TVSquad

(S02E05) Sleeper Cell really doesn't quit. It's just keeps moving at you from all angles and once again, things that I never expected happened. For the most part, I think plenty of people have a good sense of predicting what's going to come next in TV and films because often we've seen the same stories and plots told over and over in different ways. Sleeper Cell is just throwing all convention out the window because I keep making guesses that make sense and nothing pans out. I love it because it's genuinely holding my attention as a result.

As I've mentioned before, Ilija's story has pulled a complete 180° and I'm finding it to be probably the most compelling part of the show. I keep thinking that he's going to somehow end up helping out Farik again, especially after the last episode when we found out the nuclear fuel rods were headed to Germany and Ilija was in Hamburg. However, Ilija has continued fleeing -- this time to his home in Sarajevo. He hasn't been home since the war and seeing his return is just really interesting. His story, at this point, is completely exclusive from what's going on in the rest of the Sleeper Cell universe. It's like a show within the show.

The whole theme of "home" was very well done I thought. From Darwyn trying to mend the fence with his father (great turn by Charles S. Dutton who also directed the episode), to Mina's encounter with the father of the children she nannies for, to Farik and his daughter, it all tied together beautifully giving us various looks at their different situations. Farik's predicament was really crazy though. His daughter drew some pictures of him horseback riding. She's an excellent artist and it looked just like him. How cold is Farik though? Knowing that there can be no record of his existence (he's dead to the world), he convinced his daughter that she was choosing her father over Allah and made her burn the artwork. This guy is despicable.

The end was quite the surprise too. I really expected the nuclear rods to be on their way. I didn't see it coming when Karrar turned out to be the "package." It shows you what Farik thinks of Darwyn though. He still doesn't know who Darwyn is but he doesn't trust him. Why else would he have put Karrar in charge of the cell?

What I'm really looking forward to is Gayle's betrayal. Once Darwyn finds out that she's feeding info to Russell? That conversation won't go well. But what happens when Karrar starts looking into Gayle where Mina left off? This is going to get messy. Fast.