Last night, FX premiered the first episode of its new series Tyrant. This new show will be falling into Fargo’s time spot. Those are some hard shoes to fill but Tyrant may have what it takes. Missed it? Here is a recap of the pilot episode.
The show opens with main character Bassam, or Barry, Al Fayeed leaving a phone message saying he will attend his nephew’s wedding. By the sounds of it, he will have to leave America to another country. He goes for a morning run where he starts to have flashbacks. There is Barry as a child with a brother around the same age and his father. The dad has taken them to a rally that is celebrating Barry’s dad as president of a Middle Eastern country. The flashback ends with tanks bombing the area and Barry being knocked off stage by a nearby blast. His flashback is interrupted by an emergency phone call. He is a pediatrician and is called in to work by a patient to.
Barry returns home to his wife and family eating breakfast and his daughter Emma is googling her father’s home country, Abbudin. Emma starts to panic once she discovers how dangerous the country is. Her mom and brother, Sammy, try to tell her everything will be ok but she says that not even her dad wants to go, therefore, she doesn’t either. After the kids leave, Barry’s wife, Molly, tells her husband to convince Emma that the trip will be fun but Barry doesn’t seem thrilled himself. He tells his to promise him they will come back home but she misses his pled.
As the family run to catch their plane, they believe that they missed the flight as the terminal looked empty. Turns out, Barry’s father bought the plane for the family. Barry couldn’t suck up his pride, however, and insisted in sitting in coach. Joining him was his wife while the kids sat first class. Molly tells Barry that this trip is his chance to talk to his father but Barry doesn’t seem sure that things will work out how she expects. The couple is served champagne which is from Jamal, Barry’s brother.
As the couple cheer to Jamal, the show shifts from the family to Jamal. The first impression of Jamal is a feared man of royalty. He gets a phone call from his wife saying that his brother’s plane has landed and he takes off for the airport in a red Ferrari.
Barry and his family are greeted by a palace worker once they arrive. Jamal shows up blasting Aerosmith’s “Dream on.” The family is escorted by Jamal’s bodyguards to the palace. Barry’s flashbacks come back and he says him as child after the rally bombing. His father starts screaming at his attackers reminding them that he is not dead and cannot be killed. Barry sees a young boy who is hurt from the blasts and is standing next to his mother who was killed.
At the palace, Barry’s family is escorted by Jamal’s wife to the pool while Barry meets with his father. Jamal comes with him and Barry greats both his mother and father. His father tells him to excuse him and Jamal. After Barry and his mom leave, his father informs Jamal of how there are plans that terrorists will bomb the wedding. Jamal is told to confront a tribal leader, whose nephew is planning on destroying the wedding, to stop the bombing and that Jamal should take Barry with him.
During the Bachelor party, Jamal takes Barry with him to confront the tribal leader. Jamal is out for blood and would have killed the man if Barry didn’t stop him. Barry manages to convince Jamal to invite the man and his nephew to the wedding.
That night, Barry visits the mystery man he calls in the beginning of the show. This man turns out to be the hurt, motherless child in Barry’s one flashback. Barry is informed of what his father is doing and tries to defend him.
During the Wedding, Barry is hunted by more flashbacks. He sees his father forcing Jamal to kill a traitor, who is nothing more but a civilian. The flashback is cut off when a young Jamal picks up the gun and aims at the man. The wedding takes a deadly turn when Barry’s father collapses and is rushed to the hospital. Barry visits his dad on his death bed where his father confesses that he rather half Barry be next in line to rule and not Jamal. When it is Jamal’s turn to visit, their dad passed away leaving the country to Jamal.
Barry tries to flee with his family but his wife tries to persuade him that they should stay. On the plane, Barry receives a phone call saying that there has been a threat on Jamal’s life. Before he takes the phone he reminds his wife that they should have never came. Making her promise that they would return to America wasn’t so weird after all.
Be sure to catch FX’s new series Tyrant on Tuesday nights.