Tell me, can we say that the fourth season of "Fauda", our greatest Israeli pride abroad, is not really uplifting, without receiving reprimands around the office coffee machine or a mental video of Dedon's anger?
Fauda delivers the goods, but right now that's the worst thing about it.
The biggest Israeli success to date had that magic touch that is required in binge series that gobble up until the wee hours of the night, this X factor that keeps you for one more episode and that's enough - until we fall asleep in the living room with leftover Doritos on our stomachs.
This season it still doesn't happen.
The relative weakness of the previous Gaza season, in which the creators tried to sell us that Doron Cavillo (Lior Raz) is the boxing coach of the son of one of the leaders of the terrorists in the Gaza Strip, probably led the creators to the conclusion that the concept should be rethought.
So either the creators of "Fauda" wanted to get out of the territories, or the desire to expand to new international audiences made them pack Captain Ayub and their bags and move to the "Muslim" district of Molenbeek in Belgium.
But something in Fauda Belgium still does not touch us - the terror in this gray location does not manage to produce a pinch of the atmosphere of tension in the areas.
"Fauda" premiere.
Photography: Moshe Ben Simhon
Just like the "Dawn" operation this week, "Fauda" of the previous seasons brought Gaza and the PA territories back to consciousness.
The hidden Palestinian cities fascinated us, the sweeping action scenes corresponded with the heroic actions we heard about in the news, the tunnels and hiding apartments resurrected thoughts about our captives and missing people, all of this in the current season so far is missing - and it's a shame.
Even in the new season, the character of Doron Cavillo drives the plot and the action scenes, but the assumption of the celeb that we have been making for four seasons for his one-dimensional energy is starting to tire.
It relies on our admiration for military virulence, but the gap between the mature war machine that he is, and the childish outbursts when something doesn't go his way, begins to convey a lack of credibility.
Do any of the viewers believe that even as a fish out of water, in operations involving the Belgian special forces, Doron loses his operational composure like this?
"Fauda",
If once the break between seasons caused us to contain this energy, the series "Hit and Run" and the many commercials that the same face led have eroded this attitude until the viewer says to himself "Khalas with this Nine Bab".
Fauda is always built on the phrase "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts", but if the energy around the central character suffers from erosion, the hope is that the story surrounding the other characters will captivate us on the screen, luckily there is Captain Ayoub (Itzik Cohen) who is currently in danger.
Another obvious source of weakness stems from a relatively softened enemy - Omar is the son of a collaborator who helped us, the Israelis, and is therefore an emotional and complex enemy figure. But it is not certain that "Fauda" "holds water" without cruel Palestinian enemy figures in the style of Abu Ahmed the Panther. Also The story of the families of the partners still does not convey the complexity of their lives, on the thin line between being perceived as a dangerous enemy and a traitor to your people.
He is also not saved by the surprising casting of Lucy Ayoub as a daughter of the family of helpers and Omar's sister.
One dimensionality.
Lior Raz in "Fauda",
Even the sub-plots of the team members are still soulless, the pairing of Idan Amadi (who still doesn't speak a word) and Rona Lee Shimon, despite the secret she carries in her womb, reminds of dysfunctional casting in "Hatunmi".
This column should also be taken with limited liability, we are only in episode 4, and the most successful Israeli series ever is still an effective action drama, and according to the trailers, it is going to send many more terrorists to their virginity all over the globe.
But we want everything already in the next episode, just like Doron, we have no ability to postpone gratification.
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