The Other Iran
Episode 5 of Tehran begins with Faraz stepping outside and finding a phone on the ground. As it starts ringing, he receives a call confirming his wife is fine but he has a mission. He needs to make sure Masoud gets out of Iran unharmed. As they hang up, Faraz is left with a tough choice to make. He either betrays his country but saves his wife or sees her perish but remain loyal to his country. What a choice. This immediately sees him storm back into the jail cell, choking out Masoud and desperate to learn the truth. Faraz drives Masoud into the middle of nowhere and threatens him with a gun. Eventually he gives up and tells Masoud to leave Iran. He certainly wastes little time making sure he does so in pain though. As Masoud leaves, Faraz remains conflicted over his choice. With his wife safe for now (thanks to a controlled phone call from those who have her confirming as much), Masoud communicates with Mossad and confirms they know about princess. Much like Faraz, he’s told to leave Iran that night. After hanging up, Faraz is called into his boss’ office for an update. He lies, claiming that Masoud has a big meeting and he’s gone over the department’s head to try and catch Masoud out for a mistake. On the back of this, Faraz and Masoud meet in the dead of night. It’s here he realizes that Masoud had nothing to do with kidnapping his wife. Instead, Faraz puts his plan into action and forces Masoud to work with him to catch out the Israeli’s. Meanwhile, Tamar is given some clothes from Milad and reluctantly attends a party. To get there, they head past a checkpoint but things take a turn for the worst. The soldier misinterprets Tamar’s thumbs up as giving him the finger. Thankfully a bribe for both soldiers is enough to save the day and avoid any more unpleasantness. Tensions are understandably high, with Karim and Milad bickering over Tamar getting involved in their affairs. Eventually the group make it to their destination, where Karim shows off his stash of drugs. This explains just why it was so crucial they get past the checkpoint without problems. The night draws on and Tamar’s loyalty is put to the test as she starts dealing drugs. She passes Karim’s test but Tamar is understandably annoyed. Thankfully Milad sits with her and eases the girl’s mind, promising to let her experience the world. Eventually he convinces her to take a pill and that leads her into the bedroom with him where they make love. In the morning, Mossad keep tabs on Milad and learn that he and the others are up in the mountains just outside Tehran. Meanwhile, Masoud receives a call from Eli at Turkish Airways enquiring about his missed flight. Deciding against booking another, the scene changes to show who’s on the other end of the line. It turns out this is another ploy from Mossad to get him back. Only, when he leaves his car he’s shot dead by an assassin on a bike. Faraz does his best to interject but it’s too late – Masoud is dead.
The Episode Review
Compared to some of the breathless tension we’ve had before, this episode by comparison feels like a proverbial deep breath. There isn’t a lot of plot progression and Tamar’s story this time doesn’t have a lot of substance. The stuff with Faraz is intriguing enough though and seeing this power struggle between nations is fascinating. Hopefully this is expanded on further as the episodes tick by. For now though, episode 5 keeps chugging along but it feels like we’re gearing up for an explosive end to this series.
