The Night Of Recap: Difficult Choices

Naz is faced with touch choices that could alter his future

The Night Of has become a different show. As much as it’s about the particulars of Naz’s case and how his family and lawyer are handling it on the outside, it’s also about his new life in Rikers Island. The dual narrative has become more and more important as The Night Of has gone on, as is now at the very core of what the show is. At the center, keeping everything moving forward, is the murder of Andrea Cornish.

Right off the bat in “The Art of War” Naz faces some consequences for rebuking Freddy’s help from the last episode. Freddy is aware of what Naz’s life is like now, and goes out of his way to tell Naz that he won’t help him. That leads to a tense situation on the line to purchase goods, when Naz lets himself get taken advantage of. He’s fully aware of it, or at least that’s what he says afterwards, but he can’t bring himself to care. For some, Naz’s lack of emotion will be frustrating. Sometimes, it truly is. But he is broken; all he cares about is the didn’t kill Andrea. Nothing else matters.

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He continues to get lessons on how to get by in prison, but it never feels like he’s absorbing them. Another inmate also tells him that he shouldn’t go around making deals with Freddy which is in stark contrast to what he was previously told. It’s obvious now that Freddie represents a sort of path for Naz to take — a path that is going to have consequences. And one that he will be forced to take.

But he is broken; all he cares about is the didn’t kill Andrea. Nothing else matters.

More than once this episode Naz is physically harmed. He’s cut while walking through a hall, and later has acid thrown on him during a conversation with a man he thought was being friendly toward him. Both times he acts hurt and surprised, but not overly so. He does not lash out or breakdown. He just keeps going.

This episode does a good job of fleshing out Freddy a bit more, though he still remains odd and fairly inscrutable. We know the he values Naz for his education and can be brutal when he chooses to be, as we see when he trashes another inmate during a boxing bout. Freddy holds all the cards here, and is one of the most exciting parts of The Night Of.

On the outside, John Stone continues to track the case even though he’s been given his walking papers. He can’t let it go, and that causes him to try to shakedown some girls at Andrea’s funeral to Box’s annoyance and then gets his hands on some costly information. He even then tries to get the information into the hands of Naz’s lawyer — well, her assistant, anyway — because he needs to work the case. Of course he charges a jacked up price, but such is life.

Alison Crowe visits Naz and the differences between her and John are immediately evident. She’s a professional and she knows it, she’s also tough and not exactly kind to Naz’s father or John while in court. That’s the price, it seems. Or at least part of it. Both John and Alison tell Naz to take a plea deal rather than go to trial. The only one who tells him not to do it is Alison’s associate, Chandra, who speaks the same language as Naz and his parents. This is important because The Night Of has been critical of the part that race can play both inside and outside the justice system. Chandra’s advice basically boils down to “if you really didn’t do it, don’t say that you did.”

It’s astounding how The Night Of can continue to be so engrossing while doing so little to actually move the case forward.

This causes Alison to drop Naz as a client, basically showing her true colors. We don’t see John officially take the position again, but it’s a forgone conclusion that he will. We also see Naz make the climb up to Freddy’s to potentially seal his fate.