"The Final Country" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American anthology crime drama television series True Detective.
In 1980, partner detectives Wayne Hays (Mahershala Ali) and Roland West (Stephen Dorff) as they investigate a macabre crime involving two missing children, Will and Julie Purcell.
In the episode, Tom's death closes the case but Hays and West decide to investigate on their own, targeting Harris James.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 1.32 million household viewers and gained a 0.3 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
Hays (Mahershala Ali) and West are called to a crime scene, where they discover Tom's corpse, along with a note suggesting suicide.
Amelia (Carmen Ejogo) interviews a friend of Lucy's, who has a photograph of Will and Julie trick-or-treating on Halloween, with the chaff doll.
Hays and West visit the motel where O'Brien was staying, finding he has disappeared[a] and discovering evidence of his fight with Tom.
[b] She also tells Hays about the black man with a milky eye who interrupted Amelia's public reading, identifying him as "Watts"[c] and suggesting he could be a "procurer" for the ring.
The site's consensus states: "True Detective deftly squares the flat circle in 'The Final County', providing crucial revelations for the season's conspiracy and its place in the series' broader mythos - all while dangling several tantalizingly loose threads for audiences to ponder until the finale.
"[5] Sean T. Collins of Rolling Stone wrote, "With only one episode to go, we still have a murder and a kidnapping to solve, an arch-enemy to meet, the mysteries of Wayne Hays' family and Roland West's friendships to unravel, not to mention a pair of old men to either kill or spare.
"[6] Lanre Bakare of The Guardian wrote, "Things are finally moving along, as the plot inches closer to season one's gothic overtones and some major revelations are unearthed.
"[7] Ben Travers of IndieWire gave the episode an "A−" grade and wrote, "By connecting Season 3's intricate investigation with the original, Pizzolatto might be able to satisfy some of those slighted fans, three years later.
"[8] Derek Lawrence of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "'The Final Country' will go down as one of season 3's stronger episodes, ending with a mysterious conclusion, but it will be best remembered for connecting this installment with the original series.
"[11] Tony Sokol of Den of Geek gave the episode a perfect 5 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "In the 2015 timeline, Wayne mentions to Roland that he stopped pursuing the case because of a deal he made with Amelia.
"[12] Scott Tobias of The New York Times wrote, "There are more mundane reasons that people continue to live in towns and neighborhoods like this after those communities have collapsed.