The Night Of

Because I read the spoiler first (ie BBC's Criminal Justice, the series it was based on), watching the first episode of The Night Of was equivalent to watching a series of actions you wish Naz didn't take. A series of if-onlys. If only he had asked Andrea to leave the cab. If only he hadn't gone to The Beach. If only he hadn't agreed to stay with the mysterious (or troubled) stranger that he had just met. If only he hadn't taken the drugs.

If you've never watched the series (why haven't you?), The Night Of is about a Pakistani-American college student accused of murdering a girl he met by accident and spent a night with. There were drugs, alcohol, a dumb knife game and a few hours of passing out not remembering what happened involved.

The show is not really about solving a crime. It's about what happens once you've been accused with a crime, following Naz's transformation from a shy college student into a feared Rikers inmate. Every step of his journey to the notorious NYC's main jail complex is eerie to watch. Once you are cuffed and pushed into the line, you are no longer yourself. Your identity's stripped, and your interests and life achievements no longer matter -- wear this uniform and find a new personality that can help you survive this new life.

My favourite scenes from the eight episodes:

1 The entire scream-inducing episode 1.

2 The late night phone call Naz made to Chandra from his mobile phone. It was a short call out of desperation, during a time that you probably feel most alone and drowned, to connect to someone, anyone, whom you hope would trust you and have your back. Which also made us the viewers torn again, after just learning about his past with violence and watching him shed the Naz we knew in the early episodes little by little.

3 The conversation Naz had with Stone at the diner after his release. By this final episode, we knew things would no longer be the same for Naz and the people around him. But Stone and his eczema, the heroes of the misfits that constantly got cast aside and ridiculed, remind us that things will pass, or rather people will eventually move on to other things to focus on. If you can't undo imperfection, embrace it. Naz took the advice and went back to Andrea's Beach, snorting some drugs.

4 In court when the DA, Weiss, quoted Prophet Muhammad about helping others. To be clear, I love, love the Weiss character. I've never seen a real lawyer in a real court, but I love that Weiss doesn't sound like the typical Hollywood lawyers. She is an understated drama with powerful punches. Trading heels with sneakers after work? Extra point.

Here's what made me chuckle: Would a non-Muslim White defendant be reminded with a teaching from his religion in court? If I've ever heard about it, it must have slipped my mind. But I get that Naz being a Muslim, a Pakistani-American is part of the story. So I hope that part of writing was included just to help tell this story, just like when he was a "flight risk due to his family's extensive roots in Pakistan" despite having never set foot in that country all his life. If you're a Muslim, can't you be identified by other things in your life?

5 Tattoos. If you think Naz will never stop dragging himself into a downward spiral in prison, you think right. I only knew that Sin and Bad were also Naz literally identifying himself as Sinbad, as opposed to Aladdin who got his wishes, from one of Riz Ahmed's interviews. The moment I knew this, that tattoo scene looked so much better. I shook my head watching it. Now I can find some humour in it too. The best tattoo scene on the show, however, was when Stone ended a meeting with Naz in prison, commenting on the hideous new crown tattoo on his neck, "Ah, I wish you didn't do it on the jury's side."

6 The many checkpoints Naz had to go through while being processed to be released from prison. With his luck on the first episode, I expected him to be stopped at any time and get thrown back into prison for some reason.

7 The Night Of won't be in a league of its own without eczema. My favorite from the many painful scenes is a toss up between these two: 1) When Stone was preparing for his closing argument the night before and his eczema was back. So he took one big scoop of those scary herbs into his mouth in panic and desperation. 2) When his client suggested he get a machete.

8 Speaking of mouth, I don't want anyone to transport drugs or any illegal things into a prison (or anywhere) ever, especially not in the way that Freddy and friends do. Ugh. Even more tragic, Chandra adopted the same method to "help" Naz appear in court. Smh. No, these are not my favourite scenes; these are scenes that are going to traumatize me for a while.

Image: HBO