In the first season of this Israeli drama we see a group of recruits being put through their paces as they vie to join the Mossad, the Israeli Intelligence Agency. They must pass a succession of tests; any failure, for whatever reason, will lead to that trainee being immediately dropped. The recruits are a mixed group; one is an expert on reading people's body language; two American brothers; and another is hoping that by joining she will learn how her husband died while on a Mossad operation overseas; the rest are similarly varied. The course is led by Yona Harari; an experienced agent who doesn't appear to be too bothered by rules; unlike his ex-wife who is the Psychologist monitoring the course.
The second season sees Yona with another group of trainees; officially they are taking part in a training exercise on Kiev, in reality Yona is running an unofficial operation that will see them dealing with a group of Israeli criminals and facing ISIS terrorists who would like nothing more than killing a group of Israelis; especially Mossad agents.
If you are looking for something gritty like 'Fauda' you may be disappointed. This does have its thrilling moments but there isn't the consistent level of extremely high tension... and deliberately so. There are comic moments; some action, even deaths of main characters; and quite a lot of character led drama; notably between Yona and ex-wife Avigail. The two seasons have a very different feel; the first is all about their training programme and seeing who will get eliminated while the second is about one specific mission. In both questions are raised about the motives of characters who should be trusted. The characters are a good mix and the way they are introduced means that by the time dangers arise we care about what happens to them. The cast is solid making the characters believable even in some of the more unlikely situations. I don't imagine many viewers will believe this gives a realistic insight into the Mossad; it clearly doesn't intend to be; it is a lot of fun though. Overall I'd recommend this viewers looking for a somewhat lighter spy series; if we get a third season I'd continue to watch.
These comments are based on watching the series in Hebrew with English subtitles.
The second season sees Yona with another group of trainees; officially they are taking part in a training exercise on Kiev, in reality Yona is running an unofficial operation that will see them dealing with a group of Israeli criminals and facing ISIS terrorists who would like nothing more than killing a group of Israelis; especially Mossad agents.
If you are looking for something gritty like 'Fauda' you may be disappointed. This does have its thrilling moments but there isn't the consistent level of extremely high tension... and deliberately so. There are comic moments; some action, even deaths of main characters; and quite a lot of character led drama; notably between Yona and ex-wife Avigail. The two seasons have a very different feel; the first is all about their training programme and seeing who will get eliminated while the second is about one specific mission. In both questions are raised about the motives of characters who should be trusted. The characters are a good mix and the way they are introduced means that by the time dangers arise we care about what happens to them. The cast is solid making the characters believable even in some of the more unlikely situations. I don't imagine many viewers will believe this gives a realistic insight into the Mossad; it clearly doesn't intend to be; it is a lot of fun though. Overall I'd recommend this viewers looking for a somewhat lighter spy series; if we get a third season I'd continue to watch.
These comments are based on watching the series in Hebrew with English subtitles.