Mo: Seasons 1 & 2 - Review 

Rating: 5 out of 5

MOHAMMED Amer’s semi-autobiographical comedy-drama Mo is, in my opinion, one of the must-see American TV shows of the moment.

A warm-hearted tale of a Palestinian American Muslim man (and his family) attempting to make his way in Houston, Texas, this two-season wonder couldn’t be more timely or relevant. It’s compassionate, insightful, intelligent and articulate.

It doesn’t shy away from some tough stuff, confronting both the tough reality of America’s immigration system as well as the ongoing tensions between Palestine and Israel (crucially, the show was completed prior to the October terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023).

But it provides both nuance and context for current situations, while also showing the humanity that is so often forgotten amid the toxic rhetoric surrounding most immigration conversations.

Mo is an everyman character, whose day-to-day struggles can resonate with anyone and everyone. Yet his challenges are often made harder by virtue of his ethnicity and fragile undocumented residency status: he grew up in Kuwait until the Gulf war prompted his family to seek asylum in the US (confirmed status of which they have been seeking for 22 years and counting).

Struggling in small-time jobs, yet harbouring big aspirations aligned with the American Dream that has forever been sold, Mo lives with his autistic brother (Omar Elba) and widowed mother (Farah Bsieso) and is forever trying to create a better existence for them.

He’s also in a relationship with a Mexican Catholic named Maria (Teresa Ruiz), which brings its own complications.

Season one largely follows Mo as he attempts to navigate work and relationships while struggling to find and understand himself. It’s frequently funny, often very touching and rife with memorable moments.

Included among its seminal moments are the discovery by Mo that his father was tortured when they were forced to leave him in Iraq, as well as the discovery of his brother’s autism following a meltdown in his place of work.

A mid-season encounter with a college friend who has married into wealth provides ample opportunity to discuss wealth and social division, while gang and gun culture also factor into Mo’s experiences as he increasingly finds himself unable to avoid placing himself into tricky - and potentially catastrophic - situations.

Indeed, it’s one of those that serves as the bridge between seasons one and two as the sophomore run finds Mo stranded in Mexico, trying to outrun a people-smuggling coyote gang. Needless to say, the scenario has potentially disastrous implications for his asylum prospects.

If anything, season two is more ambitious in scope than season one, including several fantasy sequences that serve to highlight the scramble that is Mo’s mind.

Beginning with an excellent opener in Mexico that finds Mo becoming increasingly desperate to return home (after some period away), the episode builds to a fateful decision aimed at highlighting the horrifying reality of illegal border crossings and the desperate people who attempt them.

Mo is captured attempting to regain entry and finds himself in an inhospitable detention centre, desperately pleading his case and attempting to befriend a largely unsympathetic guard.

He does eventually succeed in getting back home - but his plight and the fortune surrounding his re-entry paints a stark picture of the reality of illegal immigrants and America’s harsh treatment of them.

For a comedy, it’s striking stuff - yet Mo’s brilliance lies in its sustained ability to keep things light hearted (and sometimes laugh out loud funny) while still confronting you with important questions surrounding highly relevant issues. It also invites you to see the humanity in every situation and every person.

Once back in Texas, Mo must re-adjust to how life has moved on for those he loves, most notably Maria, who is now romantically involved with Israeli-American chef Guy (played by the Jewish actor Simon Rex). It’s a situation that merely heightens the depression surrounding Mo and invites more bad decisions.

His brother, Sameer, meanwhile, is trying his best to set up a business selling the family’s olive oil, despite his social and behavioural struggles - something that Mo believes he can bring his salesman skills to.

While his mother, Yusra, is becoming consumed by worry over the potential fate of her family in Palestine and in denial over Sameer’s autism diagnosis.

Again, Mo finds time to explore and confront these issues in sensitive and intelligent ways, while liberally sprinkling some often absurd humour (witness Mo’s stay with his gun-obsessed friend) throughout.

The show really comes into its own, however, once it hits the final straight with the last two episodes particularly memorable and affecting.

Here, everyone excels. Amer is a powerhouse presence… a genuinely endearing character desperate for success so that he can find self worth and meet what he believes are his late father’s high expectations. He’s funny yet heart-breaking… his eventual successes hard won and quite often bittersweet.

But his supporting cast are uniformly excellent too. Ruiz is a constantly lively presence as the put-upon Maria, always clearly in love with Mo, yet strong and independent enough to make her own tough decisions.

Elba is terrific as Sameer, a 40-year-old man only just finding out why he has never felt at ease in the world, whose journey towards diagnosis and acceptance is moving and nuanced. Though not autistic himself, Elba’s performance feels authentic in the way that it doesn’t pander to hurtful stereotypes, but rather shows the challenges of living on the spectrum as well as the possibilities. He also captures masking quite brilliantly.

Final mention must also go to Bsieso, who steals so many late scenes as Mo’s mum: offering piercing insight into the pain and worry of being a Palestinian, the guilt that comes with having fled the persecution taking place in her homeland and the tough choices of being a single mother in an alien land.

The former is confronted most strikingly during an impassioned exchange between Yusra and her daughter Nadia, as she tries to stop her mum from doom-scrolling and making herself ill. “We’re allowed to do things we enjoy, aren’t we? We’re more than our pain and suffering, Mom!”

It’s a potent reminder of the value of life and the darkness that exists around it: how guilt manifests itself in the Palestinian experience, not least for those who have escaped the hardship of everyday life in an Occupied territory.

As if to underline that point still further, the final episode takes the family to Palestine for a long-awaited reunion with relatives, thereby offering further insight into the everyday Palestinian experience: especially that prior to the 2023 attacks, yet one that is marked by sustained provocation from Israeli settlers and soldiers (also seen in the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land).

It’s by turns dark yet real; with Mo and his family still managing to find happiness and hope among family members, whose joy at their return and enduring love is palpable.

And it is against this backdrop of celebration and uncertainty that Yusra delivers her finest moment, issuing a speech for the ages that translates to the human experience in a way that provides a lesson to all.

Declaring that her son should be proud of who he is and what he has archived, Yusra states: “The world will always try to tear us down. And when they do, we smile. Because we know who we are." 

These are words that emphasise the importance of maintaining identity and dignity despite ongoing struggles… words that are especially resonant for Mo’s own refugee experience but words that transcend the show to offer a wider commentary on the meaning of life and how to avoid being overtaken and overwhelmed by the expectations of others.

It’s a powerful moment that informs the final bittersweet scene. And it’s one that ensures Mo will be remembered as both a classic piece of TV and an essential one for highlighting the importance of love, acceptance and inclusion over division and hatred.

Mo should command a special place in the hearts and minds of anyone who sees it.