الله أكبر What pushes a person across the line between "true believer" and "terrorist fanatic"? الله أكبر

PART OF A REVIEW FROM TV.COM


What pushes a person across the line between "true believer" and "terrorist fanatic"?

That's the question at the heart of "Sleeper Cell," a 10-hour Showtime limited series that follows an American Muslim working under cover for the FBI by infiltrating a Los Angeles-based Islamic terrorist cell led by a charismatic extremist.

The first four hourlong episodes air Sunday through Wednesday, Dec. 4-7. Episodes 5 through 8 follow Dec. 11-14, capped by the taut two-hour finale on Dec. 18.

As the story opens, Darwyn al-Sayeed (Michael Ealy, "Barbershop") is being released from prison, where we learn he has been working for the FBI. A Muslim, Darwyn maneuvers into a position to be recruited by Farik (Oded Fehr, "The Mummy"), an Islamic terrorist who introduces Darwyn to the other members of his cell: chatty Bobby Habib (Grant Heslov); Ilija (Henri Lubatti), a bitter Bosnian refugee; arrogant Christian (Alex Nesic); and all-American Tommy (Blake Shields), who became a Muslim extremist mainly to tick off his liberal parents.

Darwyn's assignment is to cull vital information concerning the cell's next act of terrorism in time for the Bureau to stop the terrorists. "Sleeper Cell" works efficiently, first and foremost, as a political thriller

As the narrative unfolds, however, the series tries to explore what could twist anyone so thoroughly that he becomes reconciled to killing thousands of innocent civilians as a political statement.

"This show is about the reality of the Beast that we're fighting right now, on many fronts," Ealy says. "Being able to explore this world really gives you a better understanding about what goes into making the anatomy of a terrorist. We have to understand, too, that there are many people in Islam who are against these terrorists. If we don't acknowledge that, we're not realizing our full potential."