In a heartwarming sequel to the 2022 semi-autobiographical series Mo, that delves into food, culture, politics, immigration, family and much more, Mohammed Amer, the protagonist and one of the creators of the show, returns promising humour and tears.
The Netflix drama centres on the power of resilience and hope for the Palestinians, reflected through one of the most powerful dialogues, “The world will always try to tear us down. And when they do, we smile.”
In Season 1, the audience is introduced to Mo – short for Mohammed Amer – a Palestinian who fled Kuwait in 1991 following the Gulf War and sought refuge in the United States with his family. As someone who straddles two cultures and speaks three languages, he often sails his boat while doing what he does best – approaching life through a slice-of-life lens and tackling the most challenging days with humour and faith in God.
As a stateless individual, he repeatedly reminds the audience that he does not possess a passport, and wears his past on his sleeve while battling with his present reality. He has his father’s name tattooed on his arm, carries Palestinian olive oil wherever he goes and also becomes prone to gunshots while being the “illegal first Arab” in the States.
What is Mo: Season 2 about?
In Season 2, Mo is accidentally stranded in Mexico and in dire need of a laissez-passer which sets the premise of the show. When he, along with other immigrants tries to cross the US-Mexico border, he is arrested by the border immigration facility, where we see the inhumane treatment levied on immigrants under the exploitative immigration system of the United States.
Mo lives through inhumane conditions, both physically and mentally draining. However, it comes as no surprise that he can find his way even when held in custody. Parallely, his family is granted asylum while he is ultimately released, though deported for his actions.
Once back in Houston, Mo finds his world drastically changed. His ex-girlfriend, Maria (Teresa Ruiz) is now dating an Israeli Zionist chef, his friends Nick (Tobe Nwigwe) and Hameed (Moayad Alnefaie) are together. Meanwhile, his family starts a flourishing olive oil business, and makes preparations to visit Palestine.
Mo’s deportation now compels him to wear an ankle bracelet to be under the surveillance of the authorities. Guy (Simone Rex, Maria’s boyfriend) starts a restaurant in Houston that serves Palestinian dishes. Much later, Maria breaks up with Guy and promises to “green card marry” Mo instead. The set of events leads Mo to being able to visit Palestine with his family, bringing in a promising closure for the Najjars.
On the representation of food
Among the many tropes that the series uses to symbolise “personal is political”, food remains an uncontested arena. The socio-political ramifications of naming, cooking and distributing food become profoundly important, as the series complicates the identity of food and its origin.
So, while Mo survives in Mexico selling Falafel Tacos, he later explains that the “family recipe” is the only possible recipe for cooking it. Meanwhile, the discussion about Israeli couscous and its authenticity remains questionable, and one cannot help but wonder about the politics of the nomenclature of food and the alteration of food history by those who wield power.
Food becomes significant for Mo’s identity formation, while Guy silently dismantles it by running a restaurant using Palestinian olive oil, hummus and falafel tacos as “Mediterranean”. This is where Mo’s statement gains immense importance when he observes, “They steal from our culture and deny it with semantics”.
The powerful force that language and food exert in shaping cultural superiority in the series becomes the microcosm of the larger Zionist narrative at play, now institutionalised for the past 75 years.
When Mo references that the recipes come from “behind the wall” and are used by Israelis for personal gains, he is commenting on the decades of cultural exploitation and appropriation that Israel has committed on Palestine.
Mo receives our empathy as he storms into Guy’s restaurant with rage. For a brief moment, he forgets about the olive oil business or the ankle bracelet he is wearing. We see him, in his vulnerable self where he would go to any lengths to fight and resist for his food, identity and culture. He breaks down towards the end but leaves the audience with many questions about authenticity and the heritage of food.
Mo’s frustration finally finds a holistic conclusion when Najjars and their friends eat first at the Thanksgiving table representing a feast of barbecued turkey, Middle Eastern dishes, and Maria’s tamales, all brought out in an olive oil field.
It also finds its closure at the dining table in Palestine, where he finds his grandmother’s recipe serving nostalgia and memory, belonging to him and his people, solely, making the last episode feel like a warm hug.
Evocation of hope And resistance
The series finds its rock-solid support through Yusra (Farah Bsaiso), the mother of three siblings who constantly find light in the darkest of times. As the emotional support for the family, she upholds the sanctity of her dual cultural identity; being a Palestinian Muslim while also allowing her children to marry outside of it.
She obsessively checks the news about Palestine and the commitments of Israel but also supports her family by asking them to just smile in the harshest of times.
One of the many hopeful scenes in the final episode is when Mo answers the “call from God”, the azaan, conveying both, his return to Palestine and the fulfilment of the trust he put in his God all this while.
As he answers it, one can see his life coming full circle for a brief moment, where this is what he prayed, endured and struggled for, all his life.
From Sameer (Mo’s brother, played by Omer Elba) accepting his neurodivergent behaviour to Nadia (Mo’s sister, played by Cherien Dabis) reminding Yusra that they are more than their pain and suffering, that they are humans first who are allowed to enjoy their lives – hope, resilience, and the unending fight for liberation become the power of the series.
By bringing Najjars at the heart of it, Mohammed Amer and Ramy Youssef bring the ideals of family, relationships, disability and culture – all in a coherent manner, each ultimately tied to the shared belief of hope and sheer power of togetherness.
As Yusra says in one of the episodes, “Countries and borders are all made up; the real thing is the land, and the land accepts us wherever we die.” Mo Season 2 is a must-watch and one of the most important series of the year.
Zainab S Qazi is an editorial intern at The Wire.
