It’s possible that HBO’s “The Night Of” finale won’t even solve the mystery of who killed Andrea. But we don’t think Naz did it. Here’s why.
It’s easy to see why the cops blamed Naz (Riz Ahmed). After they brought him in, he admitted he had sex with Andrea (Sofia Black D’Elia), and was carrying a knife that looked like it was probably the murder weapon.
So why don’t we think he killed her? For one thing, he doesn’t think he killed her. When he turned on the bedroom lamp to see her dead, he was horrified and shocked. So here’s how someone else could have done it.
Remember that neither Naz nor Andrea had the knife when they went upstairs to the bedroom. We saw their hands on each other and elsewhere, but neither of them had the knife.
After Naz and Andrea had sex, we next saw him waking up in the kitchen with a glass of water. (We circled it since it’s dark.) Our guess is that Naz was dehydrated from the drugs, booze and sex, went downstairs to get a water — and left the fridge door open and passed out.
Why did he pass out? He doesn’t drink usually, but on that night he had a pill, more drugs and tequila. Sure, it’s possible he blacked out and killed Andrea — but that seems completely out of character. In later episodes, we learned he had a violent temper. But that doesn’t make him a killer, and Andrea did nothing to provoke him.
After he found Andrea’s body, Naz hurried to leave. He was surprised to see the knife still on the table, next to the tequila and limes. (We circled the knife.)
The presence of the knife means one of two things: Either the killer took it from the table and carried it upstairs to kill Andrea, then put it back exactly where it was, or… or… the knife isn’t the murder weapon.
I know, right?
Harry, who examined how Andrea was killed, said he was “pretty sure it’s one knife, approximately one-and-a-half-inch wide, and I’m gonna say… five inches long — ’til I get her on the table and probe.” Serrated or no? “Not sure yet, possibly.” He’s pretty sure, but not sure sure. Maybe he should turn have turned on the lights? In a later episode, he agreed to tweak his testimony about Naz’s hand injury to help the prosecution. So these things aren’t as objective as anyone would like to believe.
Did we mention Andrea’s apartment has a second entrance? We saw it when she took out the cat because Naz said he was allergic.
The second entrance means the killer could have come in while Naz was unconscious, stabbed Andrea to death, and left. Only the deer knows.
So who’s the real killer? It’s not like Andrea had a creepy neighbor or anything. Oh wait: yes she did. Here are the possible suspects.
“The Night Of” finale airs Sunday.
