This is starting to be down right Shakespearean.

Molly roamed the palace doing her best impression of Ophelia on Tyrant Season 3 Episode 4, while Leila revealed that Jamal wasn't Ahmed's real father, but rather his uncle.

Sammy went looking for love in all the wrong places, and Barry was too busy planning revenge to deal with his family.

And as often happens in Shakespeare, vengeance doesn't lead to anything good. Mainly, it ends with everybody dying. And the Al Fayeed clan is already half gone. I wasn't too worried about Molly even before I saw the previews – the deaths have to slow down or there won't be any characters left.

Jennifer Finnigan did an amazing job of portraying a mother's grief. Where a great performance can sometimes be credited equally to the writing team, or the director, this was all her. The most powerful moments weren't because of her lines, but because of her despondency. 

Not to say that there weren't some great lines. Really, she shined in every scene. I really don't know which affected me the most – her initial monologue, her anger about the Islamic service, her fretting over how exactly Emma died, or her final (drugged) conversation with Barry.

Molly: I thought losing my...Emma...was the worst thing ever...ever...but all those children...I killed them.
Barry: No.
Molly: They made me into a murderer and she's still gone.

• Permalink: They made me into a murderer and she's still gone.

Molly's grief was contrasted with Barry's stoicism, which is probably for the best since I'm not sure if Adam Raynor could have pulled off what his TV wife handled with total mastery. To be fair, Barry has always internalized more than Molly. Still, it's not a good sign for their marriage that he did manage to connect with Daliyah.

While we had the benefit of seeing Ihab and the Sheik's side of the story, it's still outrageous that the drone bombing could have gone so horribly wrong.

There's a ton of evidence that drone strikes are a flawed process, but I find the possibility that intelligence missed 100 children on satellite images dubious.

But this is television, and so I'll suspend my disbelief so that the larger story can be told. Just like I'll try to let go of my frustration about Barry's lack of public relations. Forget the US Army, what he really needs to gain control of Abuddin and defeat ISIL the Caliphate is a good PR firm.

Seriously, the butler is also the palace spoke person? Aziz is full service. 

Molly's...so angry with me. I don't think she'll ever forgive me. Her grief is so huge, there's...there's no room for mine. I can't grieve.

Barry

• Permalink: Molly's...so angry with me. I don't think she'll ever forgive me. Her grief is so huge,...

Everybody deals with grief in their own way, and apparently Sammy's way is to bang is mustachioed professor. At least teacher man recognizes that this isn't a healthy coping mechanism. I'm trying hard not to hate on this particular "relationship"  but it's part of a larger issue.

Mainly, does a show like Tyrant, which has plenty of drama to mine from geopolitical/religious conflicts, really need to delve into sudsy romance storylines?

My issue isn't with personal or romantic storylines for characters, but rather if those romances relate to any larger themes.

Sammy's relationship certainly does, and the show has been flirting with the exploration of gay culture within a religious society since the start. I could do without the power dynamic issues (and cliche) of a professor and a student hooking up, but it's not egregious. 

I'm glad I helped you, but I'd like to get to know you. Not just your body.

Professor [to Sammy]

• Permalink: I'm glad I helped you, but I'd like to get to know you. Not just your body.

Leila on the other hand. As if her blast from the past tryst with Cogswell wasn't enough, now Ahmed is her love child with Barry? What is happening to my Queen?! 

I could maybe excuse the whole General affair, but that sex scene was so...sad? Disappointing? It felt like she was falling into her old life, where a powerful man screws her for his own satisfaction and to regain his power. After Jamal, Leila deserves to be worshipped by somebody.

And I can't even with the Ahmed story. A big part of me wants to say that she's lying and that she named Barry because there would still be a genetic match, but I don't see how so many twists would fit into a single season.

I like Ahmed, but more and more I wish he and Nusrat had fled like they planned. 

I've spent my life doing what I had to do to survive. That's made me tough.

Leila

• Permalink: I've spent my life doing what I had to do to survive. That's made me tough.

The Al-Fayeed's might have been losing their collective ish, but the rest of Abuddin kept going. The stage is finally set for the presidential race, and I can't wait to see how it pans out. Even before the riots, the clash between cleric Al-Qadi, modernist Fauzi, and establishment Lelia was going to be riveting, but who knows where it will go now?

Tyrant Season 3 Episode 5 ("A Rock and a Hard Place," airing August 3) will see the campaigns ramping up.

Fauzi and Leila may both have to distance themselves from Barry after he bans open prayer at the university, and even saintly Daliyah might suffer from her connection with him when they get too friendly in Molly's absence. 

You can always watch Tyrant online if you missed it on FX. You'll want to be up to date before joining the discussion in the comments section!

Elizabeth Harlow was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She left the organization in October 2018.