Anyone else watch the pilot?
It wasn’t anything special but the reviews are a bit harsher than seem deserved.
This is a good example of a somewhat nitpicky review.
This one gives a bit more of a complex analysis of the problems.
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Is it anything like Boss?
That was worth watching just for a naked Kathleen Roberston.
No, nothing like Boss. I haven’t read any reviews, and I thought it had some rough edges and cliches, but I thought it was decent for a pilot. If it goes in a good direction, it might be good, but it is treading some pretty tough grounds, where I imagine it might find difficulty resisting an even greater degree of cliche and progressing in a convincing way.
I’ll give it at least two more episodes to sell me.
I agree with some of what the analysis in the OP said about the pilot episode; I expected the wife and children to be more aware of why the father might be reluctant to return home, given that the grandfather is running a brutal dictatorship. Surely at some point the wife or children would have found out about recent events there through the internet? “See kids. There’s a Subway restaurant and a mall. It’s just like home.” Except that at home the ride from the airport to the family’s house isn’t cleared of all other traffic.
And the US embassy official was weirdly enthusiastic about the country and blind to the oppression.
Almost identical, except for the location, the characters, the plot, etc. 
The first episode was panned by many critics, but some said it picks up. I’m not a fan of moody broody characters, and this guy was annoying me after 30 minutes in. But I’ll stick for a couple more episodes and see if it picks up some steam.
I watched the episode and agree that the wife and kids couldn’t possibly be dumb enough to not have any idea of the possible dangers involved in the visit. I’m hoping it gets better fast.
I’m kinda hoping the kids die soon.I almost cheered when the father slapped the crap out of the son, and the daughter had a look on her face that suggested all the other actors were farting during the entire production
Yep, I agree with the criticisms about the naive family – the wife, especially, was driving me crazy on the plane ride home. Barry is clearly on the edge, and she can’t possibly imagine why or wait even until the seatbelt sign is turned off to demand that he participate in a difficult and emotional conversation? And when he can’t accomodate her she suddenly has a big problem with a personality trait he’s had for as long as she’s known him? Meh. I was happy to see Jennifer Finnigan back on TV (after the short-lived Monday Mornings), but I wanted to slap the character.
I also had some trouble with the premise: Barry hasn’t seen his nephew in 20 years, so why was that wedding so important? Was it the first family wedding since he’d left? Surely there must have been other milestones he missed – deaths, births, etc. – so I don’t get why he was suddenly willing to return (and bring the whole family!).
Those annoyances aside, I feel like there’s still potential. I’m willing to give it another episode or two.
Remember how annoying the daughter Dana Brody was on Homeland? Well, Howard Gordon and Gideon Raff, who were the writers of that show, are also responsible for this one. So perhaps they just don’t know how to write non-annoying daughters.
And I get the impression that the lead character, Barry, is the tyrant of the title. So I take it the story is how he turns into a brutal dictator, despite spending a couple of decades in the US as a normal person. It’s kind of similar to the story of Bashar al-Assad, leader of Syria. He spent a few years as an ophthalmologist in the UK but returned to Syria after his brother, the expected heir to the father, died in a car crash. (Sound familiar?) I think some people thought Bashar al-Assad would reform the country, partly because he’d spent time in the West. (See this piece from NPR, as an example.)
Sure there’s a thread. This one. That you started.
I didn’t get sucked into it, and the cluelessness of the Americans stretched credulity as it is. I watch enough TV as it is; I won’t be following this show.
But it’s on FX. They’ve had a string of good shows (Sons of Anarchy, Justified, The Americans, Fargo), so I’m willing to give it a chance.
I’m a big fan of The Americans and Fargo, so I thought: great! Another quality series on FX to fill the Summer!
I couldn’t get halfway through it. Part of it is me (I don’t like “oppressor porn”), but the cliches and heavy-handidness of it really turned me off. And the rapes. It’s not entertaining for me.
Archer is another great show on FX (raunchy, very funny animated spy spoof).
I kinda liked Tyrant, and I’ll definitely tune in again. Barry looks like Rob Lowe’s craggier older brother. He was so gloomy for so much of the time, though, it got a little tiresome. Having a damaged kid with a violent childhood become a pediatrician was a bit anvilicious.
The political junkie in me wants to see him become the new president and try to be a reformer. He’ll have to do it while threading the needle of Islamic extremism, conservative cronies of his late father , his violent, self-indulgent older brother (assuming he lives), his wife’s and daughter’s yearning to return to America, his gay son’s dangerous liaisons, etc. Could be interesting.
I was thinking the same thing; could any of the Middle Eastern countries formerly led by autocratic rulers be transformed into more democratic societies? Ideally, of course, I’d want them to become multicultural as well as democratic societies, but I don’t see that happening in the real world. (From a Western perspective, it was perhaps better when countries like Iraq, Syria and Egypt were led by dictators. At least then the countries held together.)
It’s entirely possible for Baladi to be both a brutal dictatorship and a US ally. The Al-Fayeed regime appears to be a secular dictatorship as opposed to an Islamic theocracy. The latter is much more likely than the former if the regime falls.
Agreed. I’m confused abut the timeline too. So Barry left home 20 yrs ago at 16, has been married 19 yrs and has a 16 yr old son. :dubious: Sure it’s possible, but it does seem odd he got married, at least to a foreigner, at 17.
I assume the “20 years” comment was just rounding off. The actor, I see, is 36: Adam Rayner - Wikipedia
And the boy might have been sent abroad for his own safety as well as an education. (My dad went to a prep school in Pennsylvania in the early Fifties, and one of his classmates was the son of a Latin American dictator. The kid had two hulking guards with him all the time). It might’ve taken him this long to talk himself into returning, even for a relatively minor occasion such as this wedding.
Wild-ass speculation: the U.S. Embassy douchebag’s wife is not just ornamental, but is a CIA agent; Barry’s Jewish doctor friends back home start urging him to improve relations with Israel; Barry appoints his old blogger friend as his chief of staff, prime minister or PR guy.
Forgot to add, I agree with those who are incredulous that Barry’s wife and kids didn’t check out grandpa and his country long ago on Wiki or Google. Welcome to the 21st century, gang!
Good point; he was awfully quick to suggest using the tribal leader’s entire extended family as human shields for the wedding.
You’d have to think quickly too, to prevent a mutilation.
Wow, he and I were born the exact same day. I would have guessed he was several years older than me.