The Golden Boy Lied In The Night Of Part 6, “Samson And Delilah”

There is now only one installment left between us and the finale of The Night Of. This week's dark episode is my favorite of the season so far. It's riddled with religious allusions and allegories. And it's officially time for the trial. "Samson and Delilah" is all about relationships — both professional and personal. On a professional level, Stone and Chandra are still trying to understand their client. But so far, they've been told two critical events from Naz's youth that could be used against him in the trial. And neither of them came from from Naz himself. Big problem. On a personal level, our main characters are in a rocky place. Chandra has broken up with her boyfriend. Stone can't get ahold of his son. Naz is afraid to talk to his mother. His brother hasn't come to visit him once. The feeling of isolation and betrayal is numbing — Naz knows that best. But, as Freddy reminds him, "family is everything." Things aren't all bad, though. Naz is shaved, tatted, and (potentially) high on prison crack, but he actually smiled in a scene for the first time in a while. Outside Rikers, his mother and father are each doing their best to make money and keep a level head with the trial kicking off. Chandra is gaining some traction in the courtroom, and no longer looks like a lost puppy roaming the halls of the courthouse. I also enjoy the yin-and-yang of seeing her and Stone interact about the case. Oh, and Stone gets a new doctor who doesn't make fun of his feet. Also, we need to talk about Sinbad the Sailor. Let's get into it. We're also posting all our crazy theories here (and some that you submitted!).

Spoilers ahead.

Rikers
The best scene of the episode takes place in Freddy's cell. Naz, Petey, Freddy, and two of the other crew members are all hanging out. They all seem so comfortable with each other, occupying the small cramped cell. The scene is so iconic because Naz is getting a knuckle tattoo (with a pretty legit looking tattoo needle) while Freddy lounges in the bed behind him while eating a Happy Meal. The innocence of the kid's meal juxtaposed to the gritty sound of the tattoo gun reveals both the sincerity and severity of being close with Freddy. The other minions sit around and observe. It's oddly peaceful. Naz gets two tattoos, one on each knuckle. On his right — "Sin."
On his left — "Bad."

Separately, they each are a negative, crime-related word. But united, the two words take on a totally different meaning — Sinbad. Sinbad is a hero in Middle Eastern culture. Many scholars think his tales are modeled after the Homer's Ulysses, but he is more humanized than the epic Greek adventurer. He makes mistakes, and massively muddles up plans. But he always gets out of it — seven tales worth. Is that why Naz chose it? He, too, is only human. Will he get out of this one? Freddy also privately opens up to Naz, telling him that he had a buddy kill someone on the streets and had it tacked onto his original charge just so that he could move to Rikers because it was closer to his family. "I have a murder charge, but what the fuck do I care, you know?” he says, laughing. Freddy also plants some seeds of doubt in Naz's head against Chandra. He says she's too new and too young, but Naz sticks up for her. He also asks Naz if he liked his life out there. Naz says sure he did, very unconvincingly. Then, he does crack with Freddy. It seems like he is starting to enjoy his prison life a little too much. Finally, Naz sees something he shouldn’t see — Petey giving sexual favors to one of Freddy’s henchmen through the window of his cell. Poor Petey is always being taken advantage of. He’s being treated just like how we all thought Naz would be to be. Later, the guy finds Naz in the showers, threatens him, and cuts his neck with broken glass. That doesn't seem smart. He better watch out, because Naz has Freddy on his side now.

The Courthouse
Naz shows up for the first day of the trial in an outfit picked out by his mom which is apparently totally wrong. Defendants always wear white, Stone tells Naz upon seeing his cobalt blue button-up. The two trade shirts as the jury files in. Not off to a good start. Freddy even provided Naz with a white shirt. He, once again, knows best. We hear five testimonies from the prosecution's witness list, all of them employees of the state and faces we recognize from the first two episodes. The plot is starting to come full circle. Hopefully the trial brings some answers to all of our theories. I also noticed how bored, exhausted, and uninterested the jury looked. This is obviously a nod to what it's like to be on jury duty. It's annoying. It's time-consuming. But it's also determining the fate of an individual's life. And they don't seem to notice.

The Streets Of New York
The. Hearse. Driver. Is. Fucking. Creepy.

Is he a serial killer running under the guise that that he is helping cleanse the world of women who don't treat men right? Is he just saying weird things — "She had a vibration... like she is the cat and he [Naz] is the yarn... sometimes you have no choice but to destroy them first... do you know what I’m saying? I saw her for the destroyer that she was and I did not like that..." — to scare and intimidate Chandra? Did he kill Andrea? Or, is he just insane? Mr. Day, as Chandra calls him, also brings up the cat motif again during their conversation, this time directly calling Andrea a cat. Chandra asks him where he went after he left the gas station, as the security footage shows him trailing the cab as they exit. He looks up from painting the nails of a female corpse (!) and spills a drop of blood-red polish on the table before indicating that he was no longer going to answer any questions. Mr. Day then compares Chandra to Andrea, which sounds like a direct threat. He finishes with telling her "Judges 16 — that's all a man needs to know." Judges 16 is the story of Samson and Delilah, after which the episode is named. As it goes, Samson is betrayed by a prostitute named Delilah. She is given silver in exchange for seducing and destroying the powerful and strong Samson. After convincing him to share his weakness, she cuts off all his hair (as Naz did himself in the prison) while he is sleeping (Naz was sleeping when the murder happened) which renders him defenseless against those who want to kill him. His assailants capture him and gauge out his eyes. Then in one final prayer before he death, God grants Samson the power to topple the temple, killing everyone inside it, including himself (I really hope this death is not foreshadowing for Naz.) By referencing this, Day is telling Chandra that to him, women are lying, seducing, kisses of death. Chandra leaves the morgue and is quite shaken up. I would be too. At the police station, Detective Box uses social media and finds out that Naz did a lot of favors for his classmates. He is set on finding out what those favors were. He notices that Naz changed schools after sophomore year. We find out he pushed a classmate down a flight of stairs. Naz, when questioned by Chandra about it, said it was as easy as pushing open a door. He does not seem remorseful or apologetic. He says he did it because they talking to him the 9/11 Attacks. It brings to light the difference between defending oneself and attacking someone. It still doesn't look good for court, though. Later, towards the end of the episode, a lightbulb goes off in Stone's head and he realizes that they should find out more about Andrea’s financial circumstances at the time of her death (duh, guys.) We find out from the mystery funeral man in the suit that her mother, Evelyn Cornish, died two years earlier and left the house to her daughter in her will. The mystery man, Ray Halle, was Evelyn’s financial advisor. He also hates Don Taylor, Andrea’s step-father, and seems mighty suspicious of the benefits he is reaping from her stepdaughter's untimely death. Don wanted half her mother’s money, which would have been about 5 or 6 million dollars. Andrea, Ray says, told him no way. Or actually, he corrects himself, “Actually what she said was ‘Over my dead body.'” He continues, adding, “I guess he gets it all now.” That sounds like the most crystal clear motive to me. Will this be the missing piece to the puzzle to clear Naz’s name?

Thoughts
I hope Mr. Day is arrested as a potential suspect. There's no way that conversation was not at least partially implicating. I also want to see Don Taylor called out for being the social climbing, money-hungry, lady-killer that he is. And potential murderer. Also what happened with Duane Reade? Will he appear again? Did Stone strike a deal with him? What other witnesses will be called? Will Naz's brother finally speak? Will Chandra surprise everyone and be the kick-ass lawyer Naz needs, now more than ever?