The Explosion
We begin episode 9 of Messiah in the past where we see Aviram as a child. After praying before having dinner, we see him and his brother playing on the street when suddenly an explosion takes the life of his mother. In the present, Aviram receives a call from Zev revealing that he has found him while Jibril is learning his speech. At the same time, Samer seems to be getting brainwashed and radicalized. Tensions are high between Felix and Anna as he’s unable to forgive what his wife and daughter did. Felix later meets with his father-in-law and offers to have Al-Masih on his religious TV show. After he agrees to it, Felix heads to Al-Masih’s room and proposes that he speaks out on TV. He agrees to it but only if Rebecca comes too. After picking up her dad from the airport, Eva looks through Al-Masih’s medical records which show that he suffered from a delusional disorder and Messiah Complex as he believes he was destined to become a saviour. After looking at phone records, she decides to confront Al-Masih with what she’s found. Mentioning Wallace, he admits that they’re friends and kept in touch. Meanwhile, the president has a tough decision to make as Russia has mobilized their troops and are threatening Latvia which is currently under USA’s protection. Staci is now back home with her daughter and has to face the music as her husband is unable to forgive her for risking their daughter’s life. She tries explaining that she did it because she loves her and couldn’t see her go through chemo again. However, he ends the conversation by revealing that he’s filing for divorce and will ask for full custody. Back in her flat, Eva and her dad have an emotional conversation about God and her mother’s miscarriages. Eva tells him she doesn’t want to talk about it as she knows he didn’t love her and also reveals that she lost the baby which means that there are no more chances for her. After storming out, she decides to go to Aviram’s place and ends up sleeping with him. Later on, she decides to call the unknown number Al-Masih has been contacting on a regular basis. As it turns out, the number belongs to Wallace who explains that him and Al-Masih often talk about the purpose of life. When she asks what their plan is, he replies that he doesn’t have one but has always been happy to serve his cause. After hanging up, Eva realizes that Wallace’s book is actually Al-Masih’s words and Wallace has been his disciple. Meanwhile the President requests a Pentagon study of the consequences of a full military withdrawal from Eastern Europe. The evening arrives and with it the televised show where the audience eagerly await hearing from Al-Masih. At the same time, people are gathering in Ramallah mosque in Palestine as Jibril is about to give a speech. We also see Samer preparing himself and driving towards the same mosque with an explosive vest. However, Al-Masih walks away and gets picked up by Aviram, leaving everyone waiting. Back in Palestine, a terrified Samer gets ready to enter the mosque while Rebecca takes the stage at the same time as Jibril too. They each praise Al-Masih and tell their respective audiences to heed his message. Just as Rebecca starts having an epileptic fit, Samer comes face to face with Jibril and the vest detonates, causing a devastating explosion. As it turns out, the man who’s been brainwashing him is sat outside, and he’s the one who detonated Samer’s vest, which closes the episode out. The penultimate episode of Messiah certainly gave us an explosive and shocking twist at the end. Both friends face each other in the most tragic way; Jibril remains full of hope until the last minute though while we see a terrified Samer who has been completely brainwashed. This was particularly harrowing to see, especially knowing that those kind of tragedies are very close to the truth in the world right now. This episode gave us some excellent shots again, showing both Rebecca and Jibril giving out their speeches and trying to make a difference. The explosion also coincided with Rebecca’s seizure, which again was quite the clever scene. Messiah has been a really interesting and enjoyable series to watch. With the second half of this tightening the screws and picking up the pace, it’s slowly showing us just how Al-Masih has been manipulating people. With finale up next, I am quite intrigued to see how it will end and whether this latest Netflix show will leave things open for a second season or not.
