Mo

Endearing multifaceted telling of a refugee immigrant family in the US wrapped in a barrel of unexpected laughs

A fun brilliantly-directed expression the ordinariness and complexity of the experience of a refugee/immigrant/Muslim/Palestinian/Arab asylum seeker in the US, who also happens to be thoroughly US American. Told with a touch a humour, lots of nuance, and beautiful insights. A rewatching will reveal tonnes of stuff that can be easily missed. And there are layers that you might only get if you're Palestinian, or Arab, or Muslim, or Brown etc.

While I thought the presentation of a Palestinian, Muslim, Asylum-seeker... Might be difficult to present; the show presents the characters with a charm, honesty and emotional depth. All the cultural peculiarities and challenges along with the contradictions, but not dealt with in a condescending way. The protagonist's own hang-ups allow us to be frustrated but also understand those frustrations.

No perfect people. Just relatable characters who bring you into their circle and who you genuinely empathise with and relate to and want to see succeed in their interpersonal relationships and their life goals.

I loved it from the start. Loved the character, loved the lead, loved the story and the script. It was so bittersweet and painful to watch this man getting knocked down, but getting right back up and starting over - and over... My mother was a first-generation American, and her mother went through SO much to give her children a good chance at life. I was cheering for Mo every episode. His strength of character was uplifting to see. So many times, disadvantaged people are not 'seen' by the people around them. This show is hella entertaining, but there's a big truth under the humor - the struggle too many people face every day, just to have the necessities the rest of us take for granted.

Watch this show! You'll be glad you did.

New prospective to life where I find it relatable to me, I liked how it's an Arab show done right, authentic and real Arab. And the cherry on top is that I recognised Farah (Mo mom) from before when I was a teen, it's so good to see her acting on Netflix.

I liked it and I want more, waiting for season 2!

Mo covers a lot of ground, making the political personal, vivid and wholly involving. Amer is a bewitching - I thought long and hard about that word and it's the right one - performer, who keeps tight and grounded what could sprawl. If he occasionally sucks up a little too much of the oxygen at others' expense, it's a price worth paying - especially if it gets corrected in what hopefully will be a second series.

He's at the centre of a strong cast filled with actors who are well known in Arab-language media and rising Arab American stars who are all as able as he is when it comes to negotiating the deeper, darker emotional, cultural and political waters the show ventures into.

Its compelling warmth, however, never leaves it. It is impossible not to become instantly invested in Mo's life and that of the rest of his family, to feel the petty humiliations inflicted on his brother Sameer at work, even if Sameer himself (who, it is suggested, is autistic) seems not to.

You will want to put a fist through the screen at several points on fiercely loving and frustrated Maria's behalf. All while laughing with them. It's a wonderful thing.

The negative reviews are little more than religious policing. The one star reviews for Mo are the same one star 'blasphemy' reviews you'll find on The Life of Brian. While Mo isn't a satire - it doesn't mock religion - it works as a comedy because it's about a story of ridiculous contradictions and the distinctly familiar, muddling human attempts to make sense of it all and survive.

99% of the bellyaching reviews are critical of the characters not being Muslim enough, the situations not being true to scripture and strict observance of Islam.

But is this not demonstrably true of most religious people today? Most Abrahamic religions do not adhere to ultra orthodoxy, most seek a modern sensibility because dogma denies the personal purposes of faith. I don't need anachronistic dogma to legitimise my beliefs, in fact I blame it for a lot of problems.

Mo is realistic, modern and deeply funny series that is first and foremost about people. It works because it's about experiences we share as humans regardless of - or because of - politics or religion. It works because it gives a perspective we don't often see but with a humanity that we very much understand.