True Detective Episode 5 to Stream Early on Max

The most recent episode of True Detective: Night Country saw the mystery of whatever is going on in Ennis, Alaska take an even more chilling and eerie turn, but fans of the HBO series won't have to wait quite as long to find out what happens next. On Monday, HBO announced that Episode 5 of True Detective: Night Country will debut early on Max. The episode will now be available to stream at 9 pm ET on Friday, February 9th. The episode will still premiere on February 11th at 9 pm ET on HBO. The season finale is set to debut on Sunday, February 18th at the same time and will also be available to stream on Max.

Episode 5 streaming early will allow viewers with Max to tune in to the penultimate episode of Night Country ahead of another major television event taking place on Sunday, February 11th — Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.

What Is True Detective: Night Country About?

In True Detective: Night Country, "When the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska, the eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanish without a trace. To solve the case, detectives Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice."

The series stars Foster, Reis, Finn Bennett, Fiona Shaw, with Christopher Eccleston, Isabelle Star LaBlanc, and John Hawkes. Issa López serves as showrunner, writer, director (all episodes), and executive producer.

Issa López Responds to Series Creator's Critiques

True Detective: Night Country is the first season of the anthology series that series creator Nic Pizzolatto hasn't been involved in and Pizzolatto recently shared some comments online critical of the new season. López responded in a recent interview that he is entitled to his reaction as well as expressed her passion for the project.

"I believe that every storyteller has a very specific, peculiar, and unique relation to the stories they create, and whatever his reactions are, he's entitled to them. That's his prerogative," López said. "I wrote this with profound love for the work he made and love for the people that loved it. And it is a reinvention, and it is different, and it's done with the idea of sitting down around the fire, and [let's] have some fun and have some feelings and have some thoughts. And anybody that wants to join is welcome."

Episode 5 of True Detective: Night Country will stream Friday, February 9th at 9pm ET on Max and will premiere on HBO on Sunday, February 11th at 9pm ET.