Sleeper Cell

Sleeper Cell, the latest Showtime series, is absolutely fantastic. It is extremely enlightening and shows a side of the Islamic faith of which many people are completely unaware. For those that don't know, the show is about a sleeper cell, obviously, in L.A. Michael Ealy plays Darwyn Al-Hakim, an African American Muslim FBI agent embedded in the 5 man LA cell run by Faris Al-Farik (Oded Fehr from The Mummy fame). For those Felicity fans, David (the professor's son) is also on the show as a soulful Bosnian man who saw his entire family murdered by Serbs. Seriously, he pretty much breaks my heart with every one of his sad gazes. My favorite part of the show is the naughty Frenchman/Muslim/former White Supremacist/snarky playboy, Christian. When he is on screen, I am salivating. How can a man look so sexy in a hoodie?

Sleeper Cell is extremely well written and leaves me dying to know what happens next. Will they destroy the United States? Will they be stopped? On the one hand, you know these men are for all intents and purposes evil, but at the same time, as you grow to know them, you understand why they are doing what they are doing and how they came to be this way. And Farik plays such a fabulous asshole that you kind of find yourself rooting for him then realizing that is probably a bad thing.

I love how hard the show works at portraying the Muslim faith in a positive light. They could have glossed over the good parts and the people that work so hard to live an honorable Muslim life. But they bring that front and center. They also raise awareness that immediate prejudice against someone because of their appearance is not only wrong, but also pointless. Sleeper Cell shows that the next terrorist attack will not carried out by men in beards and long robes, but by blonde haired blue eyed guys from Berkeley, by clean cut professors, by well dressed executives, by soccer coaches, by hot guys in hoodies.

Showtime is supposed to be showing all of the episodes from the start beginning on January 10th. Also, I think that Comcast is doing a freeview of it. Check your OnDemand. Seriously, it is a great show and something I think everyone needs to watch. Anyone who doesn't have access to it is more than welcomed to come over and watch. Was I wrong about Weeds?