S03.E09: How to Live

[ShellSeeker]

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Abuddin descends into chaos. Daliyah persuades Fauzi to leave so he can be a voice of dissent, and she takes a public stand against Barry. In an attempt to regain control, Barry gives Maloof authority to shut down Leila’s opposition, and Ahmed joins to pressure his mother to surrender. Cogswell makes a forceful move that puts his career in jeopardy. 

[candall]

Suddenly we're moving along at breakneck speed and I'm a happy viewer again.  As someone posted last week, Ihab must be completely stunned at how successfully the plan to disrupt Abbudin is working.  Abbudin's imploding.

I like Bassam better in full embrace of tyranny than when he was pussyfooting around rationalizing.

I like Evil Queen Molly MUCH better than the brave-smile try-hard Pasadena doctor version of Molly.  I'm not sure even Lady Macbeth had the temerity to remind a military commander "you work for us."  "Your whore or your own daughter?"  LOL

Has Ahmed ever met a situation he couldn't make worse by being a tool?  How is it possible that Sammy might be convincing as an important player?  And oh, look, brother against brother.  Nice job with that, show.

General Cogswell's big move was cheesy as hell, but really fun.

 

I thought the poisoned tea scene got interesting when she was willing to drink it.  Can someone remind me why her brother is being executed?  I only remember him stomping around, all angry and passionate.

 

Are you a "tyrant" when you're in position to unilaterally dispose of anyone who disagrees with you, as a traitor--or only when you start doing it?

Edited September 1, 2016 by candall

[Constantinople]

2 hours ago, candall said:

I like Evil Queen Molly MUCH better than the brave-smile try-hard Pasadena doctor version of Molly.  I'm not sure even Lady Macbeth had the temerity to remind a military commander "you work for us."  "Your whore or your own daughter?"  LOL

I'm starting to wonder where Molly went for treatment in Germany, the Henry Kissinger Rehab Center?

[sjohnson]

Totally uninterested in Sammy's desire for a regime that would illegalize him, just because. 

Also don't believe the democratic credentials of people who want to make a deal with the Caliphate. [In real world, I don't believe this to be true of governments that make covert deals with Islamic State either.] So much for Halima, Daliyah, Leila and the political cleric. I have no idea what Sadiq thinks is going on, even after I listen to the dialogue. Halima's friend-zoned political buddy has more sense. On the other hand, it is just impossible to make any sense of the ostensible politics in universe, when there aren't any. There's nothing about taxation, about trade union rights, redistribution of land, state investment, any real politics at all except vague "Democracy" and whether or not to fight the Caliphate. 

The show however does have politics. The show plainly believed it to be a wonderful feel good moment when Cogswell, an American in Abuddin, had the American exceptionalism to tell an Abuddinian to "go home." Wow, just... wow.

[slothgirl]

The one thing I found believable about this episode was the Americans officially siding with Bassam. After all, why would they want to PREVENT a war when they can have someone else take on the Caliphate and lose troops defeating them? Democracy has never been as important as propping up regimes that serve our "interests" or that fight our enemies for us.

Edited September 1, 2016 by slothgirl

[catrox14]

Dang. I was shocked that Barry had Daliyah arrested. Seriously didn't see that coming. I think Sammy could be a great leader but there is no way he survives if he's publicly outed. Leila remains my favorite and I hope she survives the finale.  I'm not so sure she will. 

[Artsda]

"Your whore or your own daughter?"  Well wow, evil Molly is a lot more interesting. Bassam folding like that to have Daliyah arrested made him look a bit pathetic though. 

[slothgirl]

33 minutes ago, Artsda said:

Bassam folding like that to have Daliyah arrested made him look a bit pathetic though. 

Barry IS pathetic. He has been for the entire series.

[candall]

I really liked Bassam when he was out there where the nitty hits the gritty, juggling ethical issues with both hands.  They were smart to write that entire arc where Bassam connects with "the people" and picks up a healthy dose of street cred. 

Of course, now he's forgotten all that and he's walking around in some kind of fugue state, goaded on by Lady Macbeth 2.0.   But then, Macbeth was basically a craven figure as well and his story is one of S's most popular tragedies, so not a bad tale to reference.

[scrb]

Must be the same voice coach who's taught both Daliyah and Nina to speak that accented English.

 

i don't know, it's too abrupt how much Molly and Barry have swung to the Tyrant side.  Arrest political opponent, maybe even slaughter people to imprison Leila?

Though Ahmed is probably right about his mother.  Choose a side indeed.

[NorthstarATL]

On 9/1/2016 at 9:56 AM, Constantinople said:

I'm starting to wonder where Molly went for treatment in Germany, the Henry Kissinger Rehab Center?

I think it was more likely Eva Braun. Both she and Sammy have no business being there, but, so long as we're stuck with them, I am enjoying her heel turn. Next episode's title suggests to me not to get too attached, though. Two unintentionally funny moments for me in a dark episode: the guy with the poisoned tea was stirring so annoyingly that I wanted the poisoning to happen quickly, and Daliyah demanding that Barry leave her cell at once, as if he were invading her apartment, rather than the actual circumstances.

[thuganomics85]

Oh, Barry, you're such a doofus.  Molly is totally running the show, and he even can't even seem to realize it.  Arresting Daliyah alone shows that he's pretty much just her puppet, because he really seemed to have no intention, until Molly basically said she did his job for him.  He really is pathetic.

Molly is really becoming full-blown evil now.  I honestly thinks he would have made Fauzi have an "accident", if they actually did arrest him.  And I still wouldn't be surprised if that is the plan for Daliyah too.  She pretty much has become the Tyrant of this show.

Cogswell saves Leila from potential death or arrest, but I have to think this will hurt his career.  Can't see Exley being happy about that at all.

I get the idea of Sammy against his father and being a threat, but they're going to have to step it up to make it possible, because as stupid as Barry has been, Sammy might even be more impulsive and easy to defeat.  At this point, I find Ahmed a bigger threat, since he seems to know when to keep his head down.

Still not sure what impact either Hassam or Nafisa will have in the endgame.  But Hassam really is a forgiving man, for not freaking the fuck out over Nafisa almost poisoning him.  I guess looking like Annet Mahendru helps!

Season finale next week!  Maybe we'll finally get that war!

[Dowel Jones]

On 9/1/2016 at 4:13 AM, candall said:

I like Evil Queen Molly MUCH better than the brave-smile try-hard Pasadena doctor version of Molly

One wonders what kind of bedside manner she will have if she goes  back to her practice after all this. 

Cogswell may have saved the day, at least temporarily, but he is an absolute rookie tactician.  Move your forces down a narrow street in hostile territory?  You're trapped, idiot.  Line up against the other side point blank so that you can assure that large numbers of your troops are killed right off the bat? That's just plain stupid.

[candall]

4 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

One wonders what kind of bedside manner she will have if she goes  back to her practice after all this. 

I think I heard somewhere they have trouble finding physicians to oversee prison executions.

[ganesh]

I just can't with Molly. It's not the actor. The character is just all over the place. I can't buy that the military or whomever else in the government would take orders from Molly either. Now she just walks around with her scowly face on. Though I liked that Barry told her off.

I don't find the transition of Barry to tyrant to be that believable. Before when he was "advising" Jamal, I could get, but running the country is ridiculous.

I think the show is missing the boat on assassinating Barry. Watching all the factions scramble for power while the threat of the caliphate looms is just way more of a compelling show. 

On 9/1/2016 at 8:50 AM, sjohnson said:

There's nothing about taxation, about trade union rights, redistribution of land, state investment, any real politics at all except vague "Democracy" and whether or not to fight the Caliphate. 

Or seeing Barry do this. The old greek city-states had "tyrants". It actually would be a really interesting concept. When we think of tyrant from a contemporary pov we automatically go to dictator, and that's what Jamal was. What if they swapped out one tyrant for another, but the other was doing all that?

On 9/1/2016 at 1:18 PM, candall said:

I really liked Bassam when he was out there where the nitty hits the gritty, juggling ethical issues with both hands.  They were smart to write that entire arc where Bassam connects with "the people" and picks up a healthy dose of street cred. 

That's where you can get the new concept of tyrant from. I guess my problem is that we spent so much time on Barry Muad'Dib-ing it up all in the desert and there's seemingly no character development from that. 

I don't know what the state department woman was talking about, but the show I've been watching isn't showing me that "Bassam knows how to wield power."

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Though Ahmed is probably right about his mother.  Choose a side indeed.

Didn't the general say it too? I guess that's the point of the episode. 

Edited September 4, 2016 by ganesh