True Detective Season 3: What Does The Ending Really Mean?

9. Hays Finds Julie, And More Importantly, Becca

Watching the finale, it quite quickly becomes apparent that there's a lot more to the case of Julie Purcell than the story told by Junius Watts, for the simple fact it happens too early for it to be the end of the tale. There's still around half-an-hour left by the time Hays and West visit the convent, leaving plenty of times for another twist or two.

We get it thanks to Amelia's book. While reading it, she visits him and pushes him to solve the case. What if Julie hadn't died at the convent? What if an old friend, one who'd previously said he'd marry her when they were kids, had found her there as he tended to the lawn? What if he'd taken her away to safety, and the nuns lied to protect her?

Mike Ardoin was expertly seeded across the show, from his appearance as a child to his brief appearance a couple of episodes prior, right down to his meeting with Hays in the finale. Since he owns a company, it's easy enough for Hays to find his address, and he drives out to their house and finds Julie and her daughter, Lucy, in the garden. At long last, he's solved the case. Except maybe not, because right at that moment, his memory fails him. He forgets all about finding Julie, and instead becomes confused as to where he is and why he's there. He speaks to Julie, with no idea of who she is, to ask for an address. He takes a glass of water. And then he leaves her in peace.

But does he really not remember? There's a very deliberate pause when he takes a drink of water. A fleeting moment of realisation perhaps, before his memory goes again? Or more likely, he really does remember. He knows exactly why he's there. And he sees how happy they are, and remembers how much this case cost him and everyone else, and decides to let her live her life, rather than dredging up past horrors for her.

More important for Hays is not who he finds there, but who comes to collect him. Henry and Becca both turn up, and it's his estranged daughter who drives him home. "Did I lose you?" Hays asks. She tells him he never could. This wasn't about Hays finding Julie Purcell. It was about him being able to let the case go and find his family again.