Article first published as TYRANT Review at Seat42F.
FX, which has been very successful in
making quality television programs these past few years, does it again
with TYRANT, premiering this week. Set in the fictional Middle Eastern
country of Abbudin, the story is one of a dictator’s family in a country
trying to modernize, and whose people want to be free. The son who has
rejected his homeland and spent the past twenty years living in America
is forced to return and rule when circumstances incapacitate those who
should be running Abbudin.
The lead character in TYRANT is Bassam
“Barry” Al Fayeed (Adam Rayner, Hawtorne). He is a closed-off doctor and
family man who has tried to escape his past. He only reluctantly agrees
to go home for a brief visit after a long absence, and is determined
not to be dragged in to the politics there, which he follows from afar.
His friend, Fauzi (Fares Fares, Zero Dark Thirty), an opposition
journalist, and Barry’s family really want him to contribute. Can Barry
be persuaded to help the two sides come to an understanding?
This is a very delicate time for
Abbudin. Barry’s father, Khaled (Nasser Faris, House of Sand and Fog),
doesn’t understand why the people want to be out from under him,
thinking he has given them prosperity and peace. Watching his fellow
dictators fall, Khaled tries to find a way to hold onto his power. He
quickly realizes that his elder son, Jamal (Ashraf Barhom, The Kingdom),
is too brutal and dispassionate to appease the population, and so hopes
younger child Barry can help with that.
TYRANT is very interesting in making us
see the perspective of the ruler. Khaled is shown to be ruthless in
flashbacks, but seems a just leader now. Does he have a point in his
views? And clearly, having the wisdom to work on bringing Barry into the
fold, he’s trying to do right by his people. If he simply wanted
revenge he could bomb them, which he’s not doing, and it he was solely
worried about his own life, he could take some wealth and flee, again
another option not considered.
Viewers are asked to see Barry as a
reluctant captain, someone people can follow because he’s worthy of such
loyalty, but made all the more eligible by his derision for the
position. He is a normal guy and wants to stay that way. He has
abandoned the trappings and riches he is entitled to by birth, and so
should be the type of president the masses would fall in line for.
Barry is further grounded by his
American family. Wife, Molly (Jennifer Finnigan, Better With You, Close
to Home), is compassionate and understanding, though she’s getting tired
of Barry refusing to talk about his past. His daughter, Emma (Anne
Winters, The Fosters), is a perceptive daddy’s girl. His son, Sammy
(Noah Silver), is a typical rebellious teen, and somewhat-secretly gay,
which will be a problem in the Middle East. Together, the trio serves
not only as a window into what is an alien culture for many viewers, but
also a way to give Barry reason to stay true to who he is, rather than
what he was.
But there’s definitely an undercurrent
of awfulness to the Al Fayeed family. As I said, Khaled is shown to be
terrible in the past, and reveals a hint of that now. Jamal is following
in those footsteps, perhaps with an extra level of insanity and total
lack of moral compass. Barry, too, exhibits brief flashes of that anger
and cruelty in the “Pilot,” meaning back in this environment, he may
struggle to hold on to his mature, civilized self, reverting to someone
no better or more deserving than his relations.
Also starring Justin Kirk (Weeds), Alice
Krige (Star Trek: First Contact, meaning FX now has both Borg Queens),
Moran Atias (Crash), Salim Daw (Prisoners of War), and Mehdi Dehbi
(Septieme ciel Belgique), TYRANT is an intriguing, complex,
character-driven drama that will challenge worldviews and open
audience’s eyes to global differences. It is important for showing us
something we’re not used to seeing, but it’s also fully engaging on its
own, with family and political drama, apart from the setting. The acting
is terrific, the set design is spectacular, and the pacing is
near-perfect. I am definitely hooked.
TYRANT premieres this Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on FX.
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