Comedian Mo which is short of Mo Amer for the linguistical challenged, & for the people who want to know: Mohammed Mustafa Amer is Palestinian American stand-up comedian who is a rare sight to behold especially in the comedy scene in Hollywood. He is one of the creators and the titular star of this show. He also has two amazingly hilarious comedy specials: Mo Amer: Mohammed in Texas & Mo Amer: The Vagabond on Netflix. If you enjoy laughing, please watch Mo and his comedy special, you will keep coming back to enjoy his comedic genius.
Mo joined hands with Ramy Youssef who is a writer, comedian and director of the limited series " Ramy " who brings the Palestinian refugee experience in American society in a gritty, heartfelt humourous eight episodes which is just too short to capture the essence of his semi-autobiographical saga.
Mo Najjar, is a Palestinian refugee living in Houston, Texas( the lone star state with denial of basic human rights especially to women being denied the right to abortion, I use every opportunity to highlight causes) with his resilient and spiritual mother, sister, and older brother. He has to straddle the line between two cultures, three languages, and the many struggles he faces as a refugee.
That includes constantly living one step away from asylum on the path to U.S. citizenship which is daunting to comprehend. He laughs the pain away and learns to adapt to his new world. Although getting ahead in life comes with several setbacks.
Mo Amer and Nick ( Tobe Nwigwe) laughing their asses off/ Variety
Episode 1: Hamoodi ( meaning: Arabic name which means — “praised, commended, praiseworthy, commendable; one who praises Allah)
I will try to be as spoiler-free as I can but bear with me. That means only covering the essential parts in phrases but for nuance watch the series on Netflix.
Wooden moulds, fresh olive oil bottles, a cat named crystal, community chitter-chatter, hummus but the traditional kind ( chickpeas+ olive oil) not with white-washed made with chocolate, yuck. Moreover, selling counterfeit merchandise as no papers to be gainfully employed, texas cowboy ( jeezzz), Kanye's Yezzy's made with genuine recycled algae ( but I just throw up in my mouth, you know read the news). Felony threat as no taxes being paid, as existing as a Palestinian refugee with no passport as awaiting asylum claim. Escaping Ahmadi, Kuwait but grocery store shootings, graze undeserved physical pain, unaffordable healthcare, tattoo parlour healthcare, leading to addiction to "lean"( self-medication for pain management).
Mo and his mother, Yusra/NationalNews
Episode 2: Yamo ( In Damascus, Syria, a slightly varied term, yamo (يامو) is used for mothers)
Azza ( an Islamic ritual of empathy where respects are paid to the family of the deceased for up to three days after the burial), the hilarious keeping up of appearances on the death of people who just know but really its a way for people to judge where you are in life and pass judgement. The Najjars, who are on the hunt for an Immigration Lawyer as Modad is not working out, finding a new job on an olive farm and a bouncer in a strip club. I never knew Olive Oil comes from Palestine also known as the land of milk and honey, therein lies a major branding issue. Delicious Zaatar ( a culinary herb or family of herbs. It is also the name of a spice mixture that includes the herb along with toasted sesame seeds, dried sumac, often salt, as well as other spices, sounds delicious), Arabic sweets: Kanafeh (Sweet Cheese Pastry); Ashta Cream and many more desserts that will leave you drooling.
Mo Amer/ NetflixJunkie
Episode 3: Remorse
ICE( US Immigration Customs Enforcement Agency), Jewish Lawyer : Lizzie Horwitz, torture, traumatized, fun zone, therapy, strip club-triggered, job loss, Christian confessional for the soul, no glory in suffering but glory in sacrifice. Angry at himself, the man of the house, resentment, left for Houston two years ahead, Mo’s father : Telecommunications Engineer, gazed by a bullet addicted to lean, Jesus was a carpenter, peace of the olive farm.
Mo at the Olive Farm/Indiewire
Episode 4: Moola ( a slang term that means “money)
Olive Plant tracker installer, Sheila: Indian gold digger ( fake bitch, I said it, she deserves it), Glen: Rich ( cryptocurrency, bitcoin) white guy( bigot, misogynist, fake bastard) I normally don’t curse in blogs but they definitely deserve it. Dante, mob boss of fake merchandise business, diabetic, Chein ( the tattoo guy providing affordable healthcare), you should treat people like you want to be treated, Mexicans are not servants, peace of the olive farm.
Episode 5: Tombstone
Houston( 1991), Sister Nadia( Cherien Dabis) coming to the defence of little Mo in Middle school, now married to a white Canadian man, living in Galveston, Texas( threw up in my mouth again), deed of the Kuwait house, brother Sameer has a panic attack as jerk employers, baseball game, pep talk, nephew named Osama( LMAO), hurt a kid, felt more bad as he was wearing a yarmulke ( a small, brimless cap worn by Jewish people. Men and boys usually wear them, but some women and girls wear them, too). Nadia, Mo and Sameer visit the grave of their father who doesn’t have a tombstone as Mo was 12 when he passed , even death is expensive.
Mo and Nick/Refinery29
Episode 6: Holy Matrimony
Collection Day from mob boss,Dante, Hameed’s wedding, drug mule, zafa ceremony ( In Arab culture, particularly in Levantine culture, zaffa (Arabic: زفـّـة / ALA-LC: zaffah), or wedding march, is a musical procession of bendir drums, bagpipes, horns, Dabke dancers and men carrying flaming swords. This is an ancient Arab tradition that predates Islam. When the procession reaches its destination, usually the house of the bridegroom, there is usually a party, more loud noises, and then dinner). Blonde has become the pinnacle of beauty which signals to colonial infected, Mo wears his father’s suit to the wedding, drugs in his car, police check-in, international choir band escape, breakup with his girlfriend, Maria( Teresa Ruiz).
Lizzie Horitwz, Yusra, Sammer, Nadia, Mo/ SchooloftheArts
Episode 7: Testimony
Asylum hearing date, the cruel reality of the American Immigration system, Najjars, new reality : the judge happens to be an old co-worker of his dad. The history of the gulf war ( 1991) Iraq conquering countries, hiding money in the suit lining, repairing walkman, checkpoint, luggage search, pretend to cry, messy bag, genius manipulation,safe nest egg. Mo in withdrawal from lean after a scary dream : what will my family think?, the IDF chased them from Haifa to Burin when Iraqis invaded Kuwait. In the immigration courthouse, computer froze, wrong room number for hearing, a complete disaster system that fails people who have to wait twenty-five years for asylum request to be granted.
Mo praying for safety/Slate
Episode 8: Vamos
Mo’s mother Yusra( Farah Bsieso) and his brother Sameer ( Omar Elba) start a business selling olive oil, invite Mo to strike a deal with the olive farmer to press the olive oil at source, condition as olive plants stolen, Mo needs his buddy, Nick ( Tobe Nwigwe) to bring them back, uncharted territory, track the truck, Kolaches ( a circular bread, most often made as a sweet dish or a Czech and Slovak sweet pastry different from the above) and bear claws ( a sweet, yeast-raised pastry, a type of Danish, originating in the United States during the mid-19-tens. In Denmark, a bear claw is referred to as kamme. France also have an alternate version of that pastry : patte d’ours (meaning bear paw), created in 1982 in the Alps) for sustenance, Maria and Mo’s mother’s reconcile and olive oil bottle bridges difference, Mo and his best friend at the back of the truck are in Mexico across borders with no papers, Manny ( help hand at the Olive Oil), the reason for stealing( not really stealing) , more like stealing back, the land of the olive farm : Native Karankawa /kəˈræŋkəwə/ were an Indigenous people concentrated in southern Texas along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, largely in the lower Colorado River and Brazos River valleys. They consisted of several independent seasonal nomadic groups who shared the same language and much of the same culture.
From the onset of European colonization, the Karankawa had violent encounters with the Spanish. After one attack by the Spanish, who ambushed the Karankawa after the establishment of Presidio La Bahía in 1722, the Karankawa allegedly felt “deeply betrayed [and] viewed Spanish colonial settlement with hostility.”
A case of taking back what was forcefully snatched away by colonizers, all to familar to what Mo went through, common ground, cue the monologue: Haifa which is the northern Israeli port city built in tiers extending from the Mediterranean up the north slope of Mount Carmel. Israelis occupied West Bank, for 80 years : bombs,bullets,tear gas. Eroding mother nature, Elon Musk shooting up shuttles to Mars to colonize the planet, planting a flag on moon like we own it. Coyotes smuggling people through the border, cartel cousin , underground tunnel,, final reconcilation with Maria and the end of season 1.
Renew it for season 2, Netflix. Its fresh, funny, important conversations, its tethered to reality in a haunting way, humanizes the struggle of the refugees worldwide who are told go back to where they came from( think about the magnitude of these words before uttering them ever again).
Mo on Netflix is a marvelous piece of television which is the need of the hour with raging wars all over the world. That it. Thank you for reading and I hope you watch the series to enjoy its nuanced brillant storytelling.