Tyrant

Forewarning only the pilot has been seen so far, but based on that I was thoroughly impressed.

Tyrant is the story of the second son of a powerful middle eastern tyrant who has escaped the corruption and despair of his native land and spent two decades Americanising himself and building an unassuming life with his wife and two kids. Reluctantly he is brought back to his country of birth for the wedding of his nephew.

Its not immediately a genre I would find myself drawn to, but I was enthralled. Barry (the second son) Is a wounded character, wary of his father and everything he represents, and they depict him brilliantly. His interactions with his brother and father are complex and deep.

The setting for the show is very beautiful, right in the opening portion of the episode you get a great sequence of shots where the American family is being driven in a cavalcade to the palace, and you can really see the juxtaposition of the opulence of their cars, the palace with its gardens and forest, with the impoverished masses being kept at bay so the streets are clear for the motorcade.

Watching both Barry's reaction to this contrasting culture and his American families reaction is very interesting and adds a different element to the story. His wife's "Dr. Phil" moments trying to get him to open up about the atrocities he witnessed when Barry (and the audience) know she could never really understand, his sons oblivious superficiality and obnoxious self absorption help make the story relatable to me coming from a western culture, and also highlight how ignorant they (and we) are.

I've only seen the pilot, as mentioned above, but I loved this first glimpse of a, for me, unique new story. I cant wait to see how it unfolds, and I recommend the first episode highly.

Did you ever invest 2 seasons on a great show only to have writers run out of ideas by season 3, so they decide to make everybody sleep WITH Everybody? Well, this is that kinda show.

My wife and I really enjoyed watching Tyrant. That is, till season 3. Then it just got ridiculous. So the eight stars are for the first two seasons. Season 3 ended with one star.

With a stunning and fascinating portrayal of a middle-eastern power structure, FX has outdone themselves yet again.

What does it mean to have true power, and can you ignore power when you are born into it? The central conflict of this show thrusts it's main characters back into the fray of just such a situation. It portrays power as both freedom and a prison. The Al-Fayeed family, rulers of a fictional middle-eastern country are no different from any other modern Monarchy except that it is still in defacto power and uses brutal tactics to stay there.

Assad, Khadaffi, Saddam, Bush...

These names conjure Dynasty's and dictatorships, and for thousands of years the power struggles within their individual kingdoms were largely ignored by western powers, or swept quietly under a convenient media rug. But for Barry Al-Fayeed, the violence and politics of his family have been left behind. He has no desire to rule anything then his pediatric practice.

As the younger son of a brutal dictator, Barry took advantage of his families wealth to leave the country behind, and hasn't seen home in twenty years. His wife and children are somewhat ignorant of their husbands and fathers old world, knowing only that they are 'sort of' royalty and that grandad is rich. Their ignorance is typical of the average American family, not stupid, but simply devoid of the truth of the day to day in tyrannical regimes in many parts of the world. When his brothers son is due to be married, Barry is called home, and the cycle begins again.

But the truth is, Barry's legacy is one of bullets and blood, of violence and ruthlessness, of intimidation and manipulation. What makes a tyrant? This show promises to show just how far one man will go to secure his family, his country, and his power.

Most of the characters were somewhat stereotypical at first impression. However, the development of the characters has been executed nicely at a very gradual pace but accelerated to match the tempo of the development of the story.

I have found myself drawn into the characters and their psyche and I believe that most viewers can identify with most of them. The cast executes quite well in general. However, the "Big Brother" controlling Jamal is overdone and slows the development of his disposition. He is intelligent enough to make tough decisions. However, due to his father's influence coupled with the absence of his brother during his formative years, he sometimes needs to be pointed in the right direction yet maintains a cynical sense of humor and pretends to be dumb. This seems to invite the continual advice from his big brother. But the overbearing continual advice from the brother is still overdone.

Most viewers will find "Tyrant" to be a very distinct and unique series and very interesting to watch. It has very good content and nearly all ages can watch this for the sex scenes display more class than most shows on the air. These scenes are shown less and less as the show goes on and when they are shown they are done without unnecessary nudity and tasteless displays of the act. The violence has mellowed as well.

I sincerely hope that the writers keep up the good work, for so far they have shown great vision and originality!