Tyrant Season 3 Episode 2 Review: Cockroach
Elizabeth Harlow
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To say that Barry is stuck between a rock and a hard place on Tyrant Season 3 Episode 2 would be a gross understatement.
Honestly, it's amazing he only has that little patch of grey so far. Molly or Daliyah, family or country, comfort or truth...he's facing a ton of tough decisions.
Emma's kidnapping and the the fallout for the Al-Fayeeds is sure to be a defining arc this season, and it will serve to bring the character up to date with Abuddinian events since she missed out on everything during Tyrant Season 2.
It also will open up some nice parallels for Barry and Fauzi, whose relationship is on rocky ground at the moment.
My problem with this plot is it is something happening to Emma instead of something she's doing (at least for now). It's another story where the girl is cast as victim, powerless within her own life. We've seen Nusrat and Leila attempt to take control of their destinies, so maybe there's hope. I wish Emma better luck than they've had.
It's not enough to hope though, is it? You have to do something.
Halima
I definitely wish her more luck than poor Rami had. It seems a little short sighted to kill him off. I get that his dysfunctional flirtation with Nusrat was over, but he served more purpose than that to the show! And to callously discard the nephew/cousin who died protecting Molly and Emma was just cold.
The kidnapping plot will be interesting for Barry and Molly at least. With Barry turning to Daliyah for support, will their already rocky marriage survive this? I can't imagine that Barry will take his wife's defection very well – outside of his personal concern, the political ramifications could be devastating.
Being a president turns everything into your fault, your problem. Same as being a parent. The child blames you for whatever goes wrong, even the things you can't control.
Jamal
One thing I hope doesn't get swept over is Sammy's reaction to both Emma's abduction and Molly's rescue plan. He showed so much growth last season it's hard to reconcile the Sammy who joined the Red Hand with the Sammy who is just calmly sitting around, taking notes in class, and making eyes at his professor.
Especially after the touching scene at Nusrat's funeral, where we saw the younger Al-Fayeeds (sans Rami, which was strange) coming together. The kids have gotten older and seem to have put away their sibling rivalries, but even if they hadn't, this is the kind of situation that trumps that.
Ahmed: You haven't found God. You found politics.
Leila: Oh, Ahmed. God is politics.
The Al-Fayeeds are going to be understandably distracted, so what will be happening with the political situation in Abuddin? Fauzi running for president actually isn't a terrible idea, and with Halima involved, he might not have much of a choice. That girl is a force of nature.
His one drawback would be that he left, but his speech to the students already addressed that error. He basically already has a stump speech. The only other question I have about his candidacy is what long-term impact Barry's revelation will have on him.
When 90% of the wealth is controlled by 10% of the population, and you add to that cronyism, corruption, political repression, pretty soon people will get desperate. And when people are desperate, they do desperate things.
Fauzi
At the other end of the spectrum is Sheik Al-Qadi. Even with his tacit support of the Caliphate during the battle of Ma'an, he doesn't seem like he's a horrible person. But his brother-in-law's association with Rashid and the rest may end up tainting him.
There are a lot of directions the cliffhanger with he and Molly could go. He could send her back to Barry, he could send her to Rashid to die, he could send her to Rashid, but end up helping her to escape with Emma... I feel like we won't have a good bead on him until we know his next step.
Women suffer. We mourn our dead. We just don't take the whole world down with us when we do.
Leila
One person I don't see becoming the next President, despite their scheming, is Leila. This is disappointing, I know. And I could very well be wrong. It's just that logically, within the rules of the universe of this fictional country, it doesn't seem plausible.
Leila herself talks about how prevalent sexism is in her culture. It already makes basically no sense whatsoever that she's the Foreign Secretary; she's not qualified in any way. And while holding that position does potentially give her a leg up, the fact remains that she's a woman.
Leila: Americans do some things right.
Cogswell: That's right. America would make a great ally because we're great at barbecue.
And her romance with Cogswell isn't going to help her bid at all, even if it is a good thing for her as a person. She might be able to get US backing out of her affair, but I'm not sure how well that would fly with the electorate. And then there's the issue of her husband.
Jamal is still almost universally loathed as a brutal dictator, and he's still alive. Honestly, her best move would be to smother him. I know, I know, we all love crazy Jamal, and no one (in the audience) wants to see him go. Of course, if he doesn't start ranting and raving and generally being breathtakingly insane, we might all change our minds. Bedridden Jamal is boring.
Women suffer. We mourn our dead. We just don't take the whole world down with us when we do.
Leila
Tyrant Season 3 Episode 3 will air on FX July 20th, but remember that you can always watch Tyrant online with us here.
On "The Dead and the Living," Nusrat will not be RIP-ing as Ahmed learns more about his beloved wife. Fauzi and Daliyah meet. Will she be able to soften his heart? And of course, we'll see more of the the rescue efforts for Emma.
Let us know what you thought about "Cockroach" in the comments!
Elizabeth Harlow was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She left the organization in October 2018.
