Tyrant - 1.02 - State Of Emergency - Advance Preview

Tyrant 1.01 – “State of Emergency”
(Airs July 1, 10:00 pm e/p)

When Barry's older brother, Jamal, the newly appointed President of Abbudin, is incapacitated, Barry must put his plans to return to America on hold. His life is further complicated, when his nephew's new bride is kidnapped by terrorists.

Written by Howard Gordon and Craig Wright & directed by Michael Lehmann

        First of all, I said in my previous preview that Tyrant's introduction was not finish at the end of the pilot. With “State Of Emergency”, I think we can say that the introduction is over and the series will literally start in the next episodes. Tyrant will be mainly a family drama, because of the importance of the characters. Political intrigues should resolve around them, because of the context of Abbudin and its habitants.
        “State of Emergency” is more finely-shaded than the pilot – even if, personally, I did not think the previous episode was too stereotyped. The actions are the consequences of Barry's father death and Jamal's accident. Nobody can leads the country for that time and someone has to take responsibilities. Will Barry take them? How? Why? At the end of the episode, the endgames of the show are settled.
        The episode mainly puts the accent on the muslins. The Americans are still in the background – that was the weakest point of the pilot and it still is. Michelle Finnigan is not bad, but her character is roughly written, she has nothing to do. I really hope Molly will have a nice evolution during the season, like her daughter – if she was not here, it would not affect the show at all. About Sammy, his part is not enough developed to see a real interest but with time, his homosexuality could be very interesting. At least, the potential is here. The most important characters in this episode are Barry and Leïla. Jamal's wife was transparent in the pilot but a few flashbacks and some interesting scenes make possible to see the character in a new light. Leïla's intentions are still blur at this time but something is definitely going on with her. I really think she can be the “soap touch” of the show and brings a lot of drama between Barry and his family.

       About the direction, Michael Lehmann did a terrible job. He must have been ill-advised to direct the episode because “State of Emergency” has no soul, no personality. That is a shame after a really well tought pilot directed by David Yates. There is absolutely no tension during the hostage-taking and no emotions during Jamal's speech about his father. I do not really understand how it is possible with a subject like this! The next directors need to do a better job because it disgraces the show.



        Despite some fault – the american characters still in the background and a bad direction – Tyrant takes more thickness and interest after this episode. We have now confirmation that the show will be a family drama – with a touch of action because of the context – and I am more and more curious to see how the show will progress.

        TYRANT airs tonight at 10pm EST on FX.

About the Author - Laurent

Laurent is a 22 years old french student and he is currently studying cinema & television in college. He will review several shows like Tyrant and Wayward Pines. Always exciting about television, his favorite shows are Twin Peaks, Buffy, Damages, The Good Wife, X-Files, Lost, Bron and a lot of other dramas.

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