S02.E04: A House Built on Sand

[ShellSeeker]

 

Barry attempts to adjust to his new identity. A highly decorated war hero is introduced to Jamal.

 

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Jamal's love child is gorgeous.

Really wish Alice Kridge would get more camera time.

[thuganomics85]

Amira still exists!  Seriously, they have been wasting Alice Krige on this show.

 

So, Jamal has a bastard child from his true love, who was a Rashid.  He clearly wanted the guy to stick around, but looks like he wasn't down with picking sides.  Might be a good thing, because I don't think Leila would have liked that at all.  Remember when Ned Stark had Jon Snow live with him in Game of Thrones, and how Catelyn Stark reacted to it?  Well, I think Leila would have been much, much, much worse.

 

Ha!  Looks like Sammy has to work to get that $100 mill.  His inheritance is being contested, so he has to appear in Abuddin in person.  Molly, of course, balks at that idea, but after Jake Weber is like "He does turn eighteen in a few months, so he's going to go anyway" about it, she relents and seems to be planning to go with him.  I hope she's at least smart enough to keep Emma away from all this.  Those two going back to Abuddin is going to be bad news for everyone, I suspect.

 

Rashid and Daliyah have now been taken by a former classmate of Rashid's, who is well off and wants to help him take down the Al Fayeeds.  Of course, it sounds like he's not a good guy either (Rashid said something about how his organization beheads journalists and others), so I'll stick with pulling for the devils I know (Jamal, Leila, Tariq, etc.)

 

Barry wastes his time talking with the kid and convincing the second wife to got get an education in solar engineering, only for her to get kidnapped by Rashid, on her way to the airport.  I hope all this stuff is leading to something.  Although, I guess I really can't complain that Barry's basically taking a backseat to Jamal this season.

[slothgirl]

I want Laila's stylist and make-up person. That woman is always impeccable from head to toe.

 

I'm enjoying the scenes both she and Jamal have (especially together) but they both seemed to have been ret-connned into different characters from last season. In fact the whole show seems to have been retconned into a soap opera with "exotic" locales and costumes. Bastard Sons! Jealous Wives! Blended Families! Polygamy! I'm pretty sure I have seen the "Widow doesn't know that her dead husband is still alive in some foreign land and gets involved with new love interest too soon" story on a soap opera...

 

Yeah.. I have. It was All My Children. Cliff and Nina.

 

Is it really possible that NO ONE in that desert town has any idea what Bassam Al Fayeed looked like? One of the 1st things that happened there was that the father gave Barry his phone to see the reports on the gassing. The people are well aware of current events. Now they have a stranger in their midst who almosst certainly speaks with an accent of some sort. Having been away for decades, and with no one to practice with, I would expect that not only would Barry's "Abuddinish" be affected by his Amercian accent, but that he would not be as fluent as he should be if he's trying to pass as a lifelong native. (Have they ever told us what language is spoken in Abbudin?) And why would that woman need Barry to watch over her son. He has a father!

 

Speaking of fathers and sons... darn, the family is headed back to Abbudin... that means more screen time of them, I'll bet. Shoot.

 

No really, someone shoot them. Violence is everywhere in that place.. can't we get them killed off?

Those two going back to Abuddin is going to be bad news for everyone, I suspect.

Yeah... especially us!

Edited July 8, 2015 by slothgirl

[scrb]

There was a theory that Abbudin was Syria but in this world, Syria is run by Rashid's old classmate, the most clean cut Islamist who beheads the infidels.

Jamal has really dialed down on the sociopathy this season. Bastard son rejects him, he doesn't get mad, for now. But next time Ahmed comes to him scratching his head, he's probably going to let out a big sigh.

Is Rashid's going to find Barry through the second wife whom he just abducted?

Daliyah is pretty bloodthirsty.

[Ariah]

I wonder if Jamal would try paternity test on Ahmed. He got confirmation that his bastard son is a prodigy, and Ahmed is... well, not so much. Also, Leila used to have someone special. Naturally, I'm not sure if paternity testing would differentiate between two fathers who are sibilings.

 

I hope Rashid just abducted the second wife and didn't kill her. I actually like her and, being probably the only person here that LIKES BARRY (yes, there it is, I said it), I'm all for him finding purpose in life with this no-nonsence woman at his side. Let Molly go with the lawyer and never come back. And let her take Sammy along. The daughter can stay.

[dubbel zout]

(Have they ever told us what language is spoken in Abbudin?)

 

Arabic, I think, but no one's spoken it for a while now. There were probably complaints about subtitles.

[Constantinople]

Wouldn't Jamal's other son, Rami Said, already have to be a member of the Abbudin military to work on UN peacekeeping missions?  I thought UN forces were made up of soldiers of member states and that you can't just sign-up for it as you could the French Foreign Legion.  Or did they mention that Rami Said served in another country's military forces?

 

I'm also not sure why they introduced Rami Said unless he's going to show-up later as part of a peacekeeping mission in Abbudin.

 

Overall, I'm still enjoying the show, but it's a lot less dynamic than Season 1.  At the rate it's going, I don't expect there to be a Season 3.

[Uncle Benzene]

Also, Leila used to have someone special.

 

I immediately assumed she was referring to Bassam (unbeknownst to Jamal, of course.) No?

 

Edited to add: Oh, wait. Your next sentence seems to indicate that you assume the same. Sorry. Reading comprehension. I suppose that's probably the obvious assumption, and I clearly need another cup of coffee this morning. :)

Edited July 8, 2015 by Uncle Benzene

[sjohnson]

Raqqa, Syria is, if I'm not mistaken, the de facto capital of Islamic State. As such, the new characters should have been able to counter with their own sob stories about their constant fear of being murdered any second by a drone or cruise missle. The new story line is trying to portray Rashis as a non-fundamentalist, democratic opposition to the al-Fayeed tyrant. Maybe the State Department should sue the producers for plagiarism?

 

Bashar al-Assad was a younger son of Hafez al-Assad, notorious in particular for mass slaughter of Muslim Brotherhood rebels in Hama, Syria, what we might think of as Ma'an in this series. The gas of course is supposed to refer to Assad's alleged use of poison gas. The show says that everyone knows the Rashids didn't have poison gas, but this appears to be untrue in real life. Bashar of course was an opthalmologist, not a pediatrician, and was not expected to succeed. His brother in the security service was anticipated. It appears that Hafez chose Bashar as a sop to the Western powers, thinking they would be better able to work with a Westernized, secular Arab. In real life, the US, and Saudi, and Qatar, much prefer fundamentalists. Divide and conquer. 

Edited July 8, 2015 by sjohnson

[ganesh]

I don't have a problem with the townspeople not know who Bassam is. I look really different clean shaven versus bearded. His new friend might have also asked the neighbors to keep quiet too. I'm still clinging to my Preacher/Dune plot. 

 

Every week I keep wondering who the real Tyrant is going to be. 

 

Is there an ISIS in this show universe?

 

Jamal just cracks me up. The actor is just knocking it out of the park. 

[Artsda]

Like the addition of the new son, he's really the opposite of his brother and seems smart like his father and uncle. 

[Melissa56789]

 

Is there an ISIS in this show universe?

 

I think that the Rashid's uber radical former classmate (introduced in this episode) is the show's attempt at a version of ISIS / Muslim Brotherhood

[ganesh]

A-ha, I thought there was something to that. I was interested in more interactions with nations in the region.

[Rhetorica]

Rami Said is beautiful! Jamaal is playing a tortured soul so well this year. I just can't help but love him, but I do miss his tyranny. When Leila was talking to Jamaal about feeling young love, was she talking about him or Bashaam? I think it may be Jamaal. Poor Ahmed is trying. Just give him Sammy's inheritance and let him open a disco in London. I hate the American storyline. We don't need them; enough is happening without them. Just go away.

[ganesh]

I thought she was talking about Barry, actually. 

 

I'm also interested in seeing what happens when Molly and Sam do come back. Does Jamal even know about the inheritance? He could block it, no?

[bluebonnet]

I didn't think there was any way to make the American Al Fayeed's any more unlikeable, but the show has gone and done it.  Seriously, $100 million might be a lot of money but as Molly pointed out, this is blood money.  This money comes on the backs of gassed Abuddin citizens.  It's disgusting money.  Not to mention that getting it requires going back to the country that supposedly just hung Sam's father.  I mean, it's one thing if Sam wants to use this money to help the people of Abuddin but he just wants to buy himself pretty things and flash his dolla dolla bills all around.  Don't care how much money it is, Sam and Molly now look worse than they ever did.  Ugh.  

 

And of course it seems likely Sam will hook up with his lover and these new ISIS people will come and throw him from a building because they are scared of teh gayz and perhaps Bassam finds out about it and he finally becomes the Tyrant.....even though we all know Barry really didn't like his son. 

[ganesh]

Right. But you throw 100 million at anyone and it's hard to walk away. Then you tell an 18 y/o he gets all that? No one is going to walk away from that much money. 

[bluebonnet]

But it's not just 100 million dollars.  It's 100 million dollars in a country that regularly gasses it's own people and also 'executes' family members, and has a de facto dictatorship for the past however many decades.  It's not even a little bit hard to walk away from this money (money, I might add, that barely even exists for them, it's like a joke right now, some fantasy brought to them by a creepy lawyer). I don't actually know any sane person who would walk towards that money, though I don't tend to associate much with those sorts of people if I can help it.  

 

To make it worse, this 18 year old and his stupid mother are super ok with the whole 'me me me my money my my my" bullshit.  It's disgusting.  They managed to turn deeply unlikeable characters into even more unlikeable characters.  Unless Sammy and Molly go through some mega redemption process, there is little reason for me to feel bad when Sam is inevitably executed.  

[Ariah]

  when Sam is inevitably executed.  

 

... we are not that lucky, I'm afraid.

 

I do understand Molly to some point - she cannot order her moron of a son to stay put, as he'll be a legal adult in a matter of months. She wants to keep an eye on him and protect him from his own stupidity... but - does he have money to actually travel to the East? True, she cannot tell him to stay, but she can simply cut his funds (at least for now). Does he work? No. Would he be able to fund his travel? Not likely. Would he be pouty and bratty? And when is he not.

 

Molly, dear, take away Sam's pocket money and just let him pout for a while.

 

By the way, does Molly work? Or is she on widow-sabatical?

[scrb]

Thought she was going back to see if they still had a practice.

 

In first season, people questioned Barry not springing for business class tickets, as both were doctors with established practices in LA.

 

Now, they seem to have a nice big home and can pick up and fly to the other side of the world on a whim -- a $100 million whim but a whim nevertheless.

[slothgirl]

but - does he have money to actually travel to the East? True, she cannot tell him to stay, but she can simply cut his funds (at least for now).

My guess is that Barry's will left something for him. He would also be collecting social security survivor benefit based on being a minor whose parent died. That money goes directly to him, not through his legal guardian.

[slothgirl]

But it's not just 100 million dollars.  It's 100 million dollars in a country that regularly gasses it's own people and also 'executes' family members, and has a de facto dictatorship for the past however many decades.  It's not even a little bit hard to walk away from this money (money, I might add, that barely even exists for them, it's like a joke right now, some fantasy brought to them by a creepy lawyer). I don't actually know any sane person who would walk towards that money, though I don't tend to associate much with those sorts of people if I can help it.

I don't think there are many 17 year olds who would say "I want no part of 100 MILLION dollars because it's from an evil regime".

 

The ones whose attitude might be affected by the history might be just as likely to say "If I  had that 100mil, I could DO something for the people. If I let them keep it, then it's more money those in power have for perpetrating more evil"

 

The best way to help the people whose blood was sacrificed for the money is too use it for them, and walking away from the inheritance won't do that.

 

Granted, Sammy seems disinterested in that and yeah, the character is a jerk.

 

But I don't think it is fair to say that anyone who didn't run the other way is inherently bad or is a "certain sort of person". I would walk towards that money in a heartbeat and use it to establish a charitable foundation. However, I would exhaust ALL options for retrieving it without going to a country that executed my father. For all I know, the whole thing is a ploy to get me to return for my own execution since the ruling power may not want me challenging their throne later. Right now they've got random church aquaintance lawyer looking into it. I think they need a 2nd opinion. Preferbly one well versed in Abuddin's legal system.

 

I'm fine with Sammy getting executed when he gets there though. Of course, he doesn't know about all the evils of the Fayeed regime because apparently despite being a part of the family, not only did his parents never discuss it AT ALL, the worldwide google blackout on anything related to Abbudin prevented Mom or the kids from knowing anything at all about the country's history even as it related to their own family! (eyeroll).

Edited July 9, 2015 by slothgirl

[Athena5217]

I think Molly and Sammy had very different reactions to the money so I don't understand why they are being lumped together.  Molly's first reaction (before learning that the money was for Sammy only) seemed to be just shock and disbelief at the amount.  After learning it was for Sammy, she still seemed pretty disbelieving about the amount and concerned about where it came from.  After what she has been through, I'm not surprised she seems dazed and confused most of the time.  There is only so much a human being can emotionally handle at once.  

 

Yes, Sammy was excited about the money, but he is a 17-year-old.  It would take someone with the emotional and spiritual maturity of Mother Theresa or the Dali Lama not to be tempted by that much money.  Teenagers are known to have less impulse control than adults so I'd expect any kid who suddenly that kind of money to react the same way.  Eventually the reality of it being blood money might sink in, but not until after he bought his 3rd fancy car.  If he doesn't get the money, it's not like it goes to the poor people in Abbudin--it just goes to other members of Barry's family like his brother--the man who killed Sammy's father.  I'd rather flush the inheritance down the toilet than have Jamal get 1 cent of it.  

 

I thought the new people were supposed to be members of whatever this show's version of ISIS is--they did not seem to have a problem with hurting innocent people to get what they wanted.  

Edited July 9, 2015 by Athena5217

[sjohnson]

The family's ignorance was encouraged by the father, so it's not that unbelievable to me. 

 

Quite aside from the determination to not let the people who killed his father take his money too, it's not actually clear in what sense it's blood money. The al-Fayeeds wealth may easily have been their road to political power. It's the people who got rich from crony contracts, like the telecommunications tycoon was supposed to be, who can be said to have blood money. If you want blood money, sponsoring revolutions or bush wars so that the warlords can export diamond, as in West Africa, or oil, as in Libya and Islamic State, seem to be your best bet. The Rashids appear to have been wealthy, judging from the collaborator uncle, which appears to have been their primary qualification as the great opponents of the al-Fayeeds. 

 

I would have thought though that Sammy could have come from Samir, not Samuel. Also, Sammy is the best candidate for siding with the regime because he opposes the fundamentalist rebels. The show desperately needs another point of view to strengthen any drama. Second wife's fidelity/sexual virtue doesn't cut it, I think.

Edited July 10, 2015 by sjohnson

[candall]

ITA that we could just drop the Americans and not miss a step.  Tonight's big guffaw was rando church lawyer telling Molly that Sami would be unhappy if he wound up in Abbudin without her.

 

She knows Sami's gay and I guess you don't let your 17-year old zero good judgment kid go off to claim his hundred mil alone, but let's not pretend Sami won't be chewing that leash.  Ugh.

 

Otherwise, I love this show.  I'm really enjoying seeing the nomad goatherder family as well as the handlaid mosaic tile lifestyle.  I'm disappointed Wife No. 2 won't be getting solar energy training.

 

P.S.  I like Barry, too, and I'm sure he wouldn't be stupid enough to download family FB video onto a goat community phone.

[slothgirl]

The family's ignorance was encouraged by the father, so it's not that unbelievable to me. 

Since when does paternal discouragement keep teenagers from google'ing whatever the bleep they want?

[bluebonnet]

Oh yeah, totally forgot about church lawyer.  He seems skeezy, like pushing for this money so he can get his cut.  I mean seriously, this is gross money.  Imagine knowing that someone you know took money from Saddam Hussein or Gadafi or the North Korean Kims or Hitler and then proceeded to spend it on clubs and cars and diamonds and Jersey Shore summers.  Teenager or no, this serves to make Sammy's character tremendously unlikeable and it will be hard for me to care when something bad happens to him.  

[missy jo]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one watching this Middle Eastern soap opera!

 

However, I would exhaust ALL options for retrieving it without going to a country that executed my father. For all I know, the whole thing is a ploy to get me to return for my own execution since the ruling power may not want me challenging their throne later.

 

 

For real.

I like Barry, too, and I'm sure he wouldn't be stupid enough to download family FB video onto a goat community phone.

 

 

 

Indeed. Also, this made me think of goats using the phone.

[dubbel zout]

The family's ignorance was encouraged by the father, so it's not that unbelievable to me.

 

That should have made the kids all the more interested, IMO, but it's one of the plot points the audience has to accept.

 

The Rashids appear to have been wealthy, which appears to have been their primary qualification as the great opponents of the al-Fayeeds.

 

IIRC, the Rashids made their money by throwing in their lot with with Al-Fayeeds, so they can't ride that high horse too far. It's all fun and games and buckets of cash until someone starts militarily cracking down on the people.

[ganesh]

Since when does paternal discouragement keep teenagers from google'ing whatever the bleep they want?

 

They actually indicated the daughter actually did that. She had knowledge of the gas attack that happened in the past. So, the show isn't being consistent in this regard. That's what bugs. If they were all willfully ignorant, ok. But it's not. 

[Ottis]

wJamal's love child is gorgeous.

 

 

I found his look kind of comical. At first I thought he was wearing a lot of eye makeup, but I think it was his eye brows. He looked like he was dressed as an ancient Egyption for Halloween ... not that there is anything wrong with that, if that is his natural look.

 

I'm also not sure why they introduced Rami Said unless he's going to show-up later as part of a peacekeeping mission in Abbudin.

 

 

I get a faint Sopranos vibe from this .. successful outside character drawn into spiraling family and dragged down to ruin.

 

I pretty much fast forward through anything with Barry's family. I did see that they are coming back to Abbudin, which was inevitable if for no other reason than to bring back the "son is gay in bad place" story line.

Edited July 13, 2015 by Ottis

[Paws]

Does someone at the network think we need Barry's family as our "entry" into the world of Abuddin? We don't need them; we don't even need Barry honestly. I'm not sure if it's that the actors suck (particularly Molly and Barry) or that their story lines are just so goddamn boring. I just want to watch Jamal and Leila sit in a room and talk about their life together. That would be 10,000 times more interesting than anything happening with The Borings.

[ganesh]

I actually think that's true. I bet the show wouldn't have gone through without the "entry." 

[millennium]

Hey, I like Barry.    And I like Jamal.   

Sammy can be beheaded at the earliest convenience, though.