The Night Of Is the HBO Crime Gem You Forgot — And It Earned That 94% on Rotten Tomatoes

If you start rattling off landmark HBO crime shows, you’re probably going to mention The Sopranos, The Wire, maybe Boardwalk Empire or True Detective if you’re a fan of brooding monologues. What you probably won’t hear as often—definitely not as often as it deserves—is The Night Of, Steve Zaillian’s quietly devastating, eight-episode murder mystery that HBO aired in 2016. It’s honestly wild how overlooked this miniseries still is, even with Riz Ahmed winning an Emmy for his lead role. If you missed it back then (and, statistically, you probably did), now’s the perfect time to catch up.

The Night Of: HBO Crime at Its Bleakest—and Its Best

So, here’s the setup: The Night Of is an American adaptation of the 2008 British drama Criminal Justice, and it’s penned by Steve Zaillian (Oscar-winner, also behind Ripley and Schindler’s List). The story centers on Naz Khan, a college kid and part-time cab driver in New York, who makes a series of bad decisions one night: a bit of partying, a mysterious woman, a night he can’t fully remember, and… a murder. He wakes up in her apartment to find her dead—stabbed to death—and of course, he panics, makes things worse trying to flee, and promptly gets arrested after a routine traffic stop.

The twist is, the show absolutely refuses to tip its hand on whether Naz actually did it. And honestly, it doesn’t even seem to care. What Zaillian really wants to show is just how easily the U.S. criminal justice system chews people up—even the ones who don’t belong there in the first place. As a Pakistani-American, Naz is instantly profiled and busted; the fact that he happens to be holding a knife that matches the murder weapon? Not great. And yet, thanks to Riz Ahmed’s pitch-perfect vulnerability, you genuinely want to believe he’s innocent—even while John Turturro’s defense lawyer (the world-weary, heartbreakingly awkward John Stone) and Bill Camp’s persistent cop keep you guessing all the way through.

But this isn’t just a whodunit. The bulk of the series is spent inside the labyrinth of bureaucracy and brutality that is Riker’s Island, and we get to watch Naz morph from anxious, soft-spoken kid to someone entirely changed by incarceration. Michael K Williams (from The Wire, because HBO loves its crossovers) is incredible as Freddie, the prisoner who teaches Naz how to survive behind bars.

The Cast & Creative Team (and Why It Works)

• Riz Ahmed as Naz Khan: Maybe his best work.
• John Turturro as John Stone: You’ll remember the eczema storyline for life, believe me.
• Bill Camp as Detective Box: Not your typical TV detective. He’s actually paying attention.
• Michael K Williams as Freddie: Brings his usual gravitas and danger.
• Steve Zaillian directing and writing: The whole thing’s elevated by his knack for bleak, unflinching realism.

And just to put a bow on it: The Night Of cleaned up during awards season, pulling in five Emmys—including the big one for Ahmed and another for the stark, gorgeous cinematography by Fred Elmes (if you want to see just how gross fluorescent lighting can look, this is your show).

The Season 2 That Almost Was

Here’s where things get weird: After all those accolades and universal acclaim, HBO never moved forward with a second season. Zaillian and his co-creator Richard Price have both said they’d love to do more—if they ever hit on a concept worth telling. Zaillian put it best back in 2017:

'Listen, we would love to do it, and when I say "we," I mean [co-creator] Richard Price and myself. If we can come up with something that we fall in love with, we’ll do it. If we don’t, we won’t.'

And just to fuel the rumors, John Turturro herself told Deadline a few years later: 'We have a couple of ideas, but we have to sit down and discuss them, so we’re at that stage, so that’s good.'

As of now, though? Still nothing in the works, and it’s been radio silence since 2020.

Should You Watch It?

In short: 100%. Even if you think you’ve seen every HBO crime masterpiece, The Night Of brings something different to the table—which, honestly, is mostly existential dread and razor-sharp social commentary, but isn’t that what we’re here for? The show lands a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 94%, a 90 on Metacritic, and an 8.4 on IMDb. In other words: pretty much everyone agrees it’s great, even if no one talks about it at parties.

It’s been a decade since its release, but the show’s take on the justice system just keeps getting more relevant—and the performances haven't gotten any less impressive. If you somehow missed The Night Of when it aired, it’s worth bumping to the top of your watchlist.