Doesn't officially start until July 10, but first episode came out early on HBOgo. Anyone else watch it? I really liked the first episode, it almost felt like what everyone wished True Detective season 2 would have been, I will definitely keep watching.

6/29/2016 5:51:39 PM

That first episode gave me so much damn anxiety, I just kept thinking about what I would do in the situation.

6/29/2016 6:26:11 PM

I liked it, but didn't see any "True Detective" in it.

***** Possible Spoiler******


















I think Bodie's friend (the second, darker skinned black dude) killed the girl. He was eyeing them both and the house for a little too long. And Bodie lied about being alone when he saw them. I think the dude came back, broke in, stabbed her up and stole some shit.











********End possible spoiler************

6/29/2016 6:26:35 PM

For me it came off as a dark, slow burn, really well done, mystery that really grabbed me in the first episode and made me very excited for more, that's why I felt it was like True Detective. Also, looking forward, all the episodes are written by one person, and all except 1 directed by the same person, like True Detectice season 1, which means hopefully the quality and tone should remain consistant

6/29/2016 6:40:11 PM

I thought the entire part involving the girl alive (cab ride, talking by the river, and the stupid drug/alcohol/sex scene) was poorly done and just awkward to watch. The rest of it was great. But it's like they really forced that entire interaction to create this "mysterious" girl. Just think they went too far with it.

6/30/2016 7:48:45 AM

^i agree, but I'm assuming/hoping as it continues we'll get some more insight and background on her that might make those scenes look a little better in hindsight

6/30/2016 9:36:29 AM

Caught the first episode last night, holy shit was that tense. It definitely has my attention, looking forward to the rest.

7/11/2016 10:05:27 AM

^ same here. Kinda felt like a fictional TV version of the Serial podcast for me. The way they focused the camera on elements that you know are going to come up in a trial...and also given it seems most of this season will center around the trial, and lastly because we're not 100% sure he didn't do it imo. Of course why would he, but he doesn't even drink and he was drinking/doing every drug she offered so you never know. Jbrick's theory def holds more water, as I noticed those two same things and was wondering why on both.

We didn't see much of Turturro yet, but his involvement also makes me excited for what's to come.

7/11/2016 10:20:48 AM

It probably won't come as a surprise, but this will be focusing the criminal justice system, not just the story.

Quote :

"It was a passion project for The Sopranos star James Gandolfini, the limited-run series he would both star in and produce. But the Emmy winner’s 2013 death meant HBO’s The Night Of would have to go on without him. First Robert De Niro signed on to star as underdog attorney Jack Stone, and when that didn’t work out for scheduling reasons, another Emmy winner, John Turturro, stepped in to play Jack, a lawyer who finds himself defending a naïve young man whose adventuresome evening takes a tragic turn for which he may or may not be responsible. Turturro, who won his Emmy for guest starring as Tony Shaloub’s brother on Monk, talked to Yahoo TV about what attracted him to The Night Of, the tragic real-life New York crime story that haunted him throughout filming, how easy it was to bond with co-star Riz Ahmed, and how his long personal and professional friendship with Gandolfini impacted his decision to sign on for the eight-part series. On the binge-worthiness of The Night Of: I know some people who have seen the whole thing, who had like a sneak preview or something. They said they couldn’t stop watching it. I’m not surprised, because when [I] read it, it was so… I just read it and I was like, “Wow, this is hard to put down.” I liked it because it was about the minutia and the cost of something. It actually gets even more engrossing, and I think it winds up really, really strong because it’s so human. It has to do with the whole criminal justice system and when we see it, a lot of times, there’s this other version of it. There’s no real perfect hero, no real protagonist or antagonist. It’s what happens to people. Anyone who goes through anything big in life, there’s a huge cost to that. That’s what this is kind of about, how that effects the kid who’s accused and all the people around him. This kind of transformation goes on. The system makes criminals out of people, who maybe are or maybe aren’t. On what most attracted him to the series: The writing. I loved what it was about and how you got involved with all the characters, and then where it goes, too. I felt [the ending] was done in a very earned way. There are lots of different twists and turns, but it’s all done in a very human way, not sensationalized, which I think makes the experience deeper. During the middle of it, I read the New Yorker story about that young kid who was incarcerated, Kalief Browder. I was supposed to meet him, actually. I was supposed to meet him, and then he didn’t want to meet with me. It was in the middle of the shoot, and I had done a lot of research and met a lot of lawyers, and this and that. I went to courts and stuff. There was one particular guy who was really helpful, a defense attorney now in Brooklyn, Kenny Montgomery. He was really eloquent. He was basically not at all like my character, but it was what my character would have liked to have been… so articulate about the cost of what he does. That made me understand why my character doesn’t want to do it, because you have someone’s life in your hands. If you’re aware of that, it can really be debilitating. So I just thought, when I read that New Yorker article, that is was really [like] our thing. Then, I never got to meet [Browder], but I was really effected by that article… he was someone who really stood up for himself, and it destroyed him. If he had just said, “OK,” and gone along with it, it would have gotten him out of jail. He would have gotten out, and yet, he said, “I want to be heard.” All those things that could have made him a very interesting and maybe successful young man, were just gone because they held him too long. He was a real victim of a dysfunctional system. And I love how [writer/producer] Steve [Zaillian] cast it. You really think, “These people are cops and lawyers.” It doesn’t look like a television version of it, you know. Jeannie Berlin, she really looks like a prosecutor. She’s so like a f–king prosecutor, you go, “My God,” you know? I was hanging around, you see these people… I think Steve was really enamored by things that Sidney Lumet did in the seventies about the criminal justice system. I like the mixture of all the different kinds of people. It was very representative of the city and the world, the country that we live in."

[Edited on July 11, 2016 at 10:22 AM. Reason : https://www.yahoo.com/tv/the-night-of-star-john-1468160906412086.html

7/11/2016 10:22:23 AM

I just realized there are going to be eight episodes. I'm not sure where they are going to go for that much runtime but I am expecting it to be good. After this episode wrapped up, and with it being over an hour, I figured it was going to be more of a four episode deal. Pleasantly surprised though, I could use something to watch this summer.

7/11/2016 12:19:29 PM

more details: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2016/07/10/the-night-of-hbo-miniseries/86816568/

7/11/2016 2:13:25 PM

I felt like it was very convenient writing. The one night he blacks out happens to be same night someone breaks in, kills the girl, and sneaks out without an issue. If it were something like Season 2 of True Detective where an entire corrupt system is out to set you up for murder, I get it and it wouldn't seem out of place. the drugs, the knife game, the fact the one crazy bout-to-be-murdered chick just happens to get in that cab? It's like they had OJ pen a crime drama. But, just to throw it out there, I'm going to say the neighbor that called the cops did it.

[Edited on July 11, 2016 at 5:16 PM. Reason : X]

7/11/2016 5:14:11 PM

Seems pretty noteworthy to me that outside of the blood on his hand (from when he stabbed her during foreplay) there wasn't a drop of her blood on him. That alone makes me think he's innocent.

Also did some of the location shooting bother anyone else? I.E. if you're down in NoHo and a girl says she wants to go to "the beach" how the heck do you end up on the banks of the Hudson river in way upper Manhattan

7/12/2016 9:03:47 AM

Watched the first episode last night. Thought it was awesome. Very intense. It does have kind of a true detective dark feel to it.

The way her apartment was decorated made it seem like she was up to some witchy type stuff. They kept having shots of that deer on the wall.

[Edited on July 12, 2016 at 9:49 AM. Reason : .]

7/12/2016 9:48:18 AM

Just watched it last night. Man. I was seriously on edge wondering if he was gonna make it out of the police station. Seriously, 10 seconds of difference in timing and he could have just walked out of there (anyone care to comment on how accurate that is?). Also, if he had just remembered his jacket when on his way out, he probably would have gotten away.

Another potential suspect: The hearse driver. Although his comment of "Do you wanna be my next passenger" seems like it would make it too obvious so it was probably just foreshadowing.

7/12/2016 10:01:46 AM

Quote :

"Seems pretty noteworthy to me that outside of the blood on his hand (from when he stabbed her during foreplay) there wasn't a drop of her blood on him."

Pretty sure when they were making their way upstairs her bloody hand was all over him. Why do you think there wasn't a drop outside of the hand (which is bad enough).

Quote :

"she wants to go to "the beach" how the heck do you end up on the banks of the Hudson river in way upper Manhattan"

They conversed about that point. He said no, and offered a river as an alternative. He asked how far north to head on the island and she said something like way north [aka away from here].

Quote :

"I was seriously on edge wondering if he was gonna make it out of the police station. Seriously, 10 seconds of difference in timing and he could have just walked out of there (anyone care to comment on how accurate that is?)"

I can only assume the door is locked and he wouldn't have been able to walk out, but that's just a guess.

Quote :

"Also, if he had just remembered his jacket when on his way out, he probably would have gotten away."

That's what you call a plot device They did talk about his exit in one of those links above though...and how it's probably realistic given what had happened, and who he was.

7/12/2016 1:02:12 PM

Heh, I recall their conversation of where to go. I just got the impression that anything above midtown would do.

Also, I was really scratching my head at his reasoning for taking his dad's cab to go to the party! Jackson Heights isn't that far out from Manhattan. He could have gotten down to Stanton Street in under an hour no problem taking the Subway.

7/13/2016 9:02:48 AM

Good episode, nothing crazy but you can't have every episode be as great as the first one since they need to set things up. I can't imagine the feeling of what it must be like to get off of the bus at Rikers to start an undetermined amount of time.

7/18/2016 8:29:24 AM

^^ bruh, like literally everyone has visited NY and tons of people on this site live there or have lived there, you aren't impressing anyone just because you grew up in new jersey and would take the train into the city

[Edited on July 18, 2016 at 8:34 AM. Reason : based on username i'm assuming jersey ]

7/18/2016 8:33:48 AM

lolz

7/18/2016 8:36:12 AM

Apparently you haven't been around here long enough, if making that assumption.

7/18/2016 8:37:20 AM

I've been watching this with the parents and we've all enjoyed it. The cinematography has been outstanding showing Naz's descent into the prison system. I'm looking forward to seeing his time in Rikers. I keep waiting for the L&O "dun dun" sound when we change scenes.

7/23/2016 3:33:30 PM

SPOILERS

slow burner but really good. Man I would hate to be in a situation like this but I would like to think I would be smarter than Naz in this scenario but I can see how a young kid would react exactly the way Naz did if the roles were reversed.

I wonder how true it is that the American justice system cares more for its stats (cops and DA trying to tie up an easy murder conviction regardless of guilt)? Also curious to see what role the former Omar from the Wire (Freddy I think his name is on this show?) has to play in this. No way he is just giving the kid protection for free.

7/25/2016 1:42:16 PM

I really liked the first 2 episodes. Some really good acting, and the story line really drew me in.

The 3rd episode to me was totally different and I thought it was pretty bad. Some almost laughably bad scenes in Riker's.

I'm still planning on watching the next episode, but I'm hoping to see more a return of focus to the murder case/Box/Stone... except for Stone's fucking eczema that they talk about in every single scene he's in.. seriously this ep was like a PSA for eczema sufferers.

7/25/2016 2:06:26 PM

Looks like both Mickey Doyle and Chalky White from Boardwalk Empire are getting some more work from HBO.

7/25/2016 4:23:44 PM

New drinking game. Every time someone asks John Turturro about his nasty-ass feet, take a shot. Also, the chick that works for the DA looks like Leprechaun.

7/26/2016 6:59:44 PM

Last night's was probably my favorite episode since the opener.

8/1/2016 7:23:10 AM

My thoughts as well, the previous two were good but nothing like the first episode and I was worrying that I was going to start losing interest. They definitely dialed it up with the last episode though.

8/1/2016 9:17:25 AM

why was the fame whore attorney so interested in representing Naz only to get him to take a plea deal?

8/3/2016 10:32:47 AM

She just wanted to work a minimal amount of time and get in the news (she is a fame whore) while attempting to get him a decent plea deal since neither her or the state wanted to go to trial.

Loved seeing Benny and Janice from the Sopranos. I never put together that John and Aida were cousins despite knowing they had the same last name. I also think that Stone's Dermatologist was on the Sopranos but forgot to look it up.

8/3/2016 11:56:41 AM

Looks like jbrick might have nailed it. Awesome episode last night, this has been an excellent show.

8/8/2016 9:55:11 AM

i was falling asleep, can someone explain the ending? i feel like i fell asleep and missed something because all of the sudden there was just a flash of light. does that mean he got attacked?

8/8/2016 2:01:51 PM

I think it means he couldnt find him and went home safe and sound and did his skin treatment.

^^^hbo loves reusing actors, we've got Omar and Bodie from The Wire also, and Bodie was also in Oz, and so was Treach from naughty by nature who showed up last night.

[Edited on August 8, 2016 at 6:53 PM. Reason : $$$]

8/8/2016 6:49:32 PM

I just finished binge-watching the first 5 episodes.

E1 really got to me. I went to bed and couldn't stop thinking about what if that happened to me.

Then I watched a couple more episodes, then got to E5 and I think this is about to go off the tracks. It's starting to go in a direction that I don't like.

How can this kid become a badass and be part of the gang in RIKERS F'n prison in less than a month?!?!

He's adjusted way too fast to prison life. I was expecting him to start slicing garlic paper thin and to add to the sauce.

8/8/2016 10:55:48 PM

So why is he already at an actual prison? I thought that you only go to prison after being actually convicted? Aren't you supposed to stay in like a small jail (county jail or whatever) or something while in trial and stuff?

8/9/2016 2:42:50 PM

He's at Rikers, not prison

Quote :

"The Rikers Island complex, which consists of ten jails, holds local offenders who are awaiting trial and cannot afford, obtain, or were not given bail from a judge; those serving sentences of one year or less; and those temporarily placed there pending transfer to another facility."

8/9/2016 3:17:59 PM

small jail


new york city

8/9/2016 3:34:00 PM

Ah okay. I know nothing about the prison system outside of what I've seen on TV, so I figured it looked like a penitentiary. If people are only there for like a year max, I wasn't sure how Freddy came to be so powerful. I guess maybe he was already some kind of mob boss on the outside?

[Edited on August 9, 2016 at 5:14 PM. Reason : ]

8/9/2016 4:54:57 PM

Quote :

"I guess maybe he was already some kind of mob boss on the outside?"

I think he used to be a well-known professional boxer, so he probably had money and lots of influence on the outside.

8/9/2016 6:17:16 PM

[WALL O' WORDS]

I've really enjoyed most things about this series. The cinematography and color have been wonderful, the soundtrack (that original Bach-esque piano score at the end of episode 4 was great), and the acting has been pretty spot on too - especially with the defense and prosecuting attorneys. The suspense has been great throughout (that morgue scene last night was great).

I didn't really have a gripe until last night's episode. I get that they're trying to show how the justice system is inefficient, corrupt, ineffective, etc. I also get they're trying to drive home the point that good people come out of jail/prison as even worse people as a result of the system.

However, I think the character transition was way too fast. Tattooing "sin" on his fucking fingers (he doesn't even wince) before he goes to trial? What is he, Charles Manson? And then during the trial he decides it would be a good time to take up smoking crack?

I get the drug mule thing, the shaving your head to look more intimidating (actually had a friend go to prison and that's the first thing he did), fighting, etc. I get that he's asked for protection from the boxer guy and owes him, and may even look up to him in a way now, but I thought the finger tats and crack smoking during trial was way too rushed.

------------------------------------------------------

As far as who did it - I have no clue. It could really be anyone for all we know.

Nas - may have blacked out and rage killed her in some drug induced state since he's alluding to all this pent-up rage in his past. doubtful, though, because there's no blood on his clothes and I don't see how he had time to dispose of clothing even if he did do that before he woke back up in the kitchen (Reddit confirms the timeline as it being basically impossible as well).

Black Dudes - can't remember their names. I think the quiet one is the red herring. Nas didn't really do anything to him, nor did the girl. maybe he's jealous she has a badass brownstone? Either way, having the guy that everyone thinks did it actually do it wouldn't be very interesting. The loud/racist guy is more likely to me because it would at least be more surprising. Maybe he murdered her to frame Nas because he knew he could. Walking up at the right time just to appear to be a witness is a good cover. Did his clothes change? I didn't check.

Dealer Kid / Freddie's Gang - eh I doubt it. not sure Freddie's network is quite that big and a coke/x user is usually going to be on a different plane than a crack head.

Morgue/Hearse Guy - nope. Creepy as shit, and I loved the Samson and Delilah reference, and while he's a bit unhinged, I don't think he did it either. I feel like a hearse would be pretty easy to spot via traffic camera.

Stepdad - seems pretty likely at this point, but why would he stab her 22 times or whatever? maybe he hired somebody and they just had fun with it? could be another red herring.

I'll just try to think of something more out of left field and say that it's going to end up being somebody from the halfway house / NA/AA support group home place she was at.

She says in the first episode that she doesn't want to be alone that night, which to me sounded like she knew she was in danger, although you could say it's just detachment from drugs and losing her mother.

[/WALL O' WORDS]

8/15/2016 10:32:58 AM

-Nas.... if he keeps up his current pace he's going to end up raping Freddy and becoming kingpin of the entire underworld.
-Chandra (Nas' current attorney) was pretty annoying in the last episode, something about her acting just seemed off. The scene at the morgue was tense, albeit strange and completely out of place (like Stone's chase the week before). Her slamming tequila and Stone semi-hitting on her was awful. And was that really Nas' dad that delivered her food and then ran off? C'mon.
-Box and Stone are really the only 2 characters I still like at this point. One of them hardly gets any screen time (Box) and the other spends the majority of the time treating/talking about his feet.
-They're just now looking into the ownership of a $5 million house AFTER the trial starts? No mention of the lack of blood on Nas' clothes/body (it's only on his hand, and there's blood still from the scratches on his back, so he didn't take a shower). That place was a bloodbath.

I feel like this show just really doesn't know what it wants to be. The legal side of it is totally unrealistic. And the Oz-esque prison scenes are too. It's like they had some cool ideas, and then just threw them all together. I'm convinced that some writer heard about the baby-oil in hot water trick and just had to add it in the script. So contrived. But damned if I'm not still going to tune in on Sunday.

8/15/2016 11:23:03 AM

^well put.

I was wondering about Nas' dad. I guess it means he took a delivery job to pay the bills. And the scene with his mom was weird - that lady was like "how low are you willing to stoop?" made it seem like she was offering some sex traffic type thing.

The jail stuff would fit better in a penitentiary. How is anyone that dug-in at a jail?

Why is the feet thing in there at all? Seems unnecessary

8/15/2016 1:50:11 PM

I guess the feet thing might be there to show that John is human -- he's not just another rich asshole lawyer in a business suit with a nice car. At the same time he isn't a Saul Goodman scumbag guy (despite having sleezy ads all over subways and stuff).

8/15/2016 4:43:28 PM

I agree that the tattoo knuckles is fucking dumb as hell, but not necessarily the drugs. I have an unfortunate feeling about where this is heading, I think we are going to see the defense throw out a bunch of good possible theories, and Nas will be found not guilty, but come out of jail changed for the worse, and we'll never know who actually did it/what actually happened. I'd love to be wrong on that, but it look like it could be headed in that direction to me.

8/15/2016 5:15:17 PM

haven't researched it, but I thought this whole thing was based on a true story, and if so, it should be easy to find out who actually did it...that'd be a big plot point to change for the effect of a show

8/15/2016 6:24:14 PM

If this ends without us knowing who did it that is going to be very disappointing. However, that's what I figure will happen too. Either way, I've enjoyed the show.

8/15/2016 6:29:34 PM

^^i think it's based on a British series, hadn't heard anything about it being of actual events though.

8/15/2016 7:08:52 PM

Quote :

"The jail stuff would fit better in a penitentiary. How is anyone that dug-in at a jail?"

They addressed that tonight, freddy got himself another trial. That said, people have spent years at rikers.

Also, aren't they smoking heroin not Crack? He is smoking heroin for the same reason as weed, to get his mind out of where he is...

8/15/2016 9:14:26 PM

He actually got SINBAD tattooed on his knuckles. Which is still stupid but makes more sense since thats his nickname in jail.

8/15/2016 9:29:05 PM

this show just hasn't done a good job of making Naz's transformation into a crack smoking, tatted up prison dude believable

8/16/2016 6:20:20 AM