Tyrant Season Finale Review: Two Graves
Elizabeth Harlow
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Blame for the political situation in Abuddin is getting passed around like a hot potato.
With the unfortunate news that Tyrant Season 3 Episode 10 might be the de facto series finale after FX's cancelation, we may never find out if Barry is capable of taking responsibility for his actions.
Of course, he's not the only one who refuses to acknowledge that actions have consequences.
Sammy's predictable injury may have helped in serving his parent's with a wake up call about just how far they'd strayed from the path, but it's hard to say it those realizations could stick. While Barry and Molly have both recognized that their revenge mission has taken a toll, neither has really seemed to regret the cost.
For Molly, that's because she's caught up in her victim-hood. She is more than willing to burn the whole world down while she enacts her revenge.
The pain that she ends up causing to other simply doesn't matter, nor does the fact that, as Sammy pointed out, her daughter would abhor violence committed in her name.
She's able to absolve herself of most of the guilt by blaming her husband (among others). Barry, meanwhile, has been operating under the delusion that he had no other options, only to find out at the critical moment that he no longer does.
You try to live your life a certain way. Believing in certain things. But the world...people, some people...they won't leave you alone. And you have to fight back, don't you? Otherwise... But as soon as you do fight back...you're changed. And everything is tainted. And no one is right.
Molly
He had no options about going to war, no options about canceling the vote, no options about imprisoning Daliyah...or that's what he told himself. Now he finds himself at the mercy of Maloof, which everybody but Barry saw coming.
Granted, I thought the general would go for a straight up coup, but being the puppet master affords him more freedom in the end.
I did find the final scene with Barry and Ahmed more than a little thought provoking when you take into account the silent coup.
Can you really be a tyrant if you are at the mercy of someone more powerful? Barry freely took the steps that led to his being blackmailed, but Maloof's threats do now absolve him of a certain degree of responsibility for the war.
Barry's devolution leads to some depressing contemplation about if it's possible for anybody to escape their past (or the seductive allure of power), but at least some characters saw positive growth.
You broke your promise! You think principles are something you can put in your pocket, take out every now and then, whenever it suits you! Don't look at me as if I did this to you! you are the architect! This is your doing. I am your doing.
Maloof
Leila, with her cold facade, doesn't get a lot of love amongst fans, but she consciously softened her image over the course of season 3. Being free of Jamal and in a relationship with a reciprocated love certainly helped, but so did the way she channeled Eva Peron.
It didn't hurt that the more she pretended to care, the more her concern for the fate of her country became real. She really embraced the ideal, "Fake it 'til you make it."
I know some people expressed doubts over her conversion, but in a world where Molly could be okay bombing children overnight, this change seemed more than plausible
If we don't give up, who's to say tomorrow won't be ours?
Leila
One issue that was left unresolved and is really irking me is Daliyah's imprisonment. I recognize the parallel that the writers and producers are drawing between the character and real life political prisoners like Aung San Suu Kyi and Benazir Bhutto, but the way she was left is driving me nuts.
I guess I should just be satisfied that she didn't starve herself to death, and that somehow Exley was granted access to her so that we could get some kind of resolution for Fauzi and Ghani.
At least her hallucinations and Barry's nightmares were well done, even if I had to suffer through the NG tube placement.
A good cause is a good cause, lost or not.
Cogswell
In the end, nothing about the finale for Tyrant Season 3 was all that surprising. The most shocking event by far was Molly's abrupt desire for another child with Barry. It was also the most bizarre, apparently serving no purpose other than to set up a super awkward sex scene.
There is hope that the fight for Abuddin could reach a more satisfactory end, provided Tyrant is able to find a new home. Hulu already has streaming rights for the show, and adopting the series would allow them to build up their original programming.
I can only hope that somebody ends up picking up this gem of a show.
It's been uneven at times, and I seriously want to have a word with whoever handles some of the scene editing, but the cast is pretty amazing and things have only gotten more complex and intriguing as the show has progressed.
While we wait with bated breathe for a more favorable outcome than eleventh hour cancelation, you can always watch Tyrant online. We'd love to hear your thoughts on the season (and ideas for a future home!) in our comments section!
Elizabeth Harlow was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She left the organization in October 2018.
