Kevin Cador

VIP

10

Pilot was great. I was hooked and watched the first three episodes in a row. The pace of the action and storyline is really good. Slower than expected but not only action/explosion everywhere.

Loved the fact that Arabic people speak Arab (or French). French people speak French. They only speak English when it makes sense. The only problem is when an actor need to speak in a foreign language in a clumsy way. I can only tell when they speak French but the effort is really appreciated.

I’m always a bit sceptic when some scene are shot in an Arabic country and it feels like an old desert town. I assume some part of the county can still be like that but we never see a big Arabic country that looks like a western city. Also, I know some neighborhood in Paris have a big amount of Muslim people but it seemed a bit too much in some shots.

The second two episodes were also great. A lot happen in each episodes and you never get bored. The show covers a lot of themes like the struggle of the terrorist wife, we see how people commending drones can have a hard time doing it,...

I really like how Souleiman is not just bad from the beginning. Even if there are no justifications for what he does or plan to do, we also see his path and the way he ”becomes” who he is. I think it is a reality that some Muslim become more radicalized after a bad experience with law and a time in prison. If he found a job in France and didn’t face racism at all and didn’t get to prison the way he did, would he end up doing all of this? I know a lot of people won’t agree with that but I think we have to do better than be blind to those facts and keep looking terrorists as bad guys since birth.

Each episode have a lot of point of view. We see a lot of different characters and they get their development along the way. When you look at Souleiman’s son and wife story developing. Great writing!

Only story I find a bit clumsy is the love story between Jack Ryan and the doctor. Okay, it’s nice to add a little romance and everything but some things are just too cliché and predictable between them.

Last two episodes are not as high in intensity as the rest of the season in my opinion. The last one is especially a bit meh in terms of intensity. Even if still really good. Felt the end was a bit rushed, too easy (on both sides) and nothing unexpected or not already seen happens.

Looking forward for season 2. Hope they will keep the things I loved in the first part of the show: great casting (local people with the right accent but also great acting), perfect writing (in terms of balance between the action and the story development) and high visual effects/budget. Less love story, rush and 2 seconds mystery solving.