Spoilers follow for Nocturne Episodes 1 and 2, which are available on Apple TV now.
Apple TV’s new thriller series, Nocturne, aims to draw audiences in with just the right balance of the familiar and the unexpected. The show asks what happens when a boy thought to be the victim of a serial killer returns alive, and follows the criminal mastermind as he maneuvers law enforcement during their race to save any other victims who may still be out there. Over the course of these first two episodes, viewers are left with questions — a mix of plot-driven intrigue, interest in character development, and a touch of side-eye around potential logic gaps or plot conveniences.
Nocturne is based on Lars Kepler’s crime novels (The Sandman and Lazarus), and adapted by Rowan Joffe and John Hlavin for TV. These debut episodes lay the groundwork for convicted killer Jurek Walter’s unfolding scheme to free himself (he is astonishingly well played by Stephen Graham), set against multiple law enforcement officers’ attempts to a) stop him from doing more harm and b) find any of the still-living victims. Jurek was convicted of a series of brutal killings, which devastated a small town. He managed to get a jury to buy into an insanity defense, or we must presume he did, as he’s in a psychiatric hospital rather than a prison. (Side note: how he pulled that off is a nagging question, as nothing in his demeanor suggests an insanity defense would fly… If it’s simply that he’s a sociopath, wouldn’t that apply to all killers? Moving on.)
From a technical perspective, the show does a beautiful job of dropping us in this world. The opening shot of Episode 1, “Lazarus, Come Forth,” establishes a sense of foreboding, danger, and claustrophobia that will become a refrain throughout the series. We get the sense that the creature we are encountering is not unlike a lion in a cage. The camera moves down a cold, concrete hallway toward cells that feel (purposefully) hidden and forgotten — the shot is all the more suffocating because the dark walls of the cell entryways initially obscure the sides of the frame. This is our introduction to Jurek, and it’s notable that the series starts by putting us in the mindset of the killer. He feels trapped and eager to get out. For some yet-to-be-revealed purpose, his gritty, simultaneously menacing and soothing voice whispers to the patient next door, luring the man to seek freedom by any means necessary, even with violence (in this case, against himself). This is Jurek’s central arc across the first two episodes.
He is brilliant and adept at psychological warfare. He also seems to believe he’s entitled to his freedom, or at the very least that there is some legal loophole that will get his conviction overturned if only he can expose the lie that former homicide detective Jonah Lynn (Liev Schreiber) told to seal Jurek’s fate. Jurek taunts Jonah towards the close of the first episode with an offer of “the truth for the truth” when Jonah and Special Agent Quinn (Poorna Jagannathan, lately of Lanterns) visit him. In other words, Jurek will help them find more of his victims, specifically Felicia Frost — the missing sister of Michael, the boy who’s come back from the dead — if Jonah confesses to lying in court. This raises the stakes for everyone, including Agent Quinn, who’s already taken a risk by bringing a retired cop she doesn’t know this close to her case. If his old lie blows it up, that’s on her, with a missing girl’s life on the line.
While some crime dramas give the audience only as much information as the characters searching for answers have, this one puts the audience a step ahead. It’s an interesting choice, and may ultimately be a misdirect. Here’s what appears to have happened: a hospital worker named Karl (Rory Culkin) is assigned to the team that oversees Jurek. Their first encounter, like others in the series, is crafted with impressive tension: Karl searches for a missing weapon beneath Jurek’s metal bed, gets caught by his pant leg, and can’t free himself before Jurek comes to from a sedative — the trapped animal motif plays throughout. Before the scene is over, Jurek has pressed a note into Karl’s pocket, urging him to smuggle it out to his lawyer (more on the questions this raises in a bit).
The note Jurek hands Karl seems to set everything in motion: the strong implication is that, lawyer or no lawyer, it contained Jurek’s instruction to an accomplice to free Michael. Jonah is actively drawn back into the case when Michael turns up alive, as the children’s mother, Ida Frost (Chrissy Metz), and the residents of the town trust him more than anyone else in law enforcement. Also advocating for his participation is FBI agent Saga Bauer (Zazie Beetz), his goddaughter, the child of his deceased partner, and someone he effectively raised. (She eventually goes undercover as a patient in Jurek’s secured ward in order to ascertain who is leaking messages and endangering lives.)
The reality is, Jonah has clearly never given up on finding the remaining missing persons associated with the case: as Agent Bauer discovers via his giant murder board, he’s been methodically searching an enormous grid, single-handedly, for years. The case is deeply personal for both of them. Jonah carries guilt for having quit the force after the (seemingly unrelated?) accidental death of his wife and child. And Jurek (or rather his accomplice) was responsible for kidnapping Bauer’s stepmother, Rebecca. It’s also implied that Bauer’s father committed suicide after his wife’s disappearance. Through Agent Quinn’s vocal skepticism, the show addresses the inappropriateness of having either Jonah or Bauer involved in the investigation, given their personal connections to Jurek. The story excuses the conflict of interest (not to mention that Jonah is no longer an officer of the law) by pointing to their familiarity with the case and the ticking clock on saving Felicia. The dynamics and interwoven tragedies all tied to Jurek stretch credulity, but the production value and strength of the performances are enough to keep the viewer engaged through a good deal of character, plot, and relationship table-setting. At its core, this is a battle of three savants with real stakes: two on the victims’ side, deploying their individual skills to best a mysterious, murderous genius. That brings us to the tightrope the series walks.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.ign.com/articles/nocturne-episodes-1-2-recap-and-review
