It’s interesting that, given the two-and-a-half year gap between the first two seasons of Mo, co-creators Mohammed Amer and Ramy Youssef decided to pick the show up more or less where it left off, minus six months. While it was a nice show, we don’t think Mo was in the category of, say, Severance, where the show can go away for over two years and people will remember what happened the previous season. But we’re still happy it’s back, considering just how much the show brings to the table.
Opening Shot: A shot of Mexico City. “Mexico City, September 2022…”
The Gist: Mo Najjar (Mohammed Amer) has been stuck in Mexico for six months, after following a lead on olive trees that got him kidnapped by cartel thugs. Despite living in Houston most of his life, he doesn’t get past the front desk guy (Matt Rife) at the U.S. Embassy. He’s an undocumented immigrant; he and his brother Sameer (Omar Elba) and mother Yusra (Farah Bsieso) have been waiting for over 20 years for their asylum case to be heard after escaping war-torn Palestine.
This means he can’t get a new passport, and he’s desperate to get back, as their asylum case will finally be heard within the next week. His lawyer Lizzie (Lee Eddy) says he can get a document called a “laissez-passer,” but the front-desk guy doesn’t believe anything Mo tells him.
Mo’s been working multiple hustles to make ends meet, like wrestling in a Lucha Libre as the “The Palestinian Bear”, playing maracas in a mariachi band and peddling (literally) falafel tacos that he makes with two aunts of his former (but he hopes soon-to-be-again) girlfriend Maria (Teresa Ruiz). A buddy says he knows a coyote that can help him get across the border, but his lawyer says that would be the dumbest thing he could do.
Luck smiles on him when he finds out that Camila (Ana de la Reguera), one of his favorite taco customers, is the wife of the U.S. ambassador. She invites him to a party being thrown at the embassy so she can connect her with his husband, but when he gets there, she has other ideas.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Just like during the show’s first season, Mo is comparable to Ramy, which is not a stretch since Ramy Youssef co-created the show with Amer.
Our Take: It was an interesting direction to have Mo stuck in Mexico for months, in a heck of a tight situation. Even though he’s in the colorful, musical environments we see in central Mexico City, we can see how sad he is before he even tells a random stray dog that he’s full of sadness, for both his situation and the fact that he misses Maria terribly.
Him being in Mexico means that we are dealing with three cultures instead of two: Palestinian Muslim culture, Mexican culture and American culture. It must be inordinately frustrating for Mo to be talking to the guy at the embassy like he’s next to him at a bar in Houston and the employee still thinks he’s trying to get into the US illegally. And whatever he does to get back in by skirting the proper procedures and protocols might get him deported once his asylum hearing comes up.
A lot actually happens in the first episode, from dreams Mo has about Maria to finding out what he’s been doing for six months, to a weirdly kinky encounter with Camila and her ambassador husband, then a debate about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, then shots of Mo wading through the river with a coyote and other undocumented immigrants.
In the second episode, Mo has trouble at the border, but does manage to make it home, finding that people moved on without him, especially Maria. How he deals with that, and how he manages to get through his asylum hearing despite getting his adventures in Mexico, should make for a funny and poignant season.
Sex and Skin: None in the first two episodes.
Parting Shot: As Mo checks his waterlogged phone after getting out of the river, we hear a gun being cocked and a voice saying, “Where are you going, amigo?”
Sleeper Star: Even though we don’t really see him in the first episode, we’ll give this to Omar Elba as Sameer, who we suspect is on the spectrum, has a bratty cat, and doesn’t seem to love all the attention his little brother gets.
Most Pilot-y Line: Camile keeps offering Mo a drink and he keeps refusing. You’d think that an ambassador’s wife would get the hint and realize Mo is turning her down because of religious reasons.
Our Call: STREAM IT. We forgot how complex Mo is, considering that it’s ostensibly a comedy. But there aren’t many comedies that bring together three cultures, the thorny topic of immigration and personal identity quite the same way this show does.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.