Do you like Homeland? Then you should really watch the Israeli show Hatufim, Prisoners of War

 

Are you an Homeland fan?

Do you impatiently wait Sunday to watch the latest episode?

If the answer is yes, than you should really watch Hatufim, the title in English is Prisoners of War. The Israeli TV show, by Gideon Raff, was adapted into Homeland for the US and believe me, Prisoners of War is ten times better. The plot overlaps and certain things are very similar, though Hatufim is more realistic, and has a better script. (I am sorry guys but some parts of Homeland are really ridiculous)

I’ll try not to spoil too much in this post, but if you don’t want to know anything about it because you want to watch it, please stop reading now. So far two seasons have been screened. The first one war aired in 2010 and then two years later. A third one is planned, but it’s unclear when it will come out. I watched 24 episodes last week and it was great.

In the first episode two Israeli soldiers, Nimrode Klein and Uri Zach,are finally set free after 17 years of imprisonment by the terrorist group “Children of Jihad”. They were mainly kept first in Syria. The return home is difficult for both families and soldiers. And most importantly the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) has a lot of questions for them. They need to know what they did to them, how much they talked to the enemy, how many secrets they revealed — though my veteran friends told me that no military in the world expect you to resist torture for too long. — And most importantly they need to understand if they have been “turned, and they are still on the same side. Very difficult assessment.

The IDF is also very interested on understanding how the third soldier who was captured with them got killed. Ami Ben Horion’s body got back to Israel but the circumstance of his death is still a mystery. Nimrode and Uri  feel responsible and try to hide some of the answers form the officer who is following their case.

In the meantime, they both also struggle with physical and mental issues. Flashback on how they were tortured are particularly vivid and terrifying. Although for years they imagined their return home as easy and nice, the reality it’s quite different. In the 17 years they went missing, they have changed and so people around them.

As I said I don’t want to give out too much, but if you have watched Homeland you know that one of them must have been “turned.”

Enjoy the show and let me know what you think!