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Strabo4 posted:The average person pays no attention whatsoever to international events so Molly's ignorance didn't seem too out of place. And Barry probably played some part in that too, trying to bury his head in the sand and forget about his country and anything going on there. I think the show could go either way. The premise is interesting and it seems like they want to explore themes that don't show up in other shows, and that are very relevant to the current situation in that area. However, there are just so many things which stood out as bad writing or poorly thought through that I am very doubtful as to whether the show can be sustained. Of course its a matter of sticking with it for a bit more and seeing how the next episodes turned out. 1) Jamal is a ridiculous character of a man. He is a blatant "bad guy" and there is no development of this fact. We are hit in the face with a rape scene right off the bat to establish just how bad he is. Then he has to be restrained from torturing a man in a bathroom and then just so its clear for everyone, he rapes a wife between the dancing and the dessert course at her own wedding. Its cheap and using rape like this makes it really trivial. Its clear that this guy is supposed to be Uday Hussein and basically just a psychopath, but it could have been built up a bit better. I honestly hope he's gone because the character was too much. 2) Everyone speaks English. The upper class? okay everyone is rich and foreign educated, but can't we have a few throwaway phrases in Arabic besides the guys praying? All the random soldiers and servants are also fluent in English?? Everyone speaking English is obviously conceded to the audience, but a few phrases here and there would really help to build the atmosphere. 3) The family, specifically the wife. Ugh. Been covered enough already in this thread but the fact that everyone is just so uninformed. It seems that the obviously gay son is the only one who bothered to look it up. And then he loves it when he's actually there? Even though I'm sure considering his own particular situation and given the general context of this country, he must not be happy at the fact that at best homosexuals are forced to be closeted 24/7, if not actually legally prohibited from doing certain things (all the way up to further punishments like being hanged or whatever). Same thing goes for the sister, who is aware enough of gender issues and seems outspoken, but can't even drop a hint to mommy that there's mass executions in this place. Something which I've seen some people complain about, I don't think Rayner is a bad choice. Could they have picked an actor who is ethnically Arab? I'm sure there are quite a few, but I think that Rayner looks like a convincing Mediterranean upper-class Arab, and if this is Not-Syria then its not so bad. Its not like these people are inbred horse nobles from the middle of the desert. Rayner was a bit bland in my opinion, up until he snapped and hit his son. However I think that his attitude in the first episode can be forgiven in terms that he was just (reasonably) preoccupied with getting out of there asap. I hope that there is a turn towards being "Tyrant", and that we see the "positives" of dictatorial rule. The first episode hit us over the head with how evil this system is, lets throw a little ambiguity and have a more conflicted narrative.
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Jun 27, 2014 14:43
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I liked ep2 better than the first one. Molly is extremely annoying and I echo those above in hoping that the only reason that she is just blatantly going to turn into an Asma al-Assad caricature. Regarding the English, I don't think FX is going to run a show that is subtitled 80%, especially subtitled from Arabic. However I do think that it could be managed a lot better. When Barry talks to the terrorist kids (the execution of which I have no problem with, that is a realistic depiction and I don't think it was drawn out) its clear that they're all speaking in Arabic. However, when Sammy speaks with the chief of security's son, they start off with a clumsy arabic greeting and then switch into English, which I think is a bit jarring. It would help a lot if minor characters who would in all likelihood not speak English just spoke in Arabic (when they bark orders at random goons, speak with soldiers, etc.). The checkpoint scene in the beginning of the episode would be a good way to build up the atmosphere in this way. It was short, nothing of consequence was said, and only a minor recurring character was present. Overall it keeps up the perception from e1 that it has a good premise but they keep tripping up over the details etc.
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Jul 2, 2014 12:15
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