The Looming Tower -web series review

The Looming Tower, a TV series of 10 episodes with an average length of 50 minutes released in Feb 2018. Story with some fiction is based on true events of the 9/11 attack with a major focus on the events before the attack. “Could the attack have been prevented?” a question that strikes your mind while watching.

It is based on true events, so you will be forced to think “Biggest terror attack on humanity in the USA, might have been avoided if the CIA would have acted on information or supported the FBI on time”. But the conflict of interests (maybe the personal interest) keeps them fighting with each other and hiding the information. Which results in an attack like 9/11.  

The series also shows some events of ignorance to control world politics. E.g. It has been shown that the Saudi monarchy has been given special treatment only to control the Gulf countries.

Newly elected presidents take the oath and officers, bureaucrats, advisers are also changed as per processor command. This has affected the decision-making and made it slow or ignorant. The US government (maybe newly elected) never took the warnings from internal sources or security agencies about Al-Q seriously. It resulted in the Big Attack. While watching you will think the attack was the result of ignorance.

Security agencies might have saved this attack, but terrorists would have planned another one and a bigger one. Terrorism has the main moto and thought process of killing and humanity destruction only, nothing else. To prevent such attacks security agencies need to be alert, planned, and right at all times, but attackers need only one chance to waste all their efforts.

The story and events are shown (especially in the last episode) are shocking. It showed how people are brainwashed in the name of religion, without letting them know and understand the things in detail about what and why they are doing. In short, they make them mentally handicapped or blind.  

Character John O’Neill (Jeff Daniels), Ali Soufan (Tahar Rahim),  Martin Schmidt (Peter Sarsgaard), and Diane Marsh (Wrenn Schmidt) are fantastic in lead roles. The Supporting cast has an equally strong role and they lived it up to the mark with great acting.

Picturization and locations used are suitable to the storyline. Investigation inquiry scenes are informative and real. The efforts of Soufan and O’Neill to stop Al-Q from such an attack are praiseworthy.
Soufan and O’Neill are clear in their thinking with a focus to arrest and prosecute terrorists, punish and don’t let them become War heroes. Whereas Schmidt thinks of military action only.

It is a must-watch show for the story of the 9/11 terror attack’s planning and related conspiracy, the situation of US security agencies before the attack, and for some shocking revelation. The Show is a masterpiece of the cold war between principles, power, position, etc.