True Detective: Night Country showrunner says show is being review bombed by ‘bros’

Issa López commented: ‘It’s kind of sad’

True Detective: Night Country showrunner Issa López has called out fans of the show’s first series who she believes are purposefully dragging down the Rotten Tomatoes ratings for the latest season.

The new fourth season of the HBO crime series has proved a hit with critics, earning a 92% fresh score on the reviews aggregation site.

However, the audience score is lower, currently sitting at 72%.

On X/Twitter, López put the blame on fans of the first season who weren’t happy with the latest version, which stars two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster and boxer-turned-actor Kali Reis.

Per Variety, López wrote: “So, if you liked last night’s [episode] of [True Detective: Night Country], and have a Rotten Tomatoes account, maybe head over there and leave an audience review? The bros and hardcore fanboys of [Season 1] have made it a mission to drag the rating down, and it’s kind of sad, considering all the 5 star ones.”

López has since deleted the tweet.

Jodie Foster in ‘True Detective: Night Country’ (AP)

In follow-up posts, she added that not all fans of the first series have been unreceptive to the new season.

“Many a (lovely) bro and hard-core fan of S1 have been friggin’ lovely and willing to try something new, made in big part for them and for the love they feel for TD. To those of you: I salute you. And I thank you kindly,” she wrote.

She also pointed out that the current 72% audience score represented a real improvement since she first tweeted about the matter, writing: “No... It was way lower. But people who liked it hadn’t joined the convo.”

In a four-star review of True Detective: Night Country for The Independent, television critic Nick Hilton wrote that “Jodie Foster is perfectly cast in this frosty, Alaska-set mystery.”

“Who would want to live in the Alaskan wilderness?” asked Hilton. “Separated from the American border by almost 1,500 miles (but only 650-odd from Russia), this is bleakness incarnate.

“The wind moans, the soil is hard as iron, and the water runs still as stone. This land of snow on snow is the setting for True Detective: Night Country, the fourth instalment of Sky’s acclaimed series, which probes the very darkest recesses of our inhabited world – and the human psyche.”

True Detective: Night Country premiered yesterday 14 January and is available to stream on Max in the US and Sky in the UK