Warning: spoilers ahead for True Detective season 4.

Summary

• True Detective season 1 is distinct and captivating due to Rust Cohle's intriguing musings on pessimism, consciousness, and the human condition.
• Rust's quote, "Time is a flat circle," remains a key theme in True Detective season 4, as significant events repeat themselves over and over again.
• On a deeper level, the quote suggests that time is not as linear as it seems, and the characters' existential despair and struggles against fate will consistently haunt them.

Although it has been 10 years since Matthew McConaughey, True Detective season 1 gives audiences a lot to look forward to. However, one of the primary elements that make it more distinct and captivating than most other crime dramas is Rust Cohle's musings on pessimism, consciousness, and the human condition.

His quotes are both haunting and profound, which not only allows him to transcend the traditional tropes surrounding detective characters but also makes his dynamic with his partner, Marty, more hilarious. For instance, it is hard not to chuckle when Rust Cohle preaches how "human consciousness is a tragic misstep in evolution," and Marty politely asks him to shut up by making their "car a place of silent reflection." While every Rust Cohle quote is equally thought-provoking and darkly humorous, one leaves a more lasting impact than all others and remains relevant in True Detective season 4.

"Time Is A Flat Circle" In True Detective: Night Country

Reggie Ledoux first says, "Time is a flat circle," to Rust moments before Marty shoots him dead. Although Rust initially does not take him too seriously and half-jokingly calls him Nietzsche because the quote alludes to the philosopher's doctrine of eternal recurrence, he later recalls it during the 2012 timeline. Agreeing with Ledoux, he says, "Everything we've ever done or will do, we're going to do over and over and over again." Although True Detective season 4 unfolds over a decade after season 1's 2012 timeline, the Rust Cohle quote remains a key theme in its overarching storyline.

Time is a flat circle in True Detective: Night Country because every significant event is a repetition of something that has happened in the past. Annie's murder case has resurfaced despite being closed six years ago. Navarro's sister, Jules, was affected by the same mental health condition that killed their mother, and Navarro, too, is starting to experience the same. Otis Heiss had similar injuries to the Tsalal researchers over two decades before their deaths. Danvers is also trapped in the same behavioral loops and coping mechanisms because of her grief. Everything is repeating "over and over and over again."

The Deeper Meaning Of "Time Is A Flat Circle" Explained

On a fundamental level, perhaps the most obvious explanation for "Time is a flat circle" in True Detective is that history keeps repeating itself no matter how hard law enforcers like Rust, Marty, Liz, and Evangeline try to make the world a better place. However, beyond that, as Rust explains in one scene, time perceived from a higher dimension would probably not be as linear as it seems in the three-dimensional universe. Instead of being a mere chain of cause and effect, time would be loopier, and events would circle back on themselves.

From a meta standpoint, True Detective's timeline is a flat circle because viewers will keep watching it over and over again, while characters like Rust Cohle and Liz Danvers will keep experiencing the same things in a loop. Their existential despair and struggles against the unbending forces of fate will consistently haunt them as audiences will hit play, replay, and rewind on their flat, circular forms of physical media like DVDs. On the bright side, despite all the pain and sorrow they will experience, their True Detective timelines will always end with the "light winning" before starting again.