We really enjoyed the first season of the Kuwaiti series The Exchange because it really gave us insight into what the culture was like in that country in the era right before Saddam Hussein invaded, especially for women. But we also enjoyed the chemistry between the show’s leads, Mona Hussain and Rawan Mahdi. That continues in Season 2.
THE EXCHANGE SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: At a family reception, two women meet each other in the lobby, both with their heels off. They run to the edge of a hotel pool, look, and jump in.
The Gist: Farida (Rawan Mahdi) and her cousin Munira (Mona Hussain), are both now well-entrenched as traders for the Bank of Tomorrow at the Kuwait Stock Exchange. They’re so well-regarded that the bank’s CEO has them on IPO teams, as well. This hasn’t quite translated to lots of money for Farida, who is still broke and living with her parents since her divorce. Her ex-husband Omar (Abdullah Bahman), continues to threaten to take over care for their teenage daughter Jude (Lara Oliveira) if she continues her foolish desire to have a career.
When the women are brought in to a meeting with Sabiha Saad (Asmahan Tawfiq), who is looking to bring her property development company public, the valuation that Munira and Farida give is “insultingly low” to her. She invites both the women and the CEO onto her yacht to see the surprise that will have them recalculate that initial valuation.
Munira, the more accomplished of the cousins, has her own family issues to deal with, namely the notion that she should do her familial duty and get married. Her father has a business associate he’d like to introduce her to, and her mother wants to sweeten the deal by giving her the necklace she’s admired since she was a kid.
The cousins are invited to a dinner with Sabiha, who gives them advice about being a woman in the business world. The next day, on the ship, they’re not only introduced to her son Rakan (Hamad Ashkanani), who will be the co-CEO, but are brought to a lightly-populated island with historic ruins; Sabiha and Rakan are working on building a resort there. The cousins have a day to calculate a new valuation, but the result they come up with isn’t what Sabiha will want to hear.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? During its first season we compared The Exchange to Minx and Mrs. America, with shades of Black Monday. Those comparisons still apply here.
Our Take: Created by Nadia Ahmad, who based the story on her own financial career, The Exchange continues to be driven by the chemistry between Mahdi and Hussain as Farida and Munira.
Even though both of the cousins are so well-established in the male-dominated field, in a country and an era where women were still held to traditional roles, they still approach their careers differently. Munira has been in finance longer than Farida, and that’s seen through her confidence in the presence of the power brokers in the sector, but she’s still vulnerable and torn about her role in her family. Farida is still a little unsure of herself but gaining confidence, both with her colleagues and people like her domineering ex-husband.
Farida suffers the ups and downs of the business more than her cousin does; when she speaks up the second valuation meeting, the ends up angering Sabiha, who a few days before told her that she should be assertive, interrupt if needed, and never apologize. There’s still a little bit of naivete about how she conducts herself in the financial world, but lots of signs that she’ll get it eventually.
There’s a side story about the cousins investing in a music store started by two of their bank colleagues. It makes them business owners, which is the reason Munira wants to do it, even if it’s not going to be hugely profitable, and it’s just funny to watch their goofy coworkers get all excited over Bon Jovi and Michael Jackson. But for the most part, we’re going to be concentrating on how the cousins manage expectations at both work and home.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: Sabiha surprises Farida with how much Farida’s assertiveness at the second valuation meeting upset her.
Sleeper Star: We’ll see more of Lara Oliveira as Jude, as she now has her own point of view on family obligations and her mother’s career.
Most Pilot-y Line: The scenes where Omar brings his mother in to “keep an eye” on Farida, then threatens to take Jude from her, are tough to watch. Even knowing the context of the era and location, it’s hard to see someone get away with being as emotionally abusive as Omar is.
Our Call: STREAM IT. The second season of The Exchange continues to give viewers a good feel of just what Farida and Munira are up against as career women in late-’80s Kuwait, aided by fantastic performances by its stars.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
