The Night Of Recap: A sure Thing

Naz gets offers for help, though not all are welcome

If it hasn’t been made abundantly clear by now, The Night Of is a slow burn. Again and again it turns away from moments that could offer viewers faster, more conventional forms of gratification. It takes pleasure in smaller, slower moments and builds them up. What the endgame will be is not yet clear, and that’s impressive of a series that it’s on its third episode of eight.

Naz is still getting used to his new life in Riker’s Island. Unlike other inmates, he is stuck on a cot in the middle of a room surrounded by other inmates. When asked if he fears for his life, the question trips him up for a moment. Should be afraid for his life? He doesn’t know. He doesn’t know because he still hasn’t really processed what’s going on. He is distant from it. For some, that may be frustrating to watch. Naz shows very little emotion on screen, even when he’s insisting his innocence. His face barely ever cracks, and that works to the show’s credit.

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This episode, titled “A Dark Crate” is mainly concerned with lining up real help for Naz. The help ends up coming from both within the system and without. Even though John Stone is high on getting such a high-profile case, it’s clear that he is not well liked. He’s characterized as being a bottom feeder, and for that he has little respect from his peers. But that doesn’t make him unlikeable, and that is his greatest strength.

When trying to convince Naz’s parents that he should be his lawyer, he drops his fee considerably and asks them to sign a retainer for a flat fee. Naz’s parents don’t get a great vibe from them, and how could they? Stone isn’t the type to try to fit in or hide who he is. His earnestness also doesn’t help him here — he instead comes off as desperate. Which, in reality, he is. The Night Of does a lot of balancing this way, showing that there are two sides to every situation, every character.

His earnestness also doesn’t help him here — he instead comes off as desperate. Which, in reality, he is.

This eventually leads Naz’s parents to Alison Crowe, a lawyer who appears more than capable and decides to take their case for free. Crow, like Stone, is also acting mostly out of self-interest. The major difference is presentation and confidence. Naz doesn’t like the change in lawyers, though he barely puts up a fight. As he said about himself in the first episode, he tends to do what other people want and expect him to do. A lot of what “A Dark Crate” achieves is not spelled out, but can instead be found in glances, tone, and body language, and that is evident in spades in his exchange with his parents.

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When Naz’s parents go to visit him, the process is not easy and they have to be searched. Still, neither of them complain. They put up with it because it’s what they have to do, and The Night Of would gain little from having them break down. Break downs and other emotional outburst are not in The Night Of’s DNA.

Naz’s dad also doesn’t have his cab back yet, which he shares with two other people. He may never get it back unless he sues Naz for grand theft. It’s obvious that he’s not willing to do that, but his business partners don’t lend him their support in that decision. Naz’s incarceration has had a wide reaching effect that we might not have even seen all of yet.

On the inside, Naz makes a couple of friends and several (or more) enemies. It turns out that other criminals don’t take kindly to people charged with rape and murder, and they want to take matters into their own hands. Naz’s bunkmate tries to give him some advice about keeping quiet and to himself. Because he doesn’t understand the rules, he immediately fails the first test. The real help here comes from an inmate named Freddie who appears to be running the place.

Freddie is respected, powerful, and has a lot of connections. We see him having sex with a guard and a quick look at his private cell shows a television, a number of phones, and a clothesline. Freddie wants to help Naz, and does so at first by gifting him a pair of shoes. Afterwards, he offers protection by way of a piece of veal. It’s bizarre, and brings memories of Oz.

They are two understated, perfectly horrible events.

Freddie looks be a main player in Naz’s prison life, even if he at first isn’t receptive to his brand of assistance. When Naz wakes up and is surrounded by inmates looking to rough him up, or worse, and then later finds his bed on fire, only a single path is made clear. Naz needs help, and that means he needs whatever Freddie has to offer.

The Night Of does not overly dramatize these incidents — it presents them just like they’re normal things in prison that happen. There is no dramatic music. They are two understated, perfectly horrible events.

On the outside, Stone is still suffering from his eczema and we see that he goes to a support group for it. His suffering parallels the racial tensions that are seen in The Night Of, though he has the better end of that deal. On a visit to Andrea’s house, he stumbles on her cat, who he feels bad for but can’t adopt. He is, of course, allergic. He does the decent thing and takes it to a shelter, but then learn that they only keep cats for ten days before killing them. It’s a well done balancing act, and you can clearly see the bad news hit the pit of Stones’ stomach.

Next: The cast of Game of Thrones on Conan.

The Night Of is very much about that clenched, dark feeling in your stomach. It builds tension after tension, slowly but not tediously, and there isn’t a real promise of a release. That goes both for viewers, and for Naz himself.

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