By: Nate Dern
15 Unanswered Questions Heading Into The Season Finale Of HBO’s ‘The Night Of’
Ahoy there, internet denizen! Be warned – there are SPOILERS below! Only read this article if you have watched all of the first seven episodes of HBO ‘s ‘The Night Of. ‘
1. Did Naz Kill Andrea?
This is obviously the driving question of HBO ‘s limited series The Night Of. We learned in the first episode that Nazir Khan was with Andrea in her home the night she was brutally murdered ‘ what happened the night of, if you will.
We ‘ve also learned since then that Naz has a history of violence and isn ‘t merely the innocent, hardworking son of immigrant parents that he was first presented to us as. We learned about his backstory of pushing a student down the stairs and throwing a full soda can at another student (after being provoked, but still).
We ‘ve watched as Rikers Island prison has quickly transformed Naz into a coldblooded criminal, culminating in him taking part of someone ‘s murder in Episode 7 ‘Ordinary Death. ‘ Even though he didn ‘t wield the shiv himself, he played a part in it, so we now know that taking part in a murder isn ‘t impossible for him.
But did he kill Andrea? I predict that in a show that has so far proven immensely satisfying to watch, we will get a clear answer to this question in the season finale.
2. What ‘s up with lawyer John Stone ‘s foot rash?
Is it like eczema? Is it important to the plot? Or is it just there to make him a more interesting, layered character?
3. If Naz didn ‘t kill Andrea, then who did?
A lot of signs seem to be pointing to Andrea ‘s stepfather, Don, as another possible murdered. We heard his ex-wife tell Stone that he has a history of domestic violence and a pattern of dating old, rich women in order to get some money out of them, and we know that with Andrea out of the way he stands to inherit a sizable fortune from her mother.
Don seems like a good choice. Which makes him not a good choice. It would feel a bit like a ‘No duh ‘ if it turns out to me Don. I have a feeling that we ‘ll be led to believe even more than we already have in the finale that Don is the killer, but that won ‘t end up being the final answer.
4. Will Stone ‘s feet eczema somehow lead to an epiphany that exonerates Naz?
It doesn ‘t seem likely, but there was that line earlier in the season when Stone tells Naz that eczema is related to the affliction of asthma. Naz now has Andrea ‘s cat. Did the rash he got from the cat matter? We know that the cat was also bothering Naz, who is also allergic to cat ‘s, which is why she put it outside when he first got back to her place. Will there be some sort of allergic reaction or side-effect when interacting with his asthma inhaler that proves that Naz would have passed out and not been capable of the many stab wounds?
5. Why did Chandra kiss Naz?
Chandra has been incredibly professional up until this point. She seems to care deeply about doing a good job, and she is even a little suspicious of Naz. It seemed out of character that she would suddenly be overtaken with emotion. Does she just feel sorry for Naz? Or were we meant to think that his new ‘prison-hardened ‘ persona is so much more confident that he is no longer the quibbling near-virgin he was before he want to Rikers?
Paying attention to how this scene was edited, it seems that the creators want to draw a connection between this moment and the interaction between Andrea and Naz. The kiss is intercut with sharp red images of Andrea ‘s murder. If nothing else, it evokes the emotion of passion. In the courtroom, Andrea tries to argue that this is not a crime of passion, since Naz has an inhaler and did not know Andrea before that night. But here the passion is palpable.
6. Is there some sort of connection to be made between John Stone initially using a chopstick to scratch his foot ezcema and then finally getting cured from traditional Chinese medicine?
I mean, right? The chopstick is a traditional utensil for Chinese food, and then after a series of western doctors prescribing him chemicals that just hurt him and don ‘t help his condition, it ‘s a Chinese practitioner in Chinatown who is finally able to help him out with the strange powder concoction he makes. Does that, like, mean something?
7. Who was Trevor ‘s friend and why did he tell police he was alone?
Stone suspects something is up with Trevor, one of the witnesses who last saw Andrea alive before she entered her apartment with Naz. He was with someone else, but he tells police he was alone. Stone attempts to track this person down and finds him in the back of a bodega, but then he runs before Stone can get any answers. That particular episode ends with a series of blue flashing lights, leaving us left to wonder what, if anything, Stone learns.
8. Was the eczema just, like, a personal dare to John Turturro so test his acting ability?
Because if so, it is totally working, because Turturro has made me care about a lawyer ‘s foot eczema in a way that I never thought I would.
9. Why didn ‘t Andrea want to be alone on the night of her murder?
Some fan theories online have posited that Andrea killed herself. Apart from the physical impossibility of stabbing yourself in the back dozens of times, this doesn ‘t seem likely emotionally or logically either, since Andrea seemed genuinely afraid that night when Naz picked her up in his father ‘s cab. When Andrea first gets in the back of the car, she is looking behind her, as if to see if she has been followed. She tells Naz she doesn ‘t want to be alone that night and then tells him to take her to the beach.
10. Is foot eczema the real killer?
After looking at all of the anguish it has caused John Turturro ‘s character, I think it is safe to say that yes, eczema is the real killer on HBO ‘s ‘The Night Of. ‘
11. Will the final resolution be that Naz did in fact kill Andrea but he ‘ll get off on a technicality?
This is what I ‘m betting will happen: Naz will get off on a technicality (possibly mishandling of evidence because Detective Box gave him his inhaler back instead of keeping it in evidence). A conversation in prison already foreshadowed that such an outcome was possible. I think this perversion of a happy ending would also be in fitting with the darker undertones that the show has established for itself thus far.
12. Would a doctor really suggest Crisco or bleach as a treatment to eczema?
It doesn ‘t seem like that stuff could possibly be a real treatment.
13. What about the hearse driver or the mysterious motorcyclist?
The hearse driver clearly hates women and hated Andrea on first sight, but that seems like a big stretch if it is revealed that the hearse driver is some sort of serial killer who just tails and then murders strangers that he doesn ‘t like the look of at gas stations. But what about the other mysterious figure from the first episode ‘ the unseen face of the masked motorcyclist? Could that have been Andrea ‘s stepdad?
14. Is it possible that the entire ‘The Night Of ‘ universe has actually happened inside the eczema cell of one of John Turturro ‘s skin flakes that fell off of his foot while inside a courtroom after he ‘d been scratching his epidermal irritation with a wooden chopstick during one of his quotidian cases arguing to get a multi-time sex worker off?
Probably not.
15. Was the eczema actually stasis dermatitis all along?
Now that would be quite the twist ending!
