Sleeper Cell

I happened to catch the first episode of the drama Sleeper Cell, while flipping through the channels and got hooked in 15 minutes. Its the story of an American Muslim working for the FBI going undercover and joining a Muslim terrorist organization that is hell bent on bringing chaos and terror to America.

What makes a drama tick is making the viewers involved with the characters. One must feel for the people in the story or else it just becomes a bunch of people on TV. The show gives adequate information about the main character, Darwyn Al-Hakim and his reason for going undercover. Oded, who plays the leader of the cell, gives a very chilling ice-down-the-spine performance. the rest of the team members are all non-Arabs and they have a reason to be here, or at least one of them have. They make you feel for these people at the same time make you feel bad that you are actually feeling sorry for the bad guys. THats what is called drama.

I'll have to now soon get this on DVD for my collection because i feel that this is going to be one of those really good TV series that are too short but worth it, like Band of Brothers.

I love the show. The acting is great and I think Alex Nesic will be one of our sexiest men in the future. Now I must note that the first show had an error that was quite blatant to me. The penitentiary in Lompoc, California is where I used to live. It is not pronounced "Lompak", but is pronounced "Lompoke". I was surprised that was not noticed and corrected. Also I wonder how Darwin gets by with carrying and using his cell phone w/o question? That I find confusing. I would think the leader would get that phone and check the calls just to keep a good check on the members. Other than that, I look forward to the episodes. Can someone tell me what nights this will be on and what channel? thanks.

Far more than anything I've watched on TV in a long time, this entire series made me uncomfortable and uneasy. It wasn't just the reality of it, though that was unsettling, especially for someone who lives in the LA area and knows a lot of those locations.

But it was the way I was relating to the characters, especially the members of the cell besides Farik. I would find myself agreeing with some of the things they said, or empathizing with them in some other way -- really, just seeing them as human. The show would start taking me down that path, and then utterly ruthlessly snap me back when those same characters did something to remind me of what they are and what they've become. Each time -- as much as I should have expected it -- it came as a shock.

This is a great series, but overall, watching it was a pretty unsettling experience. It forced me to ask a lot of questions I simply don't have the answers for. And I don't think anyone else does, either. The best comparisons to other material would be to the films Traffic and Syriana, but because of the length (10 hours as compared to 2.5) and the focus on just a few characters, the emotional investment in this story was a lot greater.

In terms of what to expect, this is not an easy to digest, fast-paced show -- I think the analogies to 24 are off-base in that respect. Yeah, it has to do with terrorism -- so do Victory at Entebbe and Executive Decision -- but really, it doesn't have much in common with movies and TV shows in that genre. The spiritual roots of this series are in material like Wiseguy (to which there's a nice tip of the hat in episode 5), or Donnie Brasco, about the experience of an undercover agent. If you are expecting lots of things going boom -- well, this might not be what you're looking for.

The performances are top-notch, especially Michael Ealy and Oded Fehr. The entire series has a sense of realism throughout that keeps the tension strong throughout. Just excellent work all around, and Showtime deserves serious kudos for upping the quality of its original offerings with a series like this.

This series is one of the greatest I had ever seen. It has it all , great performance , great writing , ingenious plot and the list just goes on....

The very basic plot is a very genuine one, and it is something I, at least have never seen in a series, so many twists so many characters, so many morale and religious issues in just 10 episodes...

I enjoyed every second watching this series, and just want more.. and I strongly recommend watching it too.

10/10 - what else can I give it? watch it you'll know what I'm talking about.

• HellozL

This is an extremely involving series that is well casted and portraits a sensitive subject with great splendor. We follow Michael Ealy as the undercover FBI agent Darwyn, set to infiltrate a terror cell lead by Farik (Oder Fehr). The series is very well written, and has enough plot twists to keep you sitting at the edge of your seat waiting for whatever happens next.

Michael Ealy is by my definition one of the best actors I've seen portraying an undercover agent. Icey cold on the outside, but still a good human being underneath trying his best to keep his head afloat in a highly emotional roller-coaster ride that FBI has had him embark on. Oder Fehr on the other hand comes off a guy that pretty much could fit into any social scenario. Big and strong, but yet able to disappear into the gray mass if so needed. Highly authoritative and extremely cunning. The way the two communicate on screen is nothing short of spectacular.

The way the story develops, and the level of detail that the script offers makes the whole story extremely believable, and also very true to life I would imagine. It is of such magnitude that you're left with the feeling of being insecure, not knowing what might happen next in real life. We read about terror every day, and here we are given a good sneak peak into an underworld which most of us know very little about.

It's a series that will for sure have you coming back for more, sitting there at the edge of your seat just waiting for next weeks episode to come on. It's a sure winner in my eyes, and I have no problems stating that this series is on my list of all time best.