Photo Courtesy Of FX
Warning: Spoiler Alert
One of the things that separates the truly powerful from the rest of us, is when they mess-up, the ramifications can be huge. Abbudin’s President Jamal Al Fayeed once again allowed his paranoia to dictate his decisions, in the latest episode of the FX Network Original Series “Tyrant.” The President thought his son Rami, the commandeer of the Abbudin military was setting up a power-play to overthrow him and take over the country. Jamal decided to strike first and kill Rami with a bomb planted in the road, to get detonated when the military leader’s car drove over it. However, once again the President’s plans did not produce the desired results.
The action begins with Colonel Mahmoud walking into the indoor swimming-pool in the palace and finds Jamal lying face down in the pool wearing pants. Mahmoud calls to him three times, before he jumps into the pool wearing his full military uniform, only to see Jamal raise his head from the water, looking surprised.
We move to the locker-room as Mahmoud’s now wrapped in towels, as he and the President discuss their plan to assassinate Rami. Mahmoud’s nephew Zaher’s already planted a bomb in the road that the military commander’s motorcade will take later that morning. He will detonate the bomb via remote control as soon as Rami’s vehicle rides over the explosives. Jamal tells the Colonel, that he blames himself for being so ready to trust Rami, hoping he could make up for all the years when he didn’t realize he had a second son.
Rami’s on the phone with Khalil/Bassam/Barry as they make final arrangements for the Red Hand to take out the Caliphate Army’s anti-aircraft weapons. When Barry hangs up, Sammy arrives back at Red Hand headquarters after escaping the Caliphate Army attack the night before and the two hug each other.
Molly calls Barry’s mother Amira and asks for her mother-in-law to get hers and Sammy’s visas extended. Amira asks Molly why she wants to stay longer in Abbudin and Molly replies she has something to tell her, but doesn’t want to talk about it on the phone. Amira says she’ll drop by Molly’s hotel later that morning.
Rami and Nusrat meet in the palace’s garden and General Said jokes they have to stop meeting like this. Nusrat says this will be their last meeting, as the doctor’s cleared her for air travel and she’s moving to London the following day. Rami says that he loves London and after he defeats the Caliphate Army, he’ll come visit her and show her some of his favorite spots.
Nusrat smiles and tells her brother-in-law that he should find himself a good woman and raise a family. Rami smiles and says he’s a military man and the last thing he wants to do is bring a child into this world. He takes Nusrat’s hand and says don’t be surprised to see me in six months. Ahmed watches from a window in the palace and we see the jealousy on his face.
Jamal’s outside the palace on horseback and watches the motorcade leave the palace, he rides along for a bit until it fades out of sight, then rides his horse back inside the palace. Just after he dismounts, he hears Rami’s voice calling him and he turns around and looks as if he sees a ghost. The President says he thought he left for the battle and Rami said he wanted Jamal’s approval on the battle-plans before he engaged. Jamal says he saw the motorcade leave and Rami tells his father that Amira used the car to head into the city. The President’s face loses color and he tells his military commander he has to handle something.
Jamal calls Mahmoud first but gets his voicemail, we find out later the Colonel was in the bathroom when the call came. Then he calls his mother and tells her he needs to talk to her and have the driver turn the car around and head back to the palace. Amira asks her son what he’s talking about and Jamal wastes more time repeating the same words. Once again his mother asks him why and he says there’s a bomb in the road, we hear Amira says a bomb and then the car explodes, killing her instantly.
Mahmoud’s slapping his nephew in the next scene, saying that Zaher was supposed to get visual confirmation, before detonating the bomb. The young man replies, he had the itinerary, saw the cars and the windows were tinted. The Colonel asks him if he realizes what they’ve done, they killed the President’s mother. Mahmoud gives his nephew a bankbook and says he set up an account for Zaher in Zürich and his nephew needs to leave the country immediately. Then his phone rings and it’s Jamal, he tells the President he’s on his way to the palace.
Mahmoud enters the palace and asks the President to grant him just one request, that he’s allowed to choose his own form of death. He says he doesn’t want to go out the way that Tariq did. Jamal says to him that Mahmoud need not fear him any longer, he’s the only one he can trust. He says he loved his mother with all his heart and she loved him, despite all the evil he committed. However, he says she was the one to bring Rami to the palace, as if he’s trying to justify her death.
Leila’s heard the news by now and she bursts in on the meeting and starts berating Mahmoud for allowing the Caliphate Army to bomb the car. She asks how they got so close to the palace and then she asks if any of them are safe? Does she have to worry about being attacked in her bedroom. Jamal tells her everything’s fine and to calm down and he and Mahmoud have to talk. When she leaves the two men decide to blame Rami for Amira’s murder.
Nusrat and Ahmed are sitting with Leila and Nusrat asks permission to stay until after Amira’s funeral and Leila says that’s fine. Nusrat shows Ahmed that she’s wearing the bracelet his grandmother gave them for their wedding and Ahmed spits out a response and avoids eye contact.
Rami’s talking with his commander of the Air Force Solomon and the man from Africa asks how did the Caliphate Army plant a bomb so close to the palace. Said says it wasn’t the Caliphate and then Mahmoud enters the room with soldiers and tells the General he’s under arrest for the murder of Amira. Rami screams that’s crazy, why would he kill the person he loves most in the world, Mahmoud remains silent as the soldiers take Rami into custody.
Barry gives a pep talk to the members of the Red Hand before they invade the Caliphate Army base to try to take out their anti-aircraft weapons. He mentions all the members they lost in the attack the night before and says they’re going on this mission in their names. He and Sammy walk back to his tent and Barry tells Sammy he wants his son to go back to the city and be with Molly. Sammy refuses and says he’ll be by Barry’s side when they attack the Caliphate, so Barry says he’ll have Siddiq get Sammy a weapon.
Jamal meets with Solomon, whose devouring a chicken dinner when the President walks in, Jamal says they have excellent chefs at the palace and Solomon responds he never passes up a good meal. The President then starts to talk about the military without Rami running it and Solomon responds he’s a mercenary, he works for money not politics.
Jamal laughs and says that’s good and to increase Solomon’s loyalty he’s offering him a 90% raise to take out the Caliphate Army. Solomon laughs and says he’s greedy but not foolish and he refuses to work for someone without military experience. Jamal says he’s not a fool either and realizes that he and Rami have a battle plan, then offers Solomon another 50% increase on-top of what he already offered him.
The Air Force commander stands up from his chair and walks away from the table, he says he’s got three jobs waiting for him in Africa and he’s heading there. However before he leaves he offers some free advice, he says you’ve imprisoned an innocent man, nobody’s trying to kill you except for the Caliphate Army and then leaves the room.
Just Nusrat and Ahmed are siting in the room for the family to grieve in, when Nusrat starts crying. Her husband says you’re not crying for my grandmother, you’re crying for Rami. He then tells her he saw them in the garden that morning and he saw him take her hand. Nusrat says he did that as a brother, but Ahmed says she’s lying and he’s the reason she wants the annulment, so she and Rami can be together.
Nusrat loses it, telling Ahmed that she didn’t want the annulment, that it was forced on her by his parents. His mother told her in the hospital that it was Nusrat’s job to convince her husband to annul the marriage so he could marry another and have an heir. Rami was just being kind to someone whose being cast-off. She then said your parents are the real monsters and your family’s a terror and she says I haven’t even told you the worst of it.
Ahmed bursts into his mother’s office and demands to know if Leila forced Nusrat to ask for an annulment and Leila says that Jamal needs an heir. He screams that Nusrat was correct, they’re both monsters and that he believes that Jamal tried to kill Rami and failed, rather than the other way around. He says he wants nothing to do with either of them again and storms out of the room. Leila breaks down in tears.
Leila goes to the cell where Rami’s locked in and he says he’s got nothing to say to her. But she asks him that if she can take Jamal out of the equation, can Rami defeat the Caliphate Army and save Abbudin for her and Ahmed. Rami never says yes, but implies that he could. Leila heads back to her bedroom.
She grabs a pistol from Jamal’s nightstand and then goes looking for her husband, she finds him with Amira’s shrouded corpse and he slams his head against a cement pole, until he opens a deep gash in his forehead. He then starts asking God for the chance to see his mother one more time. Leila comes up from behind him and cocks the pistol and puts her finger on the trigger, but she starts crying and can’t pull the trigger. She walks away and her secretary comes and tells her that Molly’s in the security office, she’s come to see Amira.
Back at the building where the Red Hand are gathered, Sammy’s having difficulties loading the cartridge into the automatic weapon he’s supposed to use in the battle. His father comes over to him and says he just needs some sleep and Sammy says suddenly he feels really tired. Barry drugged Sammy so that he’d sleep through the groups departure to invade the Caliphate camp. Daliyah tells Barry she’ll watch over Sammy while he’s gone and tells him to make it back, but she says this in case you don’t and she kisses him.
Leila goes to the security office to meet Molly and Molly says she has nothing to say to her, that she refused to contact her family once in the last year. She says either let me meet with Amira or kick me out, Leila starts crying and says Amira’s dead. She then says she saw the wrong brother die and she thinks it’s all her fault.
Sammy wakes up realizing it’s daylight and he’s angry and frustrated that his father drugged him and left him behind. Daliyah tells him that Barry did it for Molly, that it would be too great a loss for her to lose a son and a husband and he did the same thing for other families. Sammy’s phone rings and it’s Molly on the other end saying that Sammy needs to contact Barry, as there’s no military support on its way and they have to turn around. Halima tries contacting them through the radio, but they don’t hear her over the sound of the sandstorm.
The Story Continues Next Tuesday Night at 10:00 pm on FX.
