‘The Night Of’ Episode 5 Recap: ‘We Don’t Know Him’
Warning: This recap for “The Season of the Witch” episode of The Night Of contains spoilers.
“We don’t know him.”
Since accidentally stumbling into the biggest case of his career, John Stone (John Turturro) has been absolutely certain of one thing: Nasir Khan (Riz Ahmed) didn’t murder Andrea Cornish (Sofia Black-D’Elia). In his mind, he’s hung around enough precincts, and been in and out of enough courtrooms, to instinctually know when someone is innocent or guilty. But knowing what they did — or didn’t — do isn’t the same thing as knowing them as people. That’s why the above sentence resonates so strongly in The Night Of’s fifth episode, “The Season of the Witch.”
Related: Catch Up on ‘The Night Of’ With Our Recaps
Confronted with the damning revelation that Naz had amphetamines in his system prior to his fateful encounter with Andrea, John suddenly has to confront the person, not the crime. And that person has been lying to him since their first encounter. Even more than the drugs — specifically Adderall — that were in Naz’s system on the titular night of, it’s that lie that shatters the “good kid” image that both the defense and prosecution applied to him in the form of an index card on a cork board.
Stone’s perception of his client continues to change when he and Chandra — who lured John back into the fold with the promise of a $25,000 payday — turn up for a consultation on Rikers Island and witness Naz’s striking makeover. With his shaved head and jittery posture (he is in the process of becoming a drug mule for Freddy, after all), the haunted man in front of them bears little resemblance to the scared kid that John met in a police precinct weeks ago. It’s a transformation that he understands, even though it makes his job harder. From this point forward, though, he may just have to view this job purely as a job. That’s the only way to avoid the crushing disappointment that accompanies discovering a person you thought you knew isn’t entirely the person they claim to be.
The Crime: Even as Stone awakens to the reality that he doesn’t know his client, he remains firmly convinced of Naz’s innocence. That conviction is only enhanced by the breakthrough discovery he makes this week: One of the prosecution’s key eyewitnesses, Trevor (J.D. Williams), lied about being solo that night, when he passed Andrea and Naz on the way into her place. In fact, he was in the company of one Duane Reade (Charlie Hudson III), who improbably shares a name with a famous New York drug store chain and has a history of aggravated assault, often with a knife. Rather than file this information away for later, John immediately tracks Duane to the backroom of a bodega, only to watch him flee the scene, which certainly doesn’t speak well to his innocence.
Duane’s entry into the narrative provides the defense with one more suspect, but John turned up other little bits of evidence as well. For example, he found Andrea’s drug supplier — a waiter in a seedy restaurant. Meanwhile, his hired investigator went over the murder scene armed with a camera and a fine-tooth comb, finding new evidence of blood (although, granted, that blood may have belonged to a squirrel) and an unreliable lock on the basement door. Director Steve Zaillian also goes out of his way to draw the audience’s attention to one small, but potentially crucial detail: a photograph of the kitchen sink from the stairwell. On the night in question, Naz claims he wound up in the kitchen with no idea how he got there. Something in this picture, which establishes the geography of the house, seems likely to either bolster or shoot down that account. We can’t wait to learn which.
The Cops: The NYPD won’t have Detective Box (Bill Camp) to kick around anymore: The 33-year veteran of the force is handing in his walking papers after the Khan case is put to bed. Because this is his last rodeo, Box puts in the extra legwork to see it through, carefully retracing Naz’s steps the night that Andrea died. He’s assisted by the numerous security cameras installed over Manhattan, a pointed reference to how so much of our public lives are captured on tape. One particular piece of footage ends up handing prosecutor Helen Weiss (Jeannie Berlin), a major building block of her case. On camera, without sound, Naz’s decision to kick the two male passengers out of his cab, while letting Andrea stay reads an awful lot like premeditation. “This is him making the decision,” Helen says, with barely-concealed excitement. “She’s it.”
The Court: With Box’s video in hand, Helen continues to find ways of framing evidence to fit her version of events. Next stop is a mortician pal, who is asked to offer his expert opinion about the wound on Naz’s hand: knife slippage or broken glass? And by asking, Helen is actually telling this guy to go with the knife slippage explanation, and he dutifully repeats it back to her until she’s satisfied with how it will sound coming from the witness stand.
We also get an update on the other possible charge facing Naz when his case goes to trial: Grand Theft Auto. His father, Salim (Peyman Moaadi), still staunchly refuses to add to the boy’s list offenses, but his business partners make it clear they feel justified in adding to the family legal woes if it means getting the taxi cab back sooner. There’s an entirely conceivable scenario where Naz is acquitted of murder charges, but still has to cool his heels in prison for his ill-advised taxi joyride.
The Cat: Andrea’s feline friend now has a home in John’s apartment, albeit only within the confines of his son’s little-used room. And thanks to his ferocious allergies, Stone is eager to give away the cat at every opportunity, offering him to less than three people during the course of the hour. At the same time, he continues to demonstrate that his heart isn’t entirely made of stone when it comes to this new houseguest, as he showers the kitty with toys, and feeds him healthy servings of Fancy Feast… or, more likely, its generic equivalent. How long until his temporary presence becomes permanent?
The Night Of airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.
