I am reaching out to people who have an interest in the show. I don’t work for it, or Fox or FX, or anything. I work for the Near East Foundation, an international nonprofit, I am a freelance public diplomat, and a Middle East expert. I wrote a little on why this show is more important than just being a soap opera. The violence for which it’s been so criticized for depicting deserves a closer look:
I’d love it if you all read it and shared some thoughts with me. You can get me back at blake@blakestilwell.com or @blakestilwell on Twitter!
Also, anything you’d be interested in knowing about the situations in the region, I’d love to talk about.
Hi somethingwaffles, and welcome. If you have a topic you’d like to discuss we’d prefer you bring your thoughts here, rather than post links to material you’ve posted elsewhere, which tends to have the feel of spam. We’re very vigilant about that here, as you will see if you would like to stick around and join us. As it is, your expertise is very welcome here so thanks for dropping by.
Just saw the most recent episode. It’s fascinating to me to see Jamal really trying to be a good man, a wise leader, as he wrestles with his own personal demons, strong appetites and worst impulses. He could easily be a typical TV cardboard villain, and he’s not. That said, attacking the ailing sheikh in the men’s bathroom was A Very Bad Idea. Does he think no one saw them go in there separately, or might figure out what happened?
Bassam/Barry needs to do a much better job of assuring his brother that (a) he wants Jamal to succeed as President, (b) democracy has its ups and its downs but is well worth embracing, (c) the sheikh specifically admitted he was trying to cause dissension between them, and (d) he is only there to help, and will gladly walk away the moment his advice is unwelcomed or unneeded.
No sign of pudgy heir apparent or his terrorized wife, or Barry’s kids, this episode.
I also noticed there was not a single mention of Islam. Does the sheikh intend to introduce an Iranian-style (or worse, Taliban-style) theocracy, if elected? Just how important is Islam in Abuddin, anyway? We just don’t know. Seems like the kind of thing that might get discussed in an election campaign.
Completely agree with this. Very nice acting job. So many things to hate, but I find myself not doing so; it’s more a feeling of pity like he himself notes from his brother. I see the character as really full of self-doubt; whether this is due to the arrival of his brother or just something always there is not clear.
Ugh. So… one episode, two brothers, two murders. I still don’t quite grasp Barry’s reasoning in giving the sheikh a lethal injection. If the sheikh were to come to and accuse Jamal of attacking him, Jamal could just deny it - apparently no one saw them go into the bathroom separately, and the security video shows the sheikh was alone. Jamal could denounce it as a political cheap shot.
And why’d Jamal kill his mistress? Just because he was musing about running off the Maldives with her? She could already have hurt him by now, if he was worried about blackmail. Seemed gratuitous, just one more bit of data that Jamal can be a really, really bad guy - as if we were in any doubt of that.
The revelation that the general bombed the barracks and ordered the gas attack in Ma’an 20 years ago was utterly unsurprising to me; don’t know why Barry was so incredulous. What I can’t believe is that his dad would keep the general around all the years since, and in the same top military post, cousin or no. That kind of gross disobedience, and acting without orders, would be intolerable.
Anyway… looks like Bassam, having decided that his brother is unredeemable, now intends to displace him as president. That will not be pretty.
I gave up after the 4th episode, my wife is still plugging along.
I get that a story line sympathetic to a Middle Eastern dictator (even fictional) wouldn’t play well to an American audience, but any political organization is a complex web of interests. Not only can’t a dictator rule by fiat, it’s poor writing. I was hoping the Liberal Western brothers advice would turn out to be the worst course of action, leading the religious or military hardliners to rebel or something.
There is also an opportunity here to bridge the cultural divide and it’s being wasted with the only dilemma present: Old Dictatorial Ways VS Liberal Western Freedom
Agreed; Liberal Western Freedom isn’t a realistic option, and Old (Secular) Dictatorship is still a much better option that New Islamic Theocracy. I can see Bassam gradually moving them into a more PR friendly dictatorship though.
Not liking the wife’s sister, the boy, the girl. Couldn’t figure out what Jamal’s daughter-in-law was doing. Bit of a confused mess with the CIA …but I’m sticking with it.
So is anyone else bothered by how freely Barry & Molly are discussing the coup “in private”? :dubious: Did it not occur to them that just because they’re Al-Fayeeds it doesn’t mean nobody bugged their private quarters. Then again Barry is starting to show a level of naivety approaching his wife & son this episode.
Yes, definitely. They’re taking a lot of chances and not being nearly as careful as they should be (letting the telecom guy sit and talk in the safe house when he wasn’t sure whether he’d been followed, or had shaken any tail he might’ve picked up, was astonishing).
I’m caught up now, having just seen the most recent two episodes. Barry, having violated his Hippocratic oath by killing the sheik, and letting Jamal slap around the old general, is now having to lie and lie and lie. He can keep telling himself it’s for the good of the country, but he’s not far from becoming the monster he thinks he’s fighting.
Interesting to see that there are Bedouins in Abbudin; IRL, they really get around: Bedouin - Wikipedia. Tucker’s office had pictures of Secretary of State John Kerry and the White House, but not Obama (and that was a U.S. Presidential and not State Dept. flag behind his desk!).
I noticed the preview for next week said “Season Finale,” but apparently FX hasn’t decided to renew the show yet. I understand the ratings haven’t been all that good, so a cancellation wouldn’t surprise me. Hope the finale is a good one, whether for the series or the season.
They foreshadowed the coup failing pretty well between Barry being called “Mr President” early on and Hakim’s reluctance to drink. At this point Amira is Barry’s only hope at survival, though it still hasn’t occurred to her to tell Jamal how Tariq betrayed his father. :dubious: Obviously Barry will survive somehow if this get’s renewed, but how much drama can they stretch out Barry in a dungeon while his wife & kids cool their heels in the US Embassy? It’s like he’d get another change at a coup, and there’s no story if he goes back into exile. Then there’s the matter of his contingency plan with the NYT.
A disappointing end to the show, I thought. Lots and lots of buildup, and then the coup fizzled in about five minutes. I agree that it’s hard to see where the show would go in a second season - if Jamal releases his brother and lets him stay, he’ll never trust him again. If Barry’s deported, he’s presumably going back to being a doctor in the States. Yawn. If Barry stays in prison, he won’t be able to make much happen outside. And if he’s executed, are we really going to want to watch a show focusing on bully/rapist/murderer Jamal? Not sure he’s charismatic enough to pull that off.
I noticed one of the small American flags on Tucker’s desk was upside-down. A small indication of U.S. distress over the abortive coup, perhaps.
Was the trusted old bald aide - the one who rode back from the airport with Barry and his family when they first arrived - among those executed by the soldiers?
I think I can answer this. Jamal just wanted one person who loved him for him. Not because he was the son of the leader, or a rich playboy or a means to an end. Just loved him for being Jamal. He thought he had that with the “Swedish Embassy” when she agreed to go to the Maldives. But he noticed that she was blah about going away with him. Then Barry called and told him that he had killed the sheik for Jamal and Jamal realized that the one person who really loved him for him was his brother and that she was still interested more in the life he could give her.
Ah - interesting. I hadn’t thought of that juxtaposition. You might be right. Of course, Barry would feel even worse, knowing he had inadvertently also caused the death of someone else by killing the sheik!
Which just makes Barry’s betrayal hurt deeper; he’s literally the last person on the planet Jamal would expect to betray him now. It makes perfect sense he’d suspect Hakim, hell he’d suspect Leila before Jamal. Speaking of Leila I loved the scenes of her in the dungeon & at the execution cool-as-a-cucumber dressed to the 9s. Also did anyone else keep thinking Tariq was her father? I was a little surprised that apparently this isn’t the case