What I’m Watching: Our Boys

Our Boys: Season 1, Episode 7 “Chapter 7: Judging by Its End” (B+)

This was a very tough episode to watch, though it was done very well. I mentioned when I first started watching that this was a personal subject for me since it’s something I remember playing out a few years ago and which I watched closely because I was coordinating youth trips to Israel that left on the day that the three Israeli boys were found. This show’s focus has been much more on the aftermath of those murders, and seeing the devout faith that has been twisted into notions of harming other people in God’s name is deeply unnerving. I know the melody that Yosef Haim was singing to his child after buying the gasoline, and my wife and I cringed when Yinon told Avishai that he should take off his yarmulke because it was for the sake of “pikuach nefesh,” or saving a life, when they were about to go out and abduct someone. The commission of the crime was almost casual, and Yosef Haim saw it as clear-cut revenge, invoking the names of Israeli killed as he beat Mohammed to death. I wasn’t sure what the purpose of the reenactment was, but it turned out to be a vivid way to understand Avishai’s worldview and how he believed that there was a distinction between what he did and the act of murder. This was a hypnotic, self-contained episode, one whose implications are sure to be felt as Avishai’s cooperation becomes official testimony and leads to severe consequences for all involved.