I Am the Night (TV Series)
From Iwe
| I am the Night | ||
| Created by | Sam Sheridan | |
| Directed by | Patty Jenkins Victoria Mahoney Carl Franklin | |
| Starring | Chris Pine India Eisley Jefferson Mays Leland Orser Yul Vazquez Justin Cornwell Dylan Smith Golden Brooks Jay Paulson Connie Nielsen | |
| Composer(s) | David Lang | |
| Country of origin | United State | |
| Original language(s) | English | |
| No. of seasons | 1 | |
| No. of episodes | 6 (list of episodes) | |
| Production | ||
| Executive producer(s) | Patty Jenkins Chris Pine Carl Franklin Michael Sugar Sam Sheridan | |
| Producer(s) | Wayne Carmona | |
| Production location(s) | Los Angeles, California | |
| Cinematography | Matthew Jensen Trevor Forrest Michael McDonough | |
| Editor(s) | Dody Dorn Mark Yoshikawa | |
| Running time | 49–54 minutes | |
| Production company(s) | ||
| Release | ||
| Original network | TNT | |
| Original release | January 27 – March 4, 2019 | |
I Am the Night is a six-episode American limited television series created and written by Sam Sheridan, starring Chris Pine and India Eisley. The series premiered on TNT on January 28, 2019, with a sneak peek of the first episode airing on January 27, 2019.
The series is inspired by the memoir One Day She'll Darken: The Mysterious Beginnings of Fauna Hodel, written by Fauna Hodel, documenting her unusual beginnings and the connection to her grandfather, George Hodel, a prime suspect in the infamous Black Dahlia murder mystery. A companion true-crime podcast, Root of Evil: The True Story of the Hodel Family and the Black Dahlia was released in February 2019.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Fauna Hodel, a young girl who was given up by her birth mother, sets out to uncover the secrets of her past and ends up following a sinister trail that swirls closer to a gynecologist involved in the legendary Black Dahlia slaying.
[edit] Cast
- Chris Pine as Jay Singletary, a disgraced LA-based journalist and Korean War veteran who encounters Fauna Hodel as he investigates her grandfather, George Hodel.
- India Eisley as Fauna Hodel, who has grown up believing she's biracial but she begins investigating the truth about her biological mother and father.
- Jefferson Mays as George Hodel, Fauna's grandfather, a prominent, powerful, and dangerous LA-based physician who was a suspect in the Black Dahlia murder.
- Connie Nielsen as Corinna Hodel, George Hodel's now divorced second wife.
- Leland Orser as Peter Sullivan, Jay Singletary's editor and mentor.
- Yul Vazquez as Billis, a LAPD sergeant detective known for his brutal tactics.
- Jay Paulson as Ohls, an LAPD detective and a Korean War vet who owes his life to Jay.
- Golden Brooks as Jimmie Lee Greenwade, Fauna's adoptive mother who has kept Fauna's origins secret from her.
- Theo Marshall as Detective Cuddy.
- Jamie Anne Allman as Tamar Hodel, George Hodel's daughter and Fauna's birth mother.
- Monique Green as Nina, Fauna's cousin.
- Shoniqua Shondai as Tina, Fauna's cousin who warns her about investigating her white family.
- Justin Cornwell as Terrence Shye, a friend of the Lee family who takes a romantic interest in Fauna.
- Dylan Smith as Sepp, George Hodel's right-hand man.
[edit] Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | Patty Jenkins | Sam Sheridan | January 27, 2019[n 1] | 0.898 |
| Stringer journalist, Jay Singletary, takes demeaning assignments in Los Angeles to the point where he is suicidal. Meanwhile, Pat Allman, a biracial teenager in Sparks, Nevada, is taunted at school. Her alcoholic mother, Jimmie Lee, tries to protect Pat, but arouses suspicions about her origins. Pat learns from a birth certificate hidden by Jimmie Lee, who then confirms it, that she is Fauna Hodel who was given up for adoption by her birth mother. Pat contacts her biological grandfather, Dr. George Hodel, who invites her to Los Angeles. Despite believing that Pat could have a better future there, Jimmie Lee calls Jay to have him renew his interest in George Hodel who was the subject of an article Jay wrote decades ago which caused his credibility to suffer. | |||||
| 2 | "Phenomenon of Interference" | Patty Jenkins | Sam Sheridan | February 4, 2019 | 1.16 |
| Fauna arrives in Los Angeles and attempts to track down members of her family. She goes to the Hodel residence and meets Corinna Hodel who takes Fauna out for the day, but she also states that Fauna is not of mixed race. Meanwhile, Jay continues to work on a story involving a gruesome murder, but is still fixated on his earlier story involving the doctor George Hodel and Fauna. | |||||
| 3 | "Dark Flower" | Victoria Mahoney | Sam Sheridan | February 11, 2019 | 1.13 |
| The episode begins with a flashback to 1945 where Hodel hosts a debauched party wearing a bizarre mask watched by Tamar. Back in the present, Sepp catches up with Fauna, but she manages to escape from him. Meanwhile Jay is picked up and interrogated by LAPD Sergeant Billis who threatens violence, but Jay is saved by the intervention of Detective Ohls, a co-survivor of Dog Company in the Korean War. Fauna sneaks into Corinne's house to find a return address from Tamar on a piece of mail postmarked last week. Jay sees her escape out a window and takes her to a diner, where he tries to get information from her, but she gives him the slip. Fauna returns home to learn that Nero, a teenager who's been calling her, was murdered. She leaves the house with her new friend Terrence Shye, who lets her sleep on his couch and call Jimmie Lee. | |||||
| 4 | "Matador" | Victoria Mahoney | Sam Sheridan | February 18, 2019 | 1.01 |
| Fauna and Terence investigate the scene of Nero's death and a homeless man refers to a black Buick that Fauna suspects is the one that has been following her. When they return Fauna finds an invitation to a "happening" and decides to attend. She arrives and finds a bizarre scene with people dressed theatrically and strange exhibits, including one of Corinna reclining in a gown from which people proceed to cut pieces. Fauna later talks with Corinna, who divulges nothing, although Fauna learns Tamar lives in Hawaii from Corinne's address book. As Fauna leaves, Sepp knocks her out and prepares to do serious harm to her, but Jay suddenly appears and tackles him, and, after a short, brutal fight, fatally stabs him. Jay is immobilized by his own actions, but Fauna spurs him into disposing of the body and weapon. Fauna offers that if Jay can find out who Sepp was, she will reveal Tamar's address. Jay realizes that Fauna knows little of the Hodels and his abortion clinic, but they agree to cooperate. Later, Jay visits an exhibition and enters a room filled with surrealist pieces that belong to Dr. Hodel. Jay realizes that the works depicting pieces of women's bodies are the inspiration for the murders he is investigating, and that the killings were not done out of hate. | |||||
| 5 | "Aloha" | Carl Franklin | Monica Beletsky | February 25, 2019 | 1.11 |
| Jay manages to convince his editor Peter Sullivan to pay for him and Fauna to fly to Hawaii and she leaves with him against the protests of the visiting Jimmie Lee. Once there, they begin their search for Tamar whom they eventually find in the countryside. Fauna finally learns from Tamar the truth about her birth, that she is a product of an incestuous relationship between Tamar and George. Tamar lied about her father being black because she said that she never knew any white people she could trust. Later, Jay meets with Tamar, who shows him paintings George Hodel sent her. They are of women he is suspected of killing and also provides evidence of George's involvement in the Black Dahlia murder. When they return to Los Angeles, Jay and Fauna find that the city has erupted in racial violence. Jay arranges to meet Sullivan, but finds that his mentor has sold him out to Billis and the LAPD who arrest him for probing into the activities of George Hodel. Meanwhile, Hodel arrives in Sparks and stabs Jimmie Lee. | |||||
| 6 | "Queen's Gambit, Accepted" | Carl Franklin | Sam Sheridan | March 4, 2019 | 1.15 |
| Fauna learns that Jimmie Lee is in hospital and visits Corinna to ask for a loan to buy a bus ticket to Nevada. However, Corinna offers her some spiked lemonade, which knocks her out and Corinna hands her over to George Hodel. At the police station, Jay is severely beaten and warned to stop his investigation. Jay appeals to Billis' sense of justice then offers to kill Hodel and take the fall himself to free Billis from Hodel's connections and influence in LA. Billis arranges police transport and slips Jay a key to his handcuffs which he uses to escape. Fauna wakes in Hodel's house to learn that she has become his next art project and victim. She manages to incapacitate him and flee just as Jay arrives to kill him. Hodel escapes, so Jay and Fauna go their separate ways to protect each other. Fauna returns to being Jimmie Lee's daughter back in Sparks and Jay retires to Hawaii, fighting his inner demons. Still suffering from his injuries, Hodel escapes to the Philippines and sets up house there. | |||||
[edit] Production
[edit] Development
[edit] Casting
[edit] Marketing
[edit] Reception
[edit] Accolades
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) and nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
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[edit] Notes
- 1. ^ A sneak peek of the pilot aired on January 27, 2019, before the premiere of the pilot in its regular timeslot on January 28, 2019.
