True Detective Season 1 is peppered with clues about the killer that leads up to the massive Carcosa reveal. True Detective cemented itself in pop culture with its philosophical pessimism and enthralling murder mysteries right from season 1, emerging as a game-changer in the detective-mystery genre. While the show was based on a wide variety of real-life events and artistic allusions, writer-director Nic Pizzolatto primarily based True Detective’s core narrative on weird/horror fiction of the likes of Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow.
True Detective’s non-linear narrative focuses on Louisiana State Police homicide detectives Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson), who first come together to investigate the murder of Dora Lange in 1995. Forced to revisit their investigation seventeen years later, both Rust and Marty struggle with their inner demons, while grappling with the nitty-gritty of the convoluted case in question. To make matters worse, the missing-persons case of Marie Fontenot looms large over the two as a whole, as the child-in-question was subject to heinous ritualistic assault and murder.
The entirety of Season 1 had been a smattering of red herrings, obscure literary references, and intriguing philosophical subtexts, which lead up to the fascinating Carcosa reveal. It is interesting to note that all the clues in the series are revealed in the form of patterns that reappear in frenetic bursts. Here are all the clues that lead straight to the identity of the killer in Season 1 of True Detective.
The Crooked Spiral Symbol
The crooked spiral was one of the first examples of religio-cultural iconography to appear within the show, being etched on the back of murder victim Dora Lange. The spiral reappeared several moments throughout the show, such as when Rust hallucinates a bird formation in that shape and when the symbol could be seen in Marty’s house. This, however, proved to be key in terms of the whereabouts of the Tuttle family, who use the spiral in conjunction with other symbols to identify and express their ideologies. Interestingly, Rust also hallucinates an otherwordly spiral vortex towards the end, which could potentially be a reference to the ancient and cursed dimension of Carcosa.
The Sketch of the “Spaghetti Monster”
While conducting their investigation, Rust and Marty come across a sketch of a man that looked somewhat like a green-eared “spaghetti monster” who chased a child through the woods. Although initially perplexed by the drawing, which was, after all, a child’s rendition of a potentially dangerous man, the duo was able to decipher the identity of the monster. Errol Childress, a member of the twisted and brutal Tuttle cult, was a tall, burly man with his face covered in scars, and one of the few unmasked men who molested and took pictures of sleeping children at Shephard’s Flock elementary school. At some point, he chased a child through the woods whilst green paint dripped on his ears, earning him the title of a green-eared spaghetti monster.
The Yellow King
While the cult of The Yellow King is yet another reference to the Tuttle Cult, the mythical pull of this figure casts an almost supernatural allure on the show. Cosmic horror permeates the world of True Detective in ways that can only be deemed unexplainable, and The Yellow King ties in directly with Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow and H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Chambers’ book contains ten short stories, the first four of which are weird, macabre tales about a forbidden play called The King in Yellow, which causes anyone who reads it to be driven to madness and despair, with the accursed Yellow Sign haunting their every waking moment. In terms of the show, The Yellow King could potentially be the idea of an unknowable evil worshipped by the Tuttle cult or represent a cult member like Childress.
The Five Hooded Horsemen
Another recurring clue that propped up throughout the series was the image of five men around a young girl, which carries connotations of ritualistic abuse and eventual murder. This is most prominent when Rust and Marty see the photo of a young Dora Lange being surrounded by five hooded men on horseback, a clue that is quite unsettling, given the context of the events that follow. Later on, the detectives also find a video of a child being abused and sacrificed by five masked men at the Tuttle house, who is presumed to be Marie Fontenot. It is also interesting to note how this imagery is mirrored in various scenes, such as when Marty’s daughter, Audrey, is seen playing with five male dolls standing around a naked female doll, and also when Rust transforms five cans of beer into five people standing in a circle. While these instances are not meant to be actual, tangible clues, they are subconscious themes that haunt the psychosphere of True Detective.
Carcosa
Last but not least, is the mention of Carcosa itself is a massive clue, which is later revealed to be the lair of the despicable Yellow King. The term Carcosa evokes visions of terror, even when the audience is never truly aware of the implications of the world in relation to the Tuttle reveal. However, the final showdown between Rust and the killer takes place in a dilapidated, temple-like structure named Carcosa, which is apt, keeping Chambers’ description of the city in question:
“Along the shore the cloud waves break,The twin suns sink behind the lake,The shadows lengthenIn Carcosa.”
While the old stone ruins in the Louisiana bayou area might not have exactly been a cursed, otherworldly city with twin suns, it was the site for the macabre rituals that took place over the years by the Tuttle cult. This, in itself, grants the place with a sinister aura, as it also mirrors the religio-spiritual belief systems rooted in ascension, such as the cluster of black stars that shine above the fictional city and the way in which the thoughts of men “lengthen in the afternoon.” Literal or not, Carcosa symbolizes the abject darkness in the hearts of men and the lengths to which some people, like the Tuttles in True Detective, are willing to go to justify their twisted, macabre ideologies.
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