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Detecting the truth: HBO's 'True Detective' returns from a lengthy hiatus

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Author: 
Andrew Warren / TV Media
Mahershala Ali and Carmen Ejogo in a scene from "True Detective"

Mahershala Ali and Carmen Ejogo in a scene from "True Detective"

Detecting the truth: After a wait of more than three years, one of television's most acclaimed anthologies has finally returned for a third season. "True Detective" first captured audiences' attentions back in 2014, and a second season came the following year, but it wasn't until 2017 that HBO finally greenlit a third season, and it's finally ready to see the light of day. The critically acclaimed crime drama returns to HBO on Sunday, Jan. 13.

The show is an anthology, so each season of "True Detective" is self-contained -- you don't need to have watched the previous seasons to be able to follow along with the new one. "True Detective" also brings in a fresh slate of actors for each season, and the new lineup is an impressive one.

Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali ("Moonlight," 2016) leads the cast as Wayne Hays, a detective living in a small town in northwest Arkansas' Ozark Mountains. The eight-episode season takes place over three separate timelines, weaving together a story of missing children and unsolved murders that spans several decades.

Ali is joined on screen by Stephen Dorff ("Blade," 1998), Carmen Ejogo ("Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald," 2018) and Ray Fisher ("Justice League," 2017), who round out the main cast. Supporting cast members, whose characters find themselves interweaving the investigations, include Mamie Gummer ("The Good Wife"), Scoot McNairy ("Argo," 2012), Jodi Balfour ("Bomb Girls") and Josh Hopkins ("Cougar Town").

For "True Detective," the setting is almost as important as the characters who live in it, with each season set somewhere different and the story tailored to fit the locale. With the past two seasons finding homes in such different locations as Louisiana and California, a visit to the Ozarks has the promise of yet another riveting tale. "True Detective" returns Sunday, Jan. 13, on HBO.

 

A deadly drama: Nostalgia is a powerful thing, and lately it's the 1980s that have worked their way into our collective psyche, with ABC's "The Goldbergs" and Netflix's "Stranger Things" at the head of the pack of TV series set in the iconic decade. 

Well, now Syfy has some skin in that game with "Deadly Class," a new show based on a series of graphic novels. The coming-of-age story, which premieres Wednesday, Jan. 16, is set in the late 1980s, and this version of the decade is quite a bit deadlier than the real one was.

Benjamin Wadsworth ("Dad vs. Lad") stars as Marcus Lopez, a troubled youth who is invited to attend the prestigious -- and mysterious -- King's Dominion, a secretive high school that turns out to be attended by the children of mob bosses and murderers, and who are in training to become deadly assassins. Benedict Wong ("Doctor Strange," 2016) plays the school's authoritative headmaster, Master Lin, who keeps a firm grip on his pupils even as he teaches them how to kill.

It's an interesting concept to be sure -- "Harry Potter" meets "Kill Bill" -- and the comics have been a big success, with a new issue being published almost monthly since 2014. 

High school dramas are an established genre, but "Deadly Class" puts a new and interesting spin on things. The series premieres Wednesday, Jan. 16, on Syfy.

 

More Marvel: ABC hasn't lost faith in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," and it's showing its commitment to the superhero drama in the best way possible: by putting its money where its mouth is.

The next season of the series, which is part of the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe, isn't even set to premiere until this summer, but ABC surprisingly ordered a seventh season more than half a year before audiences even get a chance to see the sixth. It's surprising due to the lukewarm ratings that the show has received over the past few seasons, with the number of eyes tuning in hitting series lows last season. Despite the lack of viewers, the critics had an overall positive impression of the season, with particular praise given to the writing and acting, and with the finale's tie-in to 2018's mega-hit movie "Avengers: Infinity War," the bigwigs at ABC might be expecting renewed attention for the show.

Much like how all of the Marvel superhero movies fit together, "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." likewise shares a continuity with the films. While the movies focus on the superheroes and their larger-than-life adventures, the heroes of "Agents" are more ordinary people fighting to keep the world safe. Clark Gregg ("The New Adventures of Old Christine") leads the cast as Phil Coulson, the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., with Ming-Na Wen ("Mulan"), Chloe Bennet ("Nashville") and Ian De Caestecker ("Not Another Happy Ending," 2013) rounding out the cast.

It may not have impressive ratings, but "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." has ABC's full confidence with two seasons coming down the pike. The series returns this summer.