After reports that creator Nic Pizzolatto was working up ideas for a third season of True Detective, things took a step forward with the casting of Mahershala Ali in one of the lead roles. The rest of the pieces are starting to fall into place, as HBO has officially greenlit the show, and announced that Green Room director Jeremy Saulnier will be handling episodes in addition to Pizzolatto.
We also know something of the story, as there is an official synopsis now online: "The next installment of True Detective tells the story of a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks, and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods." Ali is on to play Wayne Hays, a state police detective from Northwest Arkansas who is dispatched to investigate.
Behind the scenes Pizzolatto is taking on the lion's share of the writing chores, with NYPD Blue/Deadwood's David Milch acting as consultant and co-writing episode 4. "I’m tremendously thrilled to be working with artists at the level of Mahershala and Jeremy," Pizzolatto says in a statement. "I hope the material can do justice to their talents, and we’re all very excited to tell this story."
Thus far, HBO has not announced when the show will return or how many episodes will comprise the new season, but given that both of the previous season ran to eight episodes, that's the most likely figure.