Zaillian and Price have created a beautifully crafted murder mystery here that is set up perfectly. We as the audience think we know what happened but we are too smart to think it’s going to be that simple.

This mini-series has a promising start. I will definitely keep watching. I just hope they start focusing in more on the details and not let them slide because the details are everything when it comes to stories of this nature.





-SPOILER REVIEW-

I’ve been waiting for this episode to premiere for me to get into a full analysis review of it. I won’t get into the step by step synopsis as to what happens because hopefully you’ve already seen the episode by now and we can just dive right into the question you’re all asking… Did he do it or not?

This isn’t such a simple question as we all may know. Naz was found asleep downstairs in the woman’s home with the refrigerator open. He goes upstairs to find one of the most gruesome murder scenes I’ve ever seen. At which point he understandably freaks out and immediately runs out of the house. But then he realizes he forgot his keys, so he has to go back but now the door is locked (how the fuck??) so he has to break the glass to get inside, which prompts a neighbor to wake up, so Naz then gets his jacket and takes the knife they were playing with earlier.

The important thing to realize here is if the knife was indeed the murder weapon (which I believe it wasn’t) what was it doing downstairs? If the assailant murdered Andrea upstairs what’s the point of walking downstairs and leaving the knife there. The knife is presumably in the same place Naz left it before they started kissing and heading upstairs. I think the knife was never touched or moved. It looks bad for Naz because it does have her blood on it but I don’t think it’s the weapon used in the murder at all.

Now let’s look at the possibilities and scenarios against and for Naz being the killer. We know he never does drugs, and this night he takes ecstasy and coke along with alcohol. Could this mixture be enough to trigger something in Naz to become violent? Under the right circumstance, could Andrea have said something to Naz to trigger some kind of rage and have his snap? Sure. It’s possible. But I think it’s unlikely. Could this mixture of drugs fuck with his memory of stabbing someone repeatedly? Maybe. But again, it’s unlikely.

If not Naz, then who? Who else could the killer be? Have we even seen him/them/her? Let’s look at the list of characters Naz comes into contact with throughout the night and how they could affect Naz` case.

1. The two guys who get in his taxi thinking he’s on duty: These guys are probably not the killers but I see them coming back as witnesses against Naz. Putting him near where the victim was and not giving them a ride because he was off duty, yet he gives Andrea a ride. This could be taken as if he was waiting for her specifically. Not good for Naz.

2. The guy at the gas station driving a hearse: I don’t think this guy is the killer but he could serve as a witness for Naz. He can testify to the fact that the woman wasn’t being held against her will as she seemed relaxed, smoking a cigarette with the cab window down. And the fact that Naz went in and got her some drinks is reason enough to think that he wasn’t being hostile towards her.

3. The two racist guys outside Andrea’s apartment: These are two guys who harassed Naz before he goes into her apartment. They comment on him being arabic and having some a bomb, or some ignorant shit like that. The thing to notice about these two guys is that, after Naz and Andrea go inside, one of them gives them a long hard stare. As if he was thinking, plotting something. At the same time it was very obvious which leads me to believe it could be a decoy and put there to throw the audience off. At the same time, one of the men later shows up at the crime scene and talking about Naz and how he saw him with the woman before going inside. This leads Detective Box to bring him in and question him but when questioned, he clearly states he was alone. This could be for a few reasons. 1. He didn’t want to get his friend involved. 2. It’s possible the friend was responsible for the murder, and the other guy went back to specifically implicate Naz but this would be a little too much involvement if you’re trying to keep a low profile since eventually this witness will be discredited when Naz reveals that in fact there were two men not just one, discrediting his entire statement.