Warning: huge spoilers.
“Don’t celebrate too quickly, You’re married to an Alfayeed, One day they will come for you too.”
Episode 1: Spring
FX’s “Tyrant” is back with its new, third season. “Spring,” the season opener, is chock-full of intense moments: Nusrat’s death, witnessing justice in the streets and executions. However, it gets confusing after Bassam tries to abdicate his position of president.
There’s a lot going down in “Spring.” After Jamal is shot by her daughter in-law, Nusrat, and is in a coma, Jamal Al-Fayeed’s wife and son are forced by the guards to be removed from the palace. Later, Bassam keeps the two in a secluded area of the palace and Ihab Rashid is released from prison and Rashid vows to get his revenge. Nusrat begs for forgiveness to Bassam but is unexpectedly killed by the guards late at night.
In this episode, lots of action happens, and Bassam is now a politician who is in charge of Abuddin. Leila, Jamal’s wife, wants to move up to power as well. In fact, power is what everyone wants. “Power before family”: the season’s motto. In “Spring,” people want revenge and power: two things certain to cause political turmoil.
Episode 2: Cockroach
“Cockroach”‘s plot, on the other hand, simplifies the situation, despite being chock-full of intense moments. The second episode focuses mainly on Bassam trying to revive his friendship with his friend, Fauzi, and failing when Bassam reveals the shameful truth of Fauzi’s dead daughter. Molly, Bassam’s husband, faces the problem of saving her daughter who is kidnapped by Ihab Rashid. Molly also chooses to betray her calm and caring husband who wants to negotiate without bloodshed and terror. The situations in these episodes become dangerous as the family is being torn apart by the Caliphate. The Caliphate is a muslim terrorist group led by Rashid and their main goal is conquering Abuddin and capturing other cities while creating terror. Ihab Rashid wants Bassam’s wife in exchange for the daughter, Emma Al-Fayeed.
This episode builds up the intensity into the season. Fauzi, now hearing about the truth, shows remorse and begins to turn into bitter enemies. The plot takes a detour and spikes, causing a new problem involving the kidnapping of Bassam’s daughter. The plot thickens and becomes a cliffhanger for episode three when Ihab asks for Molly Al-Fayeed in exchange for Emma. I believe that the cliffhanger itself causes more people to find out more and actually go back to season 1 to binge watch or spend hours on Wikipedia so they can be ready for the next episode.
Not only did this season terrify me, it left the audience feeling emotionally drained at the end. In episode three, two people die. Big people. The episodes are based on pure drama. The drama makes the people want more intense feelings. People genuinely connect with the show, and they feel sorry for the characters who want to live in a country with peace and serenity. Power, justice, revenge: These three words fuel each character to act impulsively and fight for what they desire and what they think is right. The recent deaths are more intense and make you believe in reality and not a fantasy world like “Game Of Thrones.” Nusrat’s unexpected death is intense and leaves the audience wanting to know more. Jamal’s death made people feel little, since he did terrible things and corrupted his son’s reputation and family. Emma’s death left everyone, including me, in shock, and it became a strong cliffhanger which made people want to watch more of the show.
FX is known for its dramatic, satirical and emotional content. Even though the show goes at a slow pace, it tries its best to keep the audience entertained with some hijinks here and there. This is a show that’s got a dramatic feel for the real world, making us feel bad for the people in countries ruled by a ruthless leader. “Tyrant” is both riveting and emotionally impactful.
Contact Vijeet Chagule at vijee99 ‘at’ gmail.com.