‘Tehran’ Recap: ‘Five Hours Until the Bombing Run’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season one finale of ‘Tehran’.
​
​Over the course of the past few weeks, we’ve talked at length about how the AppleTV+ series, Tehran; has done a phenomenal job of shattering the tropes of the spy genre. For time and time again, this series has offered up a fresh take on a genre that lives within formula, and that’s allowed for some powerful storytelling to take place. The kind that has surprised and enthralled us at every turn. But while it is fun to turn a genre on its head, there are some tropes and clichés that cannot be avoided and must be indulged in order to tell a proper spy story, and that’s something that this series is fully aware of. Since it went a more traditional route with its story in the season one finale of this phenomenal series.

For ‘Five Hours Until the Bombing Run’ offered up a bevy of intense moments and traditional cat and mouse games and some outright surprises as well. And thankfully, it handled all of these familiar moments in a quality manner since it did a wonderful of building tension and by dropping said surprises at just the right time. Take for example how this episode opened up. Since we came to learn that the Mossad had a mole in their ranks, after the ground assault on the Anti-Aircraft devices ended in disaster, since someone targeted and destroyed the ground team in a precise manner. And rather than do a long, drawn out reveal of who betrayed the Mossad, the show wasted no time in showing us that Yael Kadosh was the mole, and that she has been working with IRGC head Mohammadi to undermine the mission at every turn. Which explains why he was quick to not sound the alarms about a Mossad agent working within the borders of Iran, because he’s had quite the plan all along.

One that basically involved assembling a grand trap for Israeli forces, so that Iran could make it clear to their enemies that they are not to be trifled with, and the final aspect of that plan, involved Tamar. For now, there was no choice but to send her into the Air Defense building to ‘sabotage’ the radar systems, and that involved getting Milad’s help to circumvent security, and assembling what they needed to override the system, is what led to all that tension. Because it became obvious that they were walking into a trap, one that could have been sprung upon them at any moment, leaving the viewer worried for Tamar and Milad’s safety. And that tension was further enhanced by the fact that Faraz was back in town and working with his lackey to hunt Tamar down and put an end to this, once and for all. In part to save his wife, but also to restore his honor. But thankfully, Milad or Tamar made it out of this segment of the story unharmed, and what matters most, is that all the tension that bubbled and simmered during this part of the story, came to an outright boil in the ending.

Because Tamar had her suspicions about the mission and the ease of it this time around. Which prompted her to setup some failsafe devices, the kind that allowed for her to see the truth about what Yael was up to, and that allowed for her to save some lives and foil the IRGC’s plan, with a shocking assist from Faraz. For his assault on the safe house bought Tamar the time she needed, and it finally brought them face to face if only for a moment. Since Tamar was quick to leave him behind after their brief encounter, one where Faraz begged for his wife’s safety and life, after taking a bullet from his foe and well… that’s where we leave Tamar in this tale. On the run with a military disaster in the hands of both agencies and well, this ended up being on brilliant and delightful finale when all is said and done. Simply because it was high octane from beginning to end and the non-stop tension here left us on the edge of our seats.

But while a majority of this episode took the time to toss a lot of familiar moments our way, we would be remiss to not talk about the fact that it still found a way to break from the norms of the spy genre. For the fact that a stalemate exists between Iran and Israel is a huge deal, since that is rarely the case in these tales. Plus, the fact that Tamar let Faraz live is huge, since usually the hero puts down the villain. And it is also equally as unique that she is trapped behind enemy lines still, with no ties to the Mossad or hope of escape, since the hero usually returns home when the mission ends. All of which are lovely plot threads to be resolved in season two and hopefully we get word that another year of storytelling is headed our way soon. Because this first season was downright refreshing and delightful and we definitely need more, so we can see how this epic and sweeping story, ends. Until next year.

---