In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the federal government conducted a comprehensive review of itself to determine how it could have allowed a group of terrorists to board four airliners, hijack them, then fly three of them into three of the nation's most famous buildings. One of the issues the review revealed was how intense competition and dislike between the agencies that comprise the U.S. intelligence community resulted in an inability to "connect the dots". That is a number of the agencies had information about the terrorists, but because they were unable or unwilling to share it amongst themselves, no one had the full picture -- and we're still coming to terms with the consequences of those errors.
Hulu's The Looming Tower, tells the story of one such conflict between two of the most important members of the intelligence community, namely the CIA and the FBI, and how that animosity resulted in not only missed opportunities to stop the 9/11 attacks, but even more importantly, getting to Osama bin Laden before he even had a chance to put the attacks in motion. It is gripping account of how arrogance, ignorance, and jealousy between the American agencies sworn to keep the nation safe, was almost as responsible for the attacks as were Al Qaeda, bin Laden, and the the terrorists that actually conducted the attacks.
At the center of the story is senior FBI agent John O'Neill, played with Emmy Award intensity by Jeff Daniels and CIA spymaster Martin Schmidt, played with equal gusto by Peter Sarsgarrd. O'Neill heads an FBI team tracing the threat of Al Qaeda long before the nation and the world realized how dangerous they were. Accordingly, most people think O'Neill is kind of a kook, stirring up trouble and attention when no real threat exists. As O'Neill points out, at the turn of the century, the FBI had only eight Arab-speaking agents. Schmidt, who heads the CIA's own effort at figuring out Al Qaeda and bin Laden, intimately understands the threat, and that O'Neil is right to be worried. The problem is that both not only have an intense dislike for one another but are also willing to infuse their jobs, work product, and teams with the same hatred. The result it one of the world's leading crime investigation agencies and one of the worlds' premier intelligence agencies fighting one another and benefiting Al Qaeda as a result.
In telling the story, the series traces the rise of Al Qaeda from a shadowy group on the fringes of the terrorist universe in the late 1990s, to unequaled rise at the world's most feared terrorist organization after the attacks. In its portrayal, the series deftly mixes actually documentary footage, such as the interview bin Laden gave to ABC news correspondent John Miller in 1998, with acting performances. The show is also keen in portraying the back stories of the characters, such as O'Neill being a inveterate misogynist and his star agent, Arab speaking, Ali Soufan (Tahar Rahim) having to deal with racism while still doing his best to protect the nation.
As for Hulu, while they have been a little late to original production party, The Looming Tower is another winner that suggests now that it has arrived, Hulu has every intention of becoming the life of the party.
What do you think?
Written by lao.san on Mar 4, 2018
This IS an excellent synopsis of what ACTUALLY happened, was contracted to the "E-Ring" during this and SAW the Rivalry & Deceptions.
Horrible Swamp People