I think I’m getting more and more nitpicky when reviewing Tyrant; for instance, the first note I took while watching “Sins of the Father” was just “I hate jogging scenes.” Which I do, I really do, even if they lead to a decent flashback, like it did here. Barry remembers being in college and returning to his dorm to find it vandalized with anti-Al Fayeed graffiti. It’s not a bad scene, but when you pay more attention to it, it falls apart. The guy playing college-aged Barry looks nothing like Adam Rayner, and to accompany the graffiti, some punk put “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” Even for Tyrant, that’s a little obvious.
“Sins of the Father” was Tyrant‘s attempt to explore more of Abbudin, its politics and its people. The episode took place over little more than twenty-four hours – but those twenty-four hours happened to be the twentieth anniversary of a chemical massacre at Ma’an, perpetrated by Barry’s father. (Molly tries to comfort her husband by telling “Oh, honey, it was twenty years ago,” which I guess is the statute of limitations on atrocities).
After a man sets himself on fire in the town square (yet another in a long list of Tyrant scenes that would be better if the show didn’t demand that Middle Eastern characters speak fucking English), a crowd of protesters assembles, allowing themselves to get riled up by Ihab Rashid. Among them is Fauzi’s daughter Samira, who we’ve established is an asshole. But that’s okay because Fauzi is a DICK, which we’ll get to later.
After Jamal’s motorcade is rushed by protesters – who, for some reason, are incensed at the sight of government limousines and security forces pulling up – the plan is made to “clear the square,” which is a typical General Tariq euphemism for “Just fucking kill everybody because as a character I’m only here to twirl my mustache and be the devil on Jamal’s shoulder.” Tariq might be the most one-dimensional villain on television right now; his answer to every problem is the same: send in the troops. He is the quintessential man with a hammer.
Sammy and Emma go clubbing with Ahmed, and I really don’t care about this subplot anymore. Abdul thought his tryst with Sammy was a one-night thing, and Sammy can’t get it through his head that a country that legislates what TV channels you can watch might not have the most progressive views on homosexuality. Ahmed continues to be the worst, more a son of Jamal in episode one than Jamal in episode four. He boasts about buying two Maclarens, he belittles Abdul, and he can’t understand why his wife isn’t in a clubbing mood, after being sexually assaulted and kidnapped in quick succession.
Jamal is being posited as more of a tragic figure, which is a hard pill to swallow after the pilot episode. You can’t just have someone commit rape three times in one episode, then expect us to sympathize with him. I don’t give a shit about Jamal (or his dick, which still isn’t working), and under Barry’s influence he’s becoming boring.
Okay, I said we’d talk about Fauzi. Barry goes to warn him about Tariq’s plan, so he and Samira can get the hell out of Dodge, and Fauzi’s response is “Go to hell, Bassam.” There’s a difference between a character being a straight shooter and just being a dick, and Tyrant doesn’t seem to be able to tell. I don’t buy Barry and Fauzi as friends, because Adam Rayner and Fares Fares have zero chemistry together, and every time Fauzi is on screen I roll my eyes because he’s either A) about to be scolded by his daughter, or B) about to scold Barry.
Last week I said Tyrant had one or two more episodes to fix itself, but I might stick with it regardless. With True Blood and Under the Dome getting actually good, I need something to hate watch.
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