'Tehran' Episode 4 Review: Will Faraz break Massoud? Show pushes you to believe he's more than just a tough cop
Spoilers for 'Tehran' Episode 4
'Tehran' twists the knife, slowly and painfully. At the end of Episode 3, we saw Tamar (Niv Sultan) being surrounded by angry students, and Massoud (Navid Neghaban) being hauled in for interrogation. In Episode 4, a roughed up and bleeding Tamar seeks refuge at Milad's (Shervin Alenabi) house, who starts wondering about her real motives. Choked with emotion, Tamar relays Zhila's story and takes on her identity once again. She explains the sorrows of Zhila's abusive marriage as well as the wandering eye of her boss, who almost tried to rape her. Milad buys this story and a romance between the two of them begins to grow. The scenes between Milad and Tamar are the heartening ones in all the chaos and turmoil that constantly ensues in 'Tehran'. It's a small solace and relief, though you are not exactly sure for how long it will last.
Milad and Tamar share their first kiss and hold each for the night for comfort, and they might just need that as Faraz Kamali (Shaun Toub) is on a ruthless investigation. He is determined to smoke out Tamar at any cost, even if it involves death threats or derogatory statements towards women, in order to coerce the truth out of them. Massoud is in his custody, and he hasn't cracked...yet. He is still wearing his armor, but Faraz is sure on finding a way to break him, once and for all. At the end of the episode, Massoud's fate hangs in the air as Faraz leaves the room, rather grimly. He knows the vulgarities and the bloodied business, but as his demeanor suggests, it cannot be helped. He believes he is a patriot, and if a Mossad agent has infiltrated the country---then she must be stopped at all costs before she leaves a trail of bodies behind her, and carry out her mysterious mission whatever it is. He finds his trump card in Aarezoo (Esti Yerushalmi), who is flummoxed to know that her niece is a Mossad agent. Aarezoo bleats she had no idea, and that she turned Tamar away, after the student protests. Faraz is frustrated that despite having some information about her, he still doesn't know where Tamar is. But, it's not long before he will.
'The stakes are higher than before, and Tamar's recent entanglement with Milad complicates matters further for her. A Mossad agent having a romantic relationship while on the run? It doesn't get more dangerous than that. She's endangering her life as well as his own. Apart from this, it's only a matter of time before Massoud cracks and reveals the truth about her. Meanwhile, stony Faraz has something to keep him going, apart from his grueling work, and that's his wife, who is undergoing cancer treatment. You want to believe he is the bad guy, but the show doesn't want you to. The show is going out of its way to prove that the tough-cop ego is just for work, and there lies a man who loves his wife very much.
'Tehran' airs on Apple TV.