Messiah Recap: An Explosive Message

By Jonathon Wilson
Published: January 1, 2020 (Last updated: last month)
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Messiah (Netflix) Season 1, Episode 9 recap: "God is Greater"
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Summary

“God is Greater” sees Al-Masih’s message delivered in multiple ways, as even further tragedy strikes.

This recap of Messiah Season 1, Episode 9, “God is Greater”, contains spoilers.


Messiah Episode 9 opens with a flashback to Avrim (Tomer Sisley) as a child, praying with his mother and (presumably) his brother. A car bomb goes off, just in case you were wondering where this happy reflection might be leading. In the present-day, Avrim’s boss, Zav, calls him to say he knows where he is, and to offer him a way to get his life back.

Meanwhile in “God is Greater”, Jibril (Sayyid El Alami) is being coached on a speech about the state of Palestine, while Zaid is leading Samir (Farès Landoulsi) and his fellows in prayer. We then proceed to check in on everyone. Eva’s father Zelman meets her at the airport, having been caught up in the Florida floods. He’s badly dehydrated. Felix (John Ortiz) still feels left out, arguing with Anna (Melinda Page Hamilton) about it — she justifies Rebecca’s abortion. Staci (Emily Kinney) returns home to a furious Jonah (Jackson Hurst). Phew.

In big news, Eva (Michelle Monaghan) looks over Payam Golshiri’s psychological records. He has various personality disorders, including — wait for it — a Messiah Complex. That sounds about right. She later goes through his phone records and confronts him about what she has learned regarding him, his six-month stay in a psychiatric hospital, and his time at Williams with Oscar Wallace — a friend of his, apparently.

Anna’s father goes to see Felix in Messiah Episode 9, who proposes having Al-Masih on Ed’s absurdly popular evangelical show. Felix later presents this idea to Al-Masih, who accepts, providing Rebecca (Stefania LaVie Owen) is there.

Miriam Keneally (Jane Adams) speaks with Anna in the hotel bar. Anna tells her everything changed when Al-Masih came, and while she doesn’t know who he is or what he wants, one thing she’s sure of is that he isn’t the messiah. She’s pretty secure in her convictions, as is Jonah, who tells Staci that he’s filing for divorce and full custody because he can’t trust her anymore.

Elsewhere in “God is Greater”, Zelman tells Eva that he has been having funny feelings lately like he’s somehow “connected”. He tells her about the fish before the flood. He believes this all ties into the messiah she has been investigating. Eva’s mother apparently had six miscarriages herself, but also hope; she never gave up. Eva was a gift from God, but in the here and now, Eva doesn’t want to hear that. She tells her father to stop talking about her mother and reveals to him that she lost the baby — there are no more chances. She’s very harsh to him. Later, she goes to see Avrim and they have sex. Afterward, he calls the missus and tells her to tell their daughter that he’s coming home.

As it becomes increasingly obvious that Samir is being radicalized, Eva calls Oscar Wallace. He says there is no plan between he and Al-Masih. She doesn’t know anything, but since she was clever enough to find him, he’s willing to help her out. She couldn’t be more wrong — between them, Al-Masih, not him, is the dangerous one, and he couldn’t be more happy to serve his cause. He tells Eva to read his book, which she does. She sees it is dedicated to PG — Payam Golshiri.

Eva takes this information to Katherine (Barbara Eve Harris). Wallace’s manifesto is really Al-Masih’s thesis.

Speaking of Al-Masih, in Messiah Season 1, Episode 9, we’re treated to him in full messiah regalia, ready for his TV appearance. Scenes of him preparing to go on-stage for Ed’s show are juxtaposed with scenes of Samir shaving his head. “God is Greater” is the name of Ed’s show. Jibril is also about to speak publicly for the first time, but only one of them makes it to a stage. As he’s due to go live, Al-Masih leaves the building, getting into a car. At the same time, Samir is fitted with a suicide vest; he wets himself and claims he isn’t ready but is told to persist and walk with God. As it happens, it is Rebecca who walks onstage at the same time as Jibril. Al-Masih is with Avrim in the car. Rebecca implores everyone to join Al-Masih or be swept away by tornados and floods, whereas Jibril delivers a message of peace and unity. Neither makes it to the end of their speech. Rebecca collapses, having a seizure, which Samir walks into the mosque Jibril is addressing and reveals the suicide vest. He raises the detonator aloft, but eventually lowers it — he can’t do. However, Zaid, obviously anticipating this, detonates the vest remotely. The explosion closes the episode.

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