Elisa believes that Julie and perhaps Will were sold by their parents to a pedophile ring similar to the one in Season 1. The documentary continues in 2015, including a little throwback to Season 1.

Amelia continues her detective work, searching for the one-eyed man. One of the things that have been most impactful this season are the glimpses of how tragedy destroys the lives of those around it, even the minor characters. After great hesitation, she lets Amelia borrow the picture. In the background of some old photographs are two adults dressed as ghosts, with one black and one white hand showing. Prior to this, still on the case, Amelia asks Julie’s best friend about the one-eyed man and the Halloween doll. (As this is the end of “The Final Country”, we don’t know either.) Hays agrees to meet with him, walking out on his family with the promise of one last time, unsure if he will ever return. The next morning, Hays receives a call from Edward Hoyt wanting to discuss the events of the previous evening. Later, we are shown Hays burning his blood-stained clothes outside the house. The two fight, in what we can assume is the argument that alienated them all those years ago. West may have pulled the trigger, but Hays set up the shot. But he tries to escape, attacking Hays, and West kills him. During the interrogation of Harris, it seems like he might be willing to give up the information. Though that remains unsolved this week (I still say Harris), we do find out what crime they committed.

Several episodes have teased that West and Hays did something terrible in the 1990 timeline, implied to be Dan’s death. West joins him after much prompting to hunt down Harris. He finds a phone number and passenger manifest that links Harris James to Lucy’s death. When Dan goes missing, Hays prepares to leave the force. It’s a lie built on guilt over Tom’s death. When pushed, West initially refuses to pursue it, noting that he only took the case to help Hays get his career back. Never mind the one-eyed man at Amelia’s reading, Dan’s clues, or the convenience of it all. But as with the original investigation, the police are given a tidy ending with a dead man who can’t defend himself accused. Hays also suspects that something more happened to Tom. Of course, we saw Harris James come up behind him, so we know the truth, or can at least guess. He’s found where his son died, his head blown off and a typed suicide note implicating himself, effectively ending the investigation. Last week ended on a cliffhanger with Tom and it occurred to me that the 2015 timeline had subtly avoided mention of Tom’s fate.

True detective season 1 synopsis