• Every month, Business Insider looks at the most anticipated returning shows thanks to data from TV Time.
• "True Detective" and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" return in January.

After a nearly four year hiatus, HBO's "True Detective" returns this month with Mahershala Ali in the lead role. 

"True Detective," an anthology drama with a new cast and story each season, debuted in 2014 to critical acclaim, particularly for the performances of its two leads, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. The first season gained an 87% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, and was nominated for a dozen Emmys, including best drama.

The second season in 2015 didn't fare as well, with a 63% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. It was largely deemed a disappointing follow-up, but the third season has received more positive reactions. It currently has an 81% critic score. Indiewire's Ben Travers wrote that "True Detective" season three is a "big step up" from season two.

Every month, Business Insider looks at the most anticipated returning shows thanks to data from television-tracking app TV Time, based on its 13 million global users.

"Young Justice" also returns in January on DC Universe, and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" makes a comeback at its new home, NBC.

5. "The Blacklist" (Season 6) — NBC, January 3

Description:"Following the startling revelation that Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader) isn't who he says he is, Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone) is torn between the relationship she's developed with the man assumed to be her father and her desire to get to the bottom of years of secrets and lies. Meanwhile, Red leads Liz and the FBI to some of the most strange and dangerous criminals yet, growing his empire and eliminating rivals in the process. All throughout, Liz and Red engage in an uneasy cat-and-mouse game in which lines will be crossed and the truth will be revealed."

4. "Young Justice: Outsiders" (Season 3) — DC Universe, January 4

Description:"DC's teenage Super Heroes come of age in an animated world of super-powers, Super-Villains and super secrets as the team faces its greatest challenge yet as it takes on meta-human trafficking and the terrifying threat it creates for a society caught in the crossfire of a global and galaxy-wide genetic arms race."

3. "Gotham" (Season 5) — Fox, January 3

Description:"GOTHAM is an origin story of the great DC Comics Super-Villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told. From executive producer and writer Bruno Heller and executive producers Danny Cannon and John Stephens, GOTHAM follows the rise of Det. James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) through a dangerously corrupt city teetering between good and evil, and chronicles the birth of one of the most popular super heroes of our time. Beginning in Winter 2019, GOTHAM will air its fifth and final season, wrapping up this beloved series in a farewell event that will focus on Bruce Wayne’s (David Mazouz) transformation into the caped crusader."

2. "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (Season 6) — NBC, January 10

Description:"The hilarious heroics of New York's funniest police precinct continue for a new season, with a brand-new home: NBC. SNL alum Andy Samberg and Emmy winner Andre Braugher lead this diverse, critically acclaimed ensemble that solves crimes like only they can - with tons of humor and the heart to match. Winner of a Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy Series and from Executive Producers Michael Schur and Dan Goor, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" has captured the hearts of millions, and NBC is proud to be a part of the story."

1. "True Detective" (Season 3) — HBO, January 13

Description:"Partner detectives investigate a macabre crime involving two missing children in the heart of the Ozarks, Arkansas. The story spans three decades."

SEE ALSO: The 5 most anticipated new TV shows in January

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• Warning: Minor spoilers ahead for "True Detective" season three.
• HBO's "True Detective" anthology series is back and critics have mixed reviews. 
• Many are rejoicing, because it's far better than the second season. 
• But others think that's a low bar, and instead it's simply redundant of the first season.
• "True Detective" returns to HBO on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.

After a lengthy hiatus following the notoriously messy second season, HBO's "True Detective" crime series is back for a third installment. This time starring Mahershala Ali, Steph Dorff, and Carmen Ejogo, the season is a standalone from the previous two. 

Taking place in Arkansas, the story revolves around the disappearance of two young kids. Ali's character, Wayne Hays, takes center stage as a brilliant investigator with reconnaissance experiences thanks to his time served in the Vietnam War.

The story is told across three different time frames (1980, 1990, and 2015) as the case is opened, re-opened, and then documented for a true crime series TV show. Let's see what critics are saying. 

The new story has a lot in common with the first season — for good or bad

"So let’s go ahead and address this right away: 'True Detective' creator Nic Pizzolatto has taken the right lessons from the successes of season one and failures of season two to pen a highly engaging whodunnit, one which borrows heavily from the show’s debut season to great effect."

— Collider's Allison Keene

"'True Detective' season three — which made the first five episodes of the season available for review — is more than a return to Season one’s spooky, winding excellence. It tackles different issues to previous seasons and focuses more sharply on issues and realities that were left unexamined in its previous iterations."

— Mashable's Alexis Nedd

"The first five episodes are stirring entertainment, steadying a very rocky boat and teasing an end that feels far more likely to exceed expectations than spoil a strong setup. 'True Detective' is good again, and that alone is worth celebrating."

— IndieWire's Ben Travers

"If you score 'True Detective' season three on originality, it fails — for repeating both its own history and the already-dated cable genre of glum loners confronting the evils men do. But if you treat it as a do-over — if the series, like one of its haunted antiheroes, is retracing its steps to try to get things right — then it’s fine. Often quite good. Far more consistent."

— New York Times' James Poniewozik

Some say the choice to mimic the first season leaves season three with the same problems "True Detective" had before

"Is being better than the second season really an accurate use of the word 'better'? Is being 'worse' than the first season all that bad? Then I wondered what I would think if neither of the previous seasons had existed, and I realized—I probably wouldn’t be thinking about it at all."

— Slate's Willa Paskin

"Season three is marginally better than season two, at the very least. But despite a tremendous lead performance from Mahershala Ali, it doesn’t quite reach the heights of season one, either. More than anything, it feels unnecessary, hitting the same self-consciously grim notes we’ve seen plenty of times before."

— TVLine's Dave Nemetz

"Despite 'True Detective' season three’s attempts to recreate what worked with season one, the show still lacks what made that season so memorable: a clear vision. Pizzolatto’s writing was often good, and the performances – particularly McConaughey’s – were great. But the secret weapon of that first 'True Detective' was Cary Joji Fukunaga."

— SlashFilm's Chris Evangelista

"Season three, which is set in the Ozarks in the ‘80s, ‘90s, and the recent past, doesn’t answer that nagging, fundamental question about the series — namely, what, exactly, is 'True Detective,' besides a collection of stories involving cops and murderers, encrusted with literary affectations? It also has that familiar post-millennium-TV problem of seeming as if it doesn’t have enough story to justify its running time."

— Vulture's Matt Zoller Seitz

The plot is too slow for others

"Unfortunately, it’s no big surprise that things drag along in a very 'True Detective' sort of way, at least until the season is more than halfway finished (there are eight episodes in all, five of which were made available to critics). Even when the show is viewed with an open mind, the experience is a lot like coming home and discovering you forgot to set your slow cooker to actually cook the meal."

— Hank Stuever, Washington Post's Hank Stuever 

Mahershali Ali delivers a fantastic performance 

"He’s great — simultaneously charismatic and vulnerable, kind and self-destructive, in every era — and the Hays/Reardon relationship allows Pizzolatto to do some interesting and relatively nuanced work about growing up black in a place where you’re always looked at as something alien."

— Rolling Stone's Alan Sepinwall

"At the very least, the new 'True Detective' season is a three-tiered showcase for Mahershala Ali, who stays consistently mesmerizing even if the mystery around him does not."

— The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg

Fans of the first season should be prepared to dive in with both feet

"The premiere episodes show a lot of promise plotwise, teasing out a season that gets to the uniquely spooky roots that hooked audiences in the first go-round. If the devil really has come to Arkansas, we’re happy to fall under his spell."

— Polygon's Lindsey Romain

"True Detective" season three premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

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• Warning: Spoilers ahead for "True Detective" season three, episode two: "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye."
• INSIDER is keeping a running timeline of all major events on "True Detective" this season.
• This seasons includes storylines from 1980, 1990, and 2015.
• Follow along with our interactive timeline below.

HBO's "True Detective" is back for a third season, and the new installment of this mystery-driven anthology series has ramped up the stakes with three separate time frames. Our protagonist Wayne Hays (played by Mahershala Ali) is the man we follow through 1980, 1990 and 2015 as a case of abducted children dominates his life. 

In 1980, two kids (Will and Julie Purcell) go missing after they set off riding bikes one afternoon. The body of Will Purcell is found within a day, but the case drags on as Detective Hays and his partner Roland West search for Julie and try to solve Will's murder. 

In 1990, the Purcell case is re-opened and Hays is summoned back for a deposition on the case and the events of the 1980 investigation. 

Then in 2015, Hays (now an elderly man with what might be dementia or other memory-altering condition) is being interviewed by a true-crime documentarian for a TV show. His gaps in memory mean the show is told sometimes in hazy, flashback style. 

Though (so far) "True Detective" has delineated between the three years with pretty clear-cut exposition, we've laid out the major events in chronological order as a way to better track how the three years are all interacting with one another. To read more about certain characters or events, click the highlighted phrases on the timeline below.

We'll be updating this timeline weekly as new episodes air. The next installment of "True Detective" premieres on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET. 

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• Stephen Dorff played detective Roland West on season three of "True Detective," which had its finale on Sunday.
• Business Insider spoke with Dorff about the show, why he thinks it's the best role he's ever had, and how he finally feels respected after being in the business for over 30 years.

Warning: There are spoilers below if you haven't seen the season-three finale of "True Detective."

It's hard not to root for Stephen Dorff.

The Hollywood lifer has been everything from a child star to a Hollywood heartthrob to a struggling actor looking for a paycheck.

But through it all he's battled on, thanks to his raw acting ability. This ability shines in a career-making performance like 1998's “Blade,” a small part in a big movie like 2009's “Public Enemies” opposite Johnny Depp, or a big part in a small movie like Sofia Coppola's 2010 movie “Somewhere.”

And now, at 45, it looks like Dorff is finally getting the respect within the industry he deserves, as his role as detective Roland West in season three of “True Detective” has drawn universal acclaim.

The latest season of HBO's police-procedural saga from creator Nic Pizzolatto explores the 30-year obsession detective Wayne "Purple" Hays (Mahershala Ali) has for an old case as he sinks deeper into dementia. And Dorff's West is Hays' prefect companion with his tough-guy cowboy persona and wicked humor.

Days after the season finale aired on HBO, Business Insider spoke with Dorff about the experience of creating what he called “the best role I've ever played,” why it's been hard to kick the Roland character, and what it's been like to finally have his acting talents recognized in Hollywood.

Jason Guerrasio: Is it true that Nic didn't give you guys the script for the finale until midway through production?

Stephen Dorff: Yeah, me and Mahershala and Carmen [Ejogo, who plays Amelia] had all seven scripts, and I can't remember the actual date, but it was well into shooting we got episode eight. It was Nic's process, but also I think he was holding it. He had it in his head but hadn't put it to paper. So we were knee deep into the shooting without really knowing where it was heading. We were guessing just like the audience was. I didn't know if I was going to die; I had no idea what was going to happen. It was really cool when we got it. We were all really touched by it. This was all totally new for me.

Guerrasio: Having done movies most of your career, outside of the TV guest spots you did as a kid early in your career, you've had a road map of the characters you played. For this you were flying blind.

Dorff: You know where you go until the end. I knew seven hours of an eight-hour piece.

Guerrasio: So when you get the script and you see what happens, is it completely different than how you felt Roland would end up?

Dorff: It took me for a big turn. Nic would give me little things here and there. He told me he wrote the bar scene and the dog scene. It was an extra gift for me in a way because it was such a cool sequence. I had this feeling that the one-eyed guy, Junius (Steven Williams), was going to probably come back. But really for the most part I was in the dark and I loved it. When we got the script I was blown away. I love the scene where Mahershala is with Julie and doesn't know where he is. It's so hard to watch but that little note with the address that Ray [Risher, who plays Henry Hays] puts in his pocket, that's so good. Nic went to a deeper level and didn't want to do a bunch of tricks. I remember my Dad said to me, "I really wanted more closure I wanted to see Roland and Wayne with Julie." And I was like, "Dad, that's the Disney version."[Laughs.]

Guerrasio: That's not how life is.

Dorff: That's not how life is and it's also not how Nic writes. This is leaving it to the imagination. Will Ray look into that piece of paper? Maybe call Roland and ask, "Why was my Dad there?" And we would probably go over there and find out, but that's for everyone to think about after, not to see. I just think Nic is a f---ing genius and it's the best role I ever played.

Guerrasio: You get some great lines to say, especially in the finale. When you guys confront Junius and you call him a cyclops. And when he wants you guys to kill him and you turn to his gun rack and tell him to do it himself. So good!

Dorff: How Nic wrote Roland it was a dream role because every line hit. Roland had a humor. Oftentimes a character has one note, but this here had so many layers and colors. I really think Nic hit this season out of the park.

And it was crazy to see what people wrote about. The theories they came up with were really funny. Some people thought the killer was Amelia. I was like, what the f---? My dad thought it was the DA, and I'm like, "Dad, c'mon man." [Laughs.] And I'm sworn the secrecy, I can't say anything, but it was fun to see people were so into it.

Guerrasio: How much of the chemistry between you and Mahershala was just two guys with talent making it work in the scene, and how much of it was you guys building chemistry before shooting started?

Dorff: I emailed him when I was cast, but we met when we were on the plane to Arkansas. We actually were shooting around this time last year. He had just finished "Green Book" 10 days before the shoot. We were both in Arkansas, neither of us had been there before, and we were like, "Where do we begin?" We found each other in the car doing the scenes. The chemistry just started. And it's where I found Roland. Nic realized I was funny and wrote more humor into the character. You can't compare it to doing a movie with somebody because he and I had a relationship. It is two guys who are completely different but love each other.

Guerrasio: You two literally grow old together.

Dorff: Yeah. I mean, I have never done a scene ever like in episode five where we're on the porch. Five hours in make-up, and that was a 10-page scene. We were out there just pouring our hearts out. Me and Mahershala hit a magical moment that day. It was exciting. I haven't been really into watching myself but I love watching me and him in this.

Guerrasio: So would you watch every Sunday night?

Dorff: I first saw them all kind of rough with green screen still around the car and it still needing to be mixed. So I would like to watch it on broadcast. And because it was weekly, it's not like Netflix where all the episodes are up at once, the calls would come in every night from people.

Guerrasio: What was the casting like? You had never been through something like this before. Was there fear if you could play a part like this?

Dorff: There was no fear. I knew when I read it this was special. When I was cast I only got a couple of scenes to read with Nic for the job. I had a feel for Roland but I had no clue. I had no idea I aged to my 70s. But once he gave me the role he sent me an email and said, "You have no idea what Roland gets to do." And I was like, "I'm ready." I read the scripts and I just started going apes--- in my house. You just don't get roles like this anymore. Movies are all comic books now. Maybe you get a good character part in a small movie. I never got a chance to take a character like this on a journey. I had it.

Guerrasio: Did anything with Roland get left on the cutting room floor?

Dorff: Roland had a little bit more. There was more with Lori (Jodi Balfour) and the demise of our relationship. Maybe I had three scenes cut, and they weren't huge. There was a scene in the '80s where Roland's smoking a joint with this young hippie chick and she's reading his tarot cards and he just wants to go to bed. It was a really funny scene. But for the most part everything we shot is in show.

Guerrasio: Has it been hard to kick Roland, because it sounds like you really loved playing this character.

Dorff: Yeah, I had a hard time. I had a month before I started this movie I did, and when I went and did it, it was hard to get into my character because I didn't want to leave Roland. I've never really been bummed after a part. I've been bummed when I'm done with a movie and go back home and don't know what the f--- to do with myself until my next movie. But I had this movie after "True Detective" so I wasn't worried about work, just how do I do it?

I was kind of stuck because I really connected to Roland in a way that I never had in my career. At 45 this was the perfect part for me in my life. I really don't know how all this happened. I came in the last minute and Nic gave it to me. After some bad things that have happened in my life I wasn't in a great place, and the thing that I needed most was to be around a great group of people and have a great part to act in. That's what Nic gave me, and I will always be thankful to him for doing that.

Guerrasio: And because of that you didn't want to let go of the character?

Dorff: I didn't want to let go, and it's funny because he's kind of following me around. Everything I'm reading is kind of a Western influence. In fact, Nic didn't want Roland to have an accent in the beginning, but I said, "I think there's an accent there and I'm reading this and I hear it." I started doing what I thought was Roland's voice and everyone was into it.

Guerrasio: You have been in this business your whole life, so you know how it works. But how are things now for you? Have the offers changed? Are the calls you get now from people higher in the food chain? Are you suddenly seen differently than say a year ago?

Dorff: Yeah, how do I begin that question? [Pause.]

My career has always been a little different, but I'm still here. That's the interesting thing. Many of my contemporaries, when we started out there were five of us who went out for everything. This one would go to me, this one would go to Leo [DiCaprio], this one went to Matt Damon. And I have watched a lot of them become incredibly successful, whereas I chose smaller, weirder movies. I just followed my own path and also it was what was available at the time. I can't make things happen. I can't make an amazing script come to me tomorrow. So for a lot of my career I have been blessed with having what I call spurts.

Out of nowhere there will be a Sophia Coppola movie ("Somewhere") that everybody wants to do, the guys way ahead of me in bankability or whatever the f--- it is, and she gives it to me out of nowhere. Mike Figgis gave me a movie, "Cold Creek Manor," which was during one of the worst times in my career, but Mike just said, "Do you want to do a movie with me at Disney?" And bang, they paid me a s--- load of money. And I found out a lot of guys way bigger than me wanted that part. So I had this weird career that has been led by directors kind of standing up and saying they want me. I mean, yeah I did "Blade" and "Immortals," I've done big studio movies, but that doesn't do anything for you unless you follow it up and do 10 more of them, and I never did that.

I went the other way and would do a tiny movie that would fight for distribution. What happened here is TV is now king and I got to do something with Roland that I never got to do before. If I only had 90 minutes I wouldn't have been able to do with Roland what I did, it was because of the format and Nic's incredible writing.

So I have had a lot of these hit moments. When "Somewhere" premiered at the Venice Film Festival everyone thought it was going to win Oscars, but it was ignored in the US. What's different with "True Detective" is everyone is seeing it. I don't have to fight for people to see it. I mean, I'm recognized because of "Blade" or "Somewhere," I've gotten that my whole career. But I've never gotten the recognition I'm getting from doing Roland, ever. I'm going through customs at the airport and the guy doesn't even look at my passport, he's just like, "Man, episode five was sick. Get out of here — welcome back." Even major people.

Joel Silver cornered me the other night. Joel Silver! He's never hired me my whole life and he's like, "It's the most brilliant thing I've ever seen. I first met you at a nightclub and now you're doing this performance." He's losing his mind, and I'm in my head thinking, "Man, Joel Silver. I've auditioned for him a bunch of times and he's never given me a goddamn thing, but he's really a fan!" So it feels like there's a real change that I've never had in a my life. I'm really flattered. Now the question is do I quit and start a fish-and-chips shop because am I ever going to find anything as good as Roland ever again? [Laughs.]

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• "True Detective" creator Nic Pizzolatto didn't reveal to the cast the script for the finale until midway through production, according to star Stephen Dorff.
• Dorff said when he and the cast did get it they were blown away by how it would end.
• "Nic went to a deeper level and didn't want to do a bunch of tricks," Dorff told Business Insider.

Warning: Spoilers if you haven't watched the season 3 finale of "True Detective."

It turns out the audience weren't the only ones in suspense about how season 3 of HBO's "True Detective" would end. The actors were too. 

Despite being in Arkansas last year for seven months shooting the season, for a good portion of that time, many on set had no clue what the ending was. That's because the show's creator and writer, Nic Pizzolatto, didn't hand it out to the cast until midway through production, according to one of its stars, Stephen Dorff. 

"We were knee deep into the shooting without really knowing where it was heading," Dorff, who played detective Roland West in the season, told Business Insider days after the season finale aired Sunday. "We were guessing just like the audience was. I didn't know if I was going to die. I had no idea what was going to happen."

Dorff said he believed Pizzolatto did have an idea what was going to happen, it just took him a while to get it all on the page. He recalled that before getting the script, Pizzolatto would give him teases of what Roland would do in the episode. 

"He told me he wrote the bar scene and the dog scene," Dorff said, referring to a major sequence for Roland in the finale that highlights his frustration with not solving the Purcell case and the origin of his love for dogs that we see when he's in his 70s. "It was an extra gift for me in a way because it was such a cool sequence."

Dorff said when he finally got his hands on the script he was completely floored by how Pizzolatto wanted to close the story.

"I love the scene where Mahershala (who plays detective Wayne Hays) is with Julie and doesn't know where he is," Dorff said. "It's so hard to watch but that little note with the address that Ray [Risher, who plays Henry Hays] puts in his pocket, that's so good. Nic went to a deeper level and didn't want to do a bunch of tricks. I remember my Dad said to me, 'I really wanted more closure I wanted to see Roland and Wayne with Julie.' And I was like, 'Dad, that's the Disney version.'"

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Dorff said Roland was the best role he's ever gotten and admits it's been hard to get out of character. 

"I was kind of stuck because I really connected to Roland in a way that I never had in my career," he said. "At 45 this was the perfect part for me in my life. I really don't know how all this happened. I came in the last minute and Nic gave it to me. After some bad things that have happened in my life I wasn't in a great place, and the thing that I needed most was to be around a great group of people and have a great part to act in. That's what Nic gave me, and I will always be thankful to him for doing that."

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• "True Detective" is known for its passionate fans and their theories of how a season will end.
• Stephen Dorff, who played Roland West in season three, got a kick out of reading the hot takes. Even his Dad had one.

If there's one thing we've learned from three seasons of "True Detective," it's that people have a lot of takes.

The theories that people come up with about what's going on in the show, and who is the killer is, have become part of the fun of watching. Heck, there was even a hot take in this season's story arc: the podcaster who visited Wayne Hays thinks his case is related to the one focused on in the first season of the show.

Stephen Dorff, who played detective Roland West in season three, admits he was keeping up on what people thought, even though most weren't remotely close.

"The theories they came up with were really funny," Dorff told Business Insider. "Some people thought the killer was Amelia. I was like, what the f---? My dad thought it was the DA, and I'm like, 'Dad, c'mon man.' And I'm sworn to secrecy, I can't say anything, but it was fun to see people were so into it."

Read more: The creator of "True Detective" kept the finale a secret from the cast for most of season 3's production

Dorff said after episodes aired on Sunday nights he would have to fight off the calls that would come in from friends and family spouting their theories.

It turned out creator Nic Pizzolatto changed it up on everyone, and made an ending that was less about the case the detectives were chasing, and more about the people whose lives it affected.

Though you can't please everyone with a finale like that, the season itself it was a rebound for Pizzolatto and HBO. Season two was bashed by critics and fans, and many thought this season got the show's mojo back.

"I really think Nic hit this season out of the park," Dorff said.

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Before making the critically acclaimed Netflix movie “Beasts of No Nation,” Cary Fukunaga was known best for directing the complete first season of “True Detective.”

His efforts not only got him an Emmy, but showed off his stunning visual eye, with gorgeous wide shots of Louisiana bayou country and the now-famous six-minute single shot in the finale of one of the episodes.

But along with the praise came rumors that he and the show’s creator, Nic Pizzolatto, never got along during the making of the season.

Fukunaga never intended to take the directing reins for season two of the anthology series, as it moved to Los Angeles to focus on the shady dealings of city officials, police, and the underworld. Though he did stay on as an executive producer.

But Fukanaga can’t escape the “True Detective” questions. And it turns out he still hasn't gotten around to watching season two.

“They finished it right when we started [‘Beasts of No Nation’],” Fukunaga told Vulture in late September about why he hadn’t watched season two yet. “I like to binge-watch.”

So last week, we asked Fukunaga if he’s binged it.

“I have not,” he said.

He’s not curious that Pizzolatto supposedly based a character on him this season?

“No. Not really,” he said. “And me not watching it is not a statement. I haven’t had the time.”

But he did have time to check out the newest original comedy series on Netflix.

“The only think I’ve binged is Aziz Ansari’s 'Master of None,'” he said. “It’s great.” 

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