HBO’s 8-Part Masterpiece Perfected the Slow-Burn Crime Thriller Better Than ‘True Detective’

HBO has been light-years ahead of its competitors in the prestige television landscape. Acclaimed HBO limited series like Band of Brothers and The Pacific proved the network could bring cinematic scope to television. The 2016 legal series The Night Of fulfills these requirements, creating an eight-episode master class in tension. With its thorough examination of the legal process, The Night Of also proved to be a groundbreaking deconstruction of the systematic racial and ethical biases within the American justice system.

‘The Night Of’ Is a Whodunit That Empathizes With the Suspect

The Night Of follows Pakistani-American college student Naz Khan (Riz Ahmed) during a romantic evening he shares with a woman named Andrea Cornish (Sofia Black-D’Elia) after they meet at a party. Naz’s night is filled with bad decisions; he steals his father’s (Payman Maadi) taxi cab in order to attend the party, abuses drugs that cloud his memories, and gets arrested shortly thereafter after failing to comply with traffic laws. Although none of Naz’s activities are depicted as being malicious, the series shows how easily actions can be misinterpreted. Naz wakes up to find that Andrea has been stabbed to death. In retrospect, he realizes that all of his actions on the night that she was killed make him look overly suspicious. It’s the rare murder mystery story that is told exclusively through the perspective of the major suspect.

The brilliance of the inciting incident in The Night Of is that showrunner Steven Zaillian doesn’t treat anything within Naz’s routine as abnormal. This creates more suspense, as the consequences of Naz’s irresponsible behavior are only evident to the audience. The intensity continues to escalate because Naz realizes too late that he has cast doubt upon his own innocence. This gives him a burden of guilt that he carries with him for the rest of the series, as Naz is forced to reflect upon how different things could have been if he had never met Andrea in the first place. As Naz, Ahmed balances these feelings of guilt and regret in one of his greatest performances.

Although there are hints of romance within their brief interactions, Naz knows very little about Andrea before she is killed. This was an important decision, as the impersonal nature of the crime makes it more shocking. Naz doesn’t have the capacity to mourn Andrea’s death because he barely knows her, and does not have any hints as to why she was killed. While Andrea’s shocking death is unquestionably a tragic one, it’s really just an inciting incident that sparks the show’s deconstruction of the legal process. The specificity with which Zallian examines the legal procedures that Naz experiences evokes comparisons to the great courtroom drama films of the 1990s.

‘The Night Of’ Features a Stellar Supporting Cast

While it’s Naz’s perspective that the series focuses on, The Night Of explores all aspects of the legal process through its supporting cast. Naz’s lawyer, John Stone (John Turturro), makes for a fascinating co-lead in the series because of his conflicted feelings about the justice system. While Stone has reason to believe in Naz’s innocence, he continuously reminds him to stop telling “the truth” in order to make their case as convincing as possible. Stone recognizes that Naz’s honesty could lead the jury to make assumptions that would color their opinion of him. Turturro’s magnetic performance captures the world-weary nature of a grizzled, experienced attorney who recognizes that justice and honesty aren’t always the same thing.

Bill Camp is also terrific in a supporting role as Detective Sergeant Dennis Box, the investigator in charge of investigating Andrea’s death. In this role, Camp proves that he’s the type of actor who can give a memorable performance with only a brief amount of screen time. While it would have been easy for the series to depict Box as a remorseless villain with no compassion, his motivations for pursuing Naz never feel personal. Box’s pursuit of Naz is merely a byproduct of a larger infrastructural issue, as the legal system does not allow for a conclusive truth to be drawn. Camp depicts Box as someone who genuinely wants to see justice served. This depiction of law enforcement strengthens the series’ sense of realism. It also serves as an interesting point of comparison with Stone, as the series explores the different practices taken by lawyers and cops.

‘The Night Of’ Exposes Flaws In the Prison System

Image via HBO

The Night Of examines the flaws within the prison system by showing how Naz’s personality is changed by his experience. The series brilliantly intertwines scenes of Stone interviewing people related to the case with Naz’s experiences in prison. As Naz attempts to survive abuse at the hands of both his fellow prisoners and the guards, he is forced to become a more violent person. After being treated like a criminal, Naz begins to act like one to survive. At a certain point, he realizes that his innocence will not protect him. It’s a disturbing concept, and the eight-episode run allows The Night Of to show more detail than most prison films would be capable of.

Although The Night Of tackles serious issues like over-policing and racial discrimination, it never loses sight of Naz’s perspective. While the story itself is fictional, Naz’s experiences are representative of larger systemic issues; the story becomes more powerful because the viewer is able to see how these issues affect an empathetic character. While by no means an easy watch, The Night Of is a master class in storytelling that refuses to abide by clichés commonly found in crime dramas. While its dour tone makes it difficult to cite as traditionally entertaining, The Night Of is a worthwhile examination of topics that couldn’t be more relevant.

The Night Of is available to stream on Max in the U.S.