'The Night Of' Episode 4 Recap: No Pain, No Gain
Like Icarus flying too close to the sun, John Stone (John Turturro) can’t put his brief tenure as lead attorney for one of the most high-profile murder cases in recent New York history behind him. In the opening moments of The Night Of’s fourth episode, “The Art of War,” we see Stone try to get back to his ordinary routine after the Khan family kicked him to the curb, answering a typical call from a felon in need with his standard patter: “$250, no personal checks, don’t talk to anybody.”
But as he’s sitting there, listening patiently as his latest client spins a yarn about why he’s not guilty, John visibly tunes out. In the words of a certain Harry Nilsson tune, everyone’s talkin’ at Stone, but he can’t hear a word they’re sayin’. The only case he’s invested in is the one that’s currently moving ahead without him.
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Meanwhile, on Rikers Island, the person at the center of that crime, Naz (Riz Ahmed), is also trying to remain an active participant in a narrative that’s almost treating him as an afterthought. Certainly, Naz’s new lawyer, Alison Crowe (Glenne Headly) would prefer him to take a backseat in deciding his fate, preferring to work the system to ensure him the minimum sentence, and her the maximum publicity, for pleading guilty. And around the prison, he’s viewed as more pawn than player; his credits are swiped by one prisoner, he’s slashed by another and all the while, Freddy Knight is watching from his perch high above, just waiting for Naz to give in and agree to his loaded offer of protection.
The voices that resonate the loudest in Naz’s head, though, are those that seek to remind him of his own agency. For starters, there’s Blood (Damany Mathis), the man in the cot next to him with his own tragic backstory — a dead niece and a botched hit on the man who killed her — and plenty of jailhouse advice to impart. It’s Blood who teaches Naz about how ordinary items, like baby oil and a cup of hot water, can be mixed together to create a serious weapon. Of course, he also ends up pushing Naz in Freddy’s direction by scalding him at the end of the episode, but in this case the younger man is making a conscious choice, rather than agreeing to Freddy’s demands out of fear. (So was Blood hired by Freddy to subtly prod Naz into his cell? Discuss!)
The second, and more important voice, whispering in Naz’s ear is Chandra (Amara Karan), the Indian-American legal associate that Alison used to win over his parents on last week’s episode. Crowe dispatches her into his holding cell moments before Naz is set to confess to the crime of murdering Andrea as insurance that he’ll agree to the plea deal.
Rather than parrot her boss, Chandra encourages him to ask himself a simple question: “Did I kill her?” And if the answer is, “No,” then he’s got to seize control of the proceedings before he ends up serving 15 years for a crime he’s convinced he didn’t commit. By the episode’s end, you can’t accuse Naz of being a bystander to his own life anymore. But you can fear for how much worse that life is about to get.
The Crime: Andrea is laid to rest early on in the episode, and John is drawn to the gravesite as if by a gravitational force. It’s a good thing he’s there, because he happens to witness a strenuous disagreement between the deceased’s step-dad, Don (Paul Sparks), and considerably cleaner-cut guy. “I’m part of the f–king family,” Don angrily tells the other man, before adding “Sign the papers and send the checks, but don’t f–king call me.” Don’s odd behavior when he showed up to identify Andrea’s body already made us uncertain about him, and this encounter provides further evidence that he’s a person of interest… to us and John, if not the cops.
Stone makes another breakthrough when he uses one of Andrea’s selfies to re-trace her steps to a street that happens to house a rehab facility. Initially chased off the property by one of the staff members (played by former Sopranos star Aida Turturro, who also, of course, is John Turturro’s cousin), he learns via a less scrupulous employee (Max Casella, who will always be Doogie Howser’s pal, Vinnie Delpino, to us) that Andrea was a regular patient who could never completely kick the habit. Bringing this intel to Chandra, she protests about digging up dirt on a victim. “Naz isn’t, too?” he responds. “If I was still his lawyer, I’d at least pretend I thought so.” So we’ve got an angry stepdad and a dead girl with a history of drug use. Thank goodness Naz pled not guilty… there’s now plenty of suspicion to go around.
The Cops: Detective Box (Bill Camp) remains on the periphery again this week, but he does get one great scene with prosecutor, Helen Weiss (Jeannie Berlin), where he bitterly complains about the prevalence of backroom dealmaking amongst New York’s lawyer population. “When’s the DA actually gonna grow a pair and take a killer to trial?” In that case, he’s probably thrilled by Naz’s decision to reject the plea deal, since it gives him the opportunity to throw the book at a murderer… or at least a man that he’s talked himself into believing is a murderer.
The Court: It’s a strange, but all too common quirk of the criminal justice system that the process is designed to avoid trials. Thus, having gone to great lengths to take over Naz’s case, Alison seizes the opportunity to take the easiest path to settlement, spending the entirety of their second face-to-face meeting arguing that an “Innocent” verdict is an impossibility, especially when he’s facing “only” a 15-year sentence. Similarly, Helen and the many bosses above her would prefer to just add another conviction to the state record without the messiness of having to prove their case. It’s almost as if they’re doing their job by not doing their job.
But in the episode’s most dramatic moment, Naz rejects the path that’s been carefully laid out for him, switching his plea to “Not Guilty” midway through his hearing. And just like that, Alison is out and Chandra is in as his lead attorney as the case heads towards a jury trial. Even John Stone — who really does believe Naz is innocent — is taken aback by his decision, as it goes against his own M.O. of avoiding lengthy stints in the courtroom. (As he whispers to Naz, “You don’t trust 12 idiots on a jury to get it right.”) If he’s going to keep following Naz’s case, he’s going to have to get used to long hours in those uncomfortable benches.
The Cat: Andrea’s cat is still in the shelter, and Stone is still trying to pretend like he doesn’t care. If he won’t do it, we’ll add kitty litter to his shopping list for him.
The Night Of airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.
