"Sleeper Cell" (2005) TV series

Creators:

Ethan Reiff
Cyrus Voris

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

October 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Friends. Neighbors. Husbands. Terrorists.

Plot Keywords:

Islam | Hatred | Terrorist Group | Gay Couple | FBI Agent

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Michael Ealy	...	Darwyn Al-Sayeed / ... (18 episodes, 2005-2006)
Oded Fehr	...	Farik / ... (18 episodes, 2005-2006)
Henri Lubatti	...	Ilija Korjenic (18 episodes, 2005-2006)
Melissa Sagemiller	...	Gayle Bishop (17 episodes, 2005-2006)
Jake Soldera	...	Marcus Bishop / ... (15 episodes, 2005-2006)
Alex Nesic	...	Christian Aumont (10 episodes, 2005)
Blake Shields	...	Thomas 'Tommy' Emerson (10 episodes, 2005)
Carlos Gómez	...	SAC Edgar Diaz / ... (10 episodes, 2005-2006)
Michael Desante	...	Special Agent Alim Saleh / ... (8 episodes, 2005-2006)

Also Known As:

Sleeper Cell: American Terror (USA) (second season title)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Arabic | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Australia:M (some episodes) | Australia:MA (some episodes) | UK:15 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Dumont Dunes, San Bernardino County, California, USA

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 63rd Annual Golden Globe Awards (2006) (TV)

Tight, intense, and well told

I watched Sleeper Cell with a bit of trepidation worrying over whether the terrorists would be glorified. This mesmerizing series not only handled the subject matter responsibly, it created depth and substance to almost every character. Oded Fehr just gobbles up the screen in every scene he's in—and even though his character is the charismatic leader of a jihad terrorist cell, he still has hypnotic appeal. Michael Ealy held his own well, though in some scenes I wondered why he wasn't shot on the spot because of the scowl he wore on his face.

The pros of the series are the two leads, Fehr and Ealy, the well written characters--all of which were believable and tragic, and the disconcerting issues addressed in the story. Having been married to a Muslim myself, the atmosphere created was quite realistic. The cons, for me personally, were that the female T&A was overkill—most seemed gratuitous, as well as some of the sex scenes. Despite that, it is a raw gripping series that will make you think. Somebody give Fehr more juicy roles like this one and let him run with it. He's got incredible screen presence and a strange kind of innate power emanating off him.