‘True Detective’: Who Are Rose Aguineau & Travis and How Are They Connected to The Disappearances?

‘True Detective’ Season 4 has kicked off with the fourth season, and we’re following two grizzly crimes that have taken place in the past in the present. The first one is the murder of Annie Kowtok, a local protester who took on the local mining company and didn’t live to tell the tale, and the second case is the disappearance of eight research men from the nearby Tsalal station who have been studying the ice cores. The mystery of the “disappearance” is solved at the end of the episode, when Rose Aguineau leads the police to the frozen bodies of the researchers, but who or rather what tipped Rose to find the bodies?

Rose lives alone but supposedly has a secret that she wants to hide from the others

Rose Aguineau seems like a pretty insignificant character in the large scheme of things. She supposedly lives alone in the middle of nowhere; we can see her preparing her own food, netting, and surviving off the harsh wilderness of Alaska, about to be shrouded in a long night. Rose is shown in several scenes, and she can clearly see a man trying to communicate with her.

Like a mirage, the man appears to be clothed too little for the extreme temperatures of the frozen Alaskan fields. This is when we, as viewers, figure out that something is off. Rose keeps seeing the man until, ultimately, during the night, the man is calling to Rose, and as she follows him, the bodies of the Tsalal researchers are found frozen solid in the middle of nowhere.

When Rose is questioned by Liz about how she found the bodies, she answers that Travis showed them, and then we find out that Travis is dead.

Who is Travis in the first place?

We know nothing about Travis except that he had died and that he had some kind of connection to Rose. Considering Rose’s character introduction, we know that she has some shady stuff to hide from Ennis’ populace, and this is primarily why she lives alone. Considering that Rose also suffers from hallucinations, it’s likely that she was involved in something traumatic that was connected to both the Tsalal research station and Ennis.

In any case, Rose seems to be far more of an important figure at this stage of the investigation, and the show is moving in that direction. Hopefully we will find out more next Sunday when episode 2 of ‘True Detective’ releases.

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