Teheran

I had a very low expectation of the shows on Apple TV. Tried a few before, couldn't even finish first 10 minutes. I thought this will be the same, but I was wrong, totally wrong. The show was so intense from the beginning, no dragging at all. The premises of the show are very interesting. All characters's performance are awesome.

Apart from the accent that some of the actors have, they did an amazing job! They didn't even shoot a scene in iran!!! And wow, everything is just like here in iran!!! The police's behaviour, the secret agents and so many other things.

I really was expecting a lot of Anti-Iranian, pro-Israeli propaganda. What I got was one of the best spy thrillers I have seen in a very long while. Also, the characters are extremely well done, given the kind of show this is so, hats of to the writers and the actors for carrying it off so well. The little plot twists, when they happen, are also well done.

Another things is the treatment of the revolutionary guard detective/case officer, whatever his job title is. Just wonderful! At times, I even started routing for him. Basically, this series shows you that the world of espionage is a very dirty world.

The part when the hacker/agent dresses up as a man did seem a little ridiculous although, to be fair I have seen many Middle Eastern youngsters who are fairly androgynous, and the show was so good, that if that was the only slip-up, then it gets a pass from me. I really hope they do a second series, and judging by the ending, that looks set to happen.

This is such a refreshing change from the usual spy stuff, which tends to be US/UK/RUS/CN centric. It's an Israeli production that presents a very even-handed view of the relationship between Israel and Iran.

The plot-lines have been really well worked through Seasons 1 and 2. The pacing is good and there are plenty of twists and turns along the way. I binge-watched Season 2 in ONE DAY!

Athens does a good job as a stand-in for Tehran, in terms of the atmosphere and architecture they capture. It's great that the participants all speak their native tongues, too, instead of all English or Israeli.

And while the whole cast does a great job, I give special mention to Shaun Toub (Faraz). He is simply fantastic. Toub gives us such a nuanced portrayal that we feel both repulsion for some of his actions and, yet, by the end, we are rooting for him to survive because we can see that, while he might be misguided at times, he's a man of honour.

Terrific series! Another Apple TV+ cracker!

I am not entirely certain why but I think I prefer this to Homeland.

This isn't as slick or as expensive. But the characters seem more genuine. I caught up with the episodes very quickly and I have to wait a week for each new one and it seems a long wait each week.