In 1995, Charlie Lange says he showed pictures of Dora to Ledoux. Hart tracks down an associate of Ledoux's and forces him to reveal Ledoux's meth operation with the Iron Crusaders, a biker gang out of East Texas. Cohle, who had been a member of the gang while undercover, takes personal leave to infiltrate it, saying he needs to visit his dying father. Lisa reveals the affair to Maggie, who leaves the house with their daughters. Hart confronts Maggie at her workplace; Cohle extricates him from a standoff with security officers. Cohle's contact in the Iron Crusaders, Ginger, promises access to the gang's meth supply in exchange for Cohle's (who is known to the gang as "Crash") help robbing a rival gang. The robbery goes badly, with fatalities on both sides and rising chaos in the rival gang's neighborhood. Cohle is forced to take Ginger prisoner and escape in Hart's car.
In 2012, Hart and Cohle both maintain the story of Cohle's sick father in the face of skeptical questioning by Papania and Gilbough.