Marty Hart, one of two protagonists of the television series, True Detective, works for the Louisiana State Police as a homicide detective. For several years, he enjoys a successful career and a good deal of support from his superiors, although he often has a troubled relationship with his wife and children due to his infidelities,volatile temperament, and reckless use of alcohol. Eventually his character flaws lead his loving wife to divorce him, while the grizzly serial murder case to which he is assigned haunts him and sparks his departure from the state homicide department. He starts working as a private investigator, hoping to stick to relatively easy and unimportant inquiries. Throughout the first season of the show, he has a complex and usually turbulent relationship with his partner, Rust Cohle, who challenges his conventional mores, as well as challenging him to continue their dangerous pursuit of a serial killer and a criminal power structure.