TYRANT - THE MOST CAPTIVATING NEW SHOW ON TELEVISION!

I have a new fave show – Tyrant on FX!

It is very intriguing and there has been some controversy.  The show centers around the character Bassam or his Americanized name “Barry”Al Fayeed, played by the super gorgeous and mesmerizing Adam Rayner, who is a successful pediatrician in California and married to a pretty blonde woman he met in college.

However, before this incarnation, he was the second son of a Middle Eastern Dictator, played by Egyptian actor Nasser Faris, and he decided to leave that life at 16 years old for his present one.

His brother, Jamal, who is the successor to the throne, has a son who is getting married and he invites Barry and his family to celebrate.  Barry must face his demons in his homeland to do so. 

He reluctantly returns (on a large commercial airplane rented just for them by Barry’s powerful and very wealthy father) with his wife, son, and daughter. As Barry feared, it was a bumpy return.

In the first episode, we see that his older brother is a womanizing, sports car driving, wild child who cowers under the dictator father’s steel fist.  He can be charming and violent.  He, too, is reluctant to fulfill his familial duty because he must step into the big, ruthless shoes of the father, something he fears. But it comes to pass, the father dies and Jamal must step up. 

After his father’s death, Jamal goes on a drinking and driving spree in which his reluctant “mistress” tries to kill him in the car while he is making her “satisfy” him.  Surprisingly, he survives. He’s not dealing well with his accident and the fact that his male “member” will take time before it works again.  Barry, who is completely oblivious to his brother’s horrific appetites, tries to comfort his brother. (Jamal does more horrible things but I don’t want to give everything away.)

Barry is a man of reason and intellect.  His brother is a man of instinct and reckless abandon.  Barry gets Jamal to collect himself after the father’s death and start to become the man the country needs.  What Jamal doesn’t know is that the father really believed that Barry should have been his successor.

Barry’s son also has a secret that could cause complications in his new surroundings.

There is something very beguiling about this show.  From interviews that I have seen, the creators and actors admit that this is not a one-sided argument.  There is no definite right or wrong.  It brings up the issue of assimilation and denying your true heritage.  It deals with the theme of family loyalty.  Even more interesting is that it is the first American drama that deals with a Middle Eastern family and cultural issues.

The main character, Barry, is played by Adam Rayner, who is a British actor.  Jamal is played by an Arab-Israeli actor named Ashraf Barhom.  His wife is played by an Israeli actress, Moran Atias. As mentioned, the father is played by an Egyptian actor. So the casting is also quite fascinating.

When shows try to open new doors, I am always fascinated and want to see how it will develop.  I believe that there are at least 4 episodes that will be shown and after that, well let’s see.

 I am captivated!

 For this show I say, “Try it!”