The wait is over. The Night Of airs at 9 p.m. tonight in HBO’s hallowed Sunday night slot and episode two has a lot to live up to after the gripping season premiere. Tonight’s episode of The Night Of is doubly sweet for fans (like me) who hopped on to the HBO preview only to discover it would be WEEKS until the episode 2 airtime. For anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, there will be some spoilers in the preview, but I don’t think it ruins anything to say that this is yet another HBO show that makes you want to watch another and another and another.
Episode 2 of The Night Of, titled ‘Subtle Beast,’ will be a true test of the ability of the show to sustain itself. The first episode, with its earnest take on the coming-of-age adventure goes awry formula, established that The Night Of is not a typical whodunit. Viewers aren’t even sure if Nazir (Riz Ahmed) is innocent of murder given the drug and booze fueled sexcapades leading to his blackout. We only saw him have blood soaked consensual sex with Andrea (Sofia Black-D’elia) before he snaps awake in her kitchen. He discovers her body and his story becomes so fraught with tensions and peril we barely had time to think about who could’ve done the murder.
Early hints point towards one of the guys who harassed Naziron the street. Remember, there were two guys on the street when Nazir and Andrea were heading to her apartment. But when one was being questioned by the detective at the precinct about what he saw, he said he was alone. But he wasn’t. So we might see that get resolved this week.
We can also expect to see the familial and legal fallout of Nazir’s arrest. His lawyer, John Stone (John Turturro), seems like he might be in over his head since he took the case without knowing the severity of the charge. It also looks like the lead detective is some kind of badass sleuth and he already wheedled so much damning evidence, physical and otherwise, from Nazir in the premiere.
Nazirs overprotective family is going to be a wreck when they get to the precinct, and Nazir himself is in for some serious trouble if he doesn't make bail and has to go actual prison instead of a holding cell. He seems (so far) to be a totally innocent college kid and hasn’t shown any of the nerve required of someone serving time with hardened criminals.
Hopefully episode 2 of The Night Of lives up to the strength of the premiere. HBO usually has big plans for the shows that get the Sunday 9 p.m. airtime and following the spot held by Game of Thrones is no small honor. If The Night Of can continue to deliver the same well-paced and tension and clever exposition, it’ll deserve it.
