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

6. The Cycle Begins Again

A lot of True Detective's third season has been of a cyclical nature. What happens in 1990 with the Purcell case repeats what happened in 1980. 2015 then forces Hays and West to revisit the past. There are suggestions of loops, and as Amelia puts it, "one long story that kept going and going until it healed itself."

Which is why it's so interesting that director Daniel Sackheim uses a shot of two children riding on bikes right towards the end of the finale. Hays watches his grandkids cycle past, which ends up triggering his memory of Amelia, but it also evokes memories of the very first episode. There's a clear parallel to be drawn between Hays' grandkids here and the shots of the Purcell children in the opener.

This speaks more broadly - and in a rather literal sense - to the cyclical nature of things, but this time to how you can make things better. It's still a brother and sister, going out on a bike ride. This time, though, it's a happy ending.