S02.E11: Desert Storm

[Artsda]

 

 

To secure military support, Barry takes advantage of a sandstorm to overrun the Caliphate's military base. As the political tide shifts, Leila re-examines her loyalties and makes a bold play in the palace. Molly uses all the resources at her disposal to try and save Barry's life.

 

 

I would have thought Barry would be a bit more "hello, nephew. I'm you're uncle. Thanks for saving my life" feels towards Rami coming in there with his aviators and saving the day.

 

I'm with Sammy, Barry should have let him die.

 

Jamal needs to hand over the country to  a combination of Barry/Rami or just Rami. 

Edited August 26, 2015 by Artsda

[Human]

That opening scene with the Caliphate running into Ma'an looked like it was ripped straight out of a Call of Duty video.  The jerky movements of the people was so video game, I couldn't stop laughing.  

 

I definitely expected/hoped for more reaction when Barry was revealed as Basam Al Fayeed.  Not so much the family reacting, I think they reacted well, save for Ahmed, though with him it seemed like he might have be told previously or something.  But all of Khalil's rebels just seemed to shrug away the fact that their leader was an Al Fayeed risen from the dead.  It was weird.

 

I also kept waiting for Basam to go down with a surprise bullet or knife to the gut.  Adam Rayner likely has a contract so it's not like they can easily kill him.  But actually killing him off now would almost be a brave choice for the writers.  I'm digging Sammy, to the point where I even forgive him for being a money grubbing douchebag at the start and I think Sam can easily slide into a potential tyrant role.  

[cyberfruit]

I let out the biggest guffaw when Rami and Solomon appeared in their fatigues and aviators to save the day. Too. Damn. Much.

 

But upsides:

1. Molly and Leila teaming up. I've never really paid attention to Molly, but here she actually had teeth and was a useful character. Still, points to Leila for actually sticking her neck out and getting Rami out of prison. 

 

2. Ahmed, seemingly, forgiving his mother and forcing her to realize her priorities. I do believe Leila loves her son and that she has always had Jamal wrapped around her finger. That was some A+ manipulation on her part; let's hope it actually takes.

 

3. Finally seeing what a snake the Caliphate leader is. I mean, it was always kind of obvious that he was going to screw Ihab in the end, but damn -- to look him in the eye and turn away? Ihab unfortunately blinded himself to the Caliphate leaders plans and lost himself in the process, and then he almost lost his life. If he survives (he will), he could be a valuable asset to Bassam -- if he's willing to trust him. 

Edited August 26, 2015 by cyberfruit

[thuganomics85]

 

I would have thought Barry would be a bit more "hello, nephew. I'm you're uncle. Thanks for saving my life" feels towards Rami coming in there with his aviators and saving the day.

If anything, I thought Barry kind was a bit of a jerk, when he was all "I almost lost all of my men!" to Rami, like it was his fault.  Rami is a bigger person to just simply apologize, instead of saying "Oh, gee, Grumpy Uncle!  I'm sorry that I could get here sooner, thanks to my dumbass, wacko father, trying to set me up for your grandmother's death!  It's all my fault!  Asshole!"

 

Anyway, it looks like the Caliphate got their asses handed to them thankfully, but it looks like the leader guy escaped (of course), and is now going to set up some kind of defense at the oil fields.  Rashid though, takes a big hit, but now it looks like Barry is going to try and save him.  Don't do it, Barry!

 

Leila has finally had enough of Jamal's shit, so she first springs Rami after Molly finally gets through to her, and now is sounds like she is going to try something to bring him down, and get Ahmed into power.  I have no idea what she's planning.  All I know is that she better hope it works, because Jamal is at the point where he would totally kill her or Ahmed, if he feels threaten.  The man has lost his damn mind.

 

This episode sure did ramp up the gunfire and blood/squips this time.

[slothgirl]

Arguably the biggest moment of the series - Jamal being told Barry's alive - and ... it falls flat. How did that scene with Molly feel SO anticlimactic? I realize Jamal didn't believe her, but still... although it picked up a bit when he almost strangled her.

 

The scenes with Ahmed and Leila continue to be outstanding however.

 

Whoever created facial wounds for this episode got in a rut and gave Jamal and Daliyah wounds that looked identical.. is there supposed to be a very subtle hint that Deliyah also bears the mark of Cain for some reason?

 

Wow, that scene of Ihab at the end was pretty gruesome even for cable!

 

I wonder if they are going to install Barry as president next episode so that if they aren't renewed, they can sorta "end" the story...

Edited August 26, 2015 by slothgirl

[Constantinople]

It's amazing how little emotion Adam Rayner can put into a speech, whether it be the goodbye video in case he is killed or the pep talk to the rest of the Red Hand.

 

Speaking of, did the Red Hand and the Caliphate have some kind of formal truce when they weren't shooting at each other, as opposed to just not shooting at each other?

 

At one point, Ihab Rashid and Abu Omar were practically out in the open with minimal, if any, cover.  I'm surprised no one tried to shoot them.  I know the Red Hand is trying to drag things out as long as possible until the calvalry shows up, but it really seemed like a missed opportunity.

[dubbel zout]

This episode sure did ramp up the gunfire and blood/squips this time.

 

I know! There were an awful lot of heads exploding. 

 

Leila has finally had enough of Jamal's shit,

 

That felt very opportunistic to me. She's fine with him being a tyrant when it doesn't affect her, but now her safety is compromised too, oh, Jamal has pushed it too far. That arc wasn't strongly built enough for me.

 

Thank goodness next week is the season finale. This has been a big disappointment.

Edited August 26, 2015 by dubbel zout

[sjohnson]

Everything seemed to be determined by the goal of having the Americans defeat the Caliphate. Barry knocked out the air defenses, Sammy ponied up the money for the mercenaries, and Molly "persuaded" Leila to release Rami. So much more satisfying than reality, where the Americans are the main protectors of the paymasters for the real "Caliphate," Saudi Arabia and Qatar. It was really cute how they coyly referred to "regional" supporters when talking about the Caliphate's massive financial support. 

 

Molly's sudden reversion to unalloyed love for Barry was well-played, but really?

[algebra]

This could have filled two episodes. Having worked with recent immigrants from Islamic countries I can tell you it would have taken everything Leila had to tell either her son or husband what to do. I recall a conversation with a woman who spoke English, telling her to tellher husband he needs to do such and such,and she said "I can't, in my culture a woman doesn't tell a man what to do, even if it's for his own good."

You will not find any Catherine the Greats, Catherine de Medicis, or Isabella II's in Islamic history. They don't exist.

I wondered how Molly could do a wire transfer of the same $10 million that Sammy had already given the Red Hand, but whatever.

I didn't have a problem with Molly's relief at Barry's survival as she had still not completed the grieving process. She had not moved on to a life without him so it was easier for her to pick up where they left off. Anyway it was her fault Barry had gone back to the country for his nephews wedding, Barry didn't want to go, and for good reason. So she has to accept responsibility for that mess.

[candall]

So Molly had the whole ten million, back in Abbudin Central.

 

That means Sammy prioritized staying there to fight instead of going back and using the money to supply the rebels with weapons, communications, food, body armor, bribe money, whatever. 

Hmm.  Interesting strategy.

 

And apparently $10M is the no-haggle price point for a whole army of mercenaries, so Jamal was really cheaping out with his 19% deal, relatively speaking.

 

****

I myself would have liked five or ten minutes more of Jamal's reaction and the big doings back at the palace, but I guess they built that big set piece and didn't want to waste it.

 

I, too, was worried that Barry Bassam was doomed.  I had to pause the battle and track down the description for next week's season finale.

 

Dalyiah, looking forward to seeing you in Season Three, my dear.

 

.

[slothgirl]

She's fine with him being a tyrant when it doesn't affect her, but now her safety is compromised too, oh, Jamal has pushed it too far. That arc wasn't strongly built enough for me.

Ahmed's too. I think that is at least part of her reasoning. I agree though that her progression from Super-manipulator Lady Macbeth to Terrified & Desperate was poorly developed. I wonder if there were scenes that got left on the cutting room floor so they could make sure they showed Rami and Nusrat which... SO unnecessary as it turns out since now Ahmed seems to bear no ill will towards Rami.

 

Everything seemed to be determined by the goal of having the Americans defeat the Caliphate. Barry knocked out the air defenses, Sammy ponied up the money for the mercenaries, and Molly "persuaded" Leila to release Rami.

 

The showrunners insistence on forcing Barry and his family into the story so much is the weakest part of this show. I think they vastly underestimated the audience, assuming that we needed them in order to get invested in the story. We are supposed to be cheering that the Americans saved the day: "Yay Mom, Baseball, apple pie and good 'ol All-American Family Values!!! Go team!".

 

Instead we're all annoyed and rolling our eyes. (if for no other reason than our "all American family" seems to have abandoned their daughter completely, ironically reinforcing the idea that in Arabic countries, daughters don't count.)

 

it would have taken everything Leila had to tell either her son or husband what to do. I recall a conversation with a woman who spoke English, telling her to tellher husband he needs to do such and such,and she said "I can't, in my culture a woman doesn't tell a man what to do, even if it's for his own good.

I wondered how Molly could do a wire transfer of the same $10 million that Sammy had already given the Red Hand, but whatever.

They've been somewhat consistent in showing that Leila had influence over Jamal, and also that Abuddin is unusually secular, so I can handwave that. They also repeatedly showed that it was the Caliphate that were the Islamic extremists with offensive attitudes about women, and that the secular nature of the Al Fayeed's rule was part of their motivation. Even Ihab listened to Samira, and that would seem less likely than Jamal listening to Leila. Ahmed was shown all through the series as being respectful of Nusrat.

 

It's less eyeroll worthy to me than a doctor with no military training being able to lead a successful rebellion and go unrecognized by everyone while doing it. Speaking of which, obviously at SOME point, his fellow rebels found out that Sammy was his son, because no one acted surprised at their close interactions, including Sammy calling him Dad. They never showed us that happening (except Deliyah).

 

So Molly had the whole ten million, back in Abbudin Central.

 

That means Sammy prioritized staying there to fight instead of going back and using the money to supply the rebels with weapons, communications, food, body armor, bribe money, whatever. 

Hmm.  Interesting strategy.

I wondered how Molly was able to do a wire transfer of money that wasn't hers (and was quite specifically not anyone's but Sammy's) then I realized maybe Sammy could make the arrangements... by phone... for transfering 10 million... uh.. no.

 

So it makes even less sense that Molly could arrange it without any signatory rights to the account Jamal put the money into.

 

Yeah... another thing we are supposed to handwave.

[dubbel zout]

Maybe the piece of paper Molly gave Solomon was an IOU, and after Rami got sprung from jail (when he popped out of the SUV looking fresh as a daisy in his blindingly white shirt and pressed khakis, I cracked up), Solomon decided she was good for it.

[wmdekooning]

Ahmed, seemingly, forgiving his mother and forcing her to realize her priorities. I do believe Leila loves her son and that she has always had Jamal wrapped around her finger.

 

Okeh, maybe it has been discussed previously (see what I did there?) and I just missed it, but is Leila Ahmed's birth mother or his step-mother, because they look like they are the same age roughly with Leila maybe being 3 or 4 years older.

According to IMDB, Moran Atias (Leila) was born April 9, 1981, she's 34. The IMDB entry for Cameron Gharaee (Ahmed) doesn't have a birth date, but he was accepted to Mississippi College around 2005 according to the Clarion Ledger (http://www.clarionledger.com/story/life/2015/07/06/brandon-native-stars-fxs-tyrant/29777359/) and left at age 19, so he's around 29-30 now.

What's the deal with that?

[Dowel Jones]

...but it looks like the leader guy escaped (of course),

 

In a spotless brown Hummer H2, no less.  Not conspicuous at all.

 

At one point, Ihab Rashid and Abu Omar were practically out in the open with minimal, if any, cover.  I'm surprised no one tried to shoot them.

 

I had the same reaction.  "You idiots!  Shoot!".  But then, during the firefights, they couldn't seem to hit anyone over 10 yards away, so maybe there was a reason.  I also groaned at the awful CGI helicopters in the assault scene.  Best of all, though, was the grenade in the group when you clearly see the actors flexing their knees before the ubiquitous leap in the air from the blast.

 

Does Barry actually think that his allies will let Ihab live, even after he saves his life?  And speaking of that, he must have been the onliest victim in the triage room, because Barry will be spending a lot of time suturing, dressing, etc., that could be used on injuries to his own guys.  Not to be coldhearted, but in a fratricidal conflict like this one, life doesn't have the same value that it does in a well equipped, sterile hospital OR back in the States.

[candall]

Well, out of everything, I didn't find the $10M piece of paper all that implausible.  Jamal would have transferred the money to a numbered (Swiss or offshore) account with an access code.  

 

Sammy had time before he left for Ma'an to have secured a confirmation document via fax.   He could have left the account confo and the access codes with Molly.  Or alternatively, Sammy could have had the whole amount wired to the Abuddin Savings & Loan and put Molly on his account.  (LOL.  Yeah, like that would ever happen.)

 

.

[dubbel zout]

is Leila Ahmed's birth mother or his step-mother

She's his birth mother; according to the official FX site.

 

injuries to his own guys.

 

He told Rami that a very small number of men—eight?—survived, so I can see him having time to work on others.

[lasandi]

[quote name="slothgirl" post="1449862" timestamp="

 

I wondered how Molly was able to do a wire transfer of money that wasn't hers (and was quite specifically not anyone's but Sammy's) then I realized maybe Sammy could make the arrangements... by phone... for transfering 10 million... uh.. no.

 

So it makes even less sense that Molly could arrange it without any signatory rights to the account Jamal put the money into.

 

Yeah... another thing we are supposed to handwave.

I remember Molly telling her husband that she was on the phone with Sammy the whole time, which is probably when the money was exchanged via wire transfer.

[ganesh]

So Barry isn't quite the tyrant what with the typical "doctor treats the enemy" trope. At first I was like, "well, he does have intel." But no way he's giving anything up. I would have liked Barry to just kill him. "Sometimes you have to cut out the cancer."

 

I could have gone with Barry getting killed right there with Sammy and setting up a Sammy v Ahmed and their moms S3 tyrant battle. 

 

Molly and Jamal fell flat too. Even the strangling. I guess we're supposed to believe Jamal is absolutely crazy now. 

 

I think this season would have worked better by cutting out a lot of the USA business and focusing more on Barry becoming a leader because no way that was earned for me, and Jamal's descent with Leila growing increasingly disillusioned. Her change was a little too abrupt. 

 

Honestly, Molly wasn't even needed to prove Barry was alive. They could have developed it without any of the Americans. It would have been actually better if only Sammy knew, for me. Like if Molly refused to accompany him to get the money, and he was already 18. A stupid move to be sure, but we could still have gotten to the same place. 

Edited August 27, 2015 by ganesh

[scrb]

Jamal doesn't like to be given unexpected news.

But Molly marched into his office, got almost choked to death for yapping at a psychopathic dictator.

Then later, Leila and Ahmed give him some more news and they were able to walk away?

Previews make it appear Jamal is going to be tried in the season finale.

Ahab lost a leg chasing the great white whale. Now Ihab lost an arm chasing Halid.

[slothgirl]

I remember Molly telling her husband that she was on the phone with Sammy the whole time, which is probably when the money was exchanged via wire transfer.

Can you arrange a wire transfer over the phone? How do you prove your identity to have the money change accounts? What stops just anyone from calling and transferring the money to their own account?

I think this season would have worked better by cutting out a lot of the USA business and focusing more on Barry becoming a leader because no way that was earned for me, and Jamal's descent with Leila growing increasingly disillusioned. Her change was a little too abrupt. 

 

Honestly, Molly wasn't even needed to prove Barry was alive. They could have developed it without any of the Americans. It would have been actually better if only Sammy knew, for me. Like if Molly refused to accompany him to get the money, and he was already 18. A stupid move to be sure, but we could still have gotten to the same place. 

They certainly could have done without all the smarmy lawyer stuff. I guess they felt they needed to show both Barry and Molly being tempted so that we could all "aawwwww" at the power of their true love when they reunited.

 

I could get behind a Ahmed vs Sammy thing., but not if it means their moms battling it out.. because that would mean more Molly and I want her gone.

Edited August 27, 2015 by slothgirl

[lasandi]

If you can arrange a wire transfer thru your computer, then u can do it over the phone as well. Little thing called passwords and anyway it's a tv show, anything is possible.

[ganesh]

The wire transfer didn't really bother me. It's been established there's that the $10 million is available. So it's not like all of a sudden Molly came up with the money. You can do banking on the phone anyway. 

 

This is FX. They like antiheroes. It's been their brand since The Shield. I would have liked it better if this season was Barry --> Khalid. Barry died in the desert when he started praying for help. So, he puts Molly behind him and embraces a new purpose. Which is kind of what they were doing with him praying now. Sammy even said, "we never went to church, now you're muslim?" Sammy even said, "my father is dead" when they first were reunited. He's got the beard now.

 

The show has a lot going for it, but TPTBs have these training wheels on. The show is called TYRANT. We should be seeing all the al-Fayeeds with the seed of this tragic flaw. Who is going to be the tyrant? Can they overcome this or will they succumb to it? Because on the one side you have Jamal and his son, born and raised in this environment. But then you have Barry and Sammy who are essentially Westernized. Does that matter? Would that mean Barry and Sammy can overcome his Tyrantness? Or did the father gassing the people long ago doom the family to this cycle of bloody rule?

 

That's a great story right there. Or does Barry --> Khalid finally purge the family of their tragic curse? In which case, Jamal's act of leaving Barry in the desert to die before he (Jamal) passed the point of no return was able to redeem his family. 

 

I feel like they're just holding back, or that they've convinced that they are so welded to this American connection for the viewers to buy in. I can't imagine this would be from the network. 

 

Isn't Molly a doctor too? Great bedside manner: Hey, paranoid dictator, what up? You didn't kill your brother. 

Edited August 27, 2015 by ganesh

[algebra]

I have thought from the beginning that Tyrant would follow the plot of The Godfather. Barry is Michael Corleone. Wasn't supposed to go into the family business, married Kay, played by Diane Keaton. But Sonny was killed, Pedro was a traitor who had to be disposed of but not while their mother was still alive. And ultimately, Michael becomes the Godfather, the Tyrant, Kay leaves him and his daughter dies at his feet of a gunshot wound. I see Jamal going the way of Sonny and Pedro, Molly will eventually depart as Kay did, Barry will become the tyrant and one of his children, probably Sammy, will die at his feet.

Usually I figure most productions out as remakes of something else. Hollywood seldom has new ideas.

[algebra]

Barry's time with the Bedouins was sort of like Michael Corleone's exile to Sicily. He married a local, she blew up in a car bomb intended for him, eventually he returned to the USA and took over as head of the family. Lots of parallels there. Barry will become The Tyrant. You can bet on it.

[Human]

I think it was billed early on as "The Godfather in the desert" or something similar.  Ultimately that seemed to be the reason they spent so long casting for Barry because they needed that character to be perfect and as iconic as Al Pacino's Michael Corleone.   And that's why the critics were massively disappointed when it finally aired.  

Edited August 28, 2015 by Human

[ganesh]

Fredo.

[wmdekooning]

Leila's Ahmed's birth mother; according to the official FX site.

Okeh, hold up...

In their scenes together you can TELL they are roughly the same age!

I'm not going to say necessarily that it's taking me out of the story, it's more making me laugh at how ridiculous it is.  Nobody in casting or production thought it kind of preposterous and difficult to explain?  In the storyline how old are these characters supposed to be? For instance, is Ahmed the same age as Sammy* whom I assume is maybe a HS senior? 

*Actor Noah Silver is 20.

[slothgirl]

The problem with the comparison to the Godfather is that Barry was cruel as a child and killed someone pretty early. JAMAL was the one who didn't have the heart to kill at his father's command.

 

So in one sense, it is Jamal who is the Michael Corleone character. He even loved someone who he was prevented from being with.

 

MC did of course, kill for the family and then flee, but he was not a child at the time. Barry continued living in Abuddin for years after killing as I recall. Didn't he only leave when he went to medical school? I would like to have seen some additional back history showing him reaching the final straw and rejecting the Al Fayeed life. (Sammy called Jamal his favorite uncle. There must have been SOME contact over the years after Bassam married.)

 

You could also draw parallels between Barry's totally half-asses attempt at a coup to overthrow Jamal, and Fredo. Barry seemed to me about as competent in season 1 as Fredo.

 

Personally, I'm glad they didn't make it too close a copy of The Godfather, and I have to admit that the correlation hadn't even occurred to me. As iconic as The Godfather is, the basic premise of revolutionaries becoming tyrants themselves after overthrowing a dictator is not a theme invented by Puzo. It's a simple fact of history. I've felt from the beginning that Bassam should ultimately be the Tyrant and I didn't like the character of "Saint Barry", no matter how much they tried to foist it upon us.

 

The problem is that they haven't consistently shown us the darker side of Bassam's character. They've gone out of their way to portray Jamal and Bassam as black and white as possible. It's only been the outstanding performance of Ashraf that's kept the whole thing from being a cartoon. If the 2 actors had been playing the opposite roles, Bassam would be the multi-dimensional character and Jamal would be a mustache-twirling cliche'. At this point, even Ashraf is having to struggle to avoid Jamal  from becoming unbelievable.

 

An interesting twist at this point would be Ahmed becoming the Tyrant. But I have a sinking feeling that Jamal will likely die, Barry will become president and the implication will be that everything will be great for Abuddin for the future, end of story. Then the series will be over. That would be a waste of a potentially great show and story, but typical for TV.

 

Just as long as Jamal goes down in grand Shakespearian tragic style with a powerhouse scene...

Edited August 28, 2015 by slothgirl

[slothgirl]

Okeh, hold up...

In their scenes together you can TELL they are roughly the same age!

I'm not going to say necessarily that it's taking me out of the story, it's more making me laugh at how ridiculous it is.  Nobody in casting or production thought it kind of preposterous and difficult to explain?  In the storyline how old are these characters supposed to be? For instance, is Ahmed the same age as Sammy* whom I assume is maybe a HS senior? 

*Actor Noah Silver is 20.

I must be the only one who isn't bothered by the age discrepancy. To me Atias looks like she could easily be 40. Her bearing and dignity gives her so much maturity that I could easily accept her as someone older that is "well preserved". Women in Hollywood lie about their age so much that we are conditioned to think that 40 year-olds look "old". 50 year-olds claim to be closer to 40. She is stunningly beautiful, but she doesn't look "young" to me the way she is presented. In other photos Atias looks 30'ish, but she looks much older than her actual age on Tyrant, IMO.

 

The problem is more with Ahmed. He looked enough like a kid before he cut his hair, but now he is obviously too old for the part. (although I am enjoying his performance quite a bit more now) Since he seemed to have little experience of life and women, and this was clearly his 1st marriage, I would think the character wasn't supposed to be older than early 20's at most. It seems unlikely that the heir to the throne could stay single until he was the actual age of the actor.

 

So if Leila was married to Jamal fairly young (which is totally believable) and we accept that Ahmed should only be about 20, then Leila could easily be under 40.

[ganesh]

In their scenes together you can TELL they are roughly the same age!

I'm not going to say necessarily that it's taking me out of the story, it's more making me laugh at how ridiculous it is.

 

I don't really care either, but one of the scenes where they were arguing and she was in her robe gave me a massive incest vibe. 

 

The problem is that they haven't consistently shown us the darker side of Bassam's character.

 

This really should have come out while Barry was becoming Rebel Leader, culminating with him just killing the the maimed guy on the stretcher in front of Sammy. 

 

Barry's rise from traitor to exile to leader/tyrant is a good arc but it hasn't been earned well enough for me. It seems almost like TPTBs forgot the "It should have been you" from the dying father. I think they really let a good show slip from their grasp. 

[sjohnson]

Whatever producers may have said about Godfather in the desert, we've got an episode titled "Desert Storm" in which the Americans save an Arab country from the Islamic State and still have to sit in judgment on the ruler. 

[algebra]

I think you are missing the point that Barry is no longer, emotionally anyway, an American.

Eventually we will see Molly realize he is no longer the man she married, and she'll go home. We might get a little flash of Betty Mahmoody's biography with a "not without my son," twist to it, but I imagine Sammy staying behind of his own volition. We will end up relieved his sister isn't there with him.

The plot line of an evolving character isn't limited to The Godfather. It was also played out in Star Wars, which was all about the fall and redemption of Anakin Skywalker, who turned out to be the main character, much to our collective surprise.

I think Ahmed will turn out to be more like Fredo Corleone. Next in line after Jamal ( Sonny Corleone) he is, like Fredo, completely unsuited to the job. He and his half brother can conspire like Henry VIII's daughters to overthrow the interloper, but I think Bassam will be tougher to dislodge than Lady Jane Grey. Anglophiles will enjoy that comparison I hope.

[slothgirl]

Eventually we will see Molly realize he is no longer the man she married, and she'll go home.

 

Bassam will be tougher to dislodge than Lady Jane Grey. Anglophiles will enjoy that comparison I hope.

If they develop the story such that Molly becomes disillusioned and returns to the US, I'd be surprised. It seemed to me that they went out of their way to show how this whole thing has renewed Molly and Barry's commitment and marriage. For it to head down a different path, Barry will have to spiral down into evil, and they've gone overboard in consecrating him. Frankly, if they do decide to turn him 180, I don't think the actor is up to the challenge, even though it would have made a good storyline. I think they blew any chance of making it believable by pretending that whole killing thing never occurred and making him such a "hero".

 

I'm not really an Anglophile, but I've always had a soft spot for poor Lady Jane Grey. One of the more tragic figures in English history, used by men seeking power and sacrificed as though she ever wanted any of it herself.

[Human]

The problem with the comparison to the Godfather is that Barry was cruel as a child and killed someone pretty early. JAMAL was the one who didn't have the heart to kill at his father's command.

...

(Sammy called Jamal his favorite uncle. There must have been SOME contact over the years after Bassam married.)

 

It's the showrunners or the network who made the comparison initially.  The show was billed as a retelling of The Godfather.  But just because it's similar doesn't mean it's going to be an exact copy.  As an example, Sons of Anarchy was a retelling of Hamlet but was most definitely not a copy of Hamlet.  

 

As far as Sammy calling Jamal his favorite uncle, the joke is that Jamal is his only uncle.  

[slothgirl]

As far as Sammy calling Jamal his favorite uncle, the joke is that Jamal is his only uncle.  

Well, yes, because Molly apparently crawled out from under a rock and has no family at all anywhere. (have they ever mentioned why she doesn't seem to have any family? Or did she just forget about them like she forgot she has a daughter?)

[Human]

Well, yes, because Molly apparently crawled out from under a rock and has no family at all anywhere. (have they ever mentioned why she doesn't seem to have any family? Or did she just forget about them like she forgot she has a daughter?)

???  Her sister was with them in Abudin for a while.  It was a pretty useless storyline which is why I assume they haven't focused much on Molly's family sense.  

 

To be clear, I was only pointing out that Sammy was making a lighthearted joke, not implying a family relationship that didn't exist prior to their first trip to Abuddin.  It's a common joke -  "How's my favorite mom/sister/partner/puppy" being said when there's only one of these things so they are by default favorites (unless you hate them, but beside the point).

Edited August 30, 2015 by Human

[slothgirl]

???  Her sister was with them in Abudin for a while.  It was a pretty useless storyline which is why I assume they haven't focused much on Molly's family sense. 

Oh yeah... the sister. That was such an annoying subplot, it's no wonder I erased it from my internal hard drive.

[ganesh]

I totally didn't even remember the sister until just now.