Plastered across New York City subway trains are advertisements for John Stone, attorney at law. It could pass for a real ad, with an undeniably catchy slogan of "No fee 'til you’re free," if it weren’t for the smiling mug of John Turturro alongside of it.
While you may remember him best from all the Adam Sandler films you’ve outgrown, Turturro shines in The Night Of, which officially premieres tonight on HBO. The miniseries was originally developed by and featuring James Gandolfini, whose scenes in the pilot had to be reshot with Turturro. By the time Turturro first hits the screen in the premiere, a full 67 minutes in, you may think you have this show pegged down. You’d be forgiven for thinking (and hoping) The Night Of is the next True Detective.
But it’s not.
Riz Ahmed, who you’ll see again later this year in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, stars as Nasir "Naz" Khan, a nerdy college student whose craving for a rare night out and possibly getting laid for the second time in his life lands him in the precarious situation of being the prime suspect of a brutal murder on NYC’s Upper West Side. His night, which the pilot covers from him sneaking out with his father’s taxi cab to his arrest, is clouded in doom—a True D-esque fog—from the second he meets the beautiful, mysterious stranger played by Sofia Black D’Elia. She has complete control over Naz, goading him into popping Molly and playing chauffeur (and games of five finger filet). By the time he wakes up in her kitchen and finds her upstairs stabbed to death 22 times, you can’t help but wonder: did she convince Naz to kill her, too?
Naz maintains his innocence, even as a series of egregiously stupid errors lands him in police custody with a mountain of evidence to match. The man tasked with piecing it all together is Dennis Box (Bill Camp), a soon-to-be retired detective with ruthless precision and few social niceties. He is a subtle beast lording over the details from the night of the crime, but what he is not, and it's important to realize this, is the next Rust Cohle or Marty Hart.
Naz, Stone, and Box are players in a perplexing mystery, but The Night Of is not a murder-mystery. It is an exacting navigation through New York City's legal system, exposing its cynicism, biases, and creation of career criminals. Instead of swamp compounds, members-only biker bars, and satanic shrines, the under bellies at play in The Night Of are in prison cells, prosecutor’s offices, and courtrooms. We see Stone and Box in the field doing their due diligence, sure, but just as much time is spent deep in bureaucracy.
And as if that exploration wasn’t lofty enough, The Night Of dares to ask several more questions. What happens to a family when its son is implicated in a murder media circus? How does it affect the city at large? And how does one go about ridding himself of a stubborn case of eczema?
That last pursuit, which plagues Stone, imbues a sense of humor never found in True Detective’s brilliant first or disastrous second season. And the warmness of Stone’s heart—despite the connotations of being a criminal defense lawyer, as well as his unsettling, unkempt appearance—add another distinct tone. For all the flaws in the system, the lawyers, prosecutors, and police haven’t become jaded or corrupt, nihilistic or fatalistic. They’re largely good people doing their jobs, some in opposition to the other, to the best of their ability and within the limitations established.
The Night Of is Law & Order on steroids, spending eight hours on a single case and lending it more nuance. And each of its 230 characters are essential pieces and steps in the journey from crime to trial. Even if you haven’t come across a person of their job description in your life—if so, congratulations on not being arrested and prosecuted—their personalities are familiar to any New Yorker's, down to the police officer whose entire screen time is spent banging on a malfunctioning vending machine.
HBO’s drama problem is well-documented, Vinyl being its latest (and incredibly expensive) failure. But much like Show Me a Hero, The Night Of is a welcomed and all-too-brief miniseries masterpiece. You may be thirsting for another True Detective—and rest assured HBO and Matthew McConaughey are thirsting even harder—but don’t let that impact your expectations of this spectacular miniseries. This is a subtler beast. And it’s even better for it.
