Diksha Sundriyal
The fourth episode of HBO’s ‘True Detective: Night Country’ changes a lot of things for its characters. When it comes to the investigation into the case of the scientists who mysteriously disappeared from Tsalal Arctic Research Station, only to be found on the ice a few days later, things take a significant leap when Navarro and Danvers get an important link that not only ties the scientists to the case of Annie Kowtok’s death but also gives them a solid lead to move forward with. In terms of their personal lives, the situation is not so good for Danvers, and it only gets worse for Navarro, who suffers a huge loss.
Eve Navarro’s Sister Julia Meets a Tragic End
When Julia was introduced in the first episode, several things were laid down about her, most important of which was the fact that her mental health was not good. She sees and hears things that aren’t really there. She gets paranoid, which makes her actions unpredictable. She is diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder, and her sister is constantly worried about her because their mother had the same thing. She would also see and hear things, and one day, she walked out and never came back.
Navarro worries that the same might happen to her sister, which is why she wants to get her the help she needs, but Julia doesn’t want to be sent to someplace where she will be pumped with meds and lose track of who she is. But that only makes things worse for her. Without getting medical help, her state of mind worsens. Try as she might be there for her sister, Navarro cannot keep an eye on her 24/7. It’s good that Ennis is a small town, and whenever something happens with Julia, Navarro finds out about it soon after. Still, it does nothing to help the situation.
It is clear to Navarro that she will have to convince Julia to go someplace, preferably the local mental health assistance place called The Lighthouse, where her safety will be ensured. This is especially true after Julia has a bad episode at her workplace, where she claims someone’s coming and prays before running off. Luckily, Navarro knows where to find her. She calms down Julia and brings her back home. Soon after, Danvers finds her walking down the road while taking off her clothes. After this, Navarro has no choice but to tell her sister to go to the Lighthouse, but it turns out to be a mistake.
While Julia goes there willingly, it means that she can leave by herself too. The first night there, she has a hallucination which is eerily similar to what her sister has. A woman (most probably their mother) and an orange are recurring in both their hallucinations, and it worries Navarro that she might be walking down the same road as her mother and sister. Previously, Julia revealed that she feels like their mother is calling out to her. Later, Navarro is told by Anders Lund, before he dies, that her mother is calling for her too.
It is unfortunate that Julia doesn’t get the help she needs, and worse, she walks out of the facility, and no one keeps an eye on her to at least let her sister know about it. Disturbed by her visions, Julia goes back to the same spot where her sister had found her a couple of nights ago. This time, Navarro is not around to take her home. Julia takes off her clothes and walks into the cold night until she gets to the ocean and drowns. The way she folds her clothes before walking to her death reminds one of the way the scientists’ clothes were folded a small distance from where their dead bodies were found.
Considering the events of the previous episode, it feels that Julia’s death was inevitable. In fact, she may have made up her mind to kill herself days before she actually died, the same day that she flipped out at the restaurant and was later found by her sister near the wrecked ship. Her death also makes things darker for Navarro, not just because it is a heart-wrenching loss for her, but because it convinces the detective that the thing that killed her mother and sister is coming for her, too. The increasing frequency and intensity of her visions make it even worse. It remains to be seen whether Navarro will get help in time and avoid her sister’s fate.
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