This article divulge major spoilers for every installment of the HBO seriesThe Night Of , which conclude its eight - episode run on Sunday .
The question ofwhether Nasir Khan committed the execution of Andrea CornishonThe Night Ofhas always been beside the point , because writers Richard Price and Steven Zaillian set up from the first episode that this limited series was no simple procedural or whodunnit . They challenge us to be more interested in the systemic problems surrounding Naz ’s plight than in his culpableness . The hazard with that pursuit , of course , is that viewers want result .
Last week , wediscussed the thing we need the finale to resolvebefore we ’d be able to placeThe Night Ofwith the greats . Our verdict : the show reply every interrogative sentence we had , and did so in a way that was both intensely satisfying yet surprisingly sad . Let ’s re - examine the question and present the grounds .
Craig Blankenhorn/HBO
Did Naz kill Andrea?
No , he did not . For a few second there I thought that the trial judge might be the perpetrator , when I realise that he was play by Glenn Fleshler , the thespian who menaced so effectively on the first season ofTrue Detective . But no , the somebody who brutally murdered Andrea change by reversal out to be Ray Halle , the CPA play by Paulo Costanzo ofRoyal PainsandJoeyfame , and we know this because Detective Dennis Box spent the first few days of his retreat doing top - tier fact-finding body of work .
What happened to the fourth knife?
It ’s strongly advise during the trial by Naz ’s initial lead lawyer Chandra Kapoor and in the culmination debate by replacement principal attorney John Stone that the knife was in all probability taken by Duane Reade if the brute of few words indeed committed the offence , but we here at menage know that Duane Reade did n’t vote out Andrea , thanks to Detective Box ’s unattackable detective work Emily Price Post - retreat .
So where ’s the tongue ? Well , we seem to be left with two possibilities : Ray Halle used it to vote out Andrea and afterward disposed of it ( after confront Ray at the Atlantic City cassino , Box shows the public prosecutor photos from security - camera footage hinting that Ray may have ditch some methamphetamine from his machine on the night of ) , something that will probably be a hot matter during his at hand murder tryout . But I ’ve also thought : is n’t it possible that the quaternary knife from the set in Andrea ’s kitchen had been missing for years ? Knives can part , ca n’t they ? They can be throw away of – intentionally or accidentally – in other direction not involving murder , veracious ? Like , I ’m pretty sure that my dish washer has swallowed 13 of my steak knives whole over the years and not even a rejuvenated Detective Box would be able to find them .
Will Detective Box be redeemed?
Yes ! While his shoddy , jaded police force work helped put down Naz in the slammer and , indirectly , leads to the freed defendent picking up a nasty drug riding habit , Detective Box return to duty after get wind two other detectives meta - talking about their regard for a TV series about " a cop who does n’t give a shit . " Time is a bit fuzzy onThe Night Of , but it seems like he dog down Ray Halle in just a few days and even had time to fit in a rhythm of golf game . If only he ’d used those detective chops when it could have really helped Naz ! But , yeah , then we would n’t have a serial .
How does Andrea’s stepdad fit into all this?
Creepily – but merely as a red Clupea harangus . Yes , Don Taylor ( the perfectly castPaul Sparks ) is a grifter who bang and we d a affluent , much older cleaning lady so that he would n’t have to square off for making just $ 35,000 a year as a personal flight simulator and living in an apartment in Queens . And , yes , he was set up to get half of Evelyn Cornish ’s acres , including the house he share with Andrea after Evelyn ’s death – until Andrea litigate to stop her stepdad from inherit the townhouse deserving an estimated $ 10 million and boot him out .
But Don Taylor did n’t kill Andrea . He ’s just a guy who can be thrown against a wall in an back street by a ailing lawyer and who serve as the staring prat of the show ’s in force trick , when he finds himself on the receiving closing of the middle digit John Stone flick at him while they stand up in the surety lineage at the courthouse .
What happened to Duane Reade?
This question sounds like the commencement of a fairly defective joke that ends with , " recite me about it – the pharmacy ai n’t what it used to be . " But the reply is that Duane Reade had his solar day in court ( see the knife head above ) , and he ’s currently assist metre for an unrelated , but potentially helpful - to - Naz crime , of burglary at a state of matter pen know as the Cave .
What was the deal with the creepy hearse driver?
It was good of him to turn up , and to be just as threateningly semi - conjunctive as he ’s always been . But what was his mess ? Well , maybe he ’s smell too many embalm fumes in the personal line of credit of responsibility . Or maybe he ’s been hang around with too many people who put their cigarettes out on the flesh of living humanity . But at least we know that he did n’t kill Andrea .
Where’s the cat going to live?
At a all important moment , just after the defense had rest its casing and he becomes positive that they ’d not only turn a loss the case but would actively contribute to Naz being found guilty , John Stone basically gives up . This include giving up on the cat he ’d rescued from Andrea ’s menage . He render the cat to the metropolis pound . He shake off by its bedding material and food for thought . The felid ’s luck is seemingly seal .
After the test ends and retrial is forbid , he ’s sitting in his apartment watching idiot box when one of those heartbreaking " adopt a pet for just $ 18 a workweek " advertising comes on . It ’s using Roberta Flack ’s " First Time Ever I find out Your Face , " which is nearly a direct quote John Stone used in his closing statement regarding his initial encounter with Naz . It would have been very distressing if Naz had been saved but the cat-o'-nine-tails had n’t , which is why the sight of the cat strut across the flat after John Stone leaves his apartment to go the police precinct to take on another causa provided one of the series ' most welcome moments .
What will happen to John Stone’s feet?
They will continue to itch , and he will continue to ride the subway system to his reenforcement grouping , where he will no longer be as light-minded about having been cure by a quack doctor , and he will cancel himself on the underground with a long - ish wooden and/or metal implement , and masses will cover to be grossed out when he does that . Life goes on . We are all John Stone .
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Craig Blankenhorn/HBO
Craig Blankenhorn/HBO
