Monthly Archives: July 2016

The wheels of justice move slow. The case is becoming a cause celebre and everyone wants a piece. All sides are jockeying to get their stories right and plans of attack in place. Meanwhile Naz is facing the horrors of being in a real prison with hardened criminals.

Detective Box goes over the reports of Naz’ arresting officers. He chastises the male officer for not including the fact that he threw up after seeing the victim’s body. He doesn’t want them to exclude any info that might come back to haunt them later. Later, as he looks through the materials taken from Naz’ home, he sorts through some photos of Naz, pictures of him as a child and young boy. What’s going through his head? Does he have doubts about his guilt? Or is he just working angle that he can use to confirm it?

We meet attorney Allison Crowe (Glenne Headly) a ‘Gloria Allred’ type attorney. We see her at a press conference with her client, a flight attendant, who sued a plastic surgeon for a botched surgery as well as her employer, the airline, for making her feel she needed to keep up ‘appearances. Crowe sees the police press conference about Naz’ case on TV and immediately wants to be a part of it. She goes to meet Naz’ parents and brings along a junior associate from her firm named Chandra (Amara Karan) who can speak to the parents in their native language and helps persuade them to drop Stone and hire Crowe. Crowe also tears down Stone by characterizing him as a low rent lawyer who only handles ‘drug dealers and prostitutes’ and would be more willing to settle out of court rather than fight for Naz’ release. And of course, she takes the case pro bono.

Stone takes a real beating in this episode. The episodes open with Stone meeting with Naz’ parents to discuss his payment. He keeps lowering his price as he sees that they have no money. It’s sad for all of them. Stone eventually settles for $50k and writes it down saying that he can’t start working on their son’s behalf until they sign it. But of course, he continues to work on the case and for Naz. He goes to see the DA whom he knows and seems friends with to try and find out what they have. He buys some clothes to take to Naz in prison. By this time, Naz has already been told by his father that they are replacing Stone with Crowe even though Naz professes to like Stone. This makes me feels as if he will make a decision later on to stick with him.

When Naz tells Stone he has a new lawyer Stone is devastated. He goes to try and speak with Crowe but is given the runaround by Chandra. Stone accuses them of poaching his client and knows that Crowe must have taken Chandra along to help convince the parents.

“Is there any message you’d like me to give her?” Chandra asks politely.
“You know what the message is? Stone tells her with a contemptible smile.

We see Stone at the doctor’s office seeing about his feet. The doctor chastises him for putting cologne o his ankles to cover the smell of the medication then tells him to cover his feet in Crisco and saran wrap! Later on Stone passes a store window and looks longingly at a nice pair of shoes. This poor guy is enduring one humiliation after another!

Cop: Are you in fear for your life?
Naz: No. Should I be?

Then there’s Naz. He seems so calm as he adjusts to life in prison. The prison is so overcrowded that he doesn’t even get a cell just a rollaway bed on the prison main floor along with many others. He seems to have a guardian angel in waiting in Freddy (Michael Kenneth Williams). Freddy takes an interest in Naz. He sends him a paid of shoes via a guard. “What are these for?” Naz asks. “Traction”, he’s told. Cut to Naz in the showers wearing the shoes. Eventually, he is summoned to Freddy’s cell, escorted by a guard. He steps in and the guard closes and locks the door behind him. He offers him protection. Naz doesn’t seem to realize what kind of danger he’s actually in until later that night. He gets up to go to the bathroom and then sees that a fire has been started. He then sees that his bed has been set on fire. He sees a crowd of inmates standing around his bed and one of them looks at him and gives him the slit throat sign. He’s a marked man.

I’m not sure what Freddy sees in Naz or what he wants. But obviously Naz will need his help to survive.

There was also an interesting story thread with Stone and Andrea’s cat. Stone goes to the crime scene and I think is shocked to see the level of violence that took place. He also goes to the fridge, gets some mile and feeds her cat. He tells the cop on guard he would take it but he’s allergic. Later in the episode he drives by the crime scene again and sees the cat outside the apartment building. He collects it and takes it to the SPCA. He asks how long will they keep it before it’s euthanized. He’s told ’10 days’. What does that mean? Does he see the cat as Naz? Stone is obviously a caring person and even though he’s been tossed off the case he can’t help but be concerned for this young man. Something tells me he and Chandra are going to have a meeting of souls and work together to help Naz. We’ll see.

Episode Two is titled The Subtle Beast which is what Naz calls Detective Box during his visit with his parents. This episode follows Detective Dennis Box and lawyer John Stone a little more, getting a feel for who these men are and how they work.

Stone, as already established has bad eczema on his feet. He wears sandals and uses a long round stick to scratch his feet from time to time. We see him on the subway doing this and the woman sitting next to him gets up and moves away. We also find out he was married to a black woman and has a teenage son. He and his wife seem to have an amicable relationship but when he tells her that he is going to be a lawyer in a big murder case she acts surprised and makes a quip which she apologizes for but you can see it bothers Stone. It’s made pretty clear that he’s an ‘ambulance chaser’ and has an antagonistic rapport with the cops. But in the scene between Stone and Box they seem to have a more friendly relationship, a begrudging respect. Even in the arraignment scene toward the end of the episode, the judge asks Stone “are you a friend of the family or was this ‘right place at the right time’?” This is a big case for Stone, not just big compared to the small time cases he usually handles but also seems big personally. Personal redemption.

Stone keeps telling Naz not to say anything to anyone. Naz wants to talk. He wants to tell the truth that he didn’t do this. “The truth can go to hell because it doesn’t help you. And if you can’t get that through your head you can forget about the rest of your life.” Stone tells him. Stone has not asked him what happened. He doesn’t want to know.

“I don’t want to be stuck with the truth. Not until I have to be.” Stone
“You think I did it.” Naz
“I don’t think anything.” Stone

Box, like to listen to opera. Makes sense. Box goes back to the crime scene and gives it another once over. He finds Naz’ inhaler on the bed and takes it. He calls Andrea’s step father to have him come down to identify her. He seemed uninterested. He sounded like he’s tired of putting up with Andrea’s problems. He comes down and is shown photos of Andrea and at first says it wasn’t her but when he’s asked to actually view the body he changes his tune and confirms that it is his step daughter. Box speaks to him and finds out that her mother died of cancer a year before and that the apartment was her mother’s. Her dad died when she was young.

Naz’ parents show up to see Naz after going to the wrong police station. They’re not allowed but Box shows up and lets them see their son. Pretty tricky. While Naz is in an interrogation room speaking with his parents Box is listening in of course. Naz seems to pick up on this and starts speaking Pakistani. When his parents call Box a ‘nice man’ Naz says, matter of factly, he is a ‘subtle beast’. Box manages to move Naz to a different cell out of sight from Stone so he could have another crack at getting him to talk. He tries to ‘Jerry Maguire’ him by saying “help me help you”. He even gives his inhaler back to him. But Naz doesn’t fall for it. Knowing he’s not going to get a confession out of Naz, Box writes ‘homicide’ on the board next to Naz’ name and books him for the murder. Naz is transported to a different station to wait for arraignment. Box, in another ‘subtle’ maneuver, gives Naz a sweatshirt that says ‘Harvard’ on it. This works. Once he is with other prisoners and even the guards see the Harvard on his sweater and make him for a rich kid. One prisoner called Hightower brutally beats another prisoner in the holding cell for making too much noise puking in the toilet, probably having withdrawals. I fear Naz will end up having a problem with Hightower in the near future.

At the arraignment Stone makes a valiant effort to get Naz released with bail but the judge wasn’t having it. As the episode ended, Naz was transported to Riker’s Island. The show really puts the fear of God in you as you experience what it must be like to be in the criminal justice system. Naz is trusting Stone so far. He doesn’t understand why he can’t simply explain what happened. Stone tells him they need to wait to see what the prosecution thinks they know first before they reveal anything. It’s horrible. In the meantime, he will need to survive until the can go to trial.

At this point, it’s clear the show has us sympathizing with Naz and looking for the real killer. But what if the twist is he actually did do it? Plenty of suspects for the former though including the step father who seemed a little too detached.

Another solid episode though not as dynamic as the premiere. The cinematography is excellent as is the attention to detail. We’re seeing clues (the blood on the mounted deer head) but still don’t know what to make of them. I’m still intrigued.

“Control Is An Illusion”

Season Two picks up right where Season One left off. Elliot (Rami Malek) /Mr. Robot (Christian Slater) completed the mission to wipe out consumer debt by destroying E Corp’s data. The world descended into chaos and Tyrell (Martin Wollstrom) and Elliot disappeared. It seems Eliot has retreated to his mother’s home and is trying to reprogram himself. He literally seems to have short circuited. He follows a strict regimen every day, keeps a diary of his activities, even started seeing his psychiatrist, Krista. He has meals with his friend, Leon, who has just discovered Seinfeld and can’t stop talking about it.

“There’s this one episode where they go to a Chinese restaurant, and they’re just waiting for a table the entire time. Like, they don’t even eat at the end, bro. Maybe I’m over thinking it, though. It’s really fucking with me.”             Leon

He goes to the park to watch pick up  basketball games, he goes to a church group and he comes home, goes to bed and does it all over again the next day. The only problem is that Mr. Robot keeps trying to get him to get back to work, back to leading F Society. His relationship with his alter ego has become contentious. Elliot and Mr. Robot are at war with each other, which is to say, Elliot is at war with himself. Mr. Robot wants to get back to work and Elliot wants to know where Tyrell is. Neither one is giving ground and their struggle can be quite violent.

Meanwhile, Darlene (Carly Chaiken) has assumed the leadership role with F Society and she has expanded the operation and runs it with a steel fist! But behind the tough facade she seems to be lost or maybe feeling alone. She seems to feel she may be in over her head. There’s a great scene where they hack into the ‘smart house’ of E Corp’s legal counsel and chase her out so that they can take it over and make it their HQ. They hack into E Corp’s banking system and hold it for ransom of $4.9 million. They get CTO Scott Knowles (Brian Stokes Mitchell) to bring it to Battery Park and there a bike messenger delivers an F Society mask with a message written on it. “Put on the mask and burn the money”. Knowles does it in front of a huge crowd that film the whole scene on their phones.

Angela, has becomes more ensconced in her role in the PR department at E Corp. She’s good at it and seems to enjoy the power. She handles the scandal from the money burning of the night before with shrewdness we haven’t seen from her before. No one likes her but she gets the job done. It certainly seems as if she’s drunk the kool aid but is she too far gone?

Tyrell’s Lady Macbeth of a wife, Joanna (Stephanie Corneliussen) is marking time til her husband resurfaces by having S& M encounters with some hot dude. She gets a package with a cell phone taped to a music box which we assume was sent from Tyrell. She misses his call however while she goes to tend to their newborn.

The CEO of E Corp, Phillip Price (Michael Cristofer) is called to Washington to address the banking scandal and is asked to resign. Price refuses and gives a wonderful speech about how they are all con men and the American people will buy what they tell them to buy. The scene uses Michael Small’s score from The Parallax View to support this speech. Alan J. Pakula’s 1974 dark, paranoid conspiracy film is a good companion piece to Mr. Robot as are several films from the 70’s paranoid genre. Sam Esmail loves to drop in these film homages in every episode and this one was particularly effective.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/07/15/what_it_means_that_a_key_scene_in_mr_robot_s_season_2_premiere_is_scored.html

Poor Gideon (Michael Gill) ! Looks like he’s being set up to take the fall for the hack. He goes to see Eliot and pleads for his help but Eliot refuses as Mr. Robot chides him. Gideon ends up talking to an FBI agent (Grace Gummer) before meeting his fate in a bar. He is approached by a man who Gideon at first believes is coming on to him but turns out he recognized him from TV and ends up shooting him in cold blood ‘for our country’. Pretty dark.

By the end of the episode two things become apparent. The first is that Elliot is not as in control as he thinks he is. A man with a hound dog (Craig Robinson) he meets at the basketball courts tries hard to be friends and seems to know his background. Elliot plainly tells him that he wants nothing to do with him but turns out Mr. Robot has spoken with him much to Elliot’s horror. “I’m going to make you realize that they see Me.”, Mr. Robot tells Elliot.

The second thing is Tyrell seems to know where Elliot is. Elliot answers the ringing phone and it seems to be Tyrell at the other end.

Sam Esmail has created a very unique show. The first season was great. I was wondering how they would keep it interesting once we knew that Elliot and Mr. Robot were the same person. But the premier episodes of Season Two show a definite road forward and new schemes in the making. It certainly has my attention and I am intrigued by what’s being set up.

The Emmy nominations will be announced tomorrow morning so I thought I’d throw out my picks for the Drama categories. I’m not doing Comedy because I don’t really watch any of those and Veep is going to win everything again anyway. Here we go!

Best Supporting Actor

Probably the toughest to predict because there were so many great performances this year. But the Emmys do love to nominate the same people every year so going by that Jonathan Banks will be nominated again for Better Call Saul even though Michael McKeon really deserves a nod. Same goes for Peter Dinklage for Game Of Thrones even though this was Kit Harrington’s season and deserves the nod. Christian Slater will ride the Mr. Robot wave and pick up a well deserved nomination. Jim Carter will pick up his last nomination for Downton Abbey for it’s final season. Alan Cumming will get his last nod for the final season of The Good Wife and I’ll go out on a limb and pick the well loved Emmy fave Alan Alda to pick up a nomination for the Louis CK internet secret sensation Horace and Pete.

Best Supporting Actress

If Sophie Turner doesn’t get a nomination for her work this season on Game Of Thrones I will be extremely upset! Ditto for Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler, Jimmy McGill’s love interest and partner in Better Call Saul. Maura Tierney did great work on Showtime’s The Affair. Maggie Smith and Christine Baranski will receive their final nominations for the final seasons of their respective shows, Downton Abbey and The Good Wife. Uzo Aduba (Orange Is The New Black) has won the last two years so she will probably get her third nomination in this category tomorrow.

Best Actor

Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom) and Jon Hamm (Mad Men) are no longer in the running so that opens up some slots in this category. Rami Malek should pick up his first nomination for the excellent first season of Mr. Robot. Dominic West deserves to be recognized for The Affair which had an even better second season. Kevin Spacey (House Of Cards), Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) and Kyle Chandler (Bloodline) should all be repeat nominees. That leaves one more spot for another newcomer! I’m looking at you, Paul Giametti for Showtime’s Billions!

Best Actress

A real tough category. So many incredible performances this year! Elizabeth Moss’ slot (Mad Men) is open but all of last year’s nominees will most likely be included again so that would only leave one spot open. So that means previous winner Julianna Marguiles will be back for her final nomination for the final season of her great show The Good Wife. Viola Davis (How To Get Away With Murder), Taraji P. Henson (Empire), Robin Wright (House Of Cards), Claire Danes (Homeland) and Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) should all be back but if I had to pick a dark horse I would pick Ruth Wilson (The Affair) to take Maslany’s spot.

Best Drama

Game Of Thrones, Better Call Saul, Downton Abbey, Homeland, House Of Cards, Orange Is The New Black should all be back in the nomination circle tomorrow. That leaves Mad Men’s slot open and that will be filled by the fantastic Mr. Robot.

There are several shows that I thought were Emmy deserving but I don’t think will get any recognition, notably HBO’s The Leftovers and stars Justin Theroux, Carrie Coons and Regina King.

The Cinemax series The Knick and stars Clive Owen and Andre Holland.

Showtime’s Billions, even though I’m picking Giametti to grab a nod, Maggie Siff who plays his wife is also deserving as is the show.

Hopefully there will be some more surprises and some of these shows and performances will be acknowledged. I’ll be up and watching at 830am to see how I do!

The Night Of is based on a British series, Criminal Justice and has been adapted by two very good writers, Richard Price (The Color Of Money, Clockers) and Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List, Gangs Of New York). The opening 90 minute episode is a very compelling set up for this 8 part HBO series. There have been many shows recently that have tackled the American criminal justice system, American Crime, Making A Murderer, and even The People Vs. OJ Simpson. All these shows have been excellent and while all deal with similar subject matter the real common denominator is the writing. Hopefully, The Night Of will continue to be as interesting as this first installment titled “The Beach”.

Nasir Khan (Riz Ahmed) is a Pakistani-American college student who lives in Queens with his parents. He gets invited to a party by some African American basketball players from school that he is tutoring. His friend is supposed to pick him up but was not able to borrow the car. Nas really wants to go to this party so he takes his father’s cab without asking and drives into the city. You can feel the tension build as Nas drives around looking for this party and people are trying to hail a cab. He doesn’t know how to turn on the ‘off duty’ sign. People get in the cab and some off duty cops help him out by telling them to get out of the cab. But before you know it, another person gets in the cab. This time it’s a beautiful young woman. Of course, this time, Nas agrees to take her where she wants to go. “The beach”, she tells him. Since they were in Manhattan, Nas suggests ‘the river’ and off they go.

This all happens in a very dream like way. A kind of frightening dream. You feel his apprehension about everything; taking the cab, not knowing his way around the city, people getting in the cab, the cops, the girl. It all feels surreal and out of control. He is being pulled into something. And, like in a dream, you keep going further, not because you want to, necessarily, but because you must.

Who is this woman? She says she doesn’t want to be alone. What is she afraid of? Is she afraid? Once they get back to her place on West 87th Street, they’ve taken drugs, which Nas obviously never does, and they have an encounter with two young black men who make a racial taunt directed at Nas. Once inside, she pulls out tequila, more drugs, cocaine and a knife. Who is this woman? Nas goes along because, why not? But he’s as scared as he is turned on. They end up in bed and have sex. Some time later, Nas finds himself in the kitchen, half dressed, fridge open. He goes upstairs, back to the bedroom, he starts to dress, saying he has to go. He turns on the light. There is blood splattered on the lamp shade. He immediately turns it off. Then he turns it on again. She is lying face down on the bed, naked, covered in blood, multiple stab wounds.

The dream is definitely nightmare now. Panic sets in. All his actions from here on out will be mistakes. He will be caught. It will look like he did it. He doesn’t remember which means he may have done it.

The detective working the case, Dennis Box (Bill Camp) is meticulous and sure handed. He thinks he has a slam dunk. Attorney Jack Stone (John Turturro) is in the station to see a client and catches a glimpse of Nas as he is leaving. Something pulls at him and he stops and turns back. “Who’s Gunga Din in there?” he asks a cop standing out front of the station. “He murdered a girl.” Stone, disbelieving says, “Who did?” he walks back into the station and introduces himself to Nas as his lawyer.

I was fascinated by the details. I didn’t mention many here because I wanted you to experience them for yourself. I really empathized with Nas. I could imagine being in his place. The pace is leisurely but never slow. I don’t remember any music either. The mood is set in eerie silences. There are many clues to pay attention to. You just might know what they are yet. The performances are good, not showy. It made me want to follow, like in a dream, not because you want to, necessarily, but because you must.