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The Night Of Recap: Naz Chooses a Path

By Reuben Levine

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Naz aligns with Freddy and John gets a cat

The Night Of offered up one of its most menacing episodes with “The Season of the Witch,” as well as its lightest moments yet. This sort of duality really shouldn’t work, not with a show like The Night Of, but it does. Not only that, but the investigation into Andrea’s death really got moving here on both sides, putting our fears on hold for now. The Night Of remains one of the best shows on television, and is ranking as one of the best that HBO has ever produced. Yes, really.

Naz belongs to Freddy now. It is never explicitly stated, but it hangs heavy on the air. Freddy arranges for a beating of the inmate that burned Naz and likes the result when Naz is egged on to the point of brutality. The two hang together in Freddy’s cell, and Naz now how his own cell to keep him safe. A cell that Freddy seems to have 24 hour access to, as he proves when he makes a sudden appearance one night.

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This is a partnership, and one with stakes that have only been hinted at so far. Freddy offers protection, but not for free. In return for smuggling in drugs through ingestion (the end result is not pretty) Naz has protection, and he acts like it. He changes the channel in a public space under threat of violence because he knows that nobody is going to touch him now. For the first time we might actually be seeing the real Naz.

On the outside John resumes his duties as Naz’s lawyer, at least as one half of the equation along with Chandra. At first John doesn’t believe Naz when he tells him that there were two guys outside of Andrea’s house that night. This is the first time that John outwardly shows disbelief, and all this occurs in a tense exchanged in which Naz is trying to get the drugs that he then has to swallow.

For the first time we might actually be seeing the real Naz.

But Naz is right, and John’s realization of that fact kickstarts his investigation. After putting some pressure on Trevor, the, let’s say talkative, witness, John learns that the other guy’s name is Duane Reade. This is going to be the linchpin in the investigation, as Reade is a wanted man. Although Naz isn’t informed of the extent of John’s investigation at this point, it’s not clear how much he would actually care. Naz is turning into something different, and though he maintains his innocence, he seems more at home than he was before.

Box is also working on the investigation, but he’s not concerned with new discoveries; he only wants further proof that Naz is guilty. Box remains a compelling character even though we don’t spend as much time with him anymore.

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As we knew he would, John goes back for the cat even though he’s allergic. He wears gloves and gives it its own room. He even talks to it when he leaves, which is where much of this episode’s lightness comes from. Now it’s time for The Night Of’s Eczema Watch: it’s not any better, though he is trying new treatment. This includes taking Viagra which he has to get on the black market because all the pharmacies are inexplicably out of it. His condition is also highlighted when he speaks to his son’s class about his job. Shockingly, it doesn’t go well.

The climax of the episode comes at the end, when John decides to confront Duane on his own. Duane runs, and John follows. It’s a dark, tense scene that feels claustrophobic. Duane alludes him and John picks up a pipe to defend himself just in case. The Nigh Of ends with John looking down a dark alley, wondering if he should pursue or not.

Next: High Maintenance is coming in September.

It’s exciting to see that The Night Of has circled back around to the question of Duane and what he was doing there with Trevor, but Naz’s transformation is actually more compelling. Freddy remains a powerful figure, playing puppet master over everything that goes on at Rikers. The Night Of is in its prime now, if it wasn’t before. “The Season of the Witch” is the best out of a group of episodes that were already fantastic, and the wait between episodes feels worse than ever before.

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