HaMidrasha

I do not know why the rating is so low for this series. Overall it is very easy to get lost in and very entertaining. Maybe it is because you have to follow along with the subtitles for the most part or maybe it is because some people do not get the combination of grittiness and dark humor. Either way, if you are a fan of intrigue you should not sleep on this one-it is very good.

I started watching this after watching other Israeli shows such as Fauda and Tehran. Upon watching the first season, I did find it a little corny and humorous, but still enjoyed it non the less. The second season, as someone else also mentioned is totally different, and in turn the entire ambience, style of writing, realism is totally different. It's much more realistic, gritty and mature. It's really important that you watch the first season in order to understand the characters of season 2, but when you do get to season 2, you'll be very glad that you persisted through the lesser superior season 1.

From time to time, I try to widen my horizons apart from UK and Scandinavian crime/thriller series, and have come across several good Israeli ones as well... The Season 1 of HaMidrasha, began to my liking, but then I realised that the trainees are not sent to their separate real assignments and I even thought of breaking off (very unusual for me); but then, the relationships and parallel stories became interesting, and the final episode became a nicely creamy mess, paving the way for Season 2 which was more versatile and interesting... Well, I am unable to judge the credibility of the events and relations, but as Mossad is of the most efficient secret services in the world, it may well so that the principle "The end justifies the means" is used very often.

The role and depiction of characters, however, is rather uneven, and many members of course are not so memorable. To me, the most interesting were Yehuda Levi as Yonna, Hana Laszlo as Doris Levi, Tzachi Halevy as Liron Hariri - apart from distinct performances, the viewers obtain a picture of their past as well, and they tend to offer most twists in the plot.

All in all, I liked it - Season 2 a bit more than 1 - almost equal to Bnei aruba and Fauda.

The first season was pretty good but a bit silly at times. The second season the show completely switched to a new format (or lack of it) and it's much better, more mature and gripping. Like a very good movie. Gotta hand it to the creators for not standing still and repeating the formula of the first season, that takes guts. Truly entertaining with high suspense from the first second till the satisfying last. Excellent writing and performing. Israeli TV is usually very good and this show now bubbles to the top. Waiting eagerly to season 3.

I generally enjoyed season 1 (the story line is pretty captivating) but I can't get past the whole pro-Mossad advertisement of the show. The worst was the ending: psychopathic Jewish Mossad agent who has been teaching trainees to lie, cheat, kill, and fraud is portrayed as a true hero while the Palestinian agent who is killed without any trial or proof of his wrongdoing is the devil. Give me a break, FFS.

I know that Mossad's recruitment is quite low and a lot of these shows are to amp up the reputation of the organization, but this felt quite cheap on the cliché.