Has He Always Been In On #TrueDetectiveSeason2?

Time is a flat circle, people. We've been desperately grabbing at straws for months trying to figure out who would star in HBO's True Detective Season 2. We meme'd our favorite duos with #TrueDetectiveSeason2 and there was that pesky rumor that Jessica Chastain would star until she shot it down. And now, Oscar-winner and Rust Cohle himself, Matthew McConaughey, might have just dropped the spoiler to end all spoilers in an interview with Deadline on Wednesday night. McConaughey said he wants in on more True Detective and how did we not see this before?

My first reaction was "too late, sucker," and then I was all like, "EVERYONE, THIS IS #TRUEDETECTIVESEASON3 — START HASHTAGGING." And then I realized something — this revelation isn't a coincidence. McConaughey and Nic Pizzolatto have been pulling one over on us since the actor said his role was a one-and-done kind of deal. Two weeks ago, around the time that the Chastain rumors were put to rest, Pizzolatto revealed that there would be three leads in Season 2. And we thought nothing of it — three new characters? Great, if they can pull off McConaughey and Woody Harrelson's chemistry, of course. But McConaughey's new interview changes everything.

The actor told Deadline about his initial concerns going into the series and why he expected one season:

That was always how I saw it. One season, eight episodes, a finite beginning, middle and end, goodbye, look forward to watching it. If HBO had wanted an option on me for a Season 2 or 3, I wouldn’t have done it. I wouldn’t have walked into something where they could say, “We’ve got you for the next three years.”

Understandable. He'd just spent the majority of his career stuck in the romantic-comedy genre, the last thing McConaughey needed after that Academy Award-worthy role in Dallas Buyers Club was to get stuck somewhere else. But, immediately after this explanation, he told us how he really feels:

I liked True Detective, the whole series and the experience of making it, so much that I’d be open to doing another one now. At the time, I was looking at six months and not beyond that. I don’t know of a feature film I’d sign for where I’m going to say, “If this works, you’ve got me whenever you want me for the next three years.”

Just two weeks after Pizzolatto revealed that there would be three leads in True Detective Season 2? I might still be riding the conspiracy train from Season 1, but this can't be a coincidence. Right? Right. Because one of those three leads could be McConaughey as Rust Cohle alongside a set of two new characters. Rust wasn't chained Louisiana, it's entirely feasible that he packed up and moved out to California. And Pizzolatto did say that casting hasn't even begun yet — so if McConaughey wants in, I can't see anyone saying no. Especially if they actually do have him if they want him for the next three years.

And, just like that, we're back in the thick of conspiracy theories as twisted as Carcosa. Bring it on, #TrueDetectiveSeason2.

Images: HBO, Giphy