True Detective

Man, and we thought Westworld and Atlanta delaying new episodes until 2018 was bad. Now True Detective has joined the ranks of our favorite shows delayed until at least 2019, along with Game of Thrones, Stranger Things and more.

The casting of True Detective Season 3 has been pretty perfect to date, so we were bound to experience at least one “huh.” Enter Blade baddie Stephen Dorff, who joins Mahershala Ali in a co-lead role for the HBO drama’s third season.

We wouldn’t have minded if True Detective Season 3 made Mahershala Ali the sole star, but the Moonlight Oscar-winner has some company after all. Fantastic Beasts and The Girlfriend Experience star Carmen Ejogo has become the second member of Season 3’s cast, taking the role of the female lead.

We don’t know if True Detective can make Season 3 work, let alone start revisiting past characters, but one hope for a Rust and Marty reunion may be dashed. Woody Harrelson isn’t interested in any kind of return to HBO’s True Detective, even if his partner says otherwise.

You didn’t have to tell us twice that True Detective Season 3 was go with Mahershala Ali leading the cast, but HBO is making it official. Not only is the third season confirmed, but Green Room director Jeremy Saulnier will go behind the camera, and our first story details have arrived.

The surprise resurgence of HBO’s True Detective raised questions of creator Nic Pizzolatto’s involvement, given earlier commitment to Robert Downey Jr.’s proposed Perry Mason update. That project has since added new writers, indicating Pizzolatto is largely off the series, and back on True Detective Season 3 full-time.

True Detective Season 3 doesn’t technically have a formal greenlight from HBO, but the casting of Mahershala Ali with input from Deadwood director David Milch already has us back on board. Season 1 star Matthew McConaughey is also excited to see Ali take over the franchise, as only Matthew McConaughey could state.

Our interest in a third season of True Detective jumped considerably with word that Mahershala Ali might lead the cast, so consider us on board. HBO confirms the Luke Cage and Moonlight star would lead a third True Detective, which is now seeking directors.

In the Golden Age of television — or Peak TV, or “oh god, please stop, I have enough to watch already” — shows aren’t just more cinematic, they’re offering us more of everything. That includes more sex scenes, which have become increasingly prevalent, revealing, daring and yes, even artful, reinforcing the notion that TV has become more like film. We recently chose the 25 best movie sex scenes of the last 25 years, and with the smaller screen’s growing resemblance to its big screen brethren, we thought it only right to do the same for television. We also assumed that making a list of the 25 best TV sex scenes of the last 20 years would be far easier and much less surprising. Spoiler alert: We were wrong.

We weren’t certain how HBO might redeem True Detective after Season 2, but if “David Milch” didn’t get us there, “Mahershala Ali” might. The Luke Cage and Moonlight star is reportedly set to lead the third True Detective installment, which might be further along than we thought.