We have a lot to complain about this summer, but it was a great summer for the Israeli television. In less than three months I saw three interesting series, well written, excellently acted and directed with talent and originality. The season ends at a very good artistic level and at an appropriate rating with 'Manayek', a series inspired by the Israeli police, law enforcement and underworld medias, a series that matches the best American series of the genre ('The Wire' and 'NYPD Blue' are the first two names that come to mind). The series consists of ten episodes, and the final episodes indicates that other seasons may follow. 'Manayek' manages to create an interesting plot, with complex characters and situations, in an extremely well-described social and political atmosphere, which looks credible and familiar to Israeli viewers. At the end of each episode, the credits conclude with the mention that the filming took place before the Corona outbreak. It will be very interesting to watch how 'Manayek' will be received on the international market, and how it will evolve or what changes in style or tone (maybe references in content) will occur as a result of the pandemic.
The plot is solid and very well constructed. Roee Idan, the creator of the series, and the screenwriters who assisted him avoided referring directly to any of the many famous cases in Israel, but the situations are so plausible that if they had been published as news in the press or on television they would have been be perfectly integrated in the flow of news. In the center of the story we find the investigation by the policemen investigation section in which the main suspect is the commander of the police station in the city of Rishon LeZion suspected of being an accomplice and even more than an accomplice of the criminal gangs in the underworld. The main character is Izzy Bachar, a policeman approaching retirement, a kind of Don Quixote who fights with the system, an idealist in search of truth and respect of the law, 'straight and stupid as a ruler' as a colleague characterizes him. In the world where Izzy lives, however, refusing the temptations of corruption and trying to bring the truth to light involves enormous risks. Nicknamed by his colleagues 'Manayek' (a distortion of 'maniac'), our hero risks and loses almost everything - his professional career, his personal life, friendships that seemed indestructible. Few help him, and some do so out of hidden personal interests. The plot gets complicated as the action progresses, Izzy's best friend becomes the main suspect, complicity and ramifications spread and from the world of the local mafia reach the highest levels of police, prosecution and politics, while his life of family is falling apart. Unlike many other Israeli and international series, 'Manayek' manages to keep the interest of viewers by developing the story with new elements and upheavals, but especially by exposing the characters and revealing new aspects of their character and past. The Israeli series achieves what only good quality genre series can do - it builds a complex and captivating story and populates it with real heroes that win the empathy or the despise of the viewers.
Most of the actors who appear in 'Manayek' cast are well-known figures from Israeli film and theater, but some of them are creatively and surprisingly distributed. Shalom Assayag, who is one of the most popular stand-up comedians, creates with Izzy the personality of an idealistic and heart-full detective , who does not accept corruption and injustice at any cost. His worn-out jackets are likely to become as popular as Inspector Columbo's raincoats. Liraz Chamami replies in the role of the policewoman detached from another police station, a woman with her own weaknesses and personal problems, who becomes Izzy's partner in the search for the truth and in the fight with the system. 'Manayek' is a generous series with female roles, by creating complex personalities and by addressing the issue of women's status in the very macho legal and police apparatus. Maya Dagan, another actress who comes from the world of entertainment, specialized in musicals, creates the role, atypical for her, of the head of the investigation. Mouna Hawa also makes an original portrait, that of the policewoman of Arab origin, who has to face double discrimination - as a woman and as a minoritarian. The quality of the writing consists in the fact that none of these characters is idealized, all have their weaknesses, human dimensions and social and psychological motivations that are excellently described for each one. Even the quintessentially negative character of the head of the police station who is an accomplice of the mob, played by Amos Tamam gets its justification if not morally then socially in a system that protects itself, trying to separate from media investigations and to silence those who still believe and seek the truth. The social environments of the police, the judiciary, the underworld are reconstructed with an accuracy that sometimes gives the feeling that we are watching not a fiction series but a docu-drama. The ending may seem bitter, but it is the only possible one. 'Manayek' offers Israeli viewers and, I hope, the international audience a quality television experience, which will satisfy fans of thrillers, drama and documentary television alike. I look forward to the second season.
