The Night Of Season 1 Episode 7 Review: Ordinary Death
Carissa Pavlica
at
.
With just one more episode to go, there is still so much about Nazir Kahn that remains a mystery.
After watching The Night Of Season 1 Episode 7, I'm now worried we may not know for certain whether Naz killed Andrea by the time this is all over.
It's not very often I'm of a mind to extend a legal case on television, but they've barely put a dent into The City of New York against Nazir Kahn or whatever it's technically called, and I have more questions than answers. Let's talk about those, as well as the effect the case is having on those involved.
First, let's touch on Stone. Does the man even have actual allergies? He slept just fine, never even waking up with an asthma attack, after kitty joined him in slumber. If someone is as allergic as Stone claims to be, and kitty was happily fluffing his tail in his face for hours, he would have been in severe distress.
Stone appears to be figuring that out himself, as asking the Chinese medicine man for a concoction to combat his malady would only treat his mental fixation on the issue.
Working on a large case is giving Stone a lot of confidence in himself he had been lacking. All he needed was the opportunity.
While it would be nice for Stone and Chandra to get the win if only to stuff a sock in Mrs. Weiss' mouth, it's still unclear whether Naz is innocent or guilty.
His own mother is unable to look at him or speak to him. She stormed out of the courtroom upon seeing some of the evidence. His father remains steadfast in his support of his son, but it has to be challenging when their community and his partners have all labeled them a family harboring a killer.
With television and newspapers, it was hard enough to fight through the innocent until proven guilty thing. Add in social media and it's as if the justice system has changed.
The way it has changed is, of course, determined on a case by case basis.
Sometimes, the victim is the guilty party and the accused wronged. No matter which way you slice it, the public rules without evidence and with great bias. Race, social status, sexual proclivities, past mistakes, friends and any other number of things turn against you whether you are the victim or the accused. It's horrific.
So it's no wonder Box came to a conclusion of the crime scene based upon his own views. So did Mrs. Weiss. Box knew retirement was around the corner. He wanted to get out. Whether he purposefully made the wrong decisions as a result or did a haphazard job because his mind was elsewhere doesn't matter at this point.
He was found out at court. His last case, and he was outed as doing a poor job. Ouch.
Chandra: You didn't interview Duane Reade?
Box: Someone at Duane Reade?
Chandra: An individual named Duane Reade.
Box: Is that a joke?
It was impossible to read Box on whether or not he knew of the other suspects. Whether he knew they existed and chose not to follow through or if he was blindsided by their existence while in the hot seat.
Similarly, the bit with the inhaler. Naz admitted it was his. Box admitted taking it from the crime scene and giving it to Naz. Because Naz needed it and Box didn't want him to suffer. Chandra saw it differently.
If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit. An inhaler doesn't fit the way we see a crazed killer trying to stab someone 22 times between hits off of his ventolin.
Chandra
Chandra saw a lot of things differently. Such as Naz. A kiss? That was kind of brewing in the background, but generally unexpected on Chandra's part.
Right after that kiss, Naz had two quick thoughts of the night of the murder. The first was of Andrea on the bed, bathed in blood and the red light. He was in her room and awake while it was dark outside. He remembers. He also remembers turning on the light and seeing her hand. If I'm right, a hand beside which there was no inhaler.
I'm not sure what that means. Especially in light of the testimony of Dr. Katz.
That guy was good. What he learned while he was at Andrea's house was outstanding. He learned about the knife game. He found skin in the table. His photo of the kitchen was invaluable, as was his evidence about the broken front door and scaling the wall.
All of it was embarrassing to Mrs. Weiss, but not as much as her attempt to trip him up by making him feel bad about his poor opinion about the pathologist, the same pathologist who said the knife wound could have been from a knife slip or it could not have been.
The pathologist was crap because he didn't stand beside his opinion, allowing Weiss to dictate what he said on the stand. When he find his backbone, he can be called good. Until then, Katz can pretend to say nice things at a festive dinner while thinking about dessert.
Now we have to talk about the potential sociopath.
Chandra was blindsided in court by the news there were two people Naz sent to the hospital in middle school, but she didn't question him about it. Naz barely flinched upon hearing it, either.
On the other hand, when Mrs. Weiss called a friend to testify about the sale of Adderall, Naz was very animated. He was smiling oddly, and then smirking and shaking his head as the testimony ended.
It couldn't have looked good to the jury for him to be doing that. He looked very smug and criminal. It made me uncomfortable. What would they be thinking?
Pair that with the fact Naz is reported to be generally a very unfeeling person when he's tossing around students, and watching him in the courtroom indicates he's relatively unemotional, and suddenly he comes off as kind of crazy.
But we don't know that Naz isn't crazy. He's really stoic. Considering everything that he's going through, he feels next to nothing, or shows as little as possible.
Then there's the asthma. Is it asthma of convenience? With the enormous stress he's been under, how many times has he been shown using that inhaler? It seems to be riding a relatively similar path as Stone's asthma, but Naz can control his.
He used his asthma as a way to distract the guard so Freddy could kill the guy who was raping Petey. In what other way may the asthma be distracting us from seeing the truth about the murder?
I watched the episode online, so I'll have to go back and try to catch his fleeting memories of the night of and compare them with the photo featuring the inhaler. Is there something in those that will come into play in the finale?
Is Naz a sociopath or just a really confused and bruised kid who has been so traumatized through life that his barriers masquerade as sociopathic tendencies? Maybe he's a sociopath who didn't murder Andrea. Maybe this will be his wakeup call.
Box: What we have here is the same situation as Andrea Cornish, would you agree?
Detective: Your basic up down misdemeanor homicide.
And what about the body discovered at the beginning of the hour? Was it an ordinary murder, or one of two? Was it a coincidence? Will Box leave it all alone or will he be sucked back in to share what he knows to put these cases to rest?
Hit me with your thoughts in the comments. I know some of you are really putting thought into this. Do you have it solved before the case rests?
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
