S02.E10: Zanjir

[ShellSeeker]

 

Despite having depleted forces, Barry prepares to lead a crucial mission. Fueled by his delusions, Jamal takes extreme action that has far-reaching ramifications. When tragedy strikes close to the palace, Leila realizes the severity of their situation and doubts Jamal’s ability to see them through the storm.

 

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Alice Kridge truly was wasted on this show.

I chuckled when Leila got read for filth by her son.

Stay woke Ahmed, take Nusrat and GTFO.

Hope Rami survives, the actor is great and smoking hot.

[Rhetorica]

Poor Jamal. Maybe he's right and god is out to get him. Good to see Ahmed confront Leila. They were both great in that scene. I'm surprised she spoke so openly to Rami-the walls have ears. And yes, he looks good at any angle. Two episodes left for the season. What will the cliffhanger be this year?

[MrsRafaelBarba]

I think the cliffhanger will be Jamal and Barry coming face to face.

[Artsda]

Woah Jamal killed his mother. He really needs to die.

 

Would love to see Rami and Ahmed duke it out over control of the kingdom especially with Barry still alive. 

 

Rami & Nusrat are too pretty together.

[SimoneS]

I did not enjoy this episode as much as the others. For the first time, I got really annoyed with Sammy. He can barely work his weapon. How does he intend to help fight? I wish the writers would have have him offer to help in a more practical way, like manning the radio or assembling supplies. Also, I would prefer Bassam tell Sammy the truth about his past, about how easy it was for him to kill as a child and that he did not want Sammy to become like him. I think that Sammy would have accepted this honest explanation more readily.

 

While I understand Ahmed's anger, I am not thrilled with the writers being inconsistent about women's lack of agency in that culture. Maybe Leila's powerful family would have supported her, allowing her to leave Jamal, but under no circumstances would have Jamal or his father allowed her to take Ahmed with her so how could she leave her son to be raised by that family?  Leila too is trapped by that culture and women's powerlessness. The writers should have given her the dialogue to point this out to her son.

 

Was Molly going to tell Amira that Bassam was alive? Jamal should have just told her mother about the bomb, but of course, this ongoing deception is in character. Poor Rami, I was surprised that his right hand man was written so naively. He should have known immediately that Jamal was behind the bombing and been trying to help Rami get out of Dodge.  Oh well, I still hope that Rami gets out of this alive. Maybe Bassam will save him by confronting Jamal about killing their mother at the end of the season. 

 

The general asking to determine his own death was funny as hell. He had no delusion about Jamal. He even had a back up plan to save his nephew.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Did anyone else think, that Jamal was going stab ole dude with that fork?

[SimoneS]

Did anyone else think, that Jamal was going stab ole dude with that fork?

 

Hell, I was surprised that he made it out of the room alive. I was even more surprised that he was still alive in the preview.

[thuganomics85]

I would say that Amira's death was shocking, but really, she was barely used this season at all, so it wasn't that surprising.  I wonder if this decision was because the writers didn't know what to do with her anymore or if it was Alice Kridge who had other plans, and just wanted out.  Either way, it was waste of a character and a great actress.

 

Jamal though, has just gone off the fucking deep end, to the point that Leila is finally about ready to make a move on him.  She couldn't bring herself to shoot him sadly, but she seems to be willing to work with Rami of all people, to bring him down, and give her and Ahmed control.  That, of course, is assuming Ahmed would go with that, because he seems over both with them, and I think if Nursat tells him she wants to make it work, he'd just bail in a heartbeat.  The Al Faeeds are totally in disarray.

 

Barry and the gang are now marching off to war, without any back-up.  That's not good.  At least he tricked Sammy into saying behind, which, considering he couldn't even load a weapon, that was easily the right call.

 

Molly getting herself into the Jamal/Leila drama, has probably been the most I found her interesting so far.

[scrb]

Forget handling the weapon, Sammy couldn't even put on his shoes.

Molly marching into Leila's office all indignant, screaming where is Almira!

Wasn't it in the news?

BTW the writers really took advantage of more liberal cable standards in this episode: General was taking a shit when the bomb was going off and Ahmed called bullshit on Leila.

But the biggest mystery was, how does Rami freshen up the eyeliner in a jail cell?

[sjohnson]

I just couldn't believe the twist about the mercenary commander canceling the offensive, leaving Barry was in jeopardy. I think any mercenary commander in that position would crawl on his knees to get back out into the field with the troops and out of the snake pit called the presidential palace. This is triply true if the prospect of a military victory is good. It's awfully hard to shove around a victorious general. 

[happy turtles]

 

 

 

Molly marching into Leila's office all indignant, screaming where is Almira!

Wasn't it in the news?

Molly had the news on in the hotel room, but she (conveniently) muted it just as they were beginning the story, so she could call the front desk to ask if anyone had asked for her. By the time she turned the volume back up, they were wrapping up the story and she didn't hear anything relevant.

Edited August 19, 2015 by happy turtles

[slothgirl]

Molly had the news on in the hotel room, but she (conveniently) muted it just as they were beginning the story, so she could call the front desk to ask if anyone had asked for her. By the time she turned the volume back up, they were wrapping up the story and she didn't hear anything relevant.

Yeah, but didn't she say something about it being 2 days ago? I didn't get the impression that everything in the episode happened in one day. I also got the impression that the palace had kept mum about WHO was killed in the explosion. It would have been easy for them to hush that up, especially considering that they were fabricating everything else about it.

[slothgirl]

I just couldn't believe the twist about the mercenary commander canceling the offensive, leaving Barry was in jeopardy. I think any mercenary commander in that position would crawl on his knees to get back out into the field with the troops and out of the snake pit called the presidential palace. This is triply true if the prospect of a military victory is good. It's awfully hard to shove around a victorious general. 

Fortunes change quickly in unstable regions. Tariq was a victorious general.. .until he wasn't. When a paranoid wack-job is in power, the only certain way of not being shoved around, is to stage a coup and take over, deposing the wack-job.

 

That hasn't worked out so well for people Jamal suspected of doing that so far.

 

I can't tell if the black guy seen in meetings with Jamal, Rami, assassination dude, and other high ranking officials, is the same guy as the head of the mercenary squad. We haven't seen enough of either of them for me to tell them apart (apologies if that sounds racist) if it is indeed 2 different people. I'm not even sure the uniformed black guy in the meetings has even had any lines. Was the mercenary wearing a uniform in the "this food is great" scene? It has to be 2 different people, because wouldn't anyone high ranking already in top level meetings have sampled the palace food before? IF they are 2 different people, who is the uniformed general in the meetings supposed to be? Why hasn't he been of any importance?

 

I think it's plausible that the mercenary would book it out of there after seeing Jamal turn on Rami. If the president's son isn't safe, then he definitely isn't safe. He did say he had 3 other potential jobs in Africa waiting (where he might have had more chance of actually collecting the pay rather than being imprisoned as soon as the threat to the president was resolved and he wasn't needed anymore). There's no shortage of work around the world for mercs, and they would probably all prefer to fight actual field battles than navigate political danger. They take advantage of political upheaval, but they stay clear of it. This guy was being thrown into it in a big way. If the only way to stay safe from Jamal would be to depose him, then it isn't a job for a merc. He doesn't want take over and rule a country.

 

I do think he'd make sure he was clear of the palace and was actually out of Abbudin before revealing his intentions to bail, though. But perhaps since so much of the army was his crew, he couldn't just slip away... he needed to get them all out, and that couldn't have been done secretly. Of course, who would stop them? THEY are the military.

 

Speaking of which, how did Jamal's father, being all Tyranty, NOT have a HUGE military industrial complex? I know that they had some losses due to Rashid's group, but it seems like Abbudin would be the sort of place where military service was mandatory for males at a certain age, and that the military would be quite large. Or would they frequently rely on neighboring allies?

Forget handling the weapon, Sammy couldn't even put on his shoes.

To be fair, Barry had drugged him. ;)

Edited August 19, 2015 by slothgirl

[Human]

Yeah, I can't really fault Sammy's clumsy movements when it's the result of being drugged.  I must say, though, that I'm absolutely shocked at how they are carrying out this story.  This goes to show that an actor can become victim to the script.  Noah Silver is finally being given decent material and he's fantastic.  He's definitely carrying the emotion in the rebel camp scenes.  

 

Solomon, the leader of the mercenaries, is one person.  It would have been a very poor business decision to stay on with Jamal.  Even mercenaries need to have a code.  Jamal and co already set it up so that it looks like the mercenaries turned on Rami.  When this war is over, they are going to need to move on to another war and it's a problem if this merc company looks as though they are willing to turn on their own leaders.  Plus, Solomon can only continue to earn money so long as he's alive.  Jamal being willing to kill off all his family isn't the best indication that he'd honor his debts and/or not try to also murder Solomon.  The only thing I'm not clear on is whether or not Solomon told Jamal about the offensive that was planned since Rami obviously didn't get the chance.

 

What I'm wondering, though, is if Solomon is heading out, would he head to Bassam?  I don't know how much merc companies cost, 10 million doesn't seem like much.  But Solomon did seem like he was genuinely friends with Rami so he might have a sense of loyalty/desire for revenge and bringing the mercs to Bassam in order to fight the Caliphate and maybe then turn on the palace might just be good enough for him.  

[dubbel zout]

Was there really enough left of Amira to bring back to the palace? Her car took a direct hit from the bomb.

 

Molly needs to dial back the righteous anger. 

[OrientalAmish]

But the biggest mystery was, how does Rami freshen up the eyeliner in a jail cell?

 

LOLROFLLMAO!

[candall]

I thought it was a great episode--things definitely hustled along and I was giving a lot of instructions to people on my television screen.

 

"Shutup already with the trying to convince her to turn around and TELL HER TO STOP THE CAR!!"  >boom<

 

"Sleeves, Blondie.  That guy with the machine gun at the gate is wishing he could arrest you."

*****

Now that we've seen Jamal pull ten mil out of petty cash and not give much thought to promising Sammy another 90M, what's all this dicking around with 19% increases for the only team in town who can save his bacon?  Pony up, Jamal, and get the job done.  Oops, too late.

*****

So Jamal nosedives into paranoia and insanity from self-doubt and too many speeders, tries to kill his son, misses and whacks his mother instead, blows his shot at the Caliphate, isn't aware his wife and child have both turned against him.

Meanwhile, Bassam is taking on the whole Caliphate with a handful of soldiers in the middle of a sandstorm and he still makes sure to separate relatives so no family gets wiped out, saving his own kid thereby.    I looooove this show!

 

********

 

"Between us, everything is known."  Classy.

[Ariah]

"Do you love him?" - Oh, Sammy. What kind of question is that? The drugs are talking. Also, yes, I think she does.

 

This was the episode where everyone found themselves in peril (or will find out that soon enough). Well, Molly probably is not in much peril herself, unless Jamal starts choking her.

 

Jamal is playing in a pretty gruesome Shakespearian tragedy - killing his mother while trying to kill his son... Being the target of his own wife's murder attempt... Even uttering a lengthy soliloquy (or a monologue, depending if we consider Amira's remains an addressee).

 

I feel pretty sorry fo Bassam and his followers - they seemed to be doing pretty well until Jamal inserted himself into the mids and blew everything side-ways.

[Ottis]

This was a fantastic episode, IMO. So many dramatic scenes, done well. Sammy, Ahmed, Jamal's wife, hell, even Barry was good this episode.

 

The only thing I struggle with, and it's a big one, is Jamal's spiraling into paranoia. He started out the series as practically a sociopath, and then Barry helped him grow into a shaky but growing leader. He started this season reasonably, for a dictator, with his orders not to use gas, etc. To go from that to what is now a full-scale mental breakdown - begging god to stop punishing him, making plans to kill his own son who he just fondly met, etc. - is too much, too soon. It's almost as if someone has been giving him meds or something.

 

Why is the spiral happening so quickly? Maybe so Barry and Jamal meet once more, and again Barry provides the support that rescues Jamal?

[sjohnson]

Jamal's breakdown is plot driven, to set him up as somehow the best friend in deed of the Islamic State.

 

Jamal is Bashar Assad, therefore he must be depicted as fundamentally monstrous, because that's the required politics in this country. Barry is America, therefore he must be fighting Islamic State and betrayed by Assad, because, well, see above. There is no Israel anywhere near Abuddin, despite being near Lebanon, nor Turkey, nor even Iran, because there is only acceptance of the US version of democracy or unreasoning hate against it, and it's all personal, and the only unsavory foreign power interventions that have anything to do with the bad things are self-serving types like the "Chinese" (Russians,) who are in it for oil (which by the way, Syria doesn't have a lot of.) 

[scrb]

Well if Barry saw Jamal's paranoia now, he'd be saying "this is why I tried to overthrow you."

 

But the show may be setting up Jamal snapping to instant lucidity once he realizes he didn't kill Barry.

[slothgirl]

Solomon, the leader of the mercenaries, is one person.

 

I'm not sure if you were trying to answer my question about the characters or making a comment about why Solomon would leave rather than take Jamal's offer. If it was the former, it doesn't really answer my question. I'm trying to figure out if the uniformed guy in the meetings with Jamal, Rami, Mahmoud and other top brass is Solomon or someone else.

 

Was there really enough left of Amira to bring back to the palace? Her car took a direct hit from the bomb.

 

I wondered that to. Instead of a body shaped lump, I would have expected a pile of pieces.

 

"Shutup already with the trying to convince her to turn around and TELL HER TO STOP THE CAR!!"  >boom<

 19% increases for the only team in town who can save his bacon?

That conversation with Amira was ridiculous. Why do people on tv always beat around the bush in an emergency instead of getting straight to the point? It's such a tired trope that the person being warned argues with the person trying to save them and the saver won't just come right out and tell them what's going on.

 

Regardless of whether he has zillions, what's with 19%? Who offers 19%? Why not 20? We all know the psychology of numbers where 20 sounds like SO much more. Why price it like a sale price of 19.99 to  lure in a "buyer"? The transaction is going the opposite direction.. you need to make it sound like MORE money, not less! If he thought he was going to have to negotiate, it STILL doesn't make sense to offer such a strange number.

 

The only thing I struggle with, and it's a big one, is Jamal's spiraling into paranoia. He started out the series as practically a sociopath, and then Barry helped him grow into a shaky but growing leader. He started this season reasonably, for a dictator, with his orders not to use gas, etc. To go from that to what is now a full-scale mental breakdown - begging god to stop punishing him, making plans to kill his own son who he just fondly met, etc. - is too much, too soon. It's almost as if someone has been giving him meds or something.

 

Why is the spiral happening so quickly? Maybe so Barry and Jamal meet once more, and again Barry provides the support that rescues Jamal?

I have no trouble with Jamal's spiral downward. It actually makes his character even more believable to me. History has shown us this exact deterioration over and over. Meglomaniac sociopathic dictators become paranoid and start killing their closest staff, advisers, and especially military generals. It wasn't all that quick. I'm pretty sure Barry was "executed" a year ago.

 

I had more trouble believing he was trying to be a responsible and humane leader under Barry's influence.

 

I think they have been trying to portray him as someone who became a bad person due to influences and lack of proper guidance rather than as a true sociopath. I'm not sure I can buy that narrative though because he was SO evil at the beginning. Some of his horrific actions have been reactionary in the moment (Tariq, that girlfriend he killed last season) but systematically and regularly raping that woman last season was sheer sociopath territory.

 

I think they fell into the trap of trying to establish too much about everyone in the pilot (and next 1 or 2 episodes) instead of letting them develop more slowly. If they hadn't been in such a rush to make Jamal=bad and Barry=good, they wouldn't have this confusion now about who Jamal is. This season definitely feels to me like it is being either written or directed (or both) by someone else.

Edited August 20, 2015 by slothgirl

[Human]

I'm not sure if you were trying to answer my question about the characters or making a comment about why Solomon would leave rather than take Jamal's offer. If it was the former, it doesn't really answer my question. I'm trying to figure out if the uniformed guy in the meetings with Jamal, Rami, Mahmoud and other top brass is Solomon or someone else.

 

That sentence was trying to answer your question.  There is only one character character called Solomon.  He's the one always with Rami and in meetings with the brass and the same Solomon (called by name) that Jamal met with after Rami was arrested.  It's a single actor, Ariyon Bakare.  

[dubbel zout]

Solomon wore a uniform when he was in "official" meetings, so maybe that's what confused you. In the scene with just Jamal, he was in mufti. 

 

I got the impression that Jamal was if not intimidated by Solomon, then certainly aware that he wasn't one to screw over. I also liked that Solomon was completely unimpressed with Jamal. That was kind of refreshing.

[ganesh]

Molly marching into Leila's office all indignant, screaming where is Almira!

Wasn't it in the news?

 

I mean, what in the whatever grown adult doesn't watch 15 minutes of news a day? Ok, so she muted the tv. It wasn't in the lobby when she left? Not on the radio in the car?! I mean, she wouldn't think something was fishy. Of course, this is from the wife and mother who apparently never heard of google in S1, so what am I saying. Like, a bombing anywhere in the middle east doesn't arise suspicion. She didn't think, hmm, that could have been IS. I'll just go right to the palace and name drop. That's the best idea.

 

If I was Leila, I'd be like, "ok go." Methinks Leils is going to work on using Molly to suit her own ends though. 

 

I just don't think Jamal is the Tyrant. I'm waiting for this season to end on a coup and a real tyrant installed. 

 

Seriously, though, Sammy. I want to fight. Well, I may not be your father anymore, but I'm in charge here. You're not. You can help with communications, etc. We'll find a job for you. Everyone is needed here, so I'm glad you're willing, but you're not fighting. Then, later, you can say why. 

[Ariah]

I still believe the Tyrant in the title is more metaphorical than physical entity - it's the idea of a tyrant, an idea that power corrupts and turns you into the worst version of yourself. The power is the tyrant that crushes everyone who weilds it.

[ganesh]

Yes, that's why I want to see someone else take over for Jamal and be all idealistic and then tragically fall into the tyrant role. They're trying to make the show classically tragic. Jamal isn't really a tyrant, he wanted to book out of there in S1, and he was actually improving, but he couldn't get over himself and ended up gassing his own people and "killing" his brother, and now he's essentially crazy. Barry didn't help much with that either, which foreshadows that he's going to have the same downfall.

 

What would make the most dramatic sense to me is that Jamal has a moment of lucidity when Barry shows up and says, "it should have been you" (shades of the father from S1) and then kills himself. Barry takes over and thinks everything is ok, and then along the way in S3 finds out that Leila's scheming got Molly killed and ends up taking her and Ahmed out and puts himself on the tyrant path but even worse than Jamal. 

 

I don't really consider Jamal much of a tyrant more than he's always been a little bit crazy and had a lot of power at his disposal. I want Barry to be even worse than the father.

 

I hope the show sticks around long enough to play out the cycle. 

[Ottis]

I have no trouble with Jamal's spiral downward. It actually makes his character even more believable to me. History has shown us this exact deterioration over and over. Meglomaniac sociopathic dictators become paranoid and start killing their closest staff, advisers, and especially military generals. It wasn't all that quick. I'm pretty sure Barry was "executed" a year ago.

 

 

Let me explain further. I'm aware of lessons in history about meglomaniac dictators, and the cliche on TV of expanding paranoia. Solomon even mentioned it a couple of episodes ago. However:

 

- We are watching a TV show in which Jamal is one of, if not the most, fascinating characters. On these boards, he has been a fan favorite. At this rate of growing mental instability, he should be dead by season's end. It seems highly unlikely that will happen. So - why is the fall so far, so fast? It's jarring.

- While Barry was allegedly killed as long as a year ago or so, the events of this season didn't start that long ago. And at the beginning of this season, Jamal was the friggin voice of reason, trying to handle an internal revolt in ways that were acceptable to the outside world as well as morally acceptable (i.e. no gas). Now, in a span of weeks, he welcomes home an unknown son and then decides, based on a mystic's vague words, that this son is a traitor and immediately makes plans to kill him. Again, jarring.

- Everything that Jamal suspects is happening (traitors, coups, etc.) is driven by his own mental issues. We haven't seen any examples of any one in reality eyeing his position or maneuvering against him - which, if that had happened, would at least create a path for Jamal's paranoia. This is all him, spinning his own issues, then taking crazier and crazier actions to solve them. It makes it that much weirder, because there is no reason for it unless Jamal has always been mentally unstable or someone is drugging him. It's just too much, too soon.

- Given his upbringing, I realize that Jamal was damaged years ago. But even damaged people can get better. That's the path Jamal seemed to be on after we first met him. And it happened after his father, the source of much of that damage, passed away, and Barry, someone who shared that childhood horror and who was a source of comfort to Jamal, came back. So I could buy that Jamal was actually becoming a better person, though of course the damage would always be under the surface to be triggered by specific events.

 

Something definitive but more nuanced would have made more sense, and would have taken longer. Not sure what the rush is. Maybe we will find out next week.

 

I agree on the ridiculous phone call to his mom. "Stop the car now!" would have been more effective. Hmm ... I wonder if he *is* being drugged?

Edited August 21, 2015 by Ottis

[scrb]

Jamal wasn't as crazy when Leila was withholding sex and he had to have a mistress on the side.

 

Of course he killed the mistress.

 

Sex with Leila is making him crazy!

Edited August 21, 2015 by scrb

[slothgirl]

Yes, that's why I want to see someone else take over for Jamal and be all idealistic and then tragically fall into the tyrant role.

 

I want Barry to be worse than his father

 

I hope the show sticks around long enough to play out the cycle. 

That's the cycle I've wanted to see from the beginning and the one foreshadowed by Barry killing in cold blood when he was a child (shown in S1). But they've gone all "Saint Barry" ever since then, so I'm afraid they don't have that plan. For someone who couldn't manage a secret coup when he had the US State Department helping, it still confounds me that he can be leading this major rebellion and have any success. It's unfortunate that Barry is the worst written character on the show, except maybe Molly. But with both of them, I can't tell where bad writing, directing, development, and acting intersect.

[slothgirl]

- We are watching a TV show in which Jamal is one of, if not the most, fascinating characters. On these boards, he has been a fan favorite. At this rate of growing mental instability, he should be dead by season's end. It seems highly unlikely that will happen. So - why is the fall so far, so fast? It's jarring.

- While Barry was allegedly killed as long as a year ago or so, the events of this season didn't start that long ago. And at the beginning of this season, Jamal was the friggin voice of reason, trying to handle an internal revolt in ways that were acceptable to the outside world as well as morally acceptable (i.e. no gas). Now, in a span of weeks, he welcomes home an unknown son and then decides, based on a mystic's vague words, that this son is a traitor and immediately makes plans to kill him. Again, jarring.

- Everything that Jamal suspects is happening (traitors, coups, etc.) is driven by his own mental issues. We haven't seen any examples of any one in reality eyeing his position or maneuvering against him - which, if that had happened, would at least create a path for Jamal's paranoia. This is all him, spinning his own issues, then taking crazier and crazier actions to solve them. It makes it that much weirder, because there is no reason for it unless Jamal has always been mentally unstable or someone is drugging him. It's just too much, too soon.

 

I don't think the producers/writers/directors ever intended Jamal to be the most fascinating or favorite character. I think they expected us to all go gaga over Barry and his family. They can't POSSIBLY have meant for us to despise every scene that the family was in for all of season 1 and half of season 2. The fact that the acting chops of the 2 families are so unbalanced has produced this result.. not the story-line that I think the show-runners intended.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if the original show outline called for Jamal's demise all along and they do kill him off. In fact, I can't see any other possible outcome for Jamal. The show wouldn't work if he remains the president after this war. It wouldn't work if Barry just takes over and Jamal goes on about his life elsewhere. Jamal is going to die at SOME point whether at the end of this season or next season fighting alongside Barry. There is no other possible resolution for his character. That means they had only this season to show his downfall, and to start the season with him already this paranoid and nuts would have had people really crying foul too.

 

I can accept the rapid descent since things that brew for a long time do often spiral out of control quickly once it starts downhill in someone who has been struggling to hold it together. I don't agree at all that he has no reason to think he might be betrayed. First Barry plotted to overthrow him and then Tariq gassed Ma'an knowing Jamal would not approve.

 

I think the real trigger (the proverbial last straw) was Tariq.. Jamal "killed" his own brother because he trusted Tariq. Initially he trusted Barry and jailed Tariq, but Tariq won out. As soon as Jamal found out Tariq made the HUGE mistake of gassing Ma'an despite Jamal's clear intentions, Jamal realized he had backed the wrong horse and murdered his brother because he trusted someone who also betrayed him and started the cycle that plunged the country into chaos. If he hadn't been influenced by Tariq, he might have simply stepped aside when he discovered Barry's betrayal. He even said that if Barry had just asked, he would have handed over the reigns to him.

 

And then there was Lady Macbeth whispering in his ear "You have to execute Bassam.. you have to execute Bassam....". So he doesn't trust her now either.

Edited August 21, 2015 by slothgirl

[dubbel zout]

They can't POSSIBLY have meant for us to despise every scene that [bassam's] family was in for all of season 1 and half of season 2.

 

I think they were trying to set up an idealist vs. realist situation, but Bassam and his family were so completely stupid and naive that they never had a chance.

Edited August 21, 2015 by dubbel zout

[ganesh]

Plus, the reality of TV. It's a short season with a big gap between seasons. Having s2 be the downfall of Jamal and S3 starting with a new tyrant is just a better way to execute a show. It compacts the storyline but it's still earned and not just forced plot.

[Rhetorica]

Well if Jamal is out, so am I. A perfect American family at the helm is not interesting at all to me.

[ganesh]

I highly doubt that's how it will end up.

[Human]

I have to think that the reviews of season 1 caused the show to maybe take a different route to get to the tyrant than they originally planned and that's mostly because of Adam Rayner.  They spent a long time trying to find an actor to play Bassam, long enough that the delay due to casting was a really big deal so it must have been a blow that Rayner's performance was mostly panned.  Whatever they thought they saw in casting didn't show up on screen.  

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Prior to this show, I've seen Ashraf Barhom in The Kingdom back in 2007.

He should've received an Oscar Nomination for his performance.

In the Supporting Actor category.

HE is the MAIN reason why I started and continue to watch Tyrant.

[slothgirl]

Ashraf and Moran Atias are the reasons I watch. I'm starting to add Cameron Gharaee (Ahmed) to that list.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Ashraf and Moran Atias are the reasons I watch. I'm starting to add Cameron Gharaee (Ahmed) to that list.

Moran was a pleasant surprise, prior to this I saw her in the God awful Mother of Tears.

She's equally as compelling, especially in scenes with Ashraf.

[Constantinople]

Molly marching into Leila's office all indignant, screaming where is Almira!

Wasn't it in the news?

 

 

Molly had the news on in the hotel room, but she (conveniently) muted it just as they were beginning the story, so she could call the front desk to ask if anyone had asked for her. By the time she turned the volume back up, they were wrapping up the story and she didn't hear anything relevant.

 

 

I mean, what in the whatever grown adult doesn't watch 15 minutes of news a day? Ok, so she muted the tv. It wasn't in the lobby when she left? Not on the radio in the car?! I mean, she wouldn't think something was fishy. Of course, this is from the wife and mother who apparently never heard of google in S1, so what am I saying. Like, a bombing anywhere in the middle east doesn't arise suspicion.

I didn't catch the network to which Molly was listening, but given that she's listening to the news in Abuddin, I'd think the death of the current President for Life, and wife of the previous President for Life, would be a big story. Even when they weren't talking about how she died, or what little was known about how she died, I'd think there would be stories about how she met her husband, what she's done in Abuddin, plus something like Amira al Fayeed XXXX-2015 across the bottom of the screen.

[sjohnson]

The news was censored, and the names of the dead withheld, if I remember correctly. 

[slothgirl]

The news was censored, and the names of the dead withheld, if I remember correctly. 

That's what I remember too

[ganesh]

Regardless, Molly clomping on down to the palace and not having a clue something *might* be amiss like she owned the place was a bit much. It's not OOC because she apparently never heard of google in S1, but it's ridiculous behavior given the situation. 

 

The news reported a bombing. The country is ripped by civil war and invaded by IS beforehand, which she knew. Don't tune into the news at all? Situational awareness?