I watched this drama series a couple of weeks ago. The Night Of is a 2016 American eight-part crime drama television miniseries based on the first season of Criminal Justice, a 2008 British series. The Night Of received 13 Emmy nominations, winning five, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series for Riz Ahmed.

Naz is a Pakistani-American student who is on his way to attend a party in Manhattan on Friday night. He takes his only available source of transportation, his father’s old taxi cab. As he drives to the party, a mysterious young woman needs a ride and joins him in his cab. He is charmed by her good looks and intrigue. He then changes his plans of heading to the party and after a night of mind-altering substances, the woman is found dead.

The circumstantial evidence is overwhelmingly against Naz but there is more to the story that meets the eye. Watching the series is like peeling an onion, each removed layer getting the viewer closer to the truth of what happened on the fateful night.

If you like court dramas and you are interested in the American justice system, this series gives you an insider look at how the American justice system actually works. The series also provides an unsanitized portrayal of prison life in America.

I am sure you have watched lots of shows with uneven performances. What I mean is that some performances are good while others are not. This is not one of those shows. Every performance is good from the lead character to the least important supporting cast. There are also many drama series where some actors are good in some parts of series while not so good in other parts. Again, this is not the case in this series.

If you like shows that are gritty and real, you will not be disappointed.

If you are in Canada you can watch it on Crave. If you are in other parts of the world, you will most probably find this show on a streaming service that shows old HBO series. The series was originally released in 2016.

I give this series 5 out of 5 stars.