The Night Of #8: Fine Finale

Well, I've been saying all summer long that The Night Of couldn't just pull a killer out of a hat - couldn't make the killer someone we didn't see or know of until the very last episode - but the short series did just that tonight, and, you know what, it worked, and worked really well, just like the entire series.

In a story in which everyone was flawed, just about everyone, including some surprising characters, played a role in Naz's release.  Box was surprisingly dogged in pursuing who else might have killed Andrea with so much evidence against Naz. But Box's obsession with finding the real killer made perfect sense, given that he was retiring.  And it looked for a while as if his discovery would go for naught, that the mistrial for which the good guys had carefully laid the groundwork wouldn't happen after all.  But then came the biggest surprise of all.

The DA (and memorable acting by Jeannie Berlin), apparently unconvinced by Box's evidence and argument that the state was putting the wrong person on trial, was apparently shaken up and convinced enough anyway, to elect not to retry the case, after the jury was hung 6 to 6 on conviction vs. acquittal.

And that hung jury, in turn, was the result of Jack's brilliant closing for the defense - presented by someone whose main work, as we see again at the very end, was talking his clients into plea bargaining for the fee of $250.   And why was Jack not Chandra giving the summation?  Because she was sidelined by the judge, whose response to the video of her kissing Naz in prison was not to declare a mistrial but reprimand Chandra.   So in that indirect way, Chandra came through for Naz after all.

And she came through for him directly, too, in presenting strong arguments for reasonable doubt regarding the three suspects other than Naz.   She and Jack made a great team in the end, and I wouldn't mind at all if there was another season with a completely new story with those two once again acting for the defense against almost impossible odds.

The Night Of was a rare piece of surprising legal drama - rare because it was original and surprising in a genre that's been mined on television just about every year since Perry Mason back in the 1950s.
Plaudits to everyone concerned, including John Turturro whose acting is more peerless than ever, Amara Karan and lots of fine acting from people we haven't seen before, and a letter-perfect script by Richard Price.

See also The Day After The Night Of on HBO ... The Night Of #3: The Schlep vs. the Star ... The Night Of #4: Chandra To The Rescue ... The Night Of #6: Three Suspects ... The Night Of #7: The Kiss

The Night Of #4: Chandra To The Rescue

Another great episode - #4 - of The Night Of on HBO tonight, in which Chandra, the hot-shot defense attorney's assistant, was the hero.   This series is clearly the best show on summer television, just as HBO says.

About Chandra - she's the only one who tells Naz what he and we want to hear. Allison Crowe, his expensive defense attorney, happy to work pro bono so she can get the publicity, tells him to take the deal.   Freddy wants him to take the deal. Everyone in the DA's office wants him to take the deal.  Even hard-bitten Jack Stone, who means well, wants Naz to take the deal.

And actually, there is one person other than Chandra who doesn't want Naz to take the 15-year plea-bargained sentence. Detective Box doesn't want Naz to take the deal, but doesn't want that for the wrong reasons - he wants Naz to be found guilty of first degree murder, which Box is sure Naz committed.  Not to put too fine a point on it, but Box wants to put Naz in a box, and will settle for life imprisonment as the best he can do in the (I would say enlightened) State of New York.

But Chandra, on the side of the angels and played just right by Amara Karan, tells Naz only to take the deal if he really did the murder.  And if not - to turn the deal down, to not publicly proclaim his guilt for a crime he didn't commit.  It was a breath of inspiration to hear.  And Naz takes her advice.   One of the first smart things he's done.

This is good not only because it felt right, but because it keeps the story in motion.  In a separate thread, we also learn why Freddy has taken Naz under his wing - because Freddy values knowledge and intelligence, and sees that in Naz, and that's good to see, too.

But if Naz didn't do it, we're still left with the question of who did?  At this point, it looks like Don Taylor had something to do with it, but that's a little obvious, so we'll just have to see what next week delivers.  I'm game - my only regret about this show is that I can't stream it all on Netflix or Amazon.


See also The Day After The Night Of on HBO ... The Night Of #3: The Schlep vs. the Star