Tonight Bassam takes Abuddin to war with the Caliphate. Get a sneak peek of “Bedfellows”, airing at 10:00pm ET|PT on FX.
“Is it messier than you sleeping with Daliyah while Mom is in treatment?”
And with that question, Sammy totally describes last week’s Tyrant… “Truth and Dignity” is messy!
Bassaliyah continues their sexual relationship in secret. Although this is threatened by several events—Fauzi proposes to Daliyah and wants to make her his first lady. Then shortly afterwards, the meeting of the Truth and Dignity Commission is attacked by terrorists and Daliyah is the lone survivor.
This drives Bassam into major vengeance mode, prompting him to order the military to crack down even more on civil liberties.
In the process, Bassam also has a meeting with Professor El-Amin, AKA Sammy’s lover, who just happens to be an anti-regime blogger. When Sammy confronts his father and outs their relationship, it seems Bassam has known for awhile that Sammy is gay. He does caution his son about engaging in a relationship with someone who is so vocally against the government (this is what leads to his comment about Bassaliyah).
In the end, when Sammy tries to talk to El-Amin again, the professor becomes *very* angry that Sammy tells his father about them. El-Amin calls Sammy some pretty mean names before ending things.
Elsewhere, Al-Qadi, in an attempt to be a peacemaker, travels to Syria to meet with Ihab Rashid and ask for peace. If they collaborate, then Al-Qadi can win the election fairly and restore Muslim values. Ihab completely shuts Al-Qadi down, almost killing him for being on the wrong side, before Sheik Abdullah intervenes.
Abdullah has a larger plan in mind—he has pictures of the meeting between Ihab and Al-Qadi sent to the Abuddinian intelligence agency and ultimately Bassam. Bassam’s reaction: “You will not come to power through the fronnt door of an election just to open the back door to that man.”
So Al-Qadi and his political party are banned from the election, creating more strife in Abuddin, which certainly benefits the Caliphate.
Interestingly, Leila takes a principled stand and resigns as Foreign Minister in protest, claiming Bassam has overstepped his role in the election. (It probably doesn’t hurt that distancing herself from Bassam will increase her poll numbers.)
Yet, Leila has bigger things to worry about—someone is following her and taking pictures, including of her time with General Cogswell!
However, even with the messiness, there are some good moments: Bassaliyah reaffirms their relationship, even exchanging “I love yous”… (But seriously… Molly *is* coming back right? And what happens when Fauzi finds out?)
Bassam and Ahmed also get closer. You can tell he’s dying to tell Bassam about being his father. But Bassam allows Ahmed to properly bury Nusrat. He also makes Ahmed an officer in the military. So even though Leila moves out of the palace to her sister’s place, Ahmed stays behind with Bassam.
Even Ihab gets a little loving from a new Caliphate recruit, Mahdiya.
We can add a our #MakingOfATyrant list:
1. Daughter killed by The Caliphate.
2. Wife leaves country on self-imposed exile.
3. Cracking down on civil liberties via the military.
4. Hooking up with a sidepiece.
5. Almost losing your sidepiece in a terror attack.
6. Banning political candidates and parties.
How much can Bassam take before he cracks?
For more insight, watch this video of behind-the-scenes interviews with Tyrant cast-members. They each talk about their characters’ strengths and weaknesses:
In tonight’s episode “Bedfellows” (written by Daniel Goldfarb, directed by Peter Weller):
Barry becomes reclusive following Emma’s death and pushes his allies away. Also: Leila leaves the government in protest and forms a surprising partnership; Cogswell takes drastic actions against a blackmailer; Ihab and Mahdiya develop a connection; and the Caliphate plans an invasion of Abuddin. (via TV Guide)
We’re going to war with the Caliphate! I’m mostly scared and nervous, especially since it seems things are going to get so much worse before there’s any hope for peaceful resolution.
Take a look at 15 images from the “Bedfellows” and make sure to come live tweet Tyrant with us (@WeSoNerdy) at 10:00pm ET|PT on FX!
