Felt compelled to write a review (when I usually don't) because I couldn't believe how many other reviewers had missed the point of this series.
Four Brits travel to IS full of excitement and anticipation, each is there for a different reason, and one by one they all have to face disillusionment and regret. The whole point of the series is that they each deal with that regret in a completely different way.
It is a work of genius to portray brainwashed characters successfully because their actions do not make sense to viewers who have not been brainwashed themselves. But here they are so well written and acted that you sympathise and empathise with young, idealistic people who have been told not to believe what they've seen on TV or read in newspapers. They have trusted the people who told them that and it's how they act when they realise that trust was misplaced that is the interesting bit.
That these are sympathetic characters is not the issue here. This series is in no way an advert for IS nor does it apologise for anything the caliphate or its followers do. Simply brilliant stuff.
Four Brits travel to IS full of excitement and anticipation, each is there for a different reason, and one by one they all have to face disillusionment and regret. The whole point of the series is that they each deal with that regret in a completely different way.
It is a work of genius to portray brainwashed characters successfully because their actions do not make sense to viewers who have not been brainwashed themselves. But here they are so well written and acted that you sympathise and empathise with young, idealistic people who have been told not to believe what they've seen on TV or read in newspapers. They have trusted the people who told them that and it's how they act when they realise that trust was misplaced that is the interesting bit.
That these are sympathetic characters is not the issue here. This series is in no way an advert for IS nor does it apologise for anything the caliphate or its followers do. Simply brilliant stuff.