I think people had this idea that this was going to be some super crazy thriller based off the first episode. And rightfully so, it led me to think that was the direction it was going in. It didn't end with anything spectacular, but it was an entertaining series. Not to mention it helped ease the GOT Sunday spot for a while.
Right, maybe at that point in the courtroom there was some moral element to it, but not up until that point. There was nothing moral about him going over the security footage even after his retirement. He just wanted to still be in on the action. And I don't know how much clearer the ADA situation could have been. She flat-out tells Box that she doesn't care about Ray because the case against Naz is stronger and he's the one about to get voted on by a jury.
The DA saying "let's go get 'em" didn't strike me as something of a consolation for not getting Naz, but a "let's do the right thing now", hence my comment regarding her arc being a sort of morality tale. As for Box, that certainly is an interpretation, but it still remains strictly within the parameters of an oft-used archetype. If they were trying to communicate something deeper, then I think they failed and it made for a poor narrative in terms of the themes they were handling.
The DA was clearly thinking twice about Naz in her closing arguments with how much she paused between each sentence at the end. She could've had a retrial, but chose not to. I do think her arc was actually more complete than most of the other characters.
i think the ending fit the show quite well like anthony said. they were really trying to play up a very realistic tone to the whole ordeal, and sure while some things were still a bit overdramatized and a tad 'meh', i think it did a good job of what it was trying to accomplish. i will also give this entire experience a B...maybe B+. I was definitely VERY excited for tonight and was pretty thoroughly engaged the whole time.
Stellar ending. Very happy with this. Thought the first and the last episode were far and above anything in between.
I disagree with all most all of this. Also I think if they did a better job of establishing how much time elapsed between the start and end of the show Naz's transformation in prison would have felt more real and earned.
I think this review is pretty on point: The Night Of offers an often unsatisfying finale… probably on purpose?
I couldn't not laugh during the Chandra the drug smuggler scenes. Easily one of the stupidest things I've seen in a show in the last year, probably the stupidest HBO scene since Colin Farrell beat up the bully's dad in the TD season 2 opener. One thing I did like was this scene - maybe I'm imagining it but it seemed like she finally realized there wasn't close to enough blood on the knife to be the murder weapon as she talked about Andrea being stabbed 22 times. Still annoys me that the most obvious evidence for Naz telling the truth was never addressed.
There was too much heavyhanded symbolism for you to surmise that Stone didn't change. Christ, the show ends on a symbol that he's "changed", so to speak, or at least that he will continue to fight for the helpless even if it's killing him. Or whatever, it was a bit clumsy.
Realistic? No-nonsense? What do you call the Chandra/Naz scene? I'm not well versed on the actual proceedings of a courtroom, nor do I really care if a show is hyperrealistic, but both the depiction of the meeting with the judge and the final juror's statement seemed pretty off/cliche to me. The Naz "changing" aspect of the show could have been the most interesting. The portrayal of American culture/oppression stripping away the freedom and innocence and self being of a person of color would have been an amazing thing to watch happen. I don't think that they handled the transformation very well. Yeah, I get he had to do what he did to survive, it just seems like we skipped over major, major moments of self doubt and agony and questioning that Naz probably went through. Or, maybe he didn't go through that turmoil and he was a dick and he's always been a dick. I don't know. There were a lot of elements to his character that could've been touched on more. After the first episode he was empty-vessel like. The stories of racism and bullying that came up regarding him in high school could've been dug at a bit more. I wasn't expecting a shocking twist, I called the ending about 3 episodes ago in terms of him being exonerated but his innocence/life being soiled by what had happened. I wish it had been handled better.
The biggest issue I have with this is that as a limited series without the pressure of having to keep a status quo for the second season, this jumping the shark moment was entirely avoidable and instead they leaned fully in.
I thought the finale was great and is set up nicely for a second season if they decide to do it. It wasn't perfect, but I would give it a solid B+ at least.
Is Naz and Chandra the 'jump the shark' moment everyone keeps talking about? I really had no issue with this. It was a soap opera way of having Chandras arc be the "naive lawyer who let her emotions get the best of her".
I loved the little things. I loved that awkward moment Naz had with his mom at the dinner table. I loved that 'awwww' moment when Naz was leaving Freddie in prison. Basically I love Nazs entire storyline
i was gonna say the same thing haha also, as far as the "jumping the shark" moment, if it wasn't the kiss it was certainly the ray reveal
I chalk that up to time constraints. With more time and more episodes they could have developed her "inexperience" "puppy love" angle better. I thought the drug smuggling was worse than the kiss honestly
The drug smuggling is what I'm referring to. Time constraints shouldn't have been an issue. Like I said before, cut back on the foot bullshit. Cut back on the cat metaphors. Remove the hearse driver altogether etc. etc.