The hero of "Manaich" Izzy Bacher conquered the viewers precisely because he is the face of the state

Angry with all his heart, improvising, agitated by the corruption and furious at the hypocrisy - the hero of "Manaich" has turned before our eyes into a great cultural detective who fights for the face of Israeli society.

Around him, a gallery of excellent characters, a melancholic tone and a well-honed parody illustrated that there is still much more to the series than a game of cat and mouse

Nadav Menuhin

25/07/2022

Monday, July 25, 2022, 08:27 Updated: 08:38

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Hello Assig.

Menaich (photo: Kaan 11)

A great cultural detective is one who manages to illuminate the society in which he lives, and understand its values ​​better than it.

He recognizes the moral decay, the weaknesses of character, what is hidden behind the respectable face that people wear.

Izzy Bachar, the hero of "Menayech" played by Shalom Assig, is a great detective.

He won the hearts of the Israelis because he is the face of the state: angry with all his heart, improvising, cannot remain silent in the face of corruption even when it comes from the people closest to him, his best friends and work colleagues.

Leave corruption: in the eyes of Izzy - a man who, contrary to his name, nothing goes easily and takes nothing lightly - the most serious sin and the deepest social problem in Israel is the scrounging.

On the other hand, Barak Harel and the officers of the Rishon Lezion station are more warning signs than characters: this is what a society that has given up on its principles looks like.

The other characters also fight for the need to protect themselves among stronger and more frightening forces.

These issues were at the heart of the second season of "Manaich", which ended yesterday - spoilers from here on - in another glorious withdrawal of the state from the case against Barak.

In this season, in which the endless cat and mouse game between Izzy and Barak continued, the series established its rich world, with many characters and interests in such an unusual way for an Israeli work.

Amos Tamm.

Menaich (photo: Roy Roth, courtesy of Kaan 11)

For episodes, the two main heroes - as well as the third one, Tal Ben Harosh, who this season remained a bit on the sidelines of the main events - gave way to other characters.

Among the special roles of the second season, we must mention the impulsive Gili Shimaya (the wonderful father of Selma), Yerushalmi the determined bureaucrat from the Tax Authority (Ben Yosifovitch, who seems to have no good series that he is not in) and Eun Bacher, the bitter father of Izzy (Mekram Khoury in another great performance ).

Apart from the excellent acting, these in their way embody in the triangle of "Manaich" vertices that cannot be seen with the eyes - the stubborn investigator, the criminal who has no red lines, and at the head - the ex-policeman who was sarcastic, who is divided between the parties.

Even this season, despite all the stormy happenings, the key word of "Menaich" is restraint, in the game, in the conduct, in the promotion of the big plan.

These reach their peak with Barak Harel, who moves the players on the board with silence and almost psychopathic composure, until he reveals himself in his cruelty, in a wonderful performance by Amos Tamm.

The childish Hanan Selma cannot survive in this empire, so it is easy to sacrifice him.

This restraint increases quiet strengths, in a series that has almost no catharsis, but mainly another blow and another blow to its Sisyphean heroes, who forever roll the investigation up the hill only to start the climb from the beginning with more scars and insults.

In this sense, a general melancholy continues to hover over "Manaich", and the secret of its power lies in a perfect combination of the general despondency with a sharp and polished parody, whether it is Shaul Katz, a wonderful caricature of a former senior officer (Rami Hoiberger in one of the best roles in the series), the affection of the To his uncle Eini (Shashi Smoukha) to the bakers, the hollow journalist Suzi Amitai (Yal Eitan), a host of entertaining guest roles and of course the state attorney Kobi Honig (Nevo Kimchi), who is obsessed with the Prime Minister's corruption, a fictional character of course.

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Shashi is nearby.

Menaich (photo: Roy Roth, courtesy of Kaan 11)

This is the place to mention the political conversation around "Manaich", just to say that the preoccupation with it is excessive.

The parody of the prime minister's investigations is so transparent, so funny, and those who are frightened by it miss that the joke is on them.

The rot unfolded by "Manaich" is greater than the rivalry between right and left, and in any case the intrigues, interests and tensions within the prosecution and law authorities, the manipulations and the preoccupation with law instead of morality are at the heart of many police series from all over the world.

It is the Israeli point of view, which sees everything through pro- and anti-Netanyahu lenses, that turns this element into a political one - but there is really no need for it.

And in any case, those who insist will be able to build a whole case about the true tendency of the series to any side.

Her world is more complex and deeper than the tiresome and constant Twitter conversation.

This multi-faceted world, skillfully built by Roi Idan, is what enables the continuity of "Manaich" over time, but during the season I wondered if it wasn't close to exhaustion: the cat and mouse game is beginning to repeat itself, and anyway there are almost no new mysteries in the series - but only A chase that goes on and on.

Can the emotional battle between Izzy and Barak continue?

After this almost didn't happen throughout the season, the final two episodes proved that she still has a lot to sell.

It started in the excellent episode 9, including the Trentino scene in the fishing store (does Ezra Falah have to injure his leg every season?) through the conversation between Izzy and Tamir Shimaya, in which the hero discovers that his friend-rival has always been watching over him, and to the brilliant solution of the finale, which ensures that next season the friction between The two and the love-hate relationship will be more intense than ever.

It is likely that this time too it will end in blood.

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