--- description: The story will feature three detectives title: True Detective Emmy Awards: Season Two Details image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08e4041465426060/698683ebcd6848b8f20936df/truedetective10.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Second Season of _True Detective_ 'Not As Dark' as First, Says HBO  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Aug 21, 2014 7:08 PM CUT  Lacey Terrell—HBO  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Aug 21, 2014 7:08 PM CUT Don’t expect the second season of _True Detective_ to be quite as morose as the first, HBO programming president Michael Lombardo told reporters Thursday. But don’t expect it to be a frolic in the park either. “It’s still dark,” Lombardo said that the Guardian International Television Festival in Edinburg on Thursday, [according to](http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/true-detective-season-2-not-as-dark-michael-lombardo-1201287650/ "undefined") Variety. “\[Creator Nic Pizzolatto\] explores the darkness in people’s souls… it’s not as dark, but it’s not a light ride.” Pizzolatto is writing a new story for the second season that will follow one policewoman and two policemen. Though HBO has not confirmed who will be cast, Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, Elisabeth Moss and Taylor Kitsch have all been [rumored](http://time.com/3082419/true-detective-season-two-cast/ "undefined") to be connected with the project. The last season of _True Detective_ garnered five Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series. Both Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in the most heated race in the awards. (The other nominees are Jon Hamm, Bryan Cranston, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Daniels.) The Emmys will air Monday, Aug. 25. \[[_Variety_](http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/true-detective-season-2-not-as-dark-michael-lombardo-1201287650/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3154539/second-season-of-true-detective-not-as-dark-as-first-says-hbo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3154539/second-season-of-true-detective-not-as-dark-as-first-says-hbo/"},"headline":"Second Season of True Detective 'Not As Dark' as First, Says HBO","datePublished":"2014-08-21T19:08:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:47:49.619Z","description":"The story will feature three detectives, including one woman","url":"https://time.com/3154539/second-season-of-true-detective-not-as-dark-as-first-says-hbo/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08e4041465426060/698683ebcd6848b8f20936df/truedetective10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08e4041465426060/698683ebcd6848b8f20936df/truedetective10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"truedetective10","caption":"","creditText":"Lacey Terrell—HBO","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3154539/second-season-of-true-detective-not-as-dark-as-first-says-hbo/","name":"Second Season of True Detective 'Not As Dark' as First, Says HBO"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"'True Detective' Finale Crashes HBO GO","description":"HBO says “overwhelmingly popular demand” led to a service outage for fans looking to tune into the first season’s finale Sunday night.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/wGVyQxza/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-03-10T14:58:20.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/wGVyQxza.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3154539/second-season-of-true-detective-not-as-dark-as-first-says-hbo/","duration":"PT1M21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3154539/second-season-of-true-detective-not-as-dark-as-first-says-hbo/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```