variety.com
24.08.2022 / 16:45
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Netflix’s ‘Mo’ Brings Laughs and Empathy to a Palestinian Experience TV Rarely Acknowledges: TV Review
Caroline Framke Chief TV Critic At a Texan courthouse, while waiting for his family’s number to be called for a long-awaited hearing, Mo (Mohammed Amer) starts having a sweaty meltdown at precisely the least convenient moment. Fresh off a fight with his girlfriend Maria (Teresa Ruiz), worried sick for his mother, Yusra (Farah Bseiso), and in disbelief that his Palestinian refugee family might actually be getting the asylum they’ve needed for so long, Mo’s so overwhelmed and impatient that he can barely stay in his seat. As with most every episode of “Mo,” Netflix’s new series created by Amer and Ramy Youssef (“Ramy”), the stakes are as high as Mo’s escalating blood pressure. But “Mo” is also a comedy with a fast-talking lionheart at its center, and as such, even this incredibly stressful time can vibrate with frissons of the ridiculous. Mo tussles with a security guard who refuses to share his water when the vending machine breaks. Yusra, who’s spent years waiting for this day, can’t stop fixating on Mo’s accusation that her giving Maria a cuff bracelet to hide her crucifix tattoo was not, in fact, an entirely altruistic act. Their flighty former lawyer (Cynthia Yelle) smugly parades her current client in front of their new lawyer (Lee Eddy), who’s perfectly competent but immediately loses points for not being Palestinian. Meanwhile, Mo’s brother Sameer (Omar Elba) briefly goes missing to chase an apparently rare finch. Even as they’re all doing their best to keep themselves and their family in one piece, the show keeps finding ways to let Mo and the rest of the Najjar family remain entirely themselves.