‘The Night Of’ Has the Potential for a Powerful Message On Race

I often consider life decisions by asking myself, “what genre am I in?” Entertainment fans are a judgmental bunch. Much of the fun of our favorite TV shows, movies, and books is to put ourselves in the shoes of each character, analyzing how smart or stupid, how quick or dim witted, how shrewd or oblivious each character’s behavior is based on what we would do ourselves. It’s generally as unfair as it is inaccurate – we give ourselves way too much credit – but it’s inherently part of enjoying someone else’s adventure, watching their growth and weighing it alongside our values. Evaluating decisions of the remarkable circumstances found in fiction allow a unique barometer by which we judge ourselves – how smart or how stupid, how quick or dim witted, how shrewd or oblivious we are compared to the writers telling the tale. It’s a battle of wits we play with ourselves, Player 1 against a story already written, and why I’m incredibly annoyed when someone guesses a plot point correctly before I do. And any drama fan can tell you it begins by knowing what genre you’re in.

The Night Of is HBO’s newest hit, a passion project begun by the late James Gandolfini before his sudden passing of a heart attack in 2013 (you may have noticed his post-mortem Executive Producer credit on the show’s opening score). He wanted to make a dark New York crime drama and intended himself to play the role of Attorney John Stone seeking to exonerate a young boy, Nasir Khan, accused of murder. [Spoilers for…