Hostages (Bnei Aruba) 2013-2016

     I had never heard of this show before until I was scrolling around on Tumblr and it was brought up. Looking it up and seeing that it was on Netflix I was intrigued. As a fan of 24 this seemed to have the same vibe and I wasn't wrong. Within the first couple of episodes of season 1 I was hooked and finished the first season (all 10 episodes) in two days! The first season is entirely filmed in Hebrew with English subtitles, but that didn't bother me at all. And really it's what prohibited me from getting up and leaving the room, you have to stay and watch so you don't miss anything. 

     Season One: The Danon family are your typical, run-of-the-mill family living in the suburbs of Jerusalem. Dr. Yael Danon is a successful surgeon who has received the exciting news that she's going to perform surgery on the Prime Minster, much to the annoyance of her elderly mentor. Her husband, Eyal is the headmaster at the local high school where their teenage son, Assaf, seems to be hitting a run of trouble. Finally, their seventeen year old daughter, Noa, has come across some terrifying information of which she is unsure how to tell her family. While they may look the picture of regularity, the Danon's have secrets that will come to the surface when their own lives are at risk.

     The night before Yael has to perform the surgery, her family is attacked and held hostage by four masked intruders. Their demands are that Yael is to kill the prime minster. The reasons are withheld from Yael, but if she does not meet with their demands, her family will be killed. With her family's well being on the line, Yael must walk a dangerous tightrope that will challenge her morality as a doctor and her devotion as a mother. To save her family (and possibly her career), Yael begins to search for the identity of the group leader. And who she discovers is beyond anything she could have expected.

     Meanwhile, Adam Rubin, chief of the Special Police Unit in Jerusalem, is ready to have his final mission before he retires. Adam has spent his career working in intense hostage situations and has made a respectful name for himself in Jerusalem. He is well known for his calm and capable nature when dealing with threats and an extraordinary ability to negotiate to avoid violence. Needless to say, Adam is one of the few people who knows how to do his job well. After he successfully apprehends his final hostage threat, Adam is done with his police service.

     And later that night, it's Adam and a group of associates that hold the Danon family hostage and demand the Yael take the life of the prime minister. Why would this hometown hero become what he has spent his entire career fighting? There is more than one reason as to why the prime minster is wanted dead. Some for money and revenge, but for Adam it's deeper, personal and as he puts it to Yael, "Think of it as saving your family." However, Yael soon realizes that it's not her family that Adam is necessarily referring to. 

   

     Season Two: Picking up literally hours where season one ended. Adam Rubin is once again caught in a hostage crisis, this time one of his own making. For five days, Adam and his family and friends are held up in a run down synagogue, desperate to flee the country. Yet, Adam's actions from the week before have caught up with him. While this hostage situation outside of Jerusalem is making news, the 'death' of the prime minister has sent waves beyond Israel; and this event brings to the forefront unlikely people caught up in a web of political lies and coverups.

     A beautiful young lawyer who arrives in Jerusalem to make a business deal.

     A ruthless mercenary with no compassion, just a desire to get the job done.

    A rookie security agent who comes across startling information about the murder of a man close to Adam Rubin, but her bosses refuse to let her investigate.

    All of these people are caught up in Adam's life and the hostage threat that he has created. 

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    Unfortunately that's all I can say without giving away the entire, very complex storyline of season two. However, I will warn you that the last episode may leave you emotionally distraught for the next several hours. Yet, it's absolutely worth the watch!

Handsome, wonderful Adam...

     I've tried really hard to review this series without giving too much away! I will say that Adam Rubin is seriously the primary reason I kept watching the show. Within five minutes of meeting him, I was absolutely in love with him! His ever calm demeanor when dealing with life threatening situations, unwavering compassion, devotion to his family and friends, a history of absolute good will and above all, immense courage that effects everyone around him. 

     He's kind of a mix of Jack Bauer-just without the emotional damage-and Captain America, only he's Israeli. Not to say that's he's perfect, he's far from that and he makes some terrible mistakes (including threatening to kill a fourteen year old boy), but it's his flawed nature and his desire to be better that the criminals he's hunted down that makes all the more admirable. 

     One other aspect that I enjoyed about Hostages (and other reviewers brought this up too) was being able to see Jerusalem in its absolute beauty. You get some stunning views of rural and urban landscapes and just being able to view another culture in their day to day life was intriguing. I didn't know that the city was so metropolitan and incredibly breathtaking. 

     I'm still recovering from the end of season two, but seriously this was a very good series. If you don't mind watching the show in English subtitles, while swooning over a very well written hero and at the same time trying piece together a story that makes no sense until the very end, definitely watch this show.