The Spy

https://bit.ly/3qDXvnq

The Mossad doesn't always win.

This show debuted on Netflix eighteen months ago. I saw the hype, but you can't watch everything. And for some reason "The Spy" did not have staying power in the national consciousness. Maybe it should have.

It's a true story. That's what makes the whole show work. Sacha Baron Cohen is excellent, but still some of the scenes appear phony, constructed to make a point, but just when you're beginning to wince, you're brought back to some fact and you're hooked again.

This is sixty years ago. Israel was a nascent nation, with few friends it could depend on. So it had to take matters into its own hands. It was literally a matter of life and death.

What would you do for your country? Would you die for it?

So, Noah Emmerich turns the eager Sacha Baron Cohen into a spy, who ultimately infiltrates the highest reaches of the Syrian government and...we know the end from the beginning, that's how the series starts, Cohen has been caught.

Emmerich... He was phenomenal in "The Americans," which you must stream, it's one of the few series that's get better as it goes along, and he can alternately appear likable and hatable, depending upon the role. And although tall and skinny, Emmerich is not beautiful, he's more of an everyman, and therefore we can relate to him.

Now despite being in English, "The Spy" features many Israeli actors, who you will recognize if you're a fan of Israeli television. Yael Etan, who had the uncontrollable hots for older men in "Prisoners of War," is part of the Mossad establishment, and she's all grown up, yet evidences the same edge. Uri Gavriel, from "The Baker and the Beauty," which was too predictable for Felice, she insisted we axe it after two episodes, is now a successful Syrian merchant as opposed to a lower class baker. Neta Riskin is a satisfied upper class wife as opposed to a struggling Orthodox believer in "Shtisel." Yousef Sweid, who you know from "Baghdad Central" and "Unorthodox" plays a Syrian broadcaster. With less money for stars, everybody is a character actor in Israeli productions, it's fun to see them play different roles and be believable.

As for Sacha Baron Cohen...

It's funny, he's not completely believable as Eli Cohen.

But he's totally believable as Kamel Amin Thaabet. It's funny how he ultimately can't separate the two identities.

And unlike the CIA, the Mossad sends its agents into the field for extended periods of time. This is not "The Bureau," where you're there and then you're gone, here you leave and come back and repeat the process.

So, Eli/Sacha is dispatched to Argentina to integrate himself into the Syrian intelligentsia. He plays a Syrian so well! But he keeps pushing the limits. Does he just want success this bad or is it about helping his country? Once again, it's about life and death in Israel.

And once in Syria Eli/Sacha lives the life of a playboy and enjoys it. Fooling all the powers-that-be. That's the power of money. And alcohol. People are susceptible to anybody rich who is nice to them, who gives them perks.

And you don't have to know much Israeli history, or maybe you just have to be a boomer who lived through the '67 war, to know that the Golan Heights were crucial. The Syrians could fire down from the hills on the Israelis, but Eli/Sacha undermines even this advantage.

So you're watching the series, which is only six episodes, it wouldn't work as a movie, and something seems unbelievable but then you realize it's true! And when it was all done I did online research and found...many fewer liberties were taken that I thought. The truth is real life rarely lends itself to drama. There's no natural arc. And a lot of life is just plain boring. So creators juice up the drama. But the hard core elemental drama is enough here. Eli/Cohen always has to worry about being caught.

Now I wouldn't put "The Spy" at the top of your streaming list. But if you've seen so much, especially during the pandemic, and are looking for more, you should definitely check it out.

And unlike so much streaming TV, it sticks with you. It has you pondering... What if your life was on the line on a regular basis. What would you do for your country. People always talk about "first world problems," saying we should save our sympathy for the third world. But there are plenty of problems in the first world too. How far should governments push? And in any event, you're just a cog in the machine, you live, you die and you're replaced. Strange this life.


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