Blaine: I watched a show called “Tehran” on Apple TV+. My dad had been watching it and I decided to check it out myself. I spent half a day watching the series, except for the season finale because it hadn’t been released until the week after I started watching. Dad and I watched the season finale together.
“Tehran” is about a Israeli agent/computer hacker, Tamar Rabinyan. Temar’s mission was to go to a power station, which is linked electronically with Iranian defenses, and hack in and make Iranian radar not see Israeli jets which are coming to knock out a nuclear reactor. Before she can accomplish it, military are coming into the facility and she has to run away and hide and try to finish the mission later.
Dad told me the lead actress of the show, Niv Sultan, looks like Alicia Vikander and he is so right. Niv looks 100% like Alicia. Every time I look at her I think and feel Alicia Vikander. Niv even has the same kind of facial expressions Alicia shows in her acting. It’s like looking at an Iranian version of Alicia……..Alicia is Swedish. They could pass as sisters.
Niv Sultan has done a lot of television shows in Israeli, and one of them was a comedy series called “She Has It”. Dana Eden was the co-creator of that show, and he’s also the co-cretor of this show too. After having a working experience with Niv, Dana must have thought about her playing the lead character, Tamar, for “Tehran”.
There is a lot to Temar. She’s a professional computer hacker, a master of disguise, and has skills in fighting. Although, the way she fights is more like a self defense. She has to keep things low while she’s in a dangerous place and make sure she doesn’t expose herself to all of Tehran. She is capable of handling herself, but I bet it would be difficult to take on a huge crowd. She is scared and the look of fear really shows on her face. She hardly shows any other expressions because she is taking a lot of risks. She is keeping a watchful eye out on things and minding her surroundings. Tamar is also very sneaky and so she is able to slip through the cracks. She’s not easy to catch when someone is after her. The head of investigations of the Revolutionary Guards, Faraz Kamali is after Tamar. It’s like Wile E. Coyote trying to catch Roadrunner. Tamar also has a lot of guts to stand up and show she is in charge whenever she is in a room with men who want to stop her. Tamar always makes sure she has a plan as well.
Tamar also has a way of blending in. She meets a nice boy, Milad, and she lies to him by saying she is trying to escape her abusive husband and he buys it. There’s no telling what would happen if he knew the truth. It would probably be bad. Tamar develops feelings for the guy, she tried to resist those feelings at first, but it can be hard to resist someone you like. Milad treats her with kindness and lets her crash at his place. Tamar doesn’t let romantic feelings get in the way of her job. It’s good that she stays focussed on her mission.
Niv Sultan didn’t want anyone else to play Tamar, but herself. This was a super cool character to her because there was so much to her. The most exciting thing about being apart of the show for Niv was it being an inspiration. A lot of Persian Jews have walked up to Niv telling her that Tamar represents respect for them and she was very pleased to hear those words. What was challenging for Niv, was speaking three different languages because she’s never done that in acting. She usually speaks Hebrew, she’s never had a job before that required her to speak English and Farsi too. Farsi was the only language Niv had to learn, and she had to learn about the culture too.
Niv Sultan felt very honored to get an offer like this. She said Tamar is the type of character you dream of playing after you graduate from acting school. “Tehran” helped Niv take big steps too. She wanted to be an actress all her life, but she wasn’t ever expecting to become a celebrity too.
“Tehran” premiered in Israel this past Summer and then it got it’s international release, thanks to Apple TV+, so that audiences around the world could see it. Niv is very happy for the show expanding around the world because she feels it deserves to be seen by everyone. She is also glad that it’s getting out there during COVID because people want to watch new things and “Tehran” is a perfect choice. It’s the type of show that’ll make you curious to know if this character will succeed and if she will be able to get out alive.
My dad pointed out that the last shot of the season finale is a good one. It shows Tamar on the back of a scooter with that boy, and my dad said the camera is in a vehicle next to the motor scooter shooting it a little from the front, then side by side and then slightly from behind showing Tamar.
It’s hard to tell if “Tehran" will continue with another season or if it was only supposed to last just one season. Tamar’s mission is complete and she manages to escape, as she usually does. But will there be another assignment for her? The show is popular, and studios usually renew shows based on their ratings. I’m sure if they plan to do another season it’ll get the green light. Even Niv Sultan doesn’t know what the future holds for the show, but she hopes it will continue. Fans want to see more.
