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S02.E09: Inside Men and Outside Women

ShellSeeker

By ShellSeeker
in Tyrant [V]

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ShellSeeker

ShellSeeker

 

Increasingly suspicious of those close to him, Jamal believes Khalil is the only person he can trust. Deciding he should no longer hide the truth, Barry reveals to Molly that he’s alive. Hoping to lift Nusrat’s depression, Ahmed asks Nusrat to run away with him. Skeptical of Khalil’s tactical luck, Ihab zeroes in on a traitor in the Caliphate.

 

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sjohnson

sjohnson

Why would they need to torture anyone to find the secret location of the Red Hand? They could listen for the gunshots at the firing range during training!

 

I couldn't make out what the crazy girl said when dufus asked her why she did that? 

 

Why does everyone speak English in Abuddin?

 

Is Sammy dropping his phone not going to be a problem?

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cyberfruit

cyberfruit

Damn, this show is getting good. 

 

Although the tortured Jamal angle sometimes feels like a retcon, especially with his drawing a heart on the window while watching Said and Nusrat, I'm glad the writers aren't making him stray too far from character. Getting in the way of himself? Totally Jamal. Paranoia with a persecution complex? Definitely Jamal. Wanting his new found son dead because he can't possibly think that the poison in the Palace is anything other than his own ego, aforementioned paranoia, and ineffectiveness as a leader? Guess who~

 

He's still probably the character I pay attention to the most, though. 

 

"Maybe you should stop." Molly, so cold did even try to let him down easy.

 

Actually, she was. The lawyer just wouldn't take the hints that were beating him over the head. 


Also, why couldn't the brother who was being tortured just give the Caliphate bogus coordinates? Then he and his brother could have slipped away before Rashid and the other dude got back.

 

I know that gets in the way of explosions, but still. 

  • Love 3
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thuganomics85

thuganomics85

Yeah, I couldn't figure out why they the Caliphate would have killed the younger brother (off-screen, apparently), until they were sure they had the coordinates.  For all they know, he could have given them bonus information or something, but it sounded like they just automatically killed him.  Weird.  Anyway, he's dead and the older brother offed himself, so this family really isn't having a good year.

 

If this is really it for the lawyer, it's so odd that they even got Jake Weber for this, since he's more capable then love interest who Molly dumps in the end.  Not that I'm going to miss him, because the whole thing was so lame.  That said, I'm not sure if Molly will end up hugging or stabbing Barry,  once they ever reunite.

 

Oh, Sammy.  I was kind of warming up to you but that "Sam I am" answering message just lost you a shit ton of points.  You are such a doofus.  At least you managed to survive the onslaught.  Seemed in pretty good shape for a guy who was next to not one, but two explosions.

 

At this point, I'm not going to have any sympathy for Rami if Jamal actually does kill him, because it so fucking obvious that Rami needs to just grab his army and run from the crazy guy.  But, nope, he keeps trying to impress him, all while Jamal totally thinks he is a traitor, and his planning his death.  I wonder if Leila knew that and that's why she gave him the phone number.

 

Ahmed is willing to be a outcast with Nurast, I see.  I wonder if she is going to try something with Rami, in order to have Ahmed's heart broken for good.  And what's the deal with Jamal watching both of them through the window?

 

Barry and the Red Hand took a big hit.  Lets see if they can recover!

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slothgirl

slothgirl

(edited)

I'm loving Jamal spiralling downward in this paranoid state. It's so often what happens with dictators. They see traitors everywhere and start killing off everyone around them. I'm thrilled that they are taking his character this direction. It will be interesting to watch what his mental state becomes when he discovers that Khalid is Barry.

 

Don't get me started though on the fact that Barry can disguise his voice to a brother who is OBSSESSED with him, simply by putting a layer of cloth over the phone. I would more likely imagine that Jamal hears and sees Barry EVERYWHERE than believe he can't recognize Barry's voice when he hears it.

 

Speaking of not recognizing Barry.. .they now have an American kid that "Khalid" calls "Mr Al Fayeed" in their midst and NO ONE notices that Khalid, the mystery man himself, also seems to have a funny accent that might indicate many years NOT in Abbudin, etc, etc... Plus no one seems to have overheard any of his conversations with this "Sammy" kid in big open rooms/hallways of concrete run down buildings. Well, the cat's gotta be out of the bag now with him yelling SAAAAMMMMMYYYYY! over and over.

 

I feel cheated that they killed the kid offscreen. There sure are a lot of interesting "brother" dynamics in this show. And half brothers and male cousins who were the closest thing either had to brothers for a long time... speaking of which, is there ANY family on MOLLY'S side? And has anyone bothered to let the DAUGHTER know what's going on? I guess she's the MOST "outside" woman of all!

Edited by slothgirl
  • Love 2
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scrb

scrb

How about good old Molly having loud phone conversations with Barry in public.

Because a white woman in an Arab country hanging out in various public venues isn't conspicuous enough.

  • Love 1
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Ariah

Ariah

I just hope Deliah is alive and well. Last I saw her she was climbing up some ropes and then almost got shot.

She's one of my new favourite characters so...

 

I know I should like Molly, she's good in theory - a faithfull wife that regained faith in God and found her inner strength, now fueled with newly found revelations that her loved husband is alive. But... It doesn't work with me here. I usually love such characters, and here I found myself thinking "maybe Molly gets offed in season finale?". It's awfull, i know. I almost feel guilty.

 

 

Don't get me started though on the fact that Barry can disguise his voice to a brother who is OBSSESSED with him, simply by putting a layer of cloth over the phone. I would more likely imagine that Jamal hears and sees Barry EVERYWHERE than believe he can't recognize Barry's voice when he hears it.

 

I can actually get behind that -  Jamal is so sure he has killed Bassam, he would not believe his eyes if he saw his brother standing in front of him.

 

I also think Molly believed too easy, but maybe that's my resent towards the character.

  • Love 2
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candall

candall

They better have Sammy do something truly heroic pretty soon to justify staying in Ma'an, making everyone have to worry about him, jerk him out of explosions, drag his useless ass along, etc.  Besides the ten mil that recently fell into his lap, what does this doctors' kid from Pasadena imagine he can contribute to the rebellion?

 

I thought Jamal's "good idea (kill him)" strategy was odd.  The Jamal I know would have snatched Rami's eyeballs out of the sockets before he'd finished the "drunken old fool" sentence.

 

I'm glad Sammy and Molly both gave Barry the "better off dead" speech he deserved.  Barry's such a jerk for lounging around the resort sipping umbrella drinks while they were all broken up with heartache.

Oh wait.

  • Love 3
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dubbel zout

dubbel zout

I might be done with the show after this season. There's just too much stupendous idiocy and not enough decent plot. Leila needs to be given more to do. She's a much more interesting character than Molly, who makes me roll my eyes no matter what she's doing.

 

I half-expect Jamal to take out his pistol and shoot Nusrat and Rami next episode.

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Human

Human

Some weird editing happening in this episode.  There's that prolonged look at Sammy's dropped phone which turned out to amount to nothing at all since he apparently went back and retrieved it.  There was not even seeing the brother's execution, just some vague mention of it after the fact and I guess the audience was supposed to assume they sent a scout to check it out before executing the sweet dear brother.  Finally, I don't think enough attention was paid to the fact that people around Barry would have noticed that he was freaking the hell out about the new American kid and then screaming in the phone at a Molly about not being able to find the kid.  There should have been so camera pauses on all the faces as they finally realized who Barry is.  

  • Love 1
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Artsda

Artsda

(edited)

What are Nusrat and Rami doing, making googly eyes at each other in the palace garden, right under Jamal's office window?

I don't think they were carrying on an affair, she came out to the garden and they were talking. It was innocent enough. What was bizarre was Jamal watching them and then writing heart symbols around them on the window sill.  Jamal's so borderline crazy but still intuitive at the same time.

 

Why was Molly having her phone conversation with a dead executed enemy so loudly on the street?

Edited by Artsda
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sjohnson

sjohnson

There's that prolonged look at Sammy's dropped phone which turned out to amount to nothing at all since he apparently went back and retrieved it.  

Molly didn't call Sammy, Sammy called her. He could have used another phone for that, if he is the kind to know any phone numbers. So in principle this could still pay off in a plot development. 

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ganesh

ganesh

Why did Barry call Molly in the first place. I kept thinking, could that call be intercepted? Or at the least mine the metadata and find out Molly received a call from Ma'an. Which is enough for paranoid Jamal. 

 

I mean, it's a tv cheat, because we can't have Barry going through elaborate charades to disguise his voice all the time, but it's funny he just puts a cloth on the phone. 

 

Is Ma'an that big that the Caliphate couldn't just find the HQ by sweeping the city? There's red hands painted all over the place, so it's not sooper sekrit. 

 

I do have to say, I liked the way the actor played Sammy's shock. It was a good scene. I say this a lot, modern tv is way way way too overwritten. I don't know if it's because there's just not good directors around or what, but I am a big fan of dialing down the dialogue and letting the actors actually work. 

 

Are we betting on Sammy being the tyrant now or what? Ahmed wants out of there, pretty boy new son seems doomed. 

 

I do hope there's an S3, but I think TPTB need to step back and really look at the show they actually have here. I think it might be a good idea to kill Molly off and make this a real war with real stakes. 

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slothgirl

slothgirl

(edited)
Are we betting on Sammy being the tyrant now or what? Ahmed wants out of there, pretty boy new son seems doomed. 

 

I do hope there's an S3, but I think TPTB need to step back and really look at the show they actually have here. I think it might be a good idea to kill Molly off and make this a real war with real stakes. 

I'm betting Jamal is supposed to be the Tyrant and was all along. The premise of having many people who could become tyrants while still being so different was interesting. But since they seem intent on forcing saintly-Barry on us, I believe that they never intended for his dark side to re-surface if he does gain any power.

 

Which is too bad.. cause that would be an interesting show too (or would be if the guy could act) Seeing Ahmed slowly turn bitter and tyrannical would also be interesting. Tariq had tyrant qualities. There's no shortage of potential Tyrants including Ihab Rashid and Whassisname from the Caliphate. Even Lady Macbeth could wield enough power from behind the scenes to become the tyrant.

 

They could have called the show Tyrants (with an "s').

 

I do hope they get more seasons and explore some of the possibilities of what would likely happen when Jamal is deposed. I REALLY hope they don't go the easy route and have Barry win out, his family safe, and he establishes a western type, open, liberal society where everyone (except the caliphate) lives happily ever after (after Jamal dies... repentant in Barry's arms with Leila weeping nearby while Nusrat and Ahmed find orphans from the war to adopt).

 

It would be far more interesting (and probably more realistic) if whoever takes over from Jamal becomes every bit as bad as both he and his father. And if that person is someone we've thought of as a "good guy" (Ahmed, Barry, Rami) then it will be even better.

 

However, I'm betting that they'll go with scenario #`1.

Edited by slothgirl
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SoothingDave

SoothingDave

Yeah, I couldn't figure out why they the Caliphate would have killed the younger brother (off-screen, apparently), until they were sure they had the coordinates.  For all they know, he could have given them bonus information or something, but it sounded like they just automatically killed him.  Weird.  Anyway, he's dead and the older brother offed himself, so this family really isn't having a good year.

 

 

 

They probably won't get their deposit back on Dahlia's tuition for "water purifying" school, either.

 

Don't get me started though on the fact that Barry can disguise his voice to a brother who is OBSSESSED with him, simply by putting a layer of cloth over the phone. I would more likely imagine that Jamal hears and sees Barry EVERYWHERE than believe he can't recognize Barry's voice when he hears it.

 

 

Not to mention he didn't even disguise his face when he met with Rami and the army.  Think someone might say "hey, aren't you Bassam Al-Fayed?"

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dubbel zout

dubbel zout

(edited)
It would be far more interesting (and probably more realistic) if whoever takes over from Jamal becomes every bit as bad as both he and his father. And if that person is someone we've thought of as a "good guy" (Ahmed, Barry, Rami) then it will be even better.

 

Jamal started out with decent intentions when he took over after his father died—he and Leila both wanted to make Abuddin a more open society—but then reality hit when the power struggles among the different governmental and popular factions started, and the only way Jamal thought he could hold on was to crack down on liberties. Not that someone else couldn't succeed where Jamal failed, but dealing with religious fundamentalists is a whole other problem.

 

They probably won't get their deposit back on Dahlia's tuition for "water purifying" school, either.

 

Heh. But wasn't Dahlia on a scholarship from the NGO? That's likely the only way she could afford to go. Her family seemed well off in comparison to the rest of the village, but not in a larger way.

 

Not to mention he didn't even disguise his face when he met with Rami and the army.  Think someone might say "hey, aren't you Bassam Al-Fayed?"

 

I KNOW. I'll grudgingly accept that Jamal wouldn't recognize Bassam's voice because he wouldn't be expecting it—though he knows Bassam isn't dead, so it wouldn't be that out of left field—but for Rami to have no idea that Khalil is actually Bassam is completely beyond comprehension. Rami didn't even look nonplussed. 

Edited by dubbel zout
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slothgirl

slothgirl

Jamal? He doesn't know Bassam isn't dead. He left him in the desert to die. 

Jamal left Barry in the desert to die because he couldn't kill him or have his blood on his hands or whatever. Ever since, he's been illogically convinced that he DID kill him and is being punished for it.

 

It seems like it would make more sense if he was telling himself that Barry didn't die (or at least could be alive). I would have liked to have seen a scene or 3 where Jamal goes from feeling that whether or not Barry died was the will of Allah, to deciding that he was in fact responsible.

 

Not because I can't believe in such a transition without seeing it, but because I'd love to see the actor do those scenes.

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scrb

scrb

They kind of made Ihab into a cartoon character now.  He had misgivings about some of the Caliphate's tactics.

 

In fact he was ready to call it a day after but then got captured by the Caliphate and Crazy Eyes Samira wanted blood.

 

Then Samira gets killed and now Ihab is wild-eyed, torturing and executing.  Surprised they didn't post the video.

  • Love 1
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Rahul

Rahul

Maybe my mind is warped, but The thing I was most hung up on this episode was whether Sammy simply peed his pants while hiding under the car with the female RedHand recruit or had a full-on bowel movement in response to the paralyzing fear. I was closely analyzing Noah Silver's facial nuances and my conclusion is that it was the latter.

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