‘True Detective’ Isn’t Going To Try And Compete With The Super Bowl, Dropping Its Next Episode Two Days Early Instead

On Sunday viewers on the East Coast have a big decision to make: Do they watch the 49ers duke it out against the Chiefs, plus those commercials, plus Usher, plus a gazillion Taylor Swift cutaways? Or do they take an hour or so break around 9 and watch Jodie Foster in the new season of True Detective? It’s a choice, and luckily it’s one HBO has decided people don’t need to make.

Per Deadline, HBO has decided to drop the fifth episode of True Detective: Night Country two days early. Instead of Sunday at 9pm EST, it will air Friday at 9pm EST. It will also air in its usual time slot, but only for those who haven’t seen it yet and are skipping the big game.

The new season of True Detective not only has a new showrunner, with Issa López taking over for creator Nic Pizzolatto, but also fewer episodes. The past three seasons have had eight each. This one only has six. The show has been getting strong marks, though Pizzolatto weirdly dissed the new batch of episodes, saying the callbacks to the original season are “so stupid.” Instead of returning in kind, López took the high road.

Meanwhile over at the Super Bowl, this year’s festivities are already off to a rough start thanks to the far right, who’ve hatched a tinfoil hat conspiracy theory about the “deep state” rigging the game so that the Chiefs, which counts Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce as a tight end, will win over the Niners. This, by the way, will somehow end with Joe Biden getting elected. Everyone else, though, can just enjoy the game — and True Detective episode 5.

(Via Deadline)