"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Tyrant 3.3: Double Death

Whew, we were treated to two unexpected deaths in Tyrant's powerful episode 3.3 earlier this week.   Neither was expected, only one was deserved.

Let's start with that deserved death.  By all rights, Jamal should have died from that attack at the end of last season.  It was surprising he survived.   But having lived, his death now was also surprising. For though he was living on borrowed time, what was the point of keeping him alive if the only result was that he would be killed, anyway?

Well, making Ahmed his killer was a powerful move - and only appropriate in such a dysfunctional family.  Still, if the killing was a shock, and more than warranted, I still regret it, more than a little, because it robs our story of such a compelling character.  (And here I'll add the proviso - assuming he's dead.  I come from the school that says if you don't see the character's head blown off on television, he or she could still somehow survive.   And sometimes - especially in science fiction, which Tyrant of course is not - even if the head is blown off.  In this case, though, I don't think that's likely.)

And then there's Emma.  She certainly didn't deserve to die.   And although she was kidnapped, her death was still a stunner (again, assuming she's really dead).  One thing you can say on behalf of her death is that her character wasn't all that important - the series can certainly survive her death.

But she was a sweetheart, and they've always been in vanishingly short supply on Tyrant.  And now Barry will be galvanized to do his very worst against the people who murdered his daughter, which sets the rest of this already very powerful season very nicely.  So that's a second thing.  And we've also seen that the US military in Abuddin isn't as sharp as it should be.  Strong, dangerous plot possibilities now in Tyrant everywhere you turn.




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