Parts of this were so familiar to me. I now live in an Arab country and have lived in others in the past. Whoever wrote the script must have a deep knowledge of North Africa as the portrayal of the cops, diplomats, government and the Mukhabarat (secret police) was absolutely bang on. There's an old meme showing a photo of some old Arab women on a verandah saying that they are better than surveillance cameras. And so it is here. No one can imagine for a moment that anything they do will be unobserved; there are no secrets from prying eyes. Ye gods, the spies these countries must have! Small vignettes were absolutely true to life such as the guy in Tangiers spitting at the feet of the couple because one was a Muslim woman. The way the cops stopped the German detective and "offered" him an invitation to the Ministry was just how it would have been done too.
Then we have the acutely observed power play between important men in government detailing their utter ruthlessness and their life of luxury in Westernised settings with gays, alcohol and girls. Indeed, the German dirigeants are barely better than their Algerian equivalents despite a so-called popular mandate.
On the other side are the young idealists who want to change their country and use its oil wealth for the benefit of the people. They maintain that they are "clean" revolutionaries, but their principles are betrayed from the beginning when operations they carry out result in deaths. On the sidelines are the arms dealers whose wares both the government and the revolutionaries want and need.
The back histories of many of the characters are a reflection of the tragedy of modern Algeria and resonate. Massacres of villagers by Islamists, impromptu executions by the military, disappearances of political opponents. All these shaped the direction of the country and the way the characters acted out of the motivations of their pasts.
I have not been to Algiers for many years and was pleased to see scenes set in the centre with its fabulous old Art Nouveau buildings. The city looked well kept and prosperous, However, we were not shown the working class quarters such as Bab el Oued, although we saw the Kasbah, which looked far better tended that the last time I visited. When the action shifted to the Kabyle areas in the countryside, it came to life that despite its great wealth, much of the population of Algeria lives in grinding poverty.
I appreciated the realism of the production. There was none of the nonsense of guys with revolvers getting the better of opponents with machine guns. The affair mentioned in the IMDB synopsis was realistic too, although the female lead is not a prosecutor but an examining magistrate or judge. As well, the programme showed no mercy even to major characters who were regularly killed off.
I watched this all in the space of a day, it was that compelling. I've just increased the mark to a nine, having thought it over, which is a mark I have given very rarely. This was self contained with no cliffhangers, so there won't be another season. I really wish there could be a way to one.
