Since this season references the events and malefactors of Season 1 and calls itself an inverted spiritual successor, a comparison seems fair.
Atmosphere - In Season 1 the industrial grime and rural dilapidation and sweaty dirty denizens of southern Louisiana provided an atmosphere of desperation and danger. You could almost feel the unrelenting humidity in the peeling paint and weeds and rust as shorthand for a losing battle against the constant encroachment of hostile elements. Season 4 tries for something similar in the subzero inverse in its run-down buildings and icy obstructions but it doesn't work. Maybe because the freezing cold makes things seem sanitized and the dwellings seem warm and welcoming instead of unsettling and oppressive.
Supernatural - Whether or not there were any supernatural elements in Season 1 at all was ambiguous and anything that seemed otherworldly could also be explained from the outset by Cohle's drug-induced dementia. Season 4 presents what seem to be supernatural elements (whether they prove to be genuine or not is anyone's guess) without an alternative explanation. Either what we're seeing is genuinely supernatural or will be explained by a post-hoc bait-and-switch later; neither will be satisfying.
Central character - In Season 1 Cohle had almost superhuman detecting abilities; he could outthink and outfight anybody and he was driven by a moral code to see justice done. But he also had no personal life; his abilities made him prickly and insubordinate; and he didn't care that no one liked him. If a man so completely lives for his job and neglects all other areas of his life then it's possible he'd be superlative at that job, and Cohle was a fascinating manifestation of that idea. Jodie Foster in Season 4 isn't an inversion of the equation, she's just the bad without the good. She has a disastrous personal life; she's prickly and insubordinate; and she doesn't care that no one likes her. But she's also not that great of a cop, no better than the average plodding television gumshoe. She also doesn't seem to have a moral code, having taken this season's case due to an old employment grievance and jurisdictional entitlement rather than a drive for justice. She's less a fascinating character study and more just irrationally confrontational and unpleasant.
Atmosphere - In Season 1 the industrial grime and rural dilapidation and sweaty dirty denizens of southern Louisiana provided an atmosphere of desperation and danger. You could almost feel the unrelenting humidity in the peeling paint and weeds and rust as shorthand for a losing battle against the constant encroachment of hostile elements. Season 4 tries for something similar in the subzero inverse in its run-down buildings and icy obstructions but it doesn't work. Maybe because the freezing cold makes things seem sanitized and the dwellings seem warm and welcoming instead of unsettling and oppressive.
Supernatural - Whether or not there were any supernatural elements in Season 1 at all was ambiguous and anything that seemed otherworldly could also be explained from the outset by Cohle's drug-induced dementia. Season 4 presents what seem to be supernatural elements (whether they prove to be genuine or not is anyone's guess) without an alternative explanation. Either what we're seeing is genuinely supernatural or will be explained by a post-hoc bait-and-switch later; neither will be satisfying.
Central character - In Season 1 Cohle had almost superhuman detecting abilities; he could outthink and outfight anybody and he was driven by a moral code to see justice done. But he also had no personal life; his abilities made him prickly and insubordinate; and he didn't care that no one liked him. If a man so completely lives for his job and neglects all other areas of his life then it's possible he'd be superlative at that job, and Cohle was a fascinating manifestation of that idea. Jodie Foster in Season 4 isn't an inversion of the equation, she's just the bad without the good. She has a disastrous personal life; she's prickly and insubordinate; and she doesn't care that no one likes her. But she's also not that great of a cop, no better than the average plodding television gumshoe. She also doesn't seem to have a moral code, having taken this season's case due to an old employment grievance and jurisdictional entitlement rather than a drive for justice. She's less a fascinating character study and more just irrationally confrontational and unpleasant.