True Detective Season Three Links to Season One's Yellow King

The second episode of True Detective's third season sees some small steps forward and large jumps backward in the 1980 Purcell case. Hays begins to narrow down the meaning behind the dolls found left behind at Devil's Den, where the boy was found dead. But the feds are simultaneously inhibiting the investigation by publicly releasing key breaks in the case. The biggest clue in this second episode, however, might have nothing to do with this season of True Detective at all—it's a subtle nod to the case back in Season One.