Now that Tehran is over, you can see a new drama series, Embassy Down (called Tahrir in Hebrew), about Israelis in an Arab country, and it is running on Yes on Tuesdays at 9 p.m., and on YesVOD and Sting+.
It tells a suspenseful, fact-based, and often nerve-wracking story of the 2011 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, months after the democracy protests took down the Mubarak government.
The subject of what it’s like to run the Israeli Embassy in Egypt is fascinating, and few know anything about it. The series focuses on three embassy staff members involved in security, Roy Barazini (Sean Softi), Tal Shemtov (Maor Schwietzer), and Hagar (Yael Elkana).
There has been a terrorist attack on Israeli tourists in Egypt, and as Israeli soldiers rush in to rescue them, five Egyptian soldiers are killed in the cross fire. Israeli officials fear that the Muslim Brotherhood will use the incident to rile up rioters against the embassy. The Egyptian government is also afraid that the soldiers’ killings will trigger riots that they will not be able to control, and which they do not want to deal with. But the Muslim Brotherhood won’t play along and releases the information to the public, setting in motion a chain of events that imperils the embassy staff.
Besides the main plot, the series also deals with violence against women in Egypt, and early on there is a scene that depicts a sexual assault. I tend to think that so-called trigger warnings are superfluous – people should understand that in dramas there will nearly always be upsetting events – but this scene is quite graphic and will be difficult for some viewers to watch. It shows how even in a crowded market during the day, a woman can be targeted in an instant.
Another plot thread is about a group of well-educated, liberal, pro-democracy activists, one of whom is played by the recent “Next Star to the Eurovision” runner-up, Valerie Hamaty, who has several previous acting credits. She has the same confident, likable presence as an actress that she has as a singer.
Any more details about the plot would reveal some spoilers, but this tense story will keep you on the edge of your seat, if that’s where you’d like to be these days.
A new season of Enemies
FOR THOSE who are interested in taking a deeper look at Israel’s adversaries, the series Enemies on Kan 11 has just returned for a new season, and runs after the news on Mondays. Episodes that have already aired can be seen on kan.org.il
The first episode of the new season is about none other than Yahya Sinwar, and even if you think you know all there is to know about him, you’ll likely learn a great deal, especially about what made him tick. Commentators detail the late Hamas leader’s rise from leading a kind of crime family in the 1980s to becoming the leader who planned and executed the most successful sneak attack on Israeli civilians in history.
It’s a riveting psychological portrait and uses quotes from a novel Sinwar wrote in prison to illuminate what was going on in his mind. As V. S. Naipaul wrote, “An autobiography can distort; facts can be realigned. But fiction never lies: it reveals the writer totally.” The Sinwar who is revealed in his own words – and the words of those who got to know him when he was in an Israeli prison – is a malignant narcissist, whose ambitions and abilities were grotesquely underestimated by the Israeli government and military.
The one-hour documentary examines Sinwar’s actions and strategies systematically.
Especially poignant are the recollections of Ronen Arad, who was an intelligence officer in the prison system when Sinwar was a prisoner. He recalls being intrigued with the future Hamas head because he was a feared leader in the prison.
Sinwar and Arad often met in the prison and discussed theology and history, and when Sinwar heard that the prison official lived in the Gaza border area, he said, “It’s a pity, Ronen…. We’ll slaughter you all.” Arad survived the October 7 attack, but his son, Nevo, was murdered at the Supernova music festival, a tragic reminder of the price paid for not taking Sinwar seriously enough.
Upcoming episodes will look into other enemy leaders from Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran.
This series, created by Danny Liber and Yaron Niski, is another example of the superb news features that Israeli television offers. We may sometimes take them for granted, but it’s worth remarking on their high quality.
A look at Landman
A FUN new series that just became available on Hot VOD and Next TV, Landman, will begin showing on Hot HBO on Wednesdays, starting February 20. It’s about the oil business in Texas, and it’s by Taylor Sheridan, who created Yellowstone and all its prequels. It combines the atmosphere of No Country for Old Men and Breaking Bad with a nighttime soap.
Billy Bob Thornton stars as Tommy Norris, a tough fixer for the oil company suits who secures the rights to the oil fields and manages the people on them, who include drug dealers. Jon Hamm of Mad Men is the big boss, and Demi Moore is his wife, but the early episodes deal mostly with the nuts and bolts of Norris’s work.
It’s a surprisingly detailed look at the oil business from different points of view. There’s also a little Friday Night Lights-style drama with Norris’s ex-wife (Ali Larter), their teen daughter, and her football star boyfriend, as well as a major plotline about his son, whom Norris makes work on the rigs to understand the business.
Thornton deals well with the cliché aspects of his character – who says he just wants a beer because he has stopped drinking – and is credible in the role.
Another new Ghostbusters movie
IF YOU’RE looking for something to watch while you wait for the final season of Stranger Things, which will be shown on Netflix this year on a date to be announced, you can watch the new Ghosterbusters movie, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, also on Netflix.
It’s a bit better than the previous two Ghostbusters reboots – the 2016 one (which was bad because it was bad, not because the main characters were female) and Ghostbusters: Afterlife, in which someone had the bright idea to move the franchise to Oklahoma – but, admittedly, that is a low bar. At least the new one moves back to New York – back to the firehouse and the main branch of the New York Public Library – and features appearances by Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Annie Potts, although the late Harold Ramis is sorely missed.
The main characters from Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Egon Spengler’s daughter (Carrie Coon), a nerdy middle-school teacher (Paul Rudd), and Spengler’s grandchildren, Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and Trevor (Finn Wolfhard of Stranger Things), are at the center of the new movie.
The new tagline could be “Who ya gonna text?” because some of the comedy comes from the now decidedly low-tech proton packs and other ghostbusting paraphernalia and what’s now available via the Internet.
Various ghosts show up, and Kumail Nanjiani of Silicon Valley plays a guy who has inherited his grandmother’s supernatural talent and artifacts; Patton Oswalt is a linguistic professor; and eventually Peter Venkman, Ray Stanz, Winston Zeddemore, and Janine Melnitz all join the action.
The movie spends a lot of time explaining in detail the ridiculous concepts behind all the phenomena, and the only one who could ever do that and make it sound vaguely plausible was Ramis. When Aykroyd launches into some especially clunky explanation, Murray shouts, “Just do it! We all trust you,” and he speaks for the weary audience as well.
The only joke with any potential is a crew of tiny Stay-Puft Marshmallow Men that keep multiplying, but they don’t make much of it. If you watch the full credits, you’ll see they may have a role in the inevitable next sequel.
