Review: HBO’s Gripping ‘Whodunit’ (And ‘Doesitmatter?’), “The Night Of”

HBO’s enthralling eight-part drama about the justice system wrapped up earlier this week. Here’s a (spoiler-free) review from a law student.

For some reason, law students seem to have the worst taste when it comes to TV shows.

Ask any law student what their favourite legal shows are and the answer is invariably some insipid procedural like Suits or Law and Order. But considering the dearth of good legal dramas out there (The Good Wife excepted) it might not be their fault. Enter The Night Of, the new show created by Richard Price (a writer on The Wire) and Steve Zaillian. It's a legal drama I finally can wholeheartedly recommend.

Based on the UK series Criminal Justice, it stars Nightcrawler’s Riz Ahmed as Nazir Khan, a gentle college student who, after an unexpected evening out, ends up sleeping with a stranger and waking to find her stabbed 22 times. Naturally, there is a mountain of evidence against him and the assumption from almost everyone is that he is guilty despite his meek nature. Only his parents and his attorney, John Stone (played by the ever-excellent John Turturro), believe he is innocent.

Did he really do it? If not, then who did? A lesser show might have dived eagerly into these questions, crafting a mystery thriller around these characters. But what makes The Night Of unique is that it takes the ostensibly boring approach. Instead of playing up the sensationalist aspects of the murder, the show instead examines… legal processes.

What sounds like something dull, taken straight out of a textbook, is actually a fascinating exploration of how fragile justice systems, no matter how well constructed, really are. Throughout history, we judge the humanity of a legal system not by how it treats the victims, but by how it treats the accused. The Night Of consistently demonstrates how tenuous the link truly is between justice and the law.

Now, this isn’t merely a law lecturer’s fantasy. The most compelling aspect here is that there are no heroes or villains in the show; just people trying to get on with their jobs and their lives. John Stone is not the champion attorney we wish him to be, but rather just another lawyer looking to get paid. There is an entire subplot revolving around his foot eczema, an odd but detailed inclusion that neither furthers the plot, nor provides any metaphorical meaning. It is there simply because it is a fact of Stone’s life.

The show is so good at not giving us what we want that when it does finally give in and turn to crime thriller conventions, we feel disappointed; often, these are the elements that feel clumsily executed. That we try to indulge in our desires and endlessly speculate who the real killer is anyway is a testament to the show’s strong writing. What would have been the focal point of other programs is here presented in the periphery; merely a circumstance to bring all these people together.

The Night Of is excellent at subverting the expectations that come with a crime show. Those looking for satisfying affirmations of how justice plays an integral role in our legal system or the glamour of the corporate lawyer lifestyle need not apply; this show is not for you.

The Night Of may not be perfect, but like the judicial system, it’s the best that we’ve got.

4/5

The Night Of airs on Foxtel.

Louie Zhu is one of Student Edge’s student contributors. Learn more about the contributor program.

Photo: HBO.