Accused Season 1 Episode 13 Review: Samir's Story
Denis Kimathi
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Two things can be true simultaneously; Samir's story was a testament to this.
A private chauffeur struggled to keep dreams afloat on Accused Season 1 Episode 13. This led him to an emotionally numb path in life such that odd behaviors ordinary people quickly notice in themselves passed as okay to him.
Samir led two lives, with one not being his, and it had gotten him to a point where enough had to be enough, but he overlooked that.
The greatest problem in Samir's life was his mother.
Sadly his case is all too common among children from immigrant families. They move to America with hopes of a generation or even several stacked upon them.
The point at which we met Samir was at the peak of his life.
That's not to mean that he didn't have much to live for, but his life had settled on a fixed path, and navigating from it would be hard, if not impossible.
Samir had been formed into the man we met since he was fourteen.
He was burdened with his mother's dreams just because she had brought him to America. She was like a constant omnipresent dictator who was watching his every move.
As mentioned before, how this immigrant child story plays out is too familiar.
Parents leave harsh living conditions and get a second chance in America. Because of their advanced age, they count themselves out and transfer all their dreams to the child without thinking about the autonomy of the child.
Mrs. Khalil: You know, the doctor didn't even come into the office today. He had me push all his patients into a three-day week, and he's making just as much money
Samir: Must be nice
Mrs. Khalil: I know we always said you would be a surgeon because you have such beautiful hands. But maybe you should consider dermatology. Most of the procedures take less than two minutes, and there's none of that hassle with insurance.
Their children are focused on a singular path, and by the time they realize want they want to do in life, the time has passed, and they enter into panic mode. Often, suicide is strongly considered or carried out.
Since he was fourteen, Samir had been made to believe he would never amount to anything if he didn't become a doctor. His mother reminded him constantly that she had given up a lot for him to be in this country.
With that guilt and the invoking of his dead father, his mother turned him into an emotionally numb robot.
Samir's whole life turned into a performance. Then the performance and his authentic self mixed together, and he couldn't tell where he ended and where the performance began.
He developed complexes where he viewed having money and being rich as the end-all be all of life. Despite being one, he hated driving cabs and viewed cab drivers as inferior.
Having a successful woman such as Sarah in his cab was the highlight of his day.
And then, when the sexual component was brought into the mix. he became an uncontrollable monster.
He felt like he needed to perform with her. He needed to like the same songs as she did.
Going out to a party all night and spending money he didn't have on cars felt like the only thing that would make him look better to her.
He became obsessed with her because he wanted to be and be with her.
Sarah was out of luck in more ways than one.
Life has a funny way of playing out. Of all the places she could have forgotten her phone, it had to be inside her stalker's car.
She was also naturally funny and caring, which were things Samir's mother was not.
Mrs. Khalil: I brought you to this country. I sacrificed my life so that you could throw yours away?
Samir: I'm not throwing it away.
Mrs. Khalil: What are you doing?
Samir: I'm living it!
Life did not regard that because she fell for a horrible man using her.
Because his experience with women was limited to the image presented by his mother, he viewed women as being all the same.
Girl: Honestly, all I want is a nice guy who can make me laugh. I don't care about anything else.
Samir: Women always say that, but it's crap. You don't want nice. You don't even see nice. You just want flashy guys who treat you badly and buy you things like your ex, right?
Samir was a walking bait for the "red pill" or manosphere proponents, and he would have been even worse if he had found that corner of the internet.
Remember something about life having a funny way of playing out? Who would Sarah "cheat" on him with? A doctor.
It was like a punch to the gut. It finally confirmed the fears he had been harboring his entire life. Only the doctor gets the girl.
The tragedy was that a man, however awful, was killed.
Another tragedy was that Samir would never know who he was meant to be. It surely was not a doctor.
Samir's relationship with his mother was complicated because even after all she had done to him, she was still his hero and the only semblance of a safe space he had ever known.
Even as he was being led away to prison, he was still concerned about his mother's well-being. That was heartbreaking.
This story had more than one victim. Samir was an offender and a victim. Sarah was a victim. Josh was a victim, but how he got there, he had some responsibility to take.
Despite having led a hard life, that didn't absolve Samir of the responsibility for the murder he committed.
No one in that courtroom could ever tell what happened and give a definitive answer, but we can.
Samir developed a hatred for Josh from the moment he went through Sarah's phone and learned of him. He hated Josh was everything he never was and would never be. He hated that Josh was willing to risk it all away.
Samir was safe inside that car.
He took a moment to reflect on what he was about to do and went right ahead.
There is a running joke on the internet aimed at Americans where children leave their homes as soon as they are of legal age, something people from other cultures find baffling. But maybe there's genius in that.
Maybe Samir would have turned a new leaf if he had moved away from his mother, and his story would have played out differently.
He wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. At least, that's what I thought. Maybe I pushed him too hard. Maybe it's my fault.
Mrs. Khalil
What did you think?
Was the jury right in finding Samir guilty?
Let us know in the comments section.
Denis Kimathi was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on X.
