Didn't really want to write a review but this thing seems to be so mixed up. If you check the other reviews, there's an fair distribution from 1-starred hate to 10-starred pure love. Something's going on. I myself wanted to give up about episode 4, but my better half was hooked by then ... and I'm glad she was.
So first, why all the dislikes? Some people are annoyed by the accents, but its not such a big deal.
Some people are annoyed that the Israelis are portrayed as more 'good' than the Syrians. Actually, I don't think this was the case. The Israeli intelligence service and political elite's use of Eli, and their stupid betrayal of him by their actions, was just as callow as the torturing by the head of the Syrian intelligence service, and just as short sighted as the actions of the Syrian president. There were some lovely, genuine people amongst the Syrians, and in fact, you could say that their characters were portrayed in more depth than that of the Israelis, who tended to be a little 1-dimensional. But even if it were the case that there was some political bias in the film's presentation, well, welcome to the real world, but I don't think that's the kind of thing that really ticks you off in a movie or drama.
What is really annoying is where the story doesn't hang together and where the acting or script is poor. Yes, for movie purposes, certain sequences have to be compressed, but in the end Eli/Kamal seems to be having a freakish streak of good luck, and seems to be taking not one unnecessary risk, not two, but three, without getting caught, and presumably all in the name of hooking us on the drama? It's at that point that I wanted to give up. And regarding the script, Kamal's adulation and praise for Syria really is too much, and surely he could just stop smiling for one second? I really don't think Syrians would fall for an act that cheap.
Another aspect of the storyline is that I really don't like knowing the ending, from the beginning of the series. OK, so I know Kamal will get caught and tortured, so basically I now have 6 episodes of padding before I get there? Really? Why does IMDB need a warning about plot spoilers, when the first episode itself is a spoiler for the whole series? There were further repurcussions from that storyline decision, but I've said enough already.
But now let's get to the good stuff. There are 4 things to enjoy from this drama. Firstly, the story does hold you, as you genuinely care about Eli/Kamal and his wife, and the military outcomes. Secondly, the presentation is good, in terms of scenery, costumes and realism. Thirdly, the acting is generally good so you can empathise with the characters. The fact that Sasha Cohen has previously created multiple personas in comedy, plays nicely into the role here of someone who has to live the life of a double persona. So although some of SBC's acting is a bit drama school in places, the overall effect is gratifying. Which brings me nicely to the fourth point, why I'm still struggling to get this drama out of my head.
At the beginning of the series, in a flash-forward, Kamal is forced to write a confession, and struggles to sign his name. His rabbi says "Poor boy, you don't know who you are". It seems like a kind of joke to relieve the tension. Then at the end of the series, we know the whole persona of Kamal that he has carefully built up over many years, and realise that he is genuinely struggling to know how he should sign the document.
We can now reflect back to previous episodes where Eli was back in Israel, but acutally he was behaving as a 'Kamal'ised version of Eli, he had absorbed that role so deeply. There were many examples, but when he was asked to show his Id after buying expensive items, he gets angry with security and says "Do you know who I am?" or something like that. When he discovers a serious error by teh office he rings up his boss and gives him a serious telling off. He finds it disgraceful that his wife doesn't have her own telephone line.
In the end, Eli prefers to be Kamal (apart from missing his wife). And why not? As Kamal he is a multi-millionaire who has built up a successful business and who hob nobs with the political elite. When he enters a room, "everyone wants a piece of him", as his army friend says. Eli's exposition of the role of Kamal is so successful - even landing the job of Deputy Minister of Defence - that one wonders what was he doing as a small time clerk back in Israel? Maybe if he'd been given some seed capital and a new blank identity there he could have gone for it and been similarly successful? And perhaps, many of us are also like that and are held back, Leviathon like, by a myriad tiny strings of our own construction?
So my advice is to grit your teeth through the poor parts of this drama, but get what you can from the rest, for there is plenty of good meat to be had.
So first, why all the dislikes? Some people are annoyed by the accents, but its not such a big deal.
Some people are annoyed that the Israelis are portrayed as more 'good' than the Syrians. Actually, I don't think this was the case. The Israeli intelligence service and political elite's use of Eli, and their stupid betrayal of him by their actions, was just as callow as the torturing by the head of the Syrian intelligence service, and just as short sighted as the actions of the Syrian president. There were some lovely, genuine people amongst the Syrians, and in fact, you could say that their characters were portrayed in more depth than that of the Israelis, who tended to be a little 1-dimensional. But even if it were the case that there was some political bias in the film's presentation, well, welcome to the real world, but I don't think that's the kind of thing that really ticks you off in a movie or drama.
What is really annoying is where the story doesn't hang together and where the acting or script is poor. Yes, for movie purposes, certain sequences have to be compressed, but in the end Eli/Kamal seems to be having a freakish streak of good luck, and seems to be taking not one unnecessary risk, not two, but three, without getting caught, and presumably all in the name of hooking us on the drama? It's at that point that I wanted to give up. And regarding the script, Kamal's adulation and praise for Syria really is too much, and surely he could just stop smiling for one second? I really don't think Syrians would fall for an act that cheap.
Another aspect of the storyline is that I really don't like knowing the ending, from the beginning of the series. OK, so I know Kamal will get caught and tortured, so basically I now have 6 episodes of padding before I get there? Really? Why does IMDB need a warning about plot spoilers, when the first episode itself is a spoiler for the whole series? There were further repurcussions from that storyline decision, but I've said enough already.
But now let's get to the good stuff. There are 4 things to enjoy from this drama. Firstly, the story does hold you, as you genuinely care about Eli/Kamal and his wife, and the military outcomes. Secondly, the presentation is good, in terms of scenery, costumes and realism. Thirdly, the acting is generally good so you can empathise with the characters. The fact that Sasha Cohen has previously created multiple personas in comedy, plays nicely into the role here of someone who has to live the life of a double persona. So although some of SBC's acting is a bit drama school in places, the overall effect is gratifying. Which brings me nicely to the fourth point, why I'm still struggling to get this drama out of my head.
At the beginning of the series, in a flash-forward, Kamal is forced to write a confession, and struggles to sign his name. His rabbi says "Poor boy, you don't know who you are". It seems like a kind of joke to relieve the tension. Then at the end of the series, we know the whole persona of Kamal that he has carefully built up over many years, and realise that he is genuinely struggling to know how he should sign the document.
We can now reflect back to previous episodes where Eli was back in Israel, but acutally he was behaving as a 'Kamal'ised version of Eli, he had absorbed that role so deeply. There were many examples, but when he was asked to show his Id after buying expensive items, he gets angry with security and says "Do you know who I am?" or something like that. When he discovers a serious error by teh office he rings up his boss and gives him a serious telling off. He finds it disgraceful that his wife doesn't have her own telephone line.
In the end, Eli prefers to be Kamal (apart from missing his wife). And why not? As Kamal he is a multi-millionaire who has built up a successful business and who hob nobs with the political elite. When he enters a room, "everyone wants a piece of him", as his army friend says. Eli's exposition of the role of Kamal is so successful - even landing the job of Deputy Minister of Defence - that one wonders what was he doing as a small time clerk back in Israel? Maybe if he'd been given some seed capital and a new blank identity there he could have gone for it and been similarly successful? And perhaps, many of us are also like that and are held back, Leviathon like, by a myriad tiny strings of our own construction?
So my advice is to grit your teeth through the poor parts of this drama, but get what you can from the rest, for there is plenty of good meat to be had.