HBO's smash hit True Detective [1] is following in the footsteps of anthology series like American Horror Story [2] and completely switching up the show for its second season. This means a new setting, new characters, and a new crime. Since we love speculating (we're pretty good at it [3]), we're taking the hints that writer Nic Pizzolatto has given about the next season and applying them.

So far, Pizzolatto told Entertainment Weekly [4], "I am still fleshing it out. The basic idea: hard women, bad men, and the secret occult history of the US transportation system. I was well on my way in the writing, but there's been a lot noise and work around the end of the first season that got in the way." In an interview with BuzzFeed [5], he also debunks the idea that the next season will be about a murder: "Oh, all kinds of conspiracies suggest themselves. Especially if, like me, you've been reading about the last 40 years of Southern California government."

Given those clues, here are my proposed theories about season two!

• Possibility No. 1: It's about the General Motors streetcar conspiracy. Between 1936 and 1950, General Motors contributed a large amount to buying the streetcar and electric train systems in Los Angeles, San Diego, and other US cities. It caused a huge change in the transit system, forcing more people into purchasing their own transportation. This was especially true for those who lived in the suburbs and depended on the Los Angeles Railway (aka "Yellow Cars"). Season two could have to do with the fallout of GM's purchase and how it affected the public.
• Possibility No. 2: It's about drug trafficking. This season of True Detective lightly touched on the underbelly of drug trafficking, but it mostly revolved around Dora Lange's murder. Next season could be about the dangerously high level of drugs being transported into the United States from Mexico. The region is a hotbed of illegal drug trafficking, and I could definitely see Pizzolatto's next detectives belonging to the DEA.
• Possibility No. 3: It's about Southern California wanting to join Mexico. What if season two isn't set in the modern day at all? Pizzolatto mentions conspiracies within the Southern California government, and there are theories about Southern California politicians betraying the Union in an effort to leave and join Mexico. These rumors stemmed from around 1850, but since Pizzolatto suggests next season might be set in the past 40 years, it might be an updated version of this story. Admittedly, this is the weakest of the theories.

Do any of these sound right to you? If not, what theory do you propose about season two?