Tyrant: “Hail Mary”
(Episode 1.05)

Wow.
There were so many things wrong with this episode of Tyrant, I’m not even sure where to start. But okay! I’ll start with the fact that the series has decided to portray rebel leader Ihab (Alexander Karim) as a petulant child who is upset that someone took his favorite matchbox car. Not, you know, someone who is living in a country that oppresses its people and publicly hangs them.
Barry thinks he has to take Ihab “down a notch.” The real problem with making Ihab an egotistical jerk is the viewers are left with no one to root for. Every character is becoming more and more one-note. We certainly can’t root for Barry who becomes blander with each passing episode. The problem isn’t that Adam Rayner isn’t of Middle Eastern descent; he problem is that he recites all of his lines as if he’s giving a seventh grade history report. Granted, he’s saddled with a bunch of exposition and corny dialogue. But still.
Barry’s big plan to defuse the brewing conflict is to meet with Ihab’s father, Sheik Rashid (Mohammed Bakri). Twenty years ago (the show’s magic number!), the Sheik and Barry’s father almost brokered a peace deal. Barry thinks he can make that happen now.
Molly, who spent a large part of the episode in a sequined negligée, is having none of it. “If I didn’t know better, I would say you are starting to get off on it,” she tells her husband. But Molly needs to remember she brought this on herself. She’s the one who wanted her husband to get more involved with his family. She’s the one who wanted to stay in Abbudin.
Molly also helps the maid Reema (Oshrat Ingadshet) whose brother has broken his arm fixing a roof. Although she seems to have completely abandoned her practice, Molly put her medical training to good use and helps Reema’s brother. Molly, so slow to catch on, finally realizes that the brother didn’t hurt himself fixing a roof. Molly uses her Al-Fayeed name to get him to the hospital. Jennifer Finnigan’s wide-eyed bewilderment at everything that Molly experiences is becoming increasingly tougher to take.
Meanwhile Nusrat goes to see her parents and tells them that Jamal raped her. She wants to divorce Ahmed. Both her parents support her (thank goodness) and I’m glad to see the show dealing with the violent crime Jamal committed against Nusrat. When Nusrat’s father goes to see Jamal, asking for a quick divorce for his daughter, Jamal shoots him in the arm. Later Nusrat’s parents bring her to the big Al-Fayeed party while her mother laments that, “You’re feeding her to the wolves.” I really want a story line where Nusrat’s parents plot her escape.
Just as Barry has become more bland and Molly more bewildered, Jamal is increasingly a cartoonish, one-note villain. He huffs and puffs and preens and commits horrific acts but there’s nothing interesting about him. He’s just a disgusting character. The most interesting villains have nuance and layers. Jamal does not.
At the end of the episode, the Sheik returns and asks to meet with Jamal. Again, this is supposed to be a huge dramatic moment. “You could finish something that our father couldn’t,” Barry implores. Jamal tells his men to stand down. Yawn.
Other thoughts on “Hail Mary:”
• Emma and Sammy weren’t in this episode. I can only hope they’ve returned to Pasadena to live with friends.
• Seriously, what was Molly wearing in this episode?
Amy Amatangelo is a Boston-based freelance writer, a member of the Television Critics Association and a regular contributor to Paste. You can follow her on Twitter or her blog.