तहरन

The first season of Tehran was very very good even if the mossad agent seemed to be incapable of sticking to orders. The second season however is notches above the first. The main reason is the addition of the undercover psychiatrist played by Glen Close. Every episode, every scene actually is full of suspense. The whole second season is edge of your seat great. I am hoping that apple sees fit to do a third season but it may be difficult to live up to the standards of the first two. All of the characters are completely believable and you feel as though you are actually in Iran watching spies compete everywhere.

I was going to give a 7 due to some plot weaknesses and the lead's rather angst-ridden performance but then I decided that compared to other current thrillers, it deserved an 8.

To me, knowing nothing of the settings and customs, it looked pretty realistic for a fictional story. Would anyone REALLY expect it to be filmed in Iran?

I was pleased that both the Iranian regime and Mossad/Israeli regime were shown as the bad guys with civilians and lesser ranks caught between them. It seemed like a fair balance.

I liked the plot twists and the standard of production.

I did think towards the middle that it was going to turn into an Iranian soap/travelogue but it pulled itself together and I was glad that I continued watching.

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 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.

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.