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‘The Night Of’ Series Premiere: Fate at the Wheel ‘The Night Of’ Series Premiere: Fate at the Wheel
(2 days later)
Jack Stone has eczema on his feet. His doctor advised him to keep them aerated, so the fungus doesn’t spread any further. He explains this to his new client, Nasir Khan, who may be wondering why his lawyer — the only man currently standing between him and a murder conviction — is wearing sandals in a professional capacity. Or maybe Nasir, who goes by Naz, is just looking down, scared and exhausted by a night that’s gotten away from him.Jack Stone has eczema on his feet. His doctor advised him to keep them aerated, so the fungus doesn’t spread any further. He explains this to his new client, Nasir Khan, who may be wondering why his lawyer — the only man currently standing between him and a murder conviction — is wearing sandals in a professional capacity. Or maybe Nasir, who goes by Naz, is just looking down, scared and exhausted by a night that’s gotten away from him.
There are more important things to consider in “The Night Of” than foot fungus, but much of the show’s greatness is embedded in minor details like that one, an accumulation of grace notes that bring this world and its characters to life. We don’t see much of Jack Stone in “The Beach,” but the sandals on his feet, along with the careless half-growth on his face, tell a story about a lawyer who’s comfortable in the margins — perhaps a grizzled idealist, but for now the sort of workaday guy who trolls the lockup for clients in the middle of the night. As played by John Turturro, Jack recalls Mr. Turturro’s world-weary poker professional Joey Knish in “Rounders,” the type of guy content to grind out a cash-game profit without taking any risks. With Naz, Jack is about to take that risk.There are more important things to consider in “The Night Of” than foot fungus, but much of the show’s greatness is embedded in minor details like that one, an accumulation of grace notes that bring this world and its characters to life. We don’t see much of Jack Stone in “The Beach,” but the sandals on his feet, along with the careless half-growth on his face, tell a story about a lawyer who’s comfortable in the margins — perhaps a grizzled idealist, but for now the sort of workaday guy who trolls the lockup for clients in the middle of the night. As played by John Turturro, Jack recalls Mr. Turturro’s world-weary poker professional Joey Knish in “Rounders,” the type of guy content to grind out a cash-game profit without taking any risks. With Naz, Jack is about to take that risk.
Written by Richard Price and directed by Steven Zaillian, and adapted from the BBC series “Criminal Justice,” “The Night Of” has the acute sense of personal and racial boundaries that defines Mr. Price’s best novels, like “Clockers,” “Freedomland,” and “Lush Life.” In Mr. Price’s New York, neighborhoods pen in characters like invisible fences and it’s understood that jumping over those fences carries potentially serious consequences. “Did you ever wish you could just transport yourself?,” Naz is asked by Andrea, the attractive young woman he’ll be accused of killing later that evening. Naz doesn’t answer, but it’s the wish he’s currently fulfilling as a shy, bookish Pakistani-American from Queens who’s driven his father’s cab all the way to tony Manhattan. Written by Richard Price and directed by Steven Zaillian, and adapted from the BBC series “Criminal Justice,” “The Night Of” has the acute sense of personal and racial boundaries that defines Mr. Price’s best novels, like “Clockers,” “Freedomland,” and “Lush Life.” In Mr. Price’s New York, neighborhoods pen in characters like invisible fences and it’s understood that jumping over those fences carries potentially serious consequences. “Did you ever wish you could just transport yourself?,” Naz is asked by Andrea, the attractive young woman he’ll be accused of killing later that evening. Naz doesn’t answer, but it’s the wish he’s currently fulfilling as a shy, bookish Pakistani-American from Queens who’s driven his father’s cab all the way to toney Manhattan.
It’s important to keep this in mind when trying to understand Naz’s actions in “The Beach,” because nearly every decision he makes after finding Andrea dead — and a few decisions before, too — point to an open-and-shut murder conviction. If you’re aware in advance of what “The Night Of” will be about, then you probably took note of the surveillance cameras and eyewitnesses that track Naz throughout the night and you certainly took note of the pills, cocaine and tequila he consumes, as well as the ill-advised game he and Andrea play with a knife. This will all look bad for him later, but he cannot know that the evening will end so gruesomely. We’re the ones cringing.It’s important to keep this in mind when trying to understand Naz’s actions in “The Beach,” because nearly every decision he makes after finding Andrea dead — and a few decisions before, too — point to an open-and-shut murder conviction. If you’re aware in advance of what “The Night Of” will be about, then you probably took note of the surveillance cameras and eyewitnesses that track Naz throughout the night and you certainly took note of the pills, cocaine and tequila he consumes, as well as the ill-advised game he and Andrea play with a knife. This will all look bad for him later, but he cannot know that the evening will end so gruesomely. We’re the ones cringing.
The decisions Naz makes after he finds Andrea’s body, however, are so outrageously misguided that viewers might be tempted to write the show off as ridiculous. An innocent man might have called the police, but his initial fight-or-flight response has him dashing out the front door like Andrea’s brownstone is on fire, only to forget his car keys. He then has to break back in — injuring his hand and summoning a key eyewitness in the process — to get the keys, at which point he also pockets the likely murder weapon in his jacket. After finally peeling away, he is pulled over for making an illegal left turn and winds up in a police precinct, suspected of nothing worse than driving under the influence. By the time the police find the knife on him, he’s already made it clear to them that he’s aware of the stabbing and was with Andrea earlier that night.The decisions Naz makes after he finds Andrea’s body, however, are so outrageously misguided that viewers might be tempted to write the show off as ridiculous. An innocent man might have called the police, but his initial fight-or-flight response has him dashing out the front door like Andrea’s brownstone is on fire, only to forget his car keys. He then has to break back in — injuring his hand and summoning a key eyewitness in the process — to get the keys, at which point he also pockets the likely murder weapon in his jacket. After finally peeling away, he is pulled over for making an illegal left turn and winds up in a police precinct, suspected of nothing worse than driving under the influence. By the time the police find the knife on him, he’s already made it clear to them that he’s aware of the stabbing and was with Andrea earlier that night.
A breathtaking series of unforced errors, by any measure. And yet “The Beach” goes to equally great lengths in suggesting how Naz could make them. From the moment he accepts a jock’s invitation to the party, Naz has committed to taking a huge risk. It’s not any other Friday night for him, but an adventure he’s determined to take, pressing beyond his home in Jackson Heights and beyond the sexual inexperience and social awkwardness that stifles him. Once Naz acquiesces to Andrea’s request for a cab ride to the beach, Mr. Zaillian and Mr. Price make the rest of the evening feel like an out-of-body experience. Naz takes drug. Naz drinks. Naz has sex for the second time. Naz is a party to murder. A breathtaking series of unforced errors, by any measure. And yet “The Beach” goes to equally great lengths in suggesting how Naz could make them. From the moment he accepts a jock’s invitation to the party, Naz has committed to taking a huge risk. It’s not any other Friday night for him, but an adventure he’s determined to take, pressing beyond his home in Jackson Heights and beyond the sexual inexperience and social awkwardness that stifles him. Once Naz acquiesces to Andrea’s request for a cab ride to the beach, Mr. Zaillian and Mr. Price make the rest of the evening feel like an out-of-body experience. Naz takes drugs. Naz drinks. Naz has sex for the second time. Naz is a party to murder.
It’s a cliché to call Naz’s experience a “nightmare,” but the evening does seem fuzzy around the edges, with him acting almost like a passenger in his own cab as fate takes the wheel. We don’t know what really happened to Andrea, because there’s a gap in the narrative between when she and Naz had sex and when he woke up in her kitchen after passing out. But it’s safe to say that Naz lost control of the evening the minute he borrowed his father’s cab and that his journey out of Queens, half bliss and half shock, took him outside himself. If nothing else, Jack’s funky feet represent a bracing return to reality. It’s a cliché to call Naz’s experience a “nightmare,” but the evening does seem fuzzy around the edges, with him acting almost like a passenger in his own cab as fate takes the wheel. We don’t know what really happened to Andrea, because there’s a gap in the narrative between when she and Naz had sex and when he woke up in her kitchen after passing out. But it’s safe to say that Naz lost control of the evening the minute he borrowed the cab and that his journey out of Queens, half bliss and half shock, took him outside himself. If nothing else, Jack’s funky feet represent a bracing return to reality.
NotesNotes
• “The Night Of” emphasizes more than once that characters of different races are treated with suspicion when they’re not in their expected areas. “Did you leave your bombs at home, Mustafa?,” Naz is asked by a passer-by as he escorts Andrea to the brownstone. Later, that same passer-by, an African-American, is questioned by the police for being in the wrong neighborhood, too, likely as a drug dealer: “If I turn you upside down, how much weed is going to fall out?” • “The Night Of” emphasizes more than once that characters of different races are treated with suspicion when they’re not in their expected areas. “Did you leave your bombs at home, Mustafa?,” Naz is asked by a passer-by as he escorts Andrea to the brownstone. Later, that same passer-by, an African-American, is questioned by the police for being in the wrong neighborhood, too, suspected of being a drug dealer: “If I turn you upside down, how much weed is going to fall out?”
• We’ve barely scratched the surface of this cast, a who’s who of New York character actors (Jeannie Berlin! Michael K. Williams! Max Casella!), but Bill Camp is already making a strong impression as Detective Dennis Box, whose quietly devastating interrogation tactics have already put Naz in a bad spot. Box knows instinctively to handle Naz gently, like an advocate (“Help me help you”), while pinning him to incriminating positions.• We’ve barely scratched the surface of this cast, a who’s who of New York character actors (Jeannie Berlin! Michael K. Williams! Max Casella!), but Bill Camp is already making a strong impression as Detective Dennis Box, whose quietly devastating interrogation tactics have already put Naz in a bad spot. Box knows instinctively to handle Naz gently, like an advocate (“Help me help you”), while pinning him to incriminating positions.
• The period details of Oct. 24, 2014, are not hugely important to the story, at least not yet, but the background conversations about the N.B.A. situate it nicely, especially dinner-table talk about how well Amare and ‘Melo will play together. Knicks fans will no doubt find such chatter quaint. • The period details of Oct. 24, 2014, are not hugely important to the story, at least not yet, but the background conversations about the N.B.A. situate it nicely, especially dinner-table talk about how well Amare and Melo will play together. Knicks fans will no doubt find such chatter quaint.