‘Tehran’ Recap: ‘The Rich Kids’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 204 of ‘Tehran’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Something that is a standard in the spy genre, is that the heroic spy that is sent to save the world, never fails when it comes to their all-important, world-saving mission. Sure, they run into tiny roadblocks along the way. The kind that are often related to the villain, their henchmen or someone who stumbles into their orbit and is clueless about what is going on. But they always win, and they never make a mistake, nor do they struggle to accomplish important tasks that bring them all that much closer to their respective goal, and this trope exists simply because it is indeed a crowd pleaser through and through.
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Because it gives us hope that good will always prevail over evil and lends to the escapist nature of storytelling. But sadly, this is inching closer to becoming a tired cliché of sorts, since the audience knows deep down how it will all play out. Which is why it is always refreshing to encounter a spy story that works to bust those kinds of tropes and wow us with a story that offers new surprises and frustrations, with a hint of realism and missteps to go with that, and that’s precisely why Tehran on Apple TV+ is of note. Because it continues to defy convention and change up the missteps of the genre… as evidenced by this week’s tale. 

For ‘The Rich Kids’ is a story that allows for mistakes and failure to happen to a spy, and it accomplished this particular feat… by having Tamar make a grand push to get close to Peyman so he could serve as the instrument of his father’s doom and well, to make this anthesis of success worth our while, this part of the story outright fooled us. Because once Tamar got to a party hosted by Vahid, where Peyman was making an appearance… it seemed as though the plan was going to go off without a hitch. Since Tamar was able to keep her cover and keep any suspicions anyone had about her actions at bay, and she was so resourceful in the moment… that she even figured out how to stay near Peyman and his phone. So that a clone of said phone, could be completed from afar by Milad, as part of the plan to swap phones so Peyman would bring one near his father that was filled with explosives. 

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Not to mention, even when trouble arose by way of Faraz’s arrival at the party, she was still able to keep her cool and stay hidden to complete the mission and once she was able to sneak her way into Peyman’s car, is where failure came into play. Because despite her best efforts to be smooth and sly in making the swap happen… Tamar utterly failed in her mission. Simply because Peyman refused to be away from his beloved phone, and this was… a stroke of genius. Largely because of the trope busting it accomplished, since Tamar failed in her mission and will now have to pivot to succeed… but also because it added realism to this tale. Since everything about this sequence felt organic and natural, as though this is something a Mossad agent would actually go through.
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However, while that would have been enough to carry this episode, there was another surprise waiting in store for us and it involved Faraz and Marjan. Because Marjan was still working hard with Nahid to help her heal and she saw a grand opportunity in doing so. In that, it was obvious that Nahid was no longer loyal to Iran’s government, and she pondered upon whether or not assassinating Faraz was the right route to go. Because if Nahid was having second thoughts about loyalty, her husband might be as well… and Marjan was right. For Faraz was struggling with the demands made of him by a man that clearly cared little about anything else but his own power grab and well… there is a chance now that perhaps Marjan can bring an old enemy over to her side.

Which is also, quite the shattered trope. Since villains rarely turn into heroes in these types of tales, much less consider switching sides. But it might be happening before our eyes and that’s incredible, and it just goes to show… that Tehran is one of the most refreshing spy dramas on the market. Because it continues to find new ways to reinvent the genre and surprise us at every turn and well… in the end, all this episode does is leave us utterly eager for more of this phenomenal tale. So, we can see how Tamar responds to this grand failure and if she can rebound from it and get the mission back on track, and to see if Marjan can turn Faraz into an asset over a problem, and also… to see what will become of Milad. Since he was arrested at the end of this tale, and all of those incredible cliffhangers are going to make the wait for next week’s episode, painful for certain. Until next time.

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