A bizarre murder brings together three police officers and a career criminal in the corrupt city of Vinci, California.

Ray, Ani, and Paul are assigned to Casper's murder case. Frank tries to keep his business deals going, even after Casper's death.

Paul works the prostitute angle; Frank receives the first casualty in a secret war.

The detail works a pawn shop lead to close in on a suspect in the Caspere case. Frank revisits his past to pay for his present.

Ray and Frank consider new life choices; Ani and Paul go up to the coast to follow a lead.

Desperate to locate a missing woman with intel about Caspere, Frank meets with Mexican drug dealers; Ani infiltrates an exclusive inner circle, with Ray and Paul keeping close tabs.

As Ani, Paul, and Ray get closer to finding out the truth about Casper, circumstances become more dangerous for them all and everyone around them. Frank deals with an inside betrayal, learns important information, and plans his next move.

Ray and Ani attempt to escape their desperate situation while Frank ties up some loose ends.

In 2012, former detective partners, Rust Cohle and Martin Hart recap one of their very first cases together involving a serial killer, back in 1995.

Cohle and Hart travel around trying to track down leads to their case. Darker sides of Hart's personal and family lives are revealed.

Cohle and Martin finally get a new wind in the case and can confirm a suspect. Martin's mistress gets on with somebody else leaving him furious. Cohle's theory becomes increasingly more convincing than ever.

Martin is faced with marital problems. The search for Reggie Ledoux leads the detectives to a motorcycle gang called The Iron Crusaders, which Rust worked undercover in the past.

Hart and Cohle share the spoils of a solved case; Papania and Gilbough confront the detectives with troubling new intelligence.

Cohle's activities in 2002, when his partnership with Hart disintegrated and he quit the force, are recalled by Maggie.

Cohle and Hart try to discover if a series of missing persons reports could be related to the Dora Lange murder and the Tuttle family.

An overlooked detail provides Hart and Cohle with an important new lead in their 17-year-old case.