This Other Thing

Five years later, and I’ve finally finished watching this show. It definitely wasn’t bad for a first-time experience watching an anthology—specifically an episodic one, since I’ve already seen Ella Ana and Leh La2—from our region. Some episodes were better than others and raised the bar, making it harder for the rest to measure up. Some episodes nailed the acting but fell short in the writing (The Day Before Yesterday had amazing performances—Menna and Malek had electric chemistry—but the writing needed more depth to truly elevate it). Others had strong writing but poor acting (Episode Two had me cringing at Arwa’s performance 😭😭😭, which unfortunately ruined what was otherwise a well-written episode). Overall, I felt there was so much untapped potential. Honestly, if Mariam Naoum had written the entire show, it could’ve been a masterpiece. That said, the concept was amazing, and I truly, REALLY loved some episodes—especially Delay, Hush Hush, and Breaking Through the Light (which was such a pleasant surprise). Other close favorites include The Day Before Yesterday, What Happens in Beirut…, and Late Night. My two least favorites were Where Are You? (blame Arwa’s acting) and the first episode (seriously, what even was that…?). No one asked for an acting rating but Shireen + Maged, Mona + Ahmed & Menna (yes I’m biased) + Ahmed’s performances were the best. Anyway, I’m a sucker for anthology shows in our region, so this was still an enjoyable experience overall!