The Real Star of ‘True Detective' Is Ronny's Dog

Let me just start by saying Mahershala Ali (Wayne Hays), Carmen Ejogo (Amelia Reardon), Stephen Dorff (Roland West), Mamie Gummer (Lucy Purcell), Scoot McNairy (Tom Purcell)—heck, even Ali’s on-screen heartthrob of a son, played by Ray Fisher, are worthy of allll the highest praises.

The star-studded cast of True Detective season three is bonkers good. Ali’s soul-searching brown eyes. Ejogo’s silky-smooth intonations. Dorff explaining what “LRRPs” are not once, but twice in just two episodes. (Seriously, his explanation just keeps playing over and over again in my head like a chant. “Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol. Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol…”)

The noisy neighbor dogs were just OK (obviously still 10 out of 10 on the good-boy scale), but Ronny’s new dog is the true artiste.

While we only get a swift glance of the pup (about four seconds, max) as Ronny’s dad questions him about if he saw Will and Julie Purcell (who have gone missing), it was truly my favorite four seconds of episode one, “The Great War and Modern Memory.”

That fluffy yellow fur! Its tiny little paws! The floppy ears!

And during his on-screen debut, the puppy is constantly licking Ronny’s hand. Like, so much so that the kid must’ve just eaten one of those craft services sandwiches before the scene started. This puppy cannot get enough. Side note: amazing portrayal of a real dog! Give him an Oscar, people. Or at least a treat.

Which leads us to why Julie and Will went missing. If they had just stuck to their “plan” (the one they told their dad before hopping on their bikes, never to be seen again) and gone to see Ronny’s puppy like they said they were, maybe no one would’ve gotten hurt. Why would they pass up that opportunity?

TBH, that’s the real mystery here.