'True Detective: Night Country': The chilling significance of William Wheeler's case revealed
Contains spoilers for 'True Detective: Night Country'
ENNIS, ALASKA: Among many recurring references that add to the mysteries in 'True Detective: Night Country', the William Wheeler case appears to be an important aspect. It was the last case on which Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) worked together before reuniting for the Tsalal case.
The William Wheeler case was mentioned in one of the earlier episodes and the lingering mystery around it hinted that there's much more yet to be revealed as the season progresses.
Who was William Wheeler?
William was introduced as a middle-aged man who was booked by the Ennis police department for multiple sexual assault cases and armed robberies. The last time he came out of jail, he married an 18-year-old girl and went on to physically assault her.
Danvers recounted that they would often get domestic abuse calls from Wheeler's wife but she never pressed charges against him.
As per Danvers, when she and Navarro showed up at Wheeler's house one day after another stress call, they found the couple dead. She said that William had shot himself after killing his wife.
However, her statement was far from the truth. Episode 3 highlighted that Wheeler was very much alive and smiling after killing his wife when Navarro and Danvers entered their residence.
William Wheeler's case continues to haunt Liz Danvers
'True Detective: Night Country' Episode 5 circles back to the Wheeler case as Peter Prior (Finn Bennett) confronts Danvers yet again.
It begins when Ted Connelly (Christopher Eccleston) asks Danvers to close the Tsalal case after the forensics report comes in. Witnessing resistance from Danvers, Ted influences her by mentioning the Wheeler case.
Liz realizes that Ted could have only learned about it from Peter. She meets Peter in his office and the two get into a confrontation.
Peter, who was already suspicious that Danvers was lying about the Wheeler case, did his own investigation and figured out that Danvers and Navarro killed the man and covered up their crime.
Meanwhile, his father, Hank finds all the evidence of his laptop and tells their superior Ted Connelly.
While confronting Danvers, Peter reveals that he discovered how William Wheeler was left-handed but the gunshot wound that killed him was on the right side of his head.
He then compares William's wife's old picture with her photos from the crime scene and concludes that they were flipped to make it look like her injuries were caused by someone right-handed.
Who actually killed William Wheeler?
While it hasn't been said out loud, one can figure out that Navarro shot Wheeler and Danvers staged his death as suicide.
Navarro's backstory reveals that her father used to abuse her mother and Wheeler's abusive nature must have triggered her childhood trauma explaining why she killed him.
Navarro also had a vision at the crime scene where saw Wheeler's wife pointing in Wheeler's direction, encouraging her to kill him.
Why is William Wheeler's case important?
The case doesn't only highlight the dark secrets of the Danvers and Navarro but also emphasizes the visions that guide Navarro.
We might get an explanation for the mysterious visions in the finale episode of 'True Detective: Night Country' with a probable connection with the mishaps in Ennis.
The finale episode is set to premiere on Sunday, February 18, 2024, at 9 pm ET on HBO.