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The Night Of - new crime limited series - HBO Sundays - 90 on Metacritic

realwords

Member
Half-way through the episode. Good to see Bodie back on my TV. :D

EDIT: THE CAAAAAAAT, LMAOOOOOO.

This pilot is so good, it could be a stand-alone short film and stand on its own. Really, I felt more complete watching that episode than I have watching a season of some other shows. Incredible, tense, work. Love it.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
First episode is a great example of why knowing what is going to happen, doesn't take away from the enjoyment of how it happens.

I haven't seen the episode yet, but I'm assuming the story was constructed in such a way? Sometimes stories are constructed around surprise and shock and I feel like knowing what's going to happen in those instances can definitely put a damper on things.
 

Samuray

Member
Stupid question time!!
Could someone explain the show's title to me? The night of....what? It sounds so cut off, but then again I'm not a native speaker. Please enlighten me. :)
 

BlueTsunami

there is joy in sucking dick
Stupid question time!!
Could someone explain the show's title to me? The night of....what? It sounds so cut off, but then again I'm not a native speaker. Please enlighten me. :)

Police line of questioning...

"Where were you the night of..."

The pilot is literally the night that will be in question
 

Sloane

Banned
That might very well have been the best first episode of a show I have ever seen. Watching the guy dig himself deeper and deeper into it was nothing but amazing, the cinematography and the entire "mood", holy crap!

Hard to tell from the pilot whether they can keep it up over the course of the season obviously and if watching the guy dig himself out of the mess will be as tense and enticing -- but, so far, so great.
 

Zousi

Member
I don't know. Didn't really impress me that much. Having said that, i think this could turn out to be pretty good in the long run, if the case can offer some new angles from your usual courtroom shenanigans. John Turturro alone could keep this interesting.
 

Nameless

Member
Enjoyed the pilot, but Murphy's Law was turned up to 1000 to put poor Naz in the predicament he was in by the end of the episode. Cool visual style, though. Feels sorta Michael Mann-ish
 

IronRinn

Member
Watched this a few nights ago. I really enjoyed it. Tense as fuck, holy shit. I was almost starting to get panicky that for a bit.
 

LiQuid!

I proudly and openly admit to wishing death upon the mothers of people I don't like
First episode is a great example of why knowing what is going to happen, doesn't take away from the enjoyment of how it happens.

This is how I felt about the
"twist"
in Mr. Robot.

This is on my list to watch but I'm going to wait to check it out. I dunno why they released the pilot so early. This same tactic recently killed what little enthusiasm I had to keep watching Preacher.
 
- Medium: Steven Zaillian Talks About The Night Of
Q: You have extensive experience in feature films, but this is your first TV project. Why did you choose this format?

STEVEN ZAILLIAN: Historically, the kinds of stories I’m interested in have been made as films. Now, it’s TV. But since I’d had no experience in TV, I could only approach it as a film. A long film. Which is what Richard Price and I did with the writing.

I didn’t begin shooting the episodes that follow the pilot until the whole thing was written. In films, obviously, you don’t shoot part of it, then write the next part and then shoot that. But in TV, that’s often done. It requires teams of writers, multiple crews and editors - and a lot of nerve, if you ask me.

Financially it makes sense; it’s cheaper to do it like that, since time is money. But I can’t work like that, running ahead of a speeding train. HBO allowed me to make this like a film is made, to cast who I wanted to cast - many are feature actors — and to hire primarily feature film department heads.

With a nine-hour film, there’s a lot to keep in your head. I thought of nothing else every day for about four years.
Q: Although THE NIGHT OF can be seen as basically a crime story, it’s probably impossible to avoid political overtones in today’s social climate. Do you see an underlying message in the story?

SZ: It’s a crime story, a police story, a legal story, a corrections story. You make a story about all that, tell it honestly, and it will naturally be a social story.

But none of that is going to be interesting if you don’t tell it with characters who are interesting. Every character in this has their own life and story and concerns and reasons for why they do what they do. No one is written to get you to empathize with them, or to represent something, or to be a hero or a villain. They are simply meant to be real.

In my experience, no one ever really says what they mean, so my characters don’t either. What they do is react to and interact with the situations facing them in a natural, unsentimental way, and in doing that, reveal themselves, and hopefully some kind of understanding comes of it.
More via the link.
 

LiQuid!

I proudly and openly admit to wishing death upon the mothers of people I don't like
It was to entice people into keeping their HBO subscriptions after Game of Thrones ended.

That both makes a lot of sense and is quite hilarious. HBO has had a bit of a drama drought lately.
 

Jeels

Member
So happy to see Pakistanis in non stereotype roles. The trailer before GoT peaked my interest but that solidified me giving this a chance.

Question - how is it on the nudity/sex front? My parents were interested too but they steer away from stuff that has nudity.
 

TwoDurans

"Never said I wasn't a hypocrite."
I really dug the direction of the first episode. It almost seemed like there was a narrow focus on all the things that will be used against Naz during this investigation.
 

Arkeband

Banned
So happy to see Pakistanis in non stereotype roles. The trailer before GoT peaked my interest but that solidified me giving this a chance.

Question - how is it on the nudity/sex front? My parents were interested too but they steer away from stuff that has nudity.

There's like half of a side boob, the only sex scene is short and non explicit.

I mean, they realize this is about a grisly murder, though, right?

Also, it's "piqued".
 
My wife and I were so stressed out watching this.
Nas's slow creep toward the police station exit, the realization that he has the knife in his jacket (which I believe is not the actual murder weapon considering it's placed exactly where they originally left it), and the dumb decisions he decides to make under extreme duress.

Such a great starter episode. Can't stand that I now have like a 3 week wait for episode 2.

Pretty much this. Really can't wait for the show to kick in in earnest. The guy who plays Naz plays him really really well and I couldn't help but feel like he picked the wrong night and the wrong person to go out with. I really wonder how it will play out, but it is such a good pilot.
 

Hjod

Banned
Well that was really good. Can't wait for the next episode

My wife and I were so stressed out watching this.
Nas's slow creep toward the police station exit, the realization that he has the knife in his jacket (which I believe is not the actual murder weapon considering it's placed exactly where they originally left it), and the dumb decisions he decides to make under extreme duress.

Well there was blood on the knife, all the way up to the hilt/handle, so either someone cut themself or it is the murder weapon. If this case was real Naz would be so fucked, every evidence points to him, and we really can't be sure he's innocent, great pilot. I want more haha.
 
I was just reading up on the BBC version. Do you think it'll still hold up? I'm curious to watch it now. Ben Wishaw is great so I think it'll be a treat

Oh definitely but I'm not sure if it's a good idea to watch it in tandem with this version, or maybe it is? Watch an episode of each a week to see how it compares :)
 
Catched the 1st episode now that I've caught up to my other HBO shows. Wow, that was really solid. If the rest of the series can maintain that quality this might be one of the best things they've done.
 
Finally got around to checking this out on demand. Really good and the build up to the happening was tense. A lot of red herrings along the way it tough to pick which ones will be important

But man did the kid
do some stupid shit along the way


Oh and Bodie from the wire!
 

maxcriden

Member
First episode was alright. It got better in the second half, but I was kind of rolling my eyes during Naz's
time with the girl and doing drugs and knife games. Things got a lot better once we got that out of the way.
It just seemed so cliche to me and it wasn't very interesting.

That said, I loved seeing my man Bodie from The Wire again in a show.

What are
"knife games"
? Is it the same thing as the
knife roulette sequence
that thestopsign mentioned? I'm kind of a lightweight so if this is a term I'm unfamiliar with for something super disturbing I wanna know up front. Thanks.
 

UrbanRats

Member
What are
"knife games"
? Is it the same thing as the
knife roulette sequence
that thestopsign mentioned? I'm kind of a lightweight so if this is a term I'm unfamiliar with for something super disturbing I wanna know up front. Thanks.

Yes.

Show opener was pretty damn good.
The sequence with the girl was a tad cheesy, especially since they used goddamn Mazzy Star, i even like that song, but i feel like it's used a lot.
Anyway, i'm really curious to see how (and if) they'll get him out of it.
One thing i'm curious about, is that
they essentially tell you everything that went down, but intentionally skip the most important part, with him blacking out and all.
Now the obvious assumption is that Bodie's friend, the intense-stare guy, was pissed off and either went back in to kill the girl, or commissioned someone to do it, but since they left that blank space, i wonder if that is just a red herring, maybe Naz really did do it.
 

orioto

Good Art™
That was damn good, almost David Simons good, in the way it was paced and that neutral tone, realistic characters.

Of course the whole problematic stuff is a little too big to be true, and cliché.. But i mean everything around it is really strong to me, i needed a good show like that.

But it made me sad to see James's name in the credit. Oh wait i just read DeNiro was the second pick... Gandolfini, then Deniro, and finally Turturo.. That fucking downgrade.. Well he'll be ok i guess.
 

Jeels

Member
That was really good. I think I found my new show. :) Acting, writing, and ambience is spot on. My heart was racing throughout which I don't remember a show doing for years now...

I know he was being taken advantage of and under a lot of stress but man wish Nasir didn't start giving away so much info to the detective. If only the lawyer got there soon
 

Nothus

Member
I cringed a bit at some of the dialogue, but I'm still in for the whole season.

Also that intro has GOT to be made by the same people who did the True Detective intro. Just the way it was shot and everything, the similarities were striking. In fact there are a few shows all with the same style of intro, I wonder if it's the same company making them all?
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Also that intro has GOT to be made by the same people who did the True Detective intro. Just the way it was shot and everything, the similarities were striking. In fact there are a few shows all with the same style of intro, I wonder if it's the same company making them all?

Elastic is the studio that made True Detective's into. Method Design did the into for The Night Of.
 
Well that was really good. Can't wait for the next episode



Well there was blood on the knife, all the way up to the hilt/handle, so either someone cut themself or it is the murder weapon. If this case was real Naz would be so fucked, every evidence points to him, and we really can't be sure he's innocent, great pilot. I want more haha.

See, I was assuming this was due to the knife game they played earlier. But, if it's on the hilt, I could see why it could be the murder weapon.

But hell, we're dealing with the 1st episode. Everything could be a red herring.
 
Watched this yesterday. Damn, it was good. I'll echo what others have said about feeling anxious while watching; the show does a great job of making you feel like you are in Naz's shoes.

7/17 for the next episode, gonna be a hell of a wait :(
 

Foggy

Member
Maaaaaaaaaan, this kid is supernaturally foolish and cosmically unlucky. Oof, gonna need a minute to collect my thoughts.
 
Got soooooo anxious, I had to switch to watching other shows twice during this first episode. I really liked each chunk, but couldn't watch him digging himself deeper and deeper into trouble.

Him eyeing
the exits while in the Police Station were killllling me
 

scosher

Member
That was a fantastic pilot. Latter half of the episode was intense, but what really struck me was how authentic it felt. Maybe it's cause I'm from NYC, but that was definitely the look of Upper West Side, and the inside of an NYPD precinct. Wouldn't be surprised if everything was shot on set. The only event that seemed written solely for plot convenience was when the two patrol cops decided to take Nasir with them in the backseat, as opposed to just writing him up and letting him go his way.

My early guess is the killer is someone the girl knows, since a stabbing like that has to be a crime of passion. Maybe an ex-boyfriend she just broke up with, since she was acting peculiar in her opening scene, giving Nasir no real destination to drive to.
 

ChawlieTheFair

pip pip cheerio you slags!
First episode got a lot better during the 2nd half, that being said the kid's stupid decisions and lack of explaining are annoying me. I know he's in shock, but still.
 
First episode got a lot better during the 2nd half, that being said the kid's stupid decisions and lack of explaining are annoying me. I know he's in shock, but still.

Yeah, I didn't like the pilot as much as everyone else it seems. I'm way more interested in seeing how Turturro's character builds a case so I think I'll like the later episodes a lot better. The tension in the pilot was good but I was fairly annoyed by how Naz unknowingly set himself up. The acting/directing is top-notch.
 

ChawlieTheFair

pip pip cheerio you slags!
Yeah, I didn't like the pilot as much as everyone else it seems. I'm way more interested in seeing how Turturro's character builds a case so I think I'll like the later episodes a lot better. The tension in the pilot was good but I was fairly annoyed by how Naz unknowingly set himself up. The acting/directing is top-notch.

Turturro is great and I'm sure even if the show does turn out naff he'll give it some great moments.
 
I thought the commercials were pretty meh and eventually annoying but DAMN did this turn out better than I expected. I hope they can keep up with the rest of the season.
 
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