S03.E08: Ask for the Earth

[scrb]

Molly returns to Abuddin to pursue her daughter's killer; Mahdiya is given a critical job; and Leila and Cogswell try to enjoy a brief retreat; and Barry takes a hard line with the country.

[scrb]

Boom!  We finally have our tyrant, after almost 3 seasons.

Suspend elections to prosecute a drawn-out war, shut down dissent.

When the show started, it looked like Leila might be Lady McBeth, egging on Jamal.

Turns out Molly is Lady MacBeth and she only cares about one thing, no matter what the casualties or collateral damage, including other children.  So much for being a doctor.

It seems so obvious that they've been making this up as they go along -- really don't think TPTB mapped out this plot when they started the show.  It takes the murder of their daughter to turn rational, educated Western doctors into bloodthirsty despots bent on Old Testament revenge?

Then they shoehorn the suicide bombing just to tie into real-life terrorism in Europe.  Of course in real life, the Arab countries wouldn't be calling the shots.  Once they attack Europe, it's NATO led by US which would be running the campaign against Isis/Caliphate.  It would be a huge international story, to have two US citizens leading an Arab country into war but it just wouldn't happen that way.  US certainly wouldn't back a leader seen as being driven by desire for revenge.

[NorthstarATL]

The show jumped the Sheik with Molly's return.

[sjohnson]

The Truth and Dignity was supposed to review Khaled's and Jamal's regimes, and no matter what she says, it is absurd to treat think their approach is at all useful in current affairs. The curious thing is, even if you did accept their "confess and be forgiven" approach was somehow useful in setting policy, it still is perverse to think Bassam's soldiers are worse than the Caliphate bombing the commision. As for the notion that the victory of Leila's oligarchs and al Qadi's clerics wouldn't finish any meaningful reform? It's hard to express the magnitude of that folly. We might as well say that Daliyah (sp?) is just a woman scorned getting her own under cover of political verbiage.

The insistence that only personal motives are acceptable, and that bad policies are the result of individuals making bad choices for their own personal needs, stems from Hollywood conservatism. (It may be the film industry, but "Hollywood" is a company town.) In real life, rephrasing the previous post, it would be the US general pressuring Bassam to start the war (to foreclose Leila negotiating,) then postpone elections, because the general would be the power behind the throne. Bassam is the American president. All this personal revenge stuff is nonsense. 

Strangely though, the Sammy/Ahmed face off was really fun. 

[slothgirl]

1 hour ago, sjohnson said:

 it would be the US general pressuring Bassam to start the war (to foreclose Leila negotiating,) then postpone elections, because the general would be the power behind the throne. Bassam is the American president. All this personal revenge stuff is nonsense. 

I was kinda hoping they would make the US general (or the US as an interfering country) the actual Tyrant, albeit behind the scenes. The trajectory of Barry becoming the Tyrant was predictable, but still unbelievable. They just don't seem to be able to leave out the soap opera aspect and focus on how these things actually come about.

I like Molly as Lady Macbeth though. I actually found the actress' performance almost convincing despite the utter ridiculousness of her transformation. Her recovery from a suicidal depression brought on by not only her own daughter's death but the deaths of so many other children has inspired her to ... make sure more children get killed. ok.. whatever. But if we just handwave the absurdity of plot, I thought the actress did a good job as stone cold revenge-monster.

Barry on the other other hand continues to disappoint as a character and an actor. 

Molly: "You slept with her.. that didn't take long"

Barry: "Buuhhh...buhhh.... you were gone... uh..." 

Jackass

Chris Noth is amazingly bad in this show. I never cared for his character as Big in SATC, and here he seems to be playing the general as "Big joins the military". Same wishy-washy philosophies of life and love. Same lack of any chemistry with his leading lady making me wonder what the attraction is for her. Even the fabulous Moran Atias seems to be phoning it in during their scenes because she can't make it work on her own. They foolishly wanted a "name" when the most popular actors on the show in all 3 seasons were those who weren't names. (Ashraf and Moran)

What was the point of having whassername's bomb go off late? To show that she ended up with a change of heart that we barely got to see, and then feel bad for her? Or just because they wanted to bait and switch the viewers about the risk to Leila and USG(eneral)? They had some interesting potential there if they had let her live.. change of heart and switching allegiances. Or a test to make sure they could count on her to go through with a bigger plan.

SOMETHING!

Instead they wasted (haha... pun wasn't intended!) another actress who brought some depth to her performance.

Edited August 25, 2016 by slothgirl

[Constantinople]

I groaned when Molly returned -- How can we miss her if she won't stay away! -- but I'm enjoying her "F*$#! collateral damage, I want Ihab dead" attitude.  That said, I agree her transformation didn't make a whole lot of sense since it was the deaths of other innocent children that sent her off the deep end.

[JennyMominFL]

I think Molly may be the Tyrant with Barry as her puppet.

[Dowel Jones]

2 hours ago, slothgirl said:

Molly: "You slept with her.. that didn't take long"

Barry: "Buuhhh...buhhh.... you were gone... uh..."

What made that even more amusing, to me, was his insistence that "We have to talk about everything."

It would make so much more sense if Barry would have just spoken to national security and used some vague terms such as "justice will be done", instead of a declaration of war, plot contrivances notwithstanding.  Then he could go covert ops on Ihab and anyone else in the caliphate, even using mercenaries to do whatever is necessary.  That wouldn't even have to be completed by the elections, if he paid in advance.  Then, it becomes much more personal, as it should be.  But no, Barry is so full of "I'm the President, I will rescue this country if I have to destroy it."

General Cogswell is about the least adept person I have ever seen on tv on concealing his affairs.  Anyone who followed him around for whatever reason would soon drop to the fact that he is involved with Leila.

[Rapunzel]

Part of my post last week about Molly's return ended up being not too far off:

Quote

Before Emma was killed and Bassam announced he wasn't going to run for President, Molly seemed a bit upset by it - like she really wanted to be First Lady. I wonder if now, for however long it is she's been away, she's had some time to grieve over Emma and maybe is now on some crusade about pushing Bassam to run or cancel the election and stay President so that she can try to ensure that Abbudin is reformed and what happened to Emma doesn't happen to anyone else.

I still cannot stand the Molly character, or nearly any other character, on this show at this point and I knew there was no way Molly was going to let Bassam not continue his reign. She is the real tyrant - she is pulling his strings and playing on his grief and his guilt. I wish this show would kill her off - the character and the actress are just annoying - especially when you see her standing there in top level briefings looking all high and mighty when she is just there for vengeance. Isn't that the kind of thing they are supposed to be trying to stop?

Bassam is horribly written and horribly acted, as others have mentioned. Also, what on earth was the point of that Truth and Dignity Commission other than to give his side piece some feigned importance and visibility? We really didn't see any of the hearings at all, other than maybe her telling them "okay, let's get started - close the doors," and certainly didn't see any results of said hearings (though I know the initial purpose was stated that if you came clean, you would be forgiven). However, we never really see anyone admitting to doing anything wrong and then being officially forgiven or pardoned or whatever.

Leila is definitely a hypocrite. She preaches about this "golden palace" and how she will never live in it if elected since she is an Abuddinian. All the while, she is wearing her expensive jewels, designer clothing, expensive and expertly done make-up, and seems to conveniently forget that she lived in that "golden palace" for 25+ years and manipulated Jamal to no end - his reign was basically hers. This is not to say Jamal didn't manipulate, threaten and bully as well - he definitely did - but she is no position to claim zero culpability for things that happened when Jamal, and even his father, were in power.

Leila claims she will live in a "humble home," yet her sister's place is hardly what I would consider "humble" by Abbudinian standards - especially as her sister and her sister's husband are supporting her now and helping fund her campaign. I cannot believe she is leading in the polls as the people have to remember her standing right by Jamal's side with every decision he made that they didn't agree with and that affected the lives of many people. She got to go home and sleep in her nice, expensive, plush bed every night and then dress in her finest each day whilst being chauffeured around by a crew of bodyguards and making shopping trips to Paris and the like. She certainly didn't seem to hate or dislike it - especially the expensive clothes, jewels and shopping trips. Jamal may have forced her into certain things, but he didn't force her into those things - especially as they appear to continue even now. She also treated the staff like complete shit, which is definitely adds to the hypocrisy since she is now playing up mother's position in service.

Fauzi I think is the only character I still like at least to some extent. He did, however, run away to Amsterdam when things in his Country got tough. What does that say about him as a leader? Also, his daughter helped make Ihab what he is today, and now he thinks he can run the Country having just been a journalist? Still, I suppose given the options, he may be the best of the worst.

At this point, given the deterioration of characters and storyline, combined with the fact that the majority of the characters are unlikeable at this point and the quality of the acting by most isn't very good, I will be surprised if the show is renewed.

Edited August 27, 2016 by Rapunzel

[Rapunzel]

There was something else I just remembered that shows what a hypocrite Leila is. After the gas attack last season, she went to one of the tents that was set up to house the dead and dying. She made a point to have the media with her and was decked out in all her finery as she tried to talk to a little boy who was clearly not going to survive. She put a stuffed toy (a teddy bear, I think?) on his bed, and his mother (?) and others around at the time started screaming at her and the threw blood or something on her and she had to be whisked away by her security detail. Clearly the people hated her and blamed her, at least to some extent, for the gas attack. If she is now leading in the polls, the people of Abbudin must have really short memories. If I were running against her (if and when there is ever an election now), I would definitely bring up that incident - It was clearly a publicity stunt.

Also, if I remember right, Jamal did not order the gassing and was against it. It was all on his Uncle, the head General, which I think is one of the reasons Jamal had him killed. I could be misremembering, but I think Leila supported the General, which is part of the reason he disregarded Jamal's orders.

So Leila's years of living it up in the palace, helping manipulate her husband, being an outright bitch to those below her though she comes from humble beginnings, have all now been forgotten by the Abbudinians. Meanwhile, Bassam stood up his brother's regime, was believed to have been hanged for it, managed to trek through the dessert to the Bedouins and then helped save the country and hold off the Caliphate with a ragtag group of fighters. He was declared a National Hero even before they knew who he was, and then when they found out, was beloved even more by the people. Yes, he's made many stupid mistakes, especially since Emma was killed, but I would still think his past history and being willing to die to stand up against his own family would count for something more than what Leila has accomplished - which is nothing other than enjoy the lifestyle, money and power.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Rapunzel

[scrb]

They seem to be making her a sympathetic figure.

Remember that at the end of season 1 and the beginning of season 2, she wanted Bassam dead.

[Rapunzel]

13 hours ago, scrb said:

They seem to be making her a sympathetic figure.

Remember that at the end of season 1 and the beginning of season 2, she wanted Bassam dead.

That's right - I had forgotten about that. I suppose she wanted him dead because she felt he was a threat to her position combined with still harboring bad feelings over him rejecting her and leaving her to start a new life in America all those years ago when they were teenagers. Bassam is clearly the one she really wanted - not Jamal.

Trying to make her a sympathetic figure is not going to be easy, and it shouldn't have been this easy for her to get ahead in the polls either. She's accomplished absolutely zero and has done nothing to help the Abbudinians. She was First Lady - she should have used that power to show that she cared about some of the causes and concerns that the people have. Instead, she's just been lounging around the "golden palace" and going on shopping trips (along with helping Jamal and his staff make poor decisions all to keep her in her position). With everything negative she has done, and it has been shown that she was not liked previously, for some reason it has yet to make the Abbudinians wake up and realize that she really is not a good person and not qualified to run the country. She will be out to satisfy her own agenda, just like always. If she's in the lead now with all of her flaws and hypocrisy, I don't know what it will take to wake the people up. The fact that they seem to love her at the moment when she's done nothing to better the Country even when she had some power just continues to make this show even more incredulous than it already is. If and when her affair with the American General leaks out and the people still stand behind her, then the writing on this show will have hit an even lower point than it has already.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Rapunzel

[candall]

This is awful.  Tyrant was my favorite show in its first season and now it's just so stupid, I can barely watch.

Some of it is so bad, it comes back around to funny.  Bassam looked at Molly like a squirmy pile of smallpox had just strolled into the foyer, then whinged about the marital bed, then threw down a "married people talk about everything" card.

Molly apparently spent several weeks of intensive therapy being cured of her notion that killing children is bad--unless one of them was Emma! and then it's okay to wipe out any lucky survivor kids.

 

Also hoot-worthy: 

--Molly tells Sammy, "You're the thing I love most in the world."  Which is why she's scooping him up and heading back to Pasadena, right? 

--Ham-handed Bassam can't go five minutes without dealing another crushing blow to democracy.   Emma!

--Leila bonding with her homies, disdainful of those corrupt Al-Fayeeds up palace way.  (I bet there would be rules in Abbudin concerning a widow's surname.)

 

Leila and Big even managed to linger in yet another public doorway! 

 

Ptoo.  So disappointing.

[ganesh]

On 8/25/2016 at 9:01 AM, slothgirl said:

Barry on the other other hand continues to disappoint as a character and an actor. 

Molly: "You slept with her.. that didn't take long"

Barry: "Buuhhh...buhhh.... you were gone... uh..." 

Jackass

She totally let him off the hook though. "Whatevs. I don't love you anymore. I read that marriages crumble when a kid dies so we're going to do that." Uh, ok then. 

[wrlord]

On 8/25/2016 at 6:29 AM, sjohnson said:

Quote

Hollywood conservatism

The mind reels.

[sjohnson]

Selling sex is based on the acceptance of the importance of money, a cardinal principle of conservatism. Also, studio execs and producers are Hollywood, not the talking props called actors. 

[thuganomics85]

Ha!  I'm kind of loving this, if not in the way they probably want me to.  But I should have known that Molly's return would just make things even worse.  Somehow, that rehab made her be all "Fuck everything!  We're going to burn everything and sacrifice everyone for Emma!", and Barry's like "Well... I guess so."  And, sure enough, like I suspected, Barry is now "postponing" the election since they're at war.  Yep, it's happening! Barry ad Molly have become the true tyrants of the show!  Jamal would be so proud!

I loved how Barry seemed so stunned over the blowback; especially from Daliyah.  He claims he loves her, but he really doesn't know her that well if even couldn't see that she would be extremely pissed about his decision.  And now he's just given up and even canceling her Truth & Dignity panel, because why bother hiding it anymore?  Any opposition will be silenced in Barry and Molly's Regime!

Leila and Cogswell continue to be way too obvious about their romance (so what if they're in Germany?  There are such thing as photo journalists, you know), and it keeps making Leila look like an idiot, which sucks, since Leila is the best thing about this show.  I know he was an awful, awful human being, but Jamal brought out the awesomeness in her.  I will the days of those two being manipulating bastards.

Poor Fauzi just seems confused about everything.  Probably wishing he never came back.

Ihab's reaction at the end was actually perfect.  Instead of being all "Mwaaah!  My evil plan is working!", he almost seemed amazed it is working as well at it is.  He was more "I kind of can't believe it was that easy!" about it.