clark's familiarity gives him the upper hand, and he locks Danvers in the sample freezer before hitting Navarro with a fire extinguisher. Danvers breaks the glass and finds Navarro has overpowered Clark. Danvers pulls her partner off Clark as they need to ask him questions.
Elsewhere, Peter has thoroughly cleaned but spots a tooth in the wall at Danvers' house just as Leah (Isabella Star LaBlanc) comes home to spend New Years with her step-mom. Peter tries to act like nothing has happened, but Leah can tell something is up. Peter drives Leah back to his wife Kayla (Anna Lamb), who comes out to ask what he is doing. He doesn't confess but explains he is fixing things. Kayla kisses him; reconciliation is on the cards.
The truth
Navarro asks Clark if he ever loved Annie. He claims he did. Navarro immediately pulls out the last video Annie recorded, tapes the headphones into his ears so he has to hear Annie’s scream on a loop. The pair leave him to suffer for a little bit.
When they pull off the headphones, Clark admits he was there "but not at first." He explains Annie started to put the pieces together about the link to Silver Sky Mine and tries to justify their actions because their DNA discovery could change the world. The researchers realized the pollution from the mine softened the permafrost, so they pushed the mine to produce more.
Annie was looking for a paper trail, sneaking in without Clark realizing it. When she found answers in the caves, she obliterated all their work. In a flashback, Clark wakes up to Annie's screams and heads down into the secret lab. Lund (Þorsteinn Bachmann) repeatedly stabbed her, but she fought back.
The other researchers join the frenzied attack, but this doesn't kill her. Clark claims he would never hurt Annie, which he immediately contradicts as he smothers Annie with his t-shirt. They called the mine to help clear up the mess, who sent Hank to dispose of the body.
Facing ghosts
Danvers says she won't stop Navarro from killing Clark. Another flashback reveals Navarro did kill Wheeler and made it look like a murder-suicide, but she doesn't do the same here. They still need to find out who killed the researchers.
"I knew she'd come back," Clark says about Annie. He believes Annie killed the others. He held the hatch to the secret lab closed while the sounds of screams ring out above.
Danvers takes a break to catch up on some sleep, in which she dreams of her son Holden. She wakes up freezing as the power is off. Danvers finds Navarro outside, where a dead Clark sits. Navarro does not deny letting him leave after Clark asks her to help him end it.
The pair huddle around a fire to keep warm, and Navarro mentions how something from the great beyond is calling her. Navarro says it can be a comfort, explaining having seen a vision of Holden (who did die in a car crash). Danvers can't hold in her rage and leaves Navarro alone.
When Danvers returns, she realizes her colleague has walked out into the storm and goes to find her. Earlier this season, Navarro mentioned wanting to discover her Iñupiat name, which she learns in a vision while on the ice. Danvers, meanwhile, sees an image of Holden under the ice and falls through. Navarro saves Danvers from drowning and keeps her awake so she doesn't succumb to hypothermia. Danvers asks what Holden said. "He sees you," replies Navarro.
After the storm
The storm has ended. When Navarro reflects she feels like she has been in the dark "holding the hatch," this gives Danvers an idea. They discover fingerprints on the hatch that point to Blair (Kathryn Wilder), one of the Tsalal cleaners we met earlier.
For six years, the women thought the mine killed Annie, but when cleaner Bee (L'xeis Diane Benson) accidentally knocked a mop bucket over above the cave entrance, she discovered what happened to Annie. We see a group of women led by Bee and Blair rounding the Tsalal men up by gunpoint and forcing them into a truck. Out on the ice, they force them to strip at gunpoint. "They woke her up," Bee explains, suggesting there is a greater entity. Bee says it's just a story, but Danvers and Navarro know this is the truth. However, they will stick to the slab avalanche as the official cause of death.
After this, it cuts to Danvers getting interviewed with sunlight coming through the office windows — it is sometime after these events. Hank's body hasn't been found yet, but Peter is in the clear. Navarro hasn't been seen since, and Danvers says she doesn't think anyone will find her. Clark recorded a confession about the pollution, and the Silver Sky Mine closed.
The final image is of Danvers and Navarro together. Is this actually Navarro? Either way, Danvers's observation rings true: "This is Ennis; nobody ever really leaves."
Watch True Detective season 4 Sundays at 9 pm ET/PT on HBO and streaming on Max in the US; airing on Sky Atlantic Mondays in the UK.
