HBO was in a bit of a rough spot just a couple of months ago. Game of Thrones is indeed going strong, but the network’s expensive drama gamble Vinyl crashed and burned, with new president of programming Casey Bloys opting to cancel the series soon after it was renewed with an intention of revamping for Season 2. As such, the network found itself almost entirely devoid of original drama programming, with a couple of promising debuts on tap for later this year and into 2017.
However, a delightful surprise arrived by way of the criminal justice drama The Night Of, served to alleviate some fears that HBO was headed down a dark path. The limited series from writer Richard Price and director Steven Zaillian—who both wrote and directed every episode, respectively—debuted on July 10th to heavy critical acclaim, and now it looks like what was initially billed as a limited series may very well extend beyond a single season.
Speaking to THR, Zaillian revealed that they’re now considering the possibility of moving forward with The Night Of Season 2:
"We're thinking about it and if we come up with something we all feel is worthy of doing, we'll do it. This was designed as a stand-alone piece. … That being said, there are ways of certainly kind of taking what it feels like and what it's about and doing another season on another subject."
This first season is eight episodes in total, which chronicle the incident, arrest, and trial of Nasir Khan, a young man who is accused of brutally murdering a 22-year-old woman in New York. The show is highly procedural in execution, with Zaillian and Price capturing every single aspect of this case in minute detail. Indeed, it feels like Zaillian took a lot from his time working with David Fincher on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, resulting in a series that’s something like a cross between The Wire and Serial.
I’m really enjoying the intense focus of the series thus far, not to mention the incredible performances from Riz Ahmed and John Turturro, and it’s not hard to imagine a second season being a success. Moreover, seeing as how True Detective Season 3 doesn’t appear to be coming anytime soon, the prospect of moving forward with another limited series season under the Night Of banner seems like a swell substitute.
What do you think, folks? Are you enjoying The Night Of thus far? Is this a series you’d come back to? Sound off in the comments below.
