I have to start by commenting on the opening shot of John Stone dealing with cat litter on his kitchen counter. If the whole eczema sub plot was really just a tool to symbolize the lack of glamour and surplus of struggle in Stone's life, they should have just shown him changing cat litter a few times instead. Ever change cat litter? Absolutely disgusting. I felt more sympathetic for Stone during those opening seconds than I ever did for his repulsive feet.
This show has the ability to give you an anxiety attack at any given second. Just five minutes in, they did an excellent job making my heart pound when Freddie was catching a quick buzz in his cell. The camera work and dramatic background music had me thinking Freddie was going to croak right then and there, leaving Naz more helpless than a little kid lost in the grocery store.
However, it took only 10 more minutes for that scene to be dethroned as the creepiest/most stressful one of the episode when Chandra met up with the hearse driver. That hearse driver, no exaggeration, very well may haunt my dreams forever. His weird symbolic explanation of Andrea's "type" with all of that cat and yarn gibberish was bizarre. I wouldn't have been surprised if he lashed out and killed Chandra right then and there. I kept thinking that he was going to pull some sort of weapon out of the drawers he kept reaching into.
Seriously if that scene wasn't sponsored by Xanax, then that's just a huge missed business opportunity.
The hearse driver referred a Bible passage to Chandra, which she eventually read out loud at Stone's house. I did a little "research" (Bible passage summary on Google) to further understand what's good with "Samson and Delilah," the title of Sunday night's episode. Essentially Delilah seduced and manipulated Samson in order to relieve him of his power. After being seduced, Samson revealed that his power was derived from the seven braids in his hair. Samson's braids were cut, he lost his connection with God, and was put in a prison. As his hair grew back, he started to grow his connection with God back. With Samson in the prison, God answered his prayers. Samson brought down the pillars of the temple, taking his own life while bringing everyone present down with him. "Through his death, Samson destroyed more of his enemies in this one sacrificial act, than he had previously killed in all the battles of his life." (from http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysummaries/p/samsondelilah.htm)
I don't know if I'm looking too much into this Bible passage, but I think it goes a lot further than the weird hearse driver's twisted views on women and their utilization of seduction. The act of Naz shaving his head really enabled a significant disconnect from his "good boy" image, disrupting his positive relationship with his lawyers. Stone and Chandra are essentially Naz's power, his "gods" in terms of the Bible passage. Maybe at some point he recognizes the downfall of his reputation, tries to return to his old persona, somewhere along the line takes down some "bad guys" in the process, and dies or is convicted for life. Maybe it's bringing attention to the crooked judicial system? Bringing down the immoral totem pole within the prison? I don't know. But if that Bible passage is any indicator, I think there might be a bad ending for Naz that will portray him as some sort of martyr. I've been seeing a lot of theories on Reddit that Naz will be found innocent but dies in prison before he is released. That's a theory that I could get on board with.
One of the biggest highlights of this episode was, once again, Naz making poor decisions. As if shaving his head before trial wasn't a bad enough look, Naz decided to get inked up on his knuckles.
"SIN" on one hand, and "BAD" on the other. Oh and I guess him picking up a new hobby in smoking crack is worth mentioning. Sinbad is his new nickname in the clink, and the tattoos/drugs symbolize his transformation into a convict, but I couldn't help but laugh every time I thought about his new ink job:
I've seen a lot of people saying how dumb Naz is for getting a tat and starting to dabble with some drugs, which I agree with completely. It's not wise decision making. But at the same time, Naz has no other choice. He'd be dead without Freddie, and he's starting to adjust to this new life that may last until the day he dies. If you were him, would you have any confidence that you'd get off free? Not much seems to be going his way. Might as well be one of the boys. And to be honest, he probably kind of likes it. He feels powerful, and ironically he feels a little bit of freedom from his traditional, supposedly straight edge lifestyle.
Speaking of Naz's supposedly straight edge, innocent demeanor, we learned a little bit about him that could persuade some people that maybe he is capable of committing this crime. Detective Box visited Naz's old high school that he transferred out of after pushing a kid down the stairs in a fight. Naz was suspended, returned to school, and asked to leave after that. Pushing a fellow student down the stairs doesn't quite match up with murdering a stranger, but the combination of that information and seeing Naz's new prison persona allowed us to see him from a different perspective. Naz's sort of monologue to Chandra explaining the fight was a fantastic scene. Not only did it counter the impression we got from Naz's past, but it was honestly very eye-opening. He described what it was like being of Middle Eastern descent in New York post 9/11, how much bullying he experienced, and how much rage was built up inside of him. It was a bit erie hearing him say he felt nothing after pushing the kid, other than feeling bad for his mom, but it's completely understandable. He simply felt that breaking one kid's bone was nothing compared to all of the troubles he's gone through simply because of his heritage.
It wouldn't be a "The Night Of" recap without discussing Stone's eczema, and this episode's "feeture" was well worth all of the disgusting images that we have been unjustly presented. Stone's eczema is finally healed, and that man's swagger when he got to wear dress shoes instead of sandals gave me a highly genuine smile. Stone presenting his new footwear to the eczema support group was phenomenal. I've never seen someone so proud of anything in my life. Can't help but be ecstatic for the guy. And if you're looking to invest in some stocks, I'd certainly look into the provider of that magic medicine.
We had the pleasure of re-visiting Andrea's sketchy stepdad when Stone visited the financial advisor who was seen arguing with the stepdad at the funeral. They dove into the obvious motive for the stepdad to have Andrea killed in order to obtain her inheritance that everyone has been discussing for weeks. There have been plenty of complaints throughout the World Wide Web that the state took much too long to visit this possibility, but we have to remember how "obvious" it was that Naz committed this murder. If this case happened in real life, I'm sure the large majority of us would side with the state and not give Naz any chance of proving his innocence. With all of that evidence stacked up against him, it wouldn't be the first thought to explore other options. The financial advisor also said that Andrea told the stepdad the only way he would get the house would be "Over my dead body." Maybe since Andrea was suicidal, she schemed to have herself killed by someone else, possibly convicting her d-bag stepdad since he should be a top suspect. Maybe.
Toward the end of the episode, Naz was walking back to his cell before bed and witnessed something that was very intriguing, yet not entirely shocking.
Petey, pictured above, has hands down been the shadiest character in Freddie's crew. The way he always gives that stare to Naz gives me the chills every time. I've always wondered how this scrawny little weirdo got into Freddie's protected bunch, but it now makes complete sense after we saw him....well, doing a favor for one of the big dudes in the crew. Of course Naz was stupid enough to stop and stare, allowing both "participants" to witness the witness.
I was honestly shocked that Naz didn't get raped right then and there, but a good slice to the neck isn't ideal either. I have a feeling things are about to implode in Freddie's prison family, maybe something like Naz getting back at this guy and Petey. Getting back at this guy for cutting him, and getting back at Petey for always giving him that disrespectful glare. Ease up dude, Naz swallowed drugs from your mother's genitalia and sat on the toilet until it came out. Are you grateful for that at all?
I've been thoroughly enjoying my weekly ritual of checking Reddit after each new episode. I've never been a Reddit guy because I feel like I'd waste too much time going down rabbit holes, but it's great to read everyone's reactions and theories. Some theories are genius, some are ridiculous, some posts enrage me, some posts make me laugh. Here are three featured Reddit posts that caught my attention.
Classic. That lady is the absolute worst. Her schtick is so notoriously ridiculous that she willingly plays up her persona on a fictional show. Power to her for raking in the money, I guess.
Okay tough guy, chill out. Hey everyone, look! I found THE Man!
This did a good job of pointing out that Freddie truly does look after Naz, even though his genuine motive for doing so is still unclear. Many people think that Freddie is trying to cover up one of his boys, who is the true murderer, but it just doesn't add up. Plus, if he didn't take in Naz, Naz would have been dead without a doubt. With all of the evidence stacked against Naz, and with Naz unable to explain what really happened because he's dead, what are the chances the state would end up finding someone else as the murderer? Also, the shirt-swapping scene in court was a great use of comedic relief. Watching Stone mumble in disappointment to Naz while trying to be discreet about switching shirts was hysterical.
"The Night Of," like most HBO shows, does an excellent job of putting jams on for the ending credits. Here's this week's banger. You're welcome.
Two more episodes left. Thanks for reading, spread the word, and follow me on Twitter @CalebBlackmur.
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