Storyline
Series tells the story of an unassuming American family drawn into the workings of a turbulent Middle Eastern nation.

Reviews from critics

Blown away by the first episode.
Author: t hamilton from Australia
25 June 2014

Tyrant is the story of the second son of a powerful middle eastern tyrant who has escaped the corruption and despair of his native land and spent two decades Americanising himself and building an unassuming life with his wife and two kids. Reluctantly he is brought back to his country of birth for the wedding of his nephew.

Its not immediately a genre I would find myself drawn to, but I was enthralled. Barry (the second son) Is a wounded character, wary of his father and everything he represents, and they depict him brilliantly. His interactions with his brother and father are complex and deep.

The setting for the show is very beautiful, right in the opening portion of the episode you get a great sequence of shots where the American family is being driven in a cavalcade to the palace, and you can really see the juxtaposition of the opulence of their cars, the palace with its gardens and forest, with the impoverished masses being kept at bay so the streets are clear for the motorcade.

Watching both Barry's reaction to this contrasting culture and his American families reaction is very interesting and adds a different element to the story. His wife's "Dr. Phil" moments trying to get him to open up about the atrocities he witnessed when Barry (and the audience) know she could never really understand, his sons oblivious superficiality and obnoxious self absorption help make the story relatable to me coming from a western culture, and also highlight how ignorant they (and we) are.

I've only seen the pilot, as mentioned above, but I loved this first glimpse of a, for me, unique new story. I cant wait to see how it unfolds, and I recommend the first episode highly.


An Arabian Review .
9/10
Author: (qusai-tamimi2000@hotmail.com) from Jordan
25 June 2014
*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I'm an Arabian and I'll review this series on that basis(sorry for any mistakes).

-(a brief history and review of Khalid)the series especially the Fayeed family has close resemblance to Saddam's Hussein Era and gulf countries Royal families. the picture which this series draw from the beginning is sadly true, unfortunately till the Arabian "spring" there were no elected president in whole 22 Arabian countries except in Lebanon, so you can imagine that every leader came by a military coup "or inheritance from his father" must clear the previous ruler's Allies to protect himself from assassination(which clearly seen in the pilot) and to prove his dominance.

-Jamal is a clear representation of children who was born with a golden spoon in their mouth and a gun in their hand, Iraq and Gulf countries have many "Jamal"s, with various degrees,for e.g Oudai Saddam Hussein was exact picture of Jamal(don't know about purity incidence). Oudai was a killer, rapist and a maniac same as Jamal.

-Bassam Aka Barry. I am conflicted about him, will he become like his father and brother as depicted in flashbacks or will he be the Arabian "spring". still to come.

-the luxury of the royal family is not exaggerated in the series and maybe downgraded (I'll leave this to your imagination) -the background and the set. Finally Arabic is written right not some gibberish or isolated letters, the wedding, music ,dancing and the "bachelor" party were nearly right.

-negative thing: they didn't show the foreign influence and i hope they will, don't think these rulers and leaders came from nothing, they're all pawn were put to control the countries income and resources and convert it to outside -Finally ,what you saw and what you going to see in this series is sadly some what true, but people started to open their eyes and start revolutions.

pics...

m so loving d movie..hope bassam doesn't turn out to be as bad as his father and brother. m on Episode 8

Yinkxberry: m so loving d movie..hope bassam doesn't turn out to be as bad as his father and brother. m on Episode 8

It is not a movie! There is a difference between a series and a movie.

Yinkxberry: m so loving d movie..hope bassam doesn't turn out to be as bad as his father and brother. m on Episode 8

Bassam can only try..buh the coup won't succeed.
So much love Jamal, (nohomo) especially his intonation wen speaking

Bawss1:

It is not a movie! There is a difference between a series and a movie.

correction taken though it was a mistake.Thanks

timexkaka:

Bassam can only try..buh the coup won't succeed.
So much love Jamal, (nohomo) especially his intonation wen speaking

if the coup those not succeed wahalla go dai ooo..

Currently the best show on TV!

temi4fash: if the coup those not succeed wahalla go dai ooo..

Jamal wld always find a way to forgive his "kid" brother

Citizens of abu dihn

I just love episode 1, where bassam sent his son into auto-reset with 2 doses of slap..#classic#

And the dance steps of jamal and his family at his sons wedding #awesome

Somebody help me with these questions. Did season 1 actually end where Bassam phoned the US consular general asking to get the names of those that were against his brother becoming President because he also felt that Jamal could not do the Job? That is where mine ended, I just want to be sure that I have completed Season 1. Question 2, why did Jamal kill that his American lover in the room after he got the call from Bassam that he had killed the Sheik?

larrybabe: Somebody help me with these questions. Did season 1 actually end where Bassam phoned the US consular general asking to get the names of those that were against his brother becoming President because he also felt that Jamal could not do the Job? That is where mine ended, I just want to be sure that I have completed Season 1. Question 2, why did Jamal kill that his American lover in the room after he got the call from Bassam that he had killed the Sheik?

season 1 has not ended.. It just on the 8th episode... I am following it on o2tvseries.com.. To the answers to ur question as at d last episode their uncle is already in prison for treason..

Why does the Abuddeen flag look like nigeria's?

Why did the tyrant Jamal refuse to look at pictures of those he gassed at Ma'an like Buhari did at Aljazeera?

I dey laugh.

ShootToKill:
Why does the Abuddeen flag look like nigeria's?

Why did the tyrant Jamal refuse to look at pictures of those he gassed at Ma'an like Buhari at Aljazeera?

I dey laugh.

Exactly my thought, each time i look at Albuddins flag, i see ours too lol.

Why do they have to kill Jamaal

So they ain't gonna be doing season 4 of TYRANT..

timexkaka:
Why do they have to kill Jamaal

His son killed him, after finding out that Jamal isn't his biological father.

WTF?. Fx has cancelled Tyrant?.