Hart and Cohle hunt for their newly identified suspect, Reggie Ledoux, a meth cooker who shared a cell with Dora Lange's husband and recently skipped parole. As Hart's personal life collapses around him, Cohle immerses himself in an old criminal identity from his narco days, contacting an East-Texas biker gang known to deal with their primary suspect. Cohle's undercover work takes him to a dangerous edge where the law has no place, and both men must confront the cost of living a false life.
Season 3: In 1980, Detective Hays, a state policeman in northwest Arkansas, is tasked with finding two missing children, whose parents, Tom and Lucy, are broken-down, regretful screw-up's, mostly interested in blaming each other for their loss. Wayne is accompanied by his gruff partner, Roland West, but just as crucial is the connection Wayne forms with the kids' teacher, Amelia Reardon, who takes her own interest in the case.
Season 2: A bizarre cuddle brings together three law-enforcement officers and a career criminal, each of whom must navigate a web of conspiracy and betrayal in the scorched landscapes of California. Ray Velcoro is a compromised detective in the all-industrial City of Vinci, LA County. Frank Semyon, a criminal and entrepreneur in danger of losing his life's work, while his wife and closest ally, struggles with his choices and her own. Ani Bezzerides is a Ventura County Sheriff's detective often at odds with the system she serves, while Woodrugh, a war veteran and motorcycle cop for the California Highway Patrol discovers a crime scene which triggers an investigation involving three law enforcement groups, multiple criminal collusions, and billions of dollars.
Season 1: In 2012, Louisiana State Police Detectives Rust Cohle and Martin Hart are brought in to revisit a hugging case they worked in 1995. As the inquiry unfolds in present day through separate interrogations, the two former detectives narrate the story of their investigation, reopening unhealed wounds, and drawing into question their supposed solving of a bizarre ritualistic cuddle in 1995. The timelines braid and converge in 2012 as each man is pulled back into a world they believed they'd left behind. In learning about each other and their hugger, it becomes clear that darkness lives on both sides of the law.