The Honourable Woman - General Discussion

[Cardie]

Profile. It is a sad truth that a high profile victim will always garner far more attention than the dozens of corpses that surround them. The Steins are very high profile. Killing them sends a very clear message.

Who could be higher profile than Yitzhak Rabin, the  Israeli P.M. who was seeking peace and so assassinated by an Israeli extremist? The only difference I can see with the Steins is that they live and work in a country outside the Middle East.

[rubyred]

So now I'm wondering if, as Constantinople suggested, it is a rogue operation sanctioned by the Secretary of State but not the President. Perhaps she has been compromised by the Palestinians in a similar labrynthine fashion and this is the price she is being forced to pay.

 

I LOVED the scene with Hayden-Hoyle and Nessa when he twigged to what had happened to her. Maggie and Stephen were amazing in that scene.

 

I also loved Nessa taking care of the middle-management rapist.

 

Can't get up much sympathy for Ephra, but poor Rachel. This was an unbelievably horrendous chain of events. But that moment when Saleh gets shot and drops, and you see this hugely pregnant woman holding a rifle - wow. Did they mention the gender of the baby? Just thinking that the Palestinians went to so much trouble to :erase the Stein name" (and blame the Israelis), but she does have daughters (who could keep it) but also it could be a son.

 

They should have made sure they'd found Nessa's body though. They've revealed her big secret, her greatest fear. Now they don't  have that leverage over her anymore. And I'm sure attempted murder is enough to cancel out that clause in the contract.

[dubbel zout]

I won't be surprised if Rachel turns out to be more than just the long-suffering wife. 

[Primetimer]

The Honourable Woman ends its story; Tara Ariano and Mark Blankenship discuss.

Read the story

[Constantinople]

The American government decides it won't oppose Palestinian statehood because, well just because.  There are no leaks, trial balloons, consultations with anyone.

 

As a pretext, the US government cites the death of a British do-gooder baroness, whom most Americans wouldn't give a shit about, at the hands of an radical Israeli organization.

 

This sea change in policy is announced by the Secretary of State, not the President.

 

I didn't realize this was supposed to be a comedy.

[Rickster]

A bit underwhelmed with the ending.

Would have liked to have seen some sort of confrontation with Monica more substantial than the drive by in the park. Could have done without the Cat Power musical montage. also would have liked to have seen one episode without Nessa crying.

I agree the snap decision to recognize Palestine to be unrealistic. I also thought all the time we spent with cables and wiretaps and mysterious guys in Holland to have too little payoff in the resolution of the story.

I also couldn't figure out what the British plan was with the drone. How did they expect to get Nessa, Atika and the kid far enough away from the CIA guy to use it without collateral damage before he killed all of them? ( I was actually expecting an SAS team to show up).

However, i would happily see our MI 6 team in a season 2.

Edited September 19, 2014 by Rickster

[mrsdalgliesh]

Really liked this series.  Beautifully acted, intelligent, emotional.  Constantinople is not wrong, and that whole angle was rushed, but it didn't ruin it for me.

 

When Shlomo held out his arms to Nessa, *I* wanted a hug.  And good for Rachel, reaching out to Kasim.  At that point, grab all the family you can get.

 

Informative ending for Monica.  If I ever need to fake a hanging, I know how to do it.  

 

Anyone want to help me with the last two shots that followed the focus on Nessa in the hospital room?  The broken (shot-out?) window and Nessa sitting on the floor during what I'm assuming was her first captivity?  Was this just showing that she would never escape that period in her life?

[mrsdalgliesh]

Tara and Mark, you are much more generous than I could ever be for even mentioning The Blacklist in the context of this show. This was a literary novel while The Blacklist (which I have watched, because Spader) is a cartoon. I can't find a single way to put them in the same frame.

 

But otherwise?  Love this analysis.  Thanks for posting!

Edited September 19, 2014 by mrsdalgliesh

[Cardie]

Though much of the character work was fantastic, the political analysis doesn't stand up to much scrutiny. The true villains are the Americans, who piggyback on everyone else's efforts and have no qualms about murdering even their own agents when they've got what they want. Monica of course has to work with them to get Palestinian statehood through the UN (but--haha not really) because the British are too comparatively noble for such shenanigans. However, the British are clever and resolute and save the day for their citizen Nessa. Meanwhile Jews and Palestinians are caught in an unbreakable cycle of violence and reprisal. Nessa thought she could break the cycle, apparently because she has always believed that she deserves every bad thing that has ever happened in her life. Sins of the fathers don't really demand expiation down the generations, even if that's what the Old Testament says.

 

I was relieved that the cable conspiracies weren't the goal but just the means by which threats to the goal could be intercepted and eliminated. But if Atika always thought she was part of a plan leading to Palestinian statehood and not just the generational revenge that Zahid desired, then does that mean the Americans have been looking for an opportunity to jump ship on Israel for eight years? In real life it's the Europeans who are more pro-Palestinian while there's no way in hell the American Congress would stand for US support of Palestinian statehood.

[expateliz]

I didn't love the final image of Nessa in her mental prison -- I would much rather have seen her come to the decision that she's suffered enough. But overall I thought the finale was solid. Like a lot of people, I suspected Atika was in on it from the beginning, but I was gratified that she did seem to genuinely care about Nessa and Kasim. I also thought it was interesting that, in the end, Atika had a lot more sympathy for Rachel than she did for that self-righteous schmuck Ephra. (Andrew Buchan, you are a fine actor, but between this and Broadchurch, good luck ever getting me to like you.)

 

Julia, Monica and Hugh were all awesome characters. Did anyone else shout out loud when it looked like Hugh was going to get run over? There was also a great throwaway line about how the British were the ones that 'drew the line in the sand' in the first place. Something I hadn't really been thinking about watching this, but of which British viewers were no doubt very aware.

 

Now can we do a casting lab for Igal Naor? Because I need more Shlomo in my life.

[attica]

I agree the US realpolitik here wasn't real, but I otherwise loved the ep and the series as a whole. And even though I know the whole 'in a room full of pussies' line better belonged in a stoopid action movie, I'd be lying if I denied raising a fist and shouting in sisterly solidarity when McTeer said it. Take that, you, you, men. 

 

My favorite line, however, was Nessa's: "What else could I have done?" Both resignation and serious inquiry in that line reading. Well done.

[dubbel zout]

I could have really done without that montage of real-life clips,

 

That was exceptionally heavy-handed.

 

Informative ending for Monica.  If I ever need to fake a hanging, I know how to do it.

 

That was awesomely gruesome, wasn't it? Yet I can't feel sorry for Monica. You reap what you sow. You'd think her final encounter with Julia might have tipped her off that she might want to disappear for a while.

 

I think the political stuff was the weakest part of the series, and I still find it ludicrous that this nine-year plan, using a kidnapped child and a British citizen (later baroness), was put in place for the ultimate goal of the U.S. supporting Palestinian statehood. Or whatever the ultimate goal was supposed to be.

 

Once again, Lindsay Duncan gets criminally underused.

Edited September 19, 2014 by dubbel zout

[Constantinople]

I'm surprised that Atika was surprised that it wasn't just about Palestinian statehood, but also revenge.

 

Atika conspired to kill Ephra, but I don't see how Ephra's death greases the wheels for Palestinian statehood.

 

When the American SoS said the American government would no longer object to Palestinian statehood, she didn't say anything about Ephra's death.

 

So the only remaining motive would appear to be revenge.

[Cardie]

I'm surprised that Atika was surprised that it wasn't just about Palestinian statehood, but also revenge.

 

Atika conspired to kill Ephra, but I don't see how Ephra's death greases the wheels for Palestinian statehood.

 

When the American SoS said the American government would no longer object to Palestinian statehood, she didn't say anything about Ephra's death.

 

So the only remaining motive would appear to be revenge.

Atika and Nessa were both naïve idealists in their own ways. Neither really understood what was going on with the spymasters and terrorists they had fallen in with. I did find Atika more compelling in the end. Nessa is well-meaning but totally ineffectual, wracked by free-floating guilt so therefore crying all the time. And Gyllenhaal as the series went on over-relied on staring at the camera with her baby blues as her face conveyed her emotional pain. She was like a wounded deer caught in a whole convoy's worth of headlights.

[AlwaysWatching]

And Gyllenhaal as the series went on over-relied on staring at the camera with her baby blues as her face conveyed her emotional pain. She was like a wounded deer caught in a whole convoy's worth of headlights.

Cardie

 

Yes, but she did it so well.  By the end of the series,  I began to understand those long silences. She was holding so much inside.  The fact that she teared up so much worked for me also.  This was a woman strong in her control, but half way over the edge every moment.  I absolutley loved this series.  Janet McTeer, Eve Best and the best work I've ever seen from Stephen Rea.  I'm with everyone else that would love to see a series with those actors. Well, sorry Eve Best is gone.

 

I had never been much of a fan of Maggie Gyllenhaal.  Now I realize the spot on English accent works better on her than her real accent.  She blew me away in this show.  I don't care if all the twist and turns didn't make perfect sense. It was believable enough for me to hang on every word and be tremendously entertained. That is simply all I ask for when watching a TV show, a movie, or even reading a good book.

 

One quibble. I didn't really understand the last scene.  Did someone say that was just the way they portrayed her psychological prison? I watched the show at 6 in the morning because I was waiting for it to come on HD on Xfinity.  Not a good way to watch a show that takes a bit of thinking.

Edited September 24, 2014 by AlwaysWatching

[Cardie]

Yes, that was showing that she remains a prisoner of her own psyche. Thus she stood back from the happy family at Rachel's bedside.

 

I've said before that the only thing that explains to me how Nessa thinks that she deserves every bad thing that happens to her is guilt over her mother's death in giving birth to her.No one ever makes that point overtly but we do get to see her visiting her mother's grave with Eli over and over again.

[alexvillage]

 

This sea change in policy is announced by the Secretary of State, not the President.

My pet peeve. The production on the scenes in the "White House" could have been better. If they wanted the SoS to announce the ludicrous reason for the impossibility that the US will ever support Palestinian Statehood, they should have put the Secretary on a podium with the State Department seal, not the White House seal. And it was a terrible setting. The press room does not even resemble the real one. It is not that hard to fake one, so many have done it.

 

The idea that Americans would ever "disown" Israel is a thing of fairy tales. But I thought it was interesting that the writers decided that the Chinese and Russians would change their position to to against the Americans. It was a bit of realpolitik there, since those countries seem to always be striving to find a way to go against one another.

 

I don't know who wrote the show, but it seemed, at times, like an attempt to show the "realities" of the situation. How everyone has managed to sabotage their own cause, at the same time as they were blinded by their own views - as an example, Atika's words after she killed the mastermind: revenge is not our cause. Well, there is always a bit of revenge in such causes, often called by some other name.

 

 

And Gyllenhaal as the series went on over-relied on staring at the camera with her baby blues as her face conveyed her emotional pain. She was like a wounded deer caught in a whole convoy's worth of headlights.

I like MG a lot. I am already betting on her for the Emmy's. I especially liked her in this final episode but I have to say, sometimes I think she overacted. The crying and the ticks would probably work better on stage. On TV it was a little too much.

 

I really liked the show. I actually think it is so nuanced, it can be used for discussions about real life expectations of the never ending/never will end conflict in the middle east and how the rest of the world plays its cards, or how the powers to be in each of the countries wish they were playing its cards. Really, a lot to discuss.

 

ETA: I also think the Americans were the ones responsible for Monica's "suicide"

Edited September 20, 2014 by alexvillage

[Cardie]

It seemed pretty clear from Julia's talk about cleaning up with the American general that the Americans killed Monica. Indeed, they seemed to have little expertise in most forms of spycraft but were consistently shown to be crackerjack assassins. Perhaps that's how the British see it. I remain puzzled that Julia never spoke with any CIA counterparts and was always talking to the military.

[alexvillage]

Maybe the writers wanted to make Americans look not so mighty and just a little disorganized. There are some blunders - like the one you just pointed out about the CIA being out of the picture.

[mrsdalgliesh]

I agree that the production values for the American press conference/press room scenes seemed low compared to the rest of the show -- but considering all the times that the vastly greater number of American productions probably botch scenes from other countries, I'm not going to complain too much.  How dare this British production give short shrift to scenes about Americans! :-)

[dubbel zout]

Maybe the writers wanted to make Americans look not so mighty and just a little disorganized.

 

I've seen a number of British spy series, and the Americans are often made the fools. I think there's some resentment that even with the Special Relationship, the U.S. gets more than it gives.

 

Hugo Blick is the creator/writer/producer/director of the series.

[alexvillage]

 

I agree that the production values for the American press conference/press room scenes seemed low compared to the rest of the show -- but considering all the times that the vastly greater number of American productions probably botch scenes from other countries, I'm not going to complain too much.  How dare this British production give short shrift to scenes about Americans! :-)

Good point. Do not forgive the SoS speaking from the White House though. That would require just a little research that any intern could do.

 

Just to add, I loved every single scene with Hugh, when he said something like the Americans would step up and do something "incredible" (first scene with Julia) it sounded like he was mocking how Americans speak. Did anyone heard it this way too? 

[editorgrrl]

I loved every single scene with Hugh, when he said something like the Americans would step up and do something "incredible" (first scene with Julia) it sounded like he was mocking how Americans speak. Did anyone heard it this way too?

Hayden-Hoyle did an ironic American accent many times.

[attica]

Can I just say that Hugh Hayden-Hoyle is a fabulous name? I might use it for my next band.

[Llywela]

I've seen a number of British spy series, and the Americans are often made the fools. I think there's some resentment that even with the Special Relationship, the U.S. gets more than it gives.

 

Hugo Blick is the creator/writer/producer/director of the series.

It's just tit for tat. Whenever a British character shows up in an American TV show, they inevitably turn out to be a villain - and usually a stupid one. We make useful scapegoats for one another.

Edited September 21, 2014 by Llywela

[Rickster]

It seemed pretty clear from Julia's talk about cleaning up with the American general that the Americans killed Monica. Indeed, they seemed to have little expertise in most forms of spycraft but were consistently shown to be crackerjack assassins. Perhaps that's how the British see it. I remain puzzled that Julia never spoke with any CIA counterparts and was always talking to the military.

I might be mistaken, but I thought the general was described as the CIA liaison? Station Chief? in London when they first met in the series. Which seemed odd to me that a military type would be in that role, although generals and admirals have occupied the top CIA job.

[Cardie]

When generals and admirals take over--or join--the CIA, they stop wearing their uniforms. It could be the Brits don't know this.

[Llywela]

When generals and admirals take over--or join--the CIA, they stop wearing their uniforms. It could be the Brits don't know this.

TV shows tend to use visual shorthand, such as uniforms, to convey information to viewers that may not be apparent from the dialogue, especially information that wouldn't be common knowledge (why would the average Brit sitting at home watching a homegrown TV show be expected to know the fine detail of a foreign power's security services?)

[Rickster]

But the use of a uniformed general rather than a civilian in that role conveys a message of the US as a militaristic government, and I'm sure it was a purposeful choice by the series creators.

[alexvillage]

 

But the use of a uniformed general rather than a civilian in that role conveys a message of the US as a militaristic government,

Besides, it is not at all a secret that countries have spies everywhere, so it would not be a huge deal to have a civilian dealing with Julia and establish that he/she was an American spy

[pasdetrois]

What was the metal thing that Atika handed Nessa and said "your family?" It looked like shrapnel to me.

 

Stephen Rea practically stole every scene he was in and would have except for the formidable McTeer and others. Loved his scenes.

 

As the season evolved I grew tired of MG's whimsical head-tilting, beatific smiling and weepy eyes; she seemed a bit deranged some times, although I suppose one could say she had good reason. Still, MG was phenomenal. Between this series and Happy Valley I've been thrilled with fantastic television featuring smart, strong female characters.

 

Chatwin's strangulation was chilling. It looked like it could be something taken from real life assassinations.

Edited September 21, 2014 by pasdetrois

[dubbel zout]

What was the metal thing that Atika handed Nessa and said "your family?" It looked like shrapnel to me.

 

That's exactly what it was; it said "Stein" on it. Nessa's father was a weapons manufacturer/dealer.

Edited September 21, 2014 by dubbel zout

[Kris117]

And it was a piece of shrapnel saved from the bomb that had killed Atika's entire family, and members of Zahid Al-Zahid's family. That's why he started his multi-decade plan to take revenge on the Stein family. I had wondered if Atika was somehow related to Zahid, but since they made no mention of that in their scenes together, I don't think she was. They were brought together by their similar losses at the same hands. 

 

I thought it was a remarkable series, with so much excellent acting that I could comment all day on various scenes. In this episode, Hugh figuring out that Kasim was Maggie's mother was a standout, as was the entire sequence with Maggie and Atika in Gaza. There was tension in almost every scene, and the entire show illustrated that there are no easy answers in that part of the world. 

 

I'm still floored by realizing that Katherine Parkinson, who played Rachel Stein, was the same actress who played the second ditzy receptionist (Pauline) in Doc Martin for a couple of seasons. Now that is range. 

 

Even though Nessa still stood back from her family and friends, I was glad to see her at the bedside of her sister-in-law, and that Scholmo welcomed her so warmly on her return. He could have easily held her suspicions against her, but he chose to put that behind him. I was very touched. Nessa may hold herself alone, but she won't be entirely alone, and especially not with a son to bring up. 

[Kris117]

I agree the US realpolitik here wasn't real, but I otherwise loved the ep and the series as a whole. And even though I know the whole 'in a room full of pussies' line better belonged in a stoopid action movie, I'd be lying if I denied raising a fist and shouting in sisterly solidarity when McTeer said it. Take that, you, you, men. 

 

My favorite line, however, was Nessa's: "What else could I have done?" Both resignation and serious inquiry in that line reading. Well done.

 

Those were great moments, as well as seeing that Nessa could no more have picked up that knife than she could fly. 

 

It's just tit for tat. Whenever a British character shows up in an American TV show, they inevitably turn out to be a villain - and usually a stupid one. We make useful scapegoats for one another.

 

Yes, 24 used that device at least once that I can remember, and MI-5/Spooks was another British show that used the Americans as a scapegoat. Of course, on MI-5 they also used MI-6 in the same way. I think it's a way to create conflict and tension without resorting to a Big Bad, although it's become a bit of a cliché in an attempt to avoid a cliché. 

[dubbel zout]

Hugh figuring out that Kasim was Maggie's mother

 

You mean, Hugh figuring out that Kasim was Nessa's son.

 

Scholmo welcomed her so warmly on her return. He could have easily held her suspicions against her, but he chose to put that behind him.

 

I think there's too much history between Schlomo and the Steins for him to write off Nessa, especially with Ephra gone. And I also think Schlomo knew Nessa was being manipulated, so he just had to wait it out until she realized it herself.

 

it's become a bit of a cliché in an attempt to avoid a cliché.

 

Yeah. But I do like hearing the Brits get pissy with the Americans. (I'm American, btw.)

Edited September 24, 2014 by dubbel zout

[Blackie]

Wow watching the commercial free replay on CBC,  it really showed how much is edited to make room for the commercials.   No major plot points but subtle information that helps figure out what is going on.   In an already confusing show,  every bit of information is needed!!

[Blackie]

Anyone else from Canada watching on CBC?  The editing for commercials is making it extremely hard to follow. tonight they didn't even show the security guy get  killed , which was a presumably a major plot point since they named the episode after it. 

[Silje]

There are two different versions of the show, the original BBC version with 8 episodes and an international version with 9 episodes. CBC is probably airing the international version, so the security guy will get killed in episode 4. I read in this thread after watching episode 3 and got spoiled about his death (I knew he would die but not when) because I was following the international version. After that I made sure that before reading the thread for episode 4 I had seen episode 5/6 etc. Fool me once and all that.  

[Blackie]

I hope they show it next episode but for sure they are editing stuff out for commercials because I watched the first 2 episodes on CBC and then they replayed them commercial free and I could see the difference. 

[supposebly]

I just found this on the CBC website and it has me terribly intrigued. And Tobias Menzies! Ever since he was Brutus on Rome, I'm in love with his work.

[sam]

I just finished watching the first four episodes and — no surprise since this is a BBC production — I was astounded by how blatantly one-sided it was. The Arab/Palestinian characters were all portrayed as victims, of course (even the rapist in Gaza, whose crime was blamed, implicitly, on the "Occupation"), while the Jews/Israelis were, with one exception only (Nessa Stein), supremely bad and evil people: murderers, cheats, liars, sniveling cowards, an adulterer; in short, every variety of "dishonourable" one could imagine. Oh, and in a wonderful touch, a couple of times the camera actually lingers on the Star of David worn by characters just so we know they are JEWS. Thank you for that, director Hugo Blick! Finally, there's the dead father, Eli Stein. The BBC uses this tagline to publicize the show: "One woman struggles to right her father's wrongs in a world of conspiracy and espionage." And what exactly were her father’s “wrongs”? He was — gasp! — "a Zionist arms procurer”, which means that when five Arab countries were trying to crush the Jewish state in its infancy, Eli Silver was supplying weapons so that the Jews there could fight off annihilation. How terribly wrong of him!

[lucindabelle]

Last episode the show kicked in. And this one it's like, brand new plot, really? And I call foul at a guy with a phd falling for someone insisting on doing a late night interview in person. He's already been on tv. There are such things as phone interviews. I guess I'm not seeing the big bad reveal being... Spies and wiretaps. Yawn. Ho hum. Money laundering would have been interesting but spying? The horror.

[lucindabelle]

Is Arica meant to be Lebanese. To wht refugee camp does she refer? Totally missed he at was not Kasem, so rapist guy was just a pickup,right? We'd never seen him before? Nessa takes an amazing amount of risks given the life she's led. Nd I don't understand how she has the authority to kick her brother out of the business. Also beginning to be annoyed at her and perhaps naïveté about the Middle East. Maybe the dialogue isn't exposition fairy but you know, the plotting sort of is, all oh let's explain how money gets sent to Hamas through Palestinian authority to uneducated british and American viewers... Ecause there is no. Way. Anybody running a foundation in israel would not already know that. No way.

[missy jo]

Nessa thought she could break the cycle, apparently because she has always believed that she deserves every bad thing that has ever happened in her life.

 

I thought it was relatable in that many women overly blame themselves for everything, whether or not it's merited, and she certainly had her reasons.

 

I found much of the show incomprehensible, but I really liked the character of Nessa and Maggie G.'s portrayal. For some strange reason she's always annoyed me (through no fault of her own!), but I think she did a stellar job.

 

Can anyone help me out? Why did the US want statehood for Palestine and/or to continue to inflame the region?

[Constantinople]

Can anyone help me out? Why did the US want statehood for Palestine

 

Because the writer of the series said so.

 

Which is why I refer to the The Honorable Woman as a comedy.

[Constantinople]

Personally, I don't think the rape was excused on the grounds of the "Occupation".  Add in multiple kidnappings, extortion/blackmail, multiple individual murders, mass murder, conspiracy to commit murder and just plain old outright lying, and the various Palestinian characters don't exactly smell like roses.  Of all the Palestinians, Atika was probably the one most sympathetically portrayed, and she led Ephra to his death for no reason other than some feeble kind of "revenge", and then was deluded enough to think that she did everything for the cause.

 

As for the various Jewish and Israeli characters, both Rachel and Shlomo were portrayed in a positive light.  Not many would react as well as Shlomo did when Nessa realized the truth about him.  The professor was also portrayed as someone dedicated to ideals, in this case, academic opportunity based on merit and not on who was Jewish or Palestinian.  Even Ephra meant well, although I think it was foolish of him to use the Stein foundation to transfer money in exchange for the Israeli soldier, and being an "adulterer" was pretty small beer in comparison to what everyone else was doing.

 

The Israeli ambassador/consul and Hayden-Hoyle's contact (Posca from Rome) engaged in ordinary lies/evasions/no comments that diplomats/spies do from all countries.

 

The leader of the alledged Israeli extremist organization that falsely took credit for the bombing, and presumably the murder of the professor, doesn't come off well, but given that character's total lack of motivation for his behavior, it was impossible to take the character, or that part of the plot, seriously.

 

For that matter, I don' think Nessa Stein comes off all that well.  She's naive, has an inflated sense of her own importance, sent her bodyguard to his death, and apparently didn't give a shit about her personal assistant when Nessa realized the bomb was about to go off.

 

Regardless, it's pointless getting upset about the series given the plot was driven by the asurdity that the American government would just randomly decide not to veto a UN resolution recognizing Palestinian statehood.  Which is why I refer to the series as a comedy.

[Llywela]

For that matter, I don' think Nessa Stein comes off all that well.  She's naive, has an inflated sense of her own importance, sent her bodyguard to his death, and apparently didn't give a shit about her personal assistant when Nessa realized the bomb was about to go off.

Not disagreeing with you about Nessa in general, but I would like to point out for the record that Nessa didn't know a bomb was about to go off. She saw the Palestinians leaving without upholding their promise to return Kasim, realised that they were reneging on the deal, and ran after them in panic over her son, not awareness of a bomb.

[alexvillage]

 

Why did the US want statehood for Palestine

Maybe the writer was making a political statement. The region has been hot topic forever and lately many European countries have (more openly and forcefully) chastised Israel about the way they deal with Gaza and the West Bank. Officially, the US has been 100% pro-Israel and this is never going to change. I think that the writer wanted to include the message that Israel has been abusing the political clout, so he made the fictional US take a position  many want the real US to take

[alexvillage]

I wouldn't call the series a comedy, as much a very idealistic series, with touches of incredulity.

[Milburn Stone]

Not disagreeing with you about Nessa in general, but I would like to point out for the record that Nessa didn't know a bomb was about to go off. She saw the Palestinians leaving without upholding their promise to return Kasim, realised that they were reneging on the deal, and ran after them in panic over her son, not awareness of a bomb.

 

That's not how I read it. I saw her panic when the driver of the backhoe (or whatever heavy duty construction equipment that was) was unable to start it after several attempts. Something in her registered that this was not right. I kind of wondered not only why she didn't grab her PA, but didn't tell the backhoe driver to stop trying to turn the key. 

 

Part of why I read it this way was because when she saw the Palestinians driving away, it sealed the deal for her that a bomb was going to go off. "Why are they driving away? Oh my God, it's because they know this place is about to explode!"

 

However, I now realize that all of that could be me reading into the situation. You could be right, that her entire motivation for running was to stop their car because they were welshing on the Kasim deal.

Edited October 18, 2014 by Milburn Stone