Kfulim

My wife and I just saw the first two episodes at the SF Jewish Film Festival. Although I didn't see the Israeli "Prisoners of War" before it was adopted in the US as Homeland, I loved Homeland. But the first two episodes of Kfulim, or False Flag, were even better than Homeland, which was great. The subtitles (the show is in Hebrew) don't detract at all from the intense suspense.

This totally engrossing thriller - all without any violence so far - is compelling even in a theater, and I'll watch compulsively streaming or on TV. After two episodes, all we have is mysteries, so the eight-episode season holds great promise.

No wonder they say the Israeli originals are better!

Especially where gun play is concerned.

Trained assassin with "feelings" who won't kill, shoot high, shoot low, miss.

Agents who can't hold onto their handgun and/or find them. Miss at close range.

Good main story line and most players, especially some of the support players. But bad writing & direction decisions.

Couple of not quite complete minor story lines.

Paints a pretty nasty picture of Mossad and GSS.

Crooked liars who'll do anything to get to the bottom of nothing.

Kind of like the Abu Ghraib story.

I made it thru the second season mostly because I wanted to see the deal sealed.

Feh! It was not. Fauda of the same kind of thing is way better.

Was bored so decided to check "False Flag" out not expecting a subtitled series to be interesting enough to hold my attention for more than a few minutes. Couldn't have been more wrong. Upon watching the opening scenes, I immediately remembered reading about a very similar real-life scandal that made the news back in 2010 in which Israeli immigration officials allegedly illegally copied a number of British passports that were subsequently misused in the assassination a high ranking member of Hamas. Although the movie had little to do with the actual events, it kept me watching for long enough to get hooked to the point that by the conclusion of the first episode I couldn't stop watching. Well paced with few dull moments, interesting characters and good acting. No shortage of intrigue and treachery. Lot's of espionage, crime, action and drama.

The story of five random people that get entangled in a world of politics, conspiracies, and death, "Kfulim" starts strong, keeps a grip-your-sofa gripping second act and ends on a high note (even if, though, it leaves some loose ends that could have been better tied).

The plot in its basics: five citizens of Israel with double nationality but otherwise seemingly normal lives are accused of kidnapping the Iranian Minister of Defense. Little by little we get to know why, how and all the other answers to the questions behind the kidnapping. At the beginning, though, all five of them seem to be completely innocent people (ok, except Sean, who looks shady from second one). The plot does a decent job on developing this premise (even if, when you think about it after ending the show, it is all a little bit head-scratching because some plot points make no sense).

However, the strongest points of the show are the characters, all of them really interesting and well developed, and the pace of the development of the story. In regards of the first, the characters are fleshed out and the acting good enough. And in regards to the second, the rhythm, the music, the camera work all work to make every episode "Lost"-style gripping, normally ending with a cliffhanger and with some really nice twists along the way.

I thought that this was one of the best shows I've watched in a long time. The characters are well drawn out and it seems that each episode bought a new twist. I never for sure knew who was who. I know this is a bit vague. My only quibble is that the subtitles are in a yellow font. Very difficult at times to read.