It's Not TV; It's HBO: The Night Of (Miniseries)

[Norah]

How great is the last show where Naz's dad goes out in his pajamas with no shoes on and the cab isn't there?

yeah that was great

[epilogue]

How great is the last show where Naz's dad goes out in his pajamas with no shoes on and the cab isn't there?

yeah that was great

And a cat runs by. Fucking loved it.

[epilogue]

I really liked this. My wife wasn't a big fan until John Turturro showed up. She likes the acting. But for her the thing is just way too far fetched and unbelievable. She thought it was heavy handed and offensive in its stereotyping.

[Simple Torture]

I really liked this. My wife wasn't a big fan until John Turturro showed up. She likes the acting. But for her the thing is just way too far fetched and unbelievable. She thought it was heavy handed and offensive in its stereotyping.

I'd like to hear more about this, if you wouldn't mind. The only bit I picked out is how Andrea is basically a cipher and a plot point and doesn't get to exist as a real character--but as I've written in this thread already, I'm hoping this gets fleshed out posthumously.

[epilogue]

I really liked this. My wife wasn't a big fan until John Turturro showed up. She likes the acting. But for her the thing is just way too far fetched and unbelievable. She thought it was heavy handed and offensive in its stereotyping.

I'd like to hear more about this, if you wouldn't mind. The only bit I picked out is how Andrea is basically a cipher and a plot point and doesn't get to exist as a real character--but as I've written in this thread already, I'm hoping this gets fleshed out posthumously.

That's a huge part of it for her, yes. I agree with you in my hope/expectation that her character will get fleshed out as we delve deeper into what really happened.

She's also up set by this idea that we don't see what happened but we're expected to believe that he's absolutely innocent. To her that devalues the victim. The story becomes about the poor innocent man as opposed to being about the unfortunate female victim. There are shades of victim blaming in that for her, especially given the way she's portrayed: a fantasy, a "bad influence"; the poor innocent boy who never drinks or makes a mistake all the sudden gets tainted and "destroyed" by the hyper sexualized bad influence who makes him take drugs and alcohol.

There was also a lot of uncomfortable stereotyping from the characters that she felt icky about, she didn't say that wasn't realistic, just that it rubbed her the wrong way (cops assuming the black guy has weed, the black guy calling the white girl "that kind of girl", etc).

And the over-use (she felt) of cameras, and seeing him caught on camera, the driver at the gas station "you'll be my next passenger", "I don't drink!", and on and on and on.

The whole case itself is where it really feel apart for her. She thought it was too overwhelming. No one is ever up against THAT much evidence. It felt unrealistic to her. At this point, I think she's going to be disappointed if he isn't the killer. She said she'll watch the next episode and see if it opens up anything new for her but outside of Turturro's character she really wasn't comfortable with the show.

[Simple Torture]

Those are all fair points. I'm also in the camp that I'd love for them to keep plausible--for as long as possible--that Naz could have actually done it. The lack of blood on him/his clothes makes it tough, but I still think there's a chance. And for what it's worth, I'm pretty sure late in the episode that Box says Bodie "reeked of weed," which means he didn't just think he had drugs on him because he's black.

[epilogue]

Yeah, I think you and I are on basically the same page regarding the show so far. And I don't think the conclusion my wife has reached are idiotic or unrealistic or anything like that. She makes some good points, they just didn't bother me the way they bothered her. Partially, because I was more taken with what I think the show is going to be and I'm excited to see it play out. She wasn't looking ahead or contemplating expectations, just reacting in the moment to what she saw and felt.

Me, I'm way more interested in what comes next. It's entirely possible that the show will disappoint me and go off in directions I don't care for. But right now there's enough that I'm really into it. And I'm excited for part two.

Have we heard yet, by the way, how many episodes this thing is?

[Simple Torture]

8

[epilogue]

Thank you!

[spike]

durden's wife sounds like a real handful

[epilogue]

She's literally the best person I've ever known.

[Monkey_Driven]

She's literally the best person I've ever known.

[Simple Torture]

Excited for tonight's episode. Only fear is that the first episode was so dense (as Rick McCallum might say) that it'll be hard to live up to such a rich text. We'll see.

[epilogue]

This second episode will tell us a lot more about what this mini series is gonna be, for sure. I'm super excited. I might be more excited/nervous for this than any other episode 2 that I can recall.

[Simple Torture]

So that was episode 2. I am going to re-watch it later in the week, probably Friday or Saturday.

My response is still overwhelmingly positive, even though the pace was certainly sped up over the second hour. Box is playing Naz like a fiddle at this point, and I fully expect him to start questioning whether or not Stone has his best interests in mind in an episode or two. Box's strategy owes a lot to Frank Pembleton's "salesman" strategy that he lays out really early in Homicide, and once Naz gets a taste of prison, I wonder if he'll think hard about buying. It'll be interesting to see if Naz's parents begin to drift apart: his father is definitely all-in on his innocence, but that final scene with his mother certainly points to her wondering, "What else didn't I know about my son?" We'll see.

[Dscans]

So that was episode 2. I am going to re-watch it later in the week, probably Friday or Saturday.

My response is still overwhelmingly positive, even though the pace was certainly sped up over the second hour. Box is playing Naz like a fiddle at this point, and I fully expect him to start questioning whether or not Stone has his best interests in mind in an episode or two. Box's strategy owes a lot to Frank Pembleton's "salesman" strategy that he lays out really early in Homicide, and once Naz gets a taste of prison, I wonder if he'll think hard about buying. It'll be interesting to see if Naz's parents begin to drift apart: his father is definitely all-in on his innocence, but that final scene with his mother certainly points to her wondering, "What else didn't I know about my son?" We'll see.

Why do you think Box gives him that Harvard shirt. Was he hoping he'd get beat up for it and give in to confessing?

[daft twat]

Ep 2 / General Life thoughts:
It's fucking crazy to me that you go to the big house before being convicted.
I am a Gandolfini fan, but this wouldn't be as good if he was the guy. I could watch Turturro mow his lawn and be entertained.
There are a lot of shots of mundane things - doors opening, feet coming down steps, etc. It's artsy and certainly helps create mood, but I might feel differently if it continues for all 8 episodes.
Some really funny lines in all the bleakness. I think my favorite was from Turturro's son: "He's taken!"
How does anyone take a shit in prison?
That cell phone scene. Wow!
ST, I don't think we're going to see the girl anymore unless they show what happened to her that night. I'm calling no flashbacks. We'll have the same perspective as everyone else.
I think there's a good chance he gets convicted and we never find out who the real killer is.
I thought Nas's mom was a Sandsnake for a minute.

[Simple Torture]

So that was episode 2. I am going to re-watch it later in the week, probably Friday or Saturday.

My response is still overwhelmingly positive, even though the pace was certainly sped up over the second hour. Box is playing Naz like a fiddle at this point, and I fully expect him to start questioning whether or not Stone has his best interests in mind in an episode or two. Box's strategy owes a lot to Frank Pembleton's "salesman" strategy that he lays out really early in Homicide, and once Naz gets a taste of prison, I wonder if he'll think hard about buying. It'll be interesting to see if Naz's parents begin to drift apart: his father is definitely all-in on his innocence, but that final scene with his mother certainly points to her wondering, "What else didn't I know about my son?" We'll see.

Why do you think Box gives him that Harvard shirt. Was he hoping he'd get beat up for it and give in to confessing?

Oh yeah. It definitely marked him as not belonging, but I think Naz lucked out and it had the opposite effect: none of the others saw him as a threat, so they just left him alone. Their reaction when the charges were read in court was great.

Also: I sold approximately 1,000 of those shirts during the year I worked at the Harvard bookstore, including to James Gandolfini (he also bought a hat). This was before the series was in production, though, so probably no connection.

[Simple Torture]

How does anyone take a shit in prison?

I've taken shits in bars with less privacy than that holding cell. It's not impossible.

[Simple Torture]

That brief mention of the cat made me think of chud's suggestion to rewatch the scene where she lets it out; there's definitely something there, I think.