Calm Before The Storm
Will Marian give up on her revenge?
Episode 6 of Alrawabi School for Girls begins a week after the events at the party. Rania’s antics see her Father lash out, with the girl sporting a nasty bruise across her eye. Layan stays by her side, although Rania believes her friend should lay low and not bother seeing Laith for the time being.
Despite Mariam feeling sorry for Rania, she’s still going to follow through with her revenge, turning away from Dina and Noaf and walking purposefully up the hallways. In fact, it turns out she overheard a conversation between Layan and Rania earlier in the bathroom and this gives her ammo to go after Laith – and in turn Ms Faten.
While Ms Faten prepares to be given an honorary award for her behaviour, Layan bunks off school again to hang around with Laith. Mariam is determined to make the most of this opportunity, calling off Dina and Noaf. Her friends aren’t going down without a fight though, and the pair remain determined to stop Mariam before she does something stupid.
What does Abeer find in Faten’s office?
Well, Ms Abeer is just as curious, breaking into Faten’s office to check through her laptop. She’s intent on finding a contact number for Layan’s parents. While she rings their “emergency contact”, Rania finds out Dina was the one who took the picture of the couples together. She stupidly forgot that her reflection can be seen and now Rania is on the war-path.
Confronted by the bully, Dina and Noaf finally open up and admit everything about the revenge. Only, Rania warns them about how dangerous Layan’s family are. When they head inside, everything comes unraveled as Areeb brings the family into the office and informs them about Layan’s absence from school.
Does Mariam get her revenge?
Mariam’s plan coincides with this too, caught in two minds about whether to send a message across to Layan’s family or not about her whereabouts. Rania warns Mariam that bad things will happen if she sends this message, bringing attention to Layan’s brother’s gun and how dangerous this family are.
Rania pleads with her to stop and even offers to leave her alone if she does. Well, Mariam makes her choice and sends the message, despite what ramifications this is going to have.
Midway through the meeting at school, Layan’s brother receives the text and heads down to Laith’s pad. Rania tries ringing but of course Layan’s phone is on silent. Pounding on the door brings Hazem into the fray, as the pair find themselves conflicted and unsure what to do next.
Back at school, Faten’s award is thrown across the room by a furious Layan’s Father, who holds her personally responsible for whatever happens to his daughter. Well, at the house Hazem pounds Laith, knocking him to the ground. Brandishing his gun, Hazem holds it up to his sister and questions her about their family. As the camera cuts outside, a gunshot ricochets through the air.
As the episode closes out, Mariam turns from the bullied to the bully, taking up Layan’s spot as the head girl, leaving things wide open for a possible second season. However, it dos leave us with some niggling questions too that need to be answered.
Who fired the gun?
One of the big points of contention here is surrounding thee stand-off at Laith’s house. Now, given all of this occurred off-screen it would suggest that no one was actually killed and this is just a red herring. It could be that Laith or Layan tackled Hazem and in doing so, he shot blindly in no particular direction.
It seems unlikely that Hazem would kill his own sister so that leaves the alternate possibility that he killed Laith. Either way, we won’t get any answers this season. For us personally, we’re more inclined to go with the first theory; no one is dead and it was just a warning shot.
What happened to Ruqayya and her family?
The last we saw of Ruqayya she was kept inside by her family after the scandal. It seems like she’s not going to be going back to school any time soon, although that could change if this is green-lit for a second season. Ruqayya’s reasons for bullying seem to be simply to fit in, desperate to prove herself.
Given she’s essentially classed as the “ugly duckling” back home, it’s fair to assume she’s desperate for approval from Layan and Rania. Despite being one of the main aggressors in Mariam’s bullying, it soon becomes clear that she’s actually the one who’s the most insecure.
In the end, the bullies actually end up being the ones with the more rounded character arcs, bringing everything full circle as Mariam becomes the head girl, leapfrogging her way through the ranks by getting her revenge.
The Episode Review
The final episode rounds out with a big ol’ Netflix cliffhanger as wee’re left to groan and wonder if this show will be renewed or not. There’s definitely a lot to like with this one, especially the well-written characters and the unusual location. In the end though, there’s some poetic irony with Marian coming full circle and inflicting misery on Layan and becoming the aggressor in the situation.
Personally, it would have been nice to see her give up and not exact revenge on Layan, becoming the bigger person, but it seems her character development has been stuck in this “revenge at all costs” mode for most of the season. While that in itself isn’t bad, given everyone else around her has actually grown and evolved, it is a little disappointing.
Still, this simple but effective six episode revenge thriller has been an enjoyable watch. Let’s hope this one is renewed for a second season.
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Episode Rating
(3)
as somebody that was bullied from the age of 5 to 25, I feel all her pain, I became very angry, cold and emotionless to everybody, I’m 38 now and still don’t have a social life because of it. everything she did was 100% justified, but Layan getting shot I don’t feel was part of her plan, id guess she was just hoping the brother would just beat up the bf ending their relationship making her feel as lone as Mariam felt. I don’t believe for a second Mariam knew the brother had a gun.
makes me wonder in that culture, what would the father say/do if he found out he killed layan?
and the shot being off cameras was an open end they can use later on, i hope it was just a warning shot or something.
Why are people saying that Laith is Layan’s half brother if her dad and his mum, the school principal, have obviously never been partners together?
I don’t blame Mariam for doing what she had to do to get her revenge. She was almost killed by the bullies, and they don’t regret it. So Mariam shouldn’t regret her actions either for getting back at them. She had no one to stand up for her so she had to take matters into her own hands. Mariam Finally got Her revenge on Ruqqaye, Raina and Layan.
Are you stupid. She was definitely
killed. You’re obviously not from the
middle east nor are you apart of the
culture. She was indefinitely killed for
what she did. Maybe read up on the
expectations of women in countries in the
middle east for once in your life.
If layan actually died then the movie didn’t ended well
As a person who has been bullied and resulted in low self-astern because of it; I was completely emotional watching this.
First let’s start with the bullying of Mariam. She was brutally beat almost to the point of death for literally no reason. Then became an outcast by literally everyone in her life after she tried to get justice for almost having her life taken all for a lie spread by her bullies.
Second Mariam’s friends were straight trash. Her best friend literally turned on her just because she didn’t tell her about a boy that she maybe had feelings for and played friends with her bullies. Then Noaf saw Mariam get beat up. You would of thought since she became friends with Mariam she would of stuck by her but I thought wrong. They gaslit the hell out of Mariam and always seem to abandon Mariam in her time of need. Some minutes they were all for revenge and then wasn’t when it wasn’t convent for them and it got to messy.
Third, the adults in this series are horrible people. They all gaslit, belittled, and abused the kids for their reputations and nothing more. They let these kids behave terribly and did nothing about it or about their endless bullying.
Lastly; if I knew the customs and reputation were so important to my family (to the point that they kill and indulge in gang activity to protect their reputation at all cost) , I wouldn’t have done half the things Leyan was doing.
To my point of view Mariam had every right to act the way she did. These girls bullied her until nothing was left inside her. Her parents, teachers, and friends were supposed to be her biggest supporters but instead constantly kicked her while she was down who he’d deepened her depression and made her vengeful and filled her with even more hatred. Everyone seemed to forget she tried to let it go about two times the first when she wanted to give up and transfer and then when she hesitated to send Leyans location to her brother. Everyone one expected Mariam to be the bigger person and “rise above it”. But everyone’s not realizing that she had no one to help ease her pain and the people around her just made it worse with more bullying and senile. if she had people who cared about her, believed her, and helped her she could have got past it but she had no one to turn to ( not even her mother who’s supposed to be her protector); she acted accordingly. It’s sad that Leyan might of had to die but Mariams actions were completely justified.
I think we need to remember that these are teenagers, I do not blame Noaf for not ratting out the group when they beat up Mariam. It would have been great if she did but I completely understand why she didn’t. She had so much at stake too.
Dina on the other hand didn’t handle it well. I wouldn’t abandon my friend after they were just attacked no matter what they did wrong.
What’s up with all the adults in the movie? All they did was gaslight and dismiss the girls’ feelings but I would still have preferred if Mariam had made several official reports before going down that route.
Also, while I think Mariam was justified in some of her actions, it started to feel so wrong after Raina showed up with bruises. Sending the location after 3 people begged you not to was going too far especially with her understanding their society and culture of how a woman’s action is linked to her family’s value. I mean, Rukayyah stopped coming to school because a picture of her without hijab was leaked.
I also think Mariam was exceedingly selfish in the way she treated her friends. She never asked Noaf what made her change her mind on the school trip, she was too obsessed with revenge. She never asked her friends why they thought she was going too far.
I hated the fact that she was doing everything behind the scenes. You are quiet when they are in your face but go behind to do stuff. The first scene in the bus made me think she was going to be outspoken but not once did she actual stand up to her bullies. At least, let them know why you are ruining their lives. Also, what’s the point of the revenge if they don’t know why? They didn’t really learn from their actions in my opinion.
that school deserves a crossover episode with Nanno (girl from nowhere).
i think it’s hard to say one of those girls should be the “bigger person” when every single adult in this show sucks: from teachers to parents to old dudes at spas. they either overlook what’s happening with the girls or are just straight violent, dismissive and abusive towards them. i mean, you can brainwash kids everyday with “bullying is wrong” speeches, but can this school, this community really create a bullying free environment? i didn’t see a single adult doing their job.
i loved how this show played girl’s toxic power dynamics and rendered them powerless towards power-dynamics ruled by Men. Most of the trouble they go through stems from men’s sole presence, real, imaginary or abstract (“cover yourself”). that’s what this show is about for me, not if mariam is right, bullying is wrong, layan is evil. i’m not saying it’s their fault, but that it’s so easy to ruin a girl’s life if you’re a man and the girls know it well enough to use it in their own dynamics. guys can get away with abuse and broken morals, as layan puts at least twice.
i watched mariam and her clan destroy ruqqyiah by just pretending to be a guy. layan and her friends beat a girl up because she was scared to be caught dating a guy – considering she died bc of it in the end, it’s even kind of understandable why she thought that was reasonable.
besides, all young guys/boys are extremely annoying. from layan’s intrusive brothers, to yazan (his “gf”/friend was hospitalized and all we see him doing is that fucked up drama scene bc he didn’t get the attention he wanted, then he moves to hitting on her best friend, what a nice boy). layan’s bf is one of those university guys who like to play or prey high school girls with sweet romantic talk. none of them care about them either.
loved the well-rounded girl characters and i’m fond of all of them. layan and mariam’s tragic endings balance each other: neither win, both lose. it’s sad bc they’re both so young and bright. i can’t picture mariam healing from that… ever.
Mariam’s friends are the worst. When Mariam was in, they’re out. When she gave up, they lured her back in. When they decided that it’s not worth it, they said “Mariam is dangerous and too far”. I mean yes she’s gone too far but couldnt they ease her from the pain first? All they know is arguing and arguing
I think Mariam shouldn’t have sent that location text to Layan’s brother. Layan was going to get in trouble without Mariam interfering as the teacher was the one to inform the family first. Layan would have been in trouble and possibly not killed, which I think she deserved considering the horrible way she bullied Mariam.
*also the school janitor was the one who helped Mariam play those messages during the fire alarm, you can see her uniform as she holds the phones over the PA system*
I think one of the highlights of this show is that you are responsible for your actions. Mariams friends were flip flopping on her, left her when she needed them, encouraged her when she gave up on the plan, etc. Basically to me it was saying that your actions shouldn’t be based on other people’s opinions because at the end of the day when things get bad and difficult, it’ll
only be your responsibility.
The reviewer thinks it’s probably the brother did not shoot his sister. On the contrary, it’s his hesitancy to shoot her that seemed out of character. I found it hard to fathom that Layan would act that recklessly, knowing how the men in her family would react. That was unrealistic.
This show isn’t so much about mean girls as it is about the culture of Jordan. I can see why the Jordanians are mad about it. Not a good look at all.
It’s not very well done though. If there is a 2nd season, I hope it’s more polished.
Great series and character arcs. Every single major character had a high, low, selfish, and redemption arc of some sort. The way you find out who is really at fault is by marking out the characters that are written with no arcs at all. (Principal, Layans family, her psychologist…)
You reap what you sow! That was satisfying! That chick was pure evil!
The episode review is so stupid. The way the show ended was great. If it would have ended with the “happy ending” and having mariam give up and not go through with it, the ended would have been BEYOND predictable and it would have ended like any basic ass show. Literally the way this person wanted it to end was the MOST basic ending ever. So the fact that she went through with it and actually did made the ending as great as it is.
I think the ending is up for interpretation, but seems strongly implied that Layan was killed by her brother. There will be no season 2 because this was a limited series, so we’re left to self interpret the ending.
Wow that ending with Laith turning out to be the principals son! Found only 2 comments to have picked up on that! And love the theory that laith was actually Layans half brother! Mind blown! Amazing writing in this show! Wow!
Gross. I absolutely hate when someone who knows NOTHING about a culture draws up their own conclusions. Saying your sure he would not shoot his sister is extremely ignorant. As in such cultures if the family is very well known and customary thats EXACTLY what hes expected to do.
Just for some:
Gun or no gun. In this culture guns are everywhere and there is something as « sharaf ». The brother finds his sister in a house with a man therefore he will kill them both to honor the families pride and name. Especially as their father has a high rank.
So it is very known for them and the public that death for both is an option. But ofcourse for the viewers sake I hope they will not continue with this storyline and create the story that the brother shot somewhere else because he couldn’t go through with it.
Season 2 please!
Wow. Just finished watching this. Thought this was really good, altho very sad at the same time. Never been a victim of bullying but it was SO sad to see the kind of bullying that can take place at school, and out of school as well.
For Mariam, the damage was done a long time ago, far long gone for her to even care of what the consequences/repercussions would be in the final episode. I think towards the end, Laylan started to show she actually did have a heart, but by that point, it wasn’t enough for Mariam to drop the revenge she had planned.
Please bring out season two!!!!
I too would have probably wished awful, awful things to people who bullied me but I would never wished that they died . Though trauma affects us all differently, Mariam was no better than the bullies. Yes, she did a great job of giving them a taste of their own medicine but she didn’t really make them realize what they did wrong. I don’t think she even felt better after all the revenge she did. At the end of the day, she became her bullies. When you take karma into your hands, it will find a way to get back at you. It’s an unending cycle she’ll never get out off. She still had no friends and no one understood what happened to her. She’s lonelier than how she started.
The show tried too hard to humanize and victimize the bullies as a way to justify their actions. Everybody has some sort of home issue, but that doesn’t give them the right to take it out on some innocent person. The way Layan and her minions targeted Mariam was so evil. Mariam had done nothing to any of them to justify their actions. She was just the girl they thought weak enough to pick on.
Don’t even get me started on her “friends.” Mariam was right, they were hypocritical; especially, Noaf. Noaf saw what Layan and her friends did to Mariam. Instead of speaking up and “doing the right thing” (like she told Mariam to do) she decided to save herself and watch the innocent Mariam get framed. Some call it character growth, but I call it hypocrisy. She also was the one egging Mariam on from the beginning to go about her plan. Oh , but once you thought it got too far, you pulled out. Too bad Mariam couldn’t pull out of all the horrible interactions she had she Layan.
Mariam saw that no karma was being served, so she decided to speed things up a bit.
I’m not saying what she did was right, but they got what they deserve after what they did to M (nearly almost killed her). Bullying can really change people they literally ruined her life.
Her “friends”were they absolute worst
Rania still didn’t realize that what they did to M was really bad.
I had a vicious bully just like Layan. This show made me sad but I can totally see how Mariam crossed over into darkness. Girls in school are vicious people.
As someone who was bullied from elementary school untill high school, I felt everything Miriam was going through. Only thing I could do afterwards to my bullies is become fabulous and igmore them. But every now and then the trauma resurface and then I go into a short depression. Which I will keep on fighting for the rest of my life. So yes I didnt want Layan to die, but they all got what they deserve.
Honestly I feel like Layan didn’t deserve it.
Mariam’s friends were the absolute worst. Atleast the bullies stuck by each other through everything unlike Mariam who lost everyone and was ridiculed in front of the entire school. Humiliated to the core about her personal stuff. These bullies almost killed her, caused her serious injuries and this hypocrite of a friend nouf kept silent. Later she is the one who encourages her to continue with her revenge on the bullies and pulls away at her convenience. So you are telling me bullying is lesser of an evil deed than being harassed by men or abused by family members over boyfriends/clubbing/drinking. It is all evil. It damages a human being. For them to keep emphasizing what mariam was doing is far worse is portraying the wrong kinda message. Bullying can make a person suicidal and damage someone so bad that they do acquire toxic and dangerous traits. Mariams friends were extremely weak and not entirely transparent with her. Mariam seems like a sensible character who would have probably understood if she was aware there was a possible chance of someone being killed.
Everybody felt sorry for Layan at the end because Mariam rated out Layan, but she actually treated Mariam pretty bad. You don’t see Layan doing that to anybody else that bad. Mariam got some really traumatizing verbal and physical beatings. I would have probably done the same.
M guessing the person who helped Mariam with the recording when she pressed the fire alarm was the cleaner. I understand the bullies had issues at home..but for God’s sake that shouldn’t make u treat others terribly to the extent of almost killing them….like the saying goes..never do to others what u wouldn’t want them to do to u..Marian was in a horrid life threatening and devastating mental melt down bcz of these folks… She stood up for herself in the end..and m thinking that should be a lesson to all others in the school..they all shouldn’t have messed with the wrong girl…karma is a bitch..the other school girls were just bystanders who supported the bullies too..and her so called friends?..laughable stocks..
I want a season 2 so bad now 🙁
I think laith pushed him to the ground and that’s why the gun was fired I don’t think anyone got shot….Yet!
The bullies almost killed Mariam as it was. She ended up all alone, bullied, her so called “friends” watch her get hurt, won’t stand up for her, then they do and after leave her alone again. Really? Oh and from an American point of view you wouldn’t get that Mariam did know what she was doing when she sent the message to the brother. This does exist in their culture, different than ours.
Loved this show! Was left wondering if the brother shot the sister. I wondered why Mariam wasn’t taken into further psychological evaluation after she wrote she had thoughts of killing those close to her. That’s a big red flag she’s not ok. Her friends could have done a lot more to prevent the situation. Overall great season.
There’s one thing completely left unexplained tho… Who helped Mariam’s by playing the voice messages to the whole school? Who was behind that?
I was bullied by a girl who was a monster. One could only hope she got something like this..
Actually,
Mariam DID stop. She didn’t send that message. She put her thumb away and did not click send.
Only after the fool said she’d beg (and didn’t even get down), and showed she understood nothing about what they did to her by saying they hurt her A BIT…
That’s when she sent.
Also, the so-called friends never told her about the gun!
We, the viewers, knew about the gun. The betraying friends knew about the gun. No one told Mariam.
All they told her was that her pain just “a bit” bad, but her bully’s pain would be so much worse.
The friends were never correct. They are ultimately to blame about the tragedy with the bullies and all of the adults in the entire show.
Every single person belittled Mariam’s pain and suffering.
All of this took place on the same school year, even on the same semester!
She was beaten almost to dead (physical abuse), intimidated, her innermost feelings put literally on the walls of the school for others to laugh and taunt (mental abuse), and falsely, extremely publicly, accused of an act of sexual abuse (which is a form of sexual abuse).
Then, in a matter of weeks (Dina) and highest a couple of months, they not only abandoned her repeatedly, but went to play friends with her bullies.
Somehow they were worse. “Hey, with friends like this, who needs enemies!” I’m not sure that was the quote word forword, but something to that effect.
Yes, I would have also loved to see her not go trough sending that message, but she did stop, and only sent the message after another show of the friends switching sides and the bully saying condescendingly to her face, that her pain was nothing to her.
The poor girl was betrayed by everyone in her life, including her horrid mother.
And, the bullies did participate in risky behavior, sneeking into clubs as minors, and entering grown men’s apartments alone.
If you remember there were a couple of times during the show that comments and facial expressions eluded to a possible relationship between the principle and Leyans dad…. At end of show we see the principle looking at her family photo where one of her sons in the photo is Leyanns boyfriend….. I think the principle and Leyanns dad had an affair years ago and Leyanns boyfriend is a result of the affair which would mean Leyanns boyfriend is her half brother!!
Well… Even in our times “honor crimes” are still a thing here in the Middle East (i live in Jordan and i’ve read some recent events of this kind), so my guess is that he DID killed her, as she is the responsible of taking care of the family’s “honor”. She could never have predicted the consequences of her revenge, as her bullies never imagined she would plot against them and stand for herself.
karma’s real, and that’s the truth
I was no where near ready to realize that the Laith was the principles son. And with the cliff hanger not knowing if someone was shot makes it worse. But also I don’t like the person Mariam has become, granted I get why she did it but she really did go too far. Now those girls will NEVER forgive her. Do hope for a second season though.
What Mariam did was JUSTIFIED considering everything she went through. Her friends abandoned her, sat with the ones who beat her and crushed her spirit over and over again. I would be disappointed if she didn’t go through with her plan. Karma!
You guys are forgetting that Mariam did decide to leave and be the bigger person(changing school) even after the diary bullying that put fuel on the fire but her friends pulled her back in the revenge scheme.
I understand her thirst for vengeance, she was broken in so many ways. Her closest friend and family doubted her, the principal who should protect and halt all bullying stood silently on the sidelines acknowledging there was an issue and chose to ignore it. Miriam’s beating was not an easy trauma to overcome. I think Miriam portrayed a strong character just by having gone back to school, facing her bullies and remaining silent out of fear. Those criticizing her actions clearly have never dealt with bullying nor have had to see it happening to a loved one. Despite the cliffhanger at the end with Layan, I think she had every right to get back at her bullies and with them, their lousy principal who seemed to have cared more about the donations and her job security than honoring her title.
I agree with you 💯👍
Personally, being the bigger person never works with bullies, M behavior is totally justified… everyone has issues, and yet they don’t bully, harass, and attack folks sending them to the hospital. M’s arc is logical and consistent, she was bullied, kept quiet, tried to tell an adult, yet was horrifically beaten, was ostracized, shunned, maliciously slandered so her revenge behavior makes sense, retaliation against a bully is not becoming a bully at all. Retaliation and revenge are to stop the bully on tracks, and ensuring they bully anyone again.
For someone that has never been in that situation the “stuck at the revenge” will never be understood.
I just finished watching this and my heart aches for all involved, the victim and the bullies who became victims.
The bullies were hurting, they were so suppressed at home they had to seek power in the extreme elsewhere bullies need help as much as their victims do. We are not all good and neither are we all bad. But we are human we get clouded by our pain.
This series had a lesson, life isnt fair it never will be but revenge is not urs to take eventually life catches up with u and u will pay for the scars u have inflicted on others.
All actions have consequences.
If Mairiam did decide to be the bigger person and put aside her pain and anger Layan would still have gotten in trouble as her parents were already informed without Mariam’s intervention (with her intervention the outcome was so much more devastating), even is she did say she was not sure if she was on the bus ms Abeer was already tired of her wrong doings being covered up.
Like i said life will never be fair u get bullies everywhere school, work everywhere u have a choice to let it go and work on urself, getting the correct help…on healing on forgiving or let the pain consume u till it kills ur soul. Mariam’s psychologist is a sorry excuse of a psychologist if she received the correct help she would never have fallen so deep in her need for revenge and sadly thats life. if ur not getting the help from a professional u need seek one that does help. Sadly there too many of them with qualifications and a paper to say they are one but to them its just a job no passion to help ppl. Revenge feels good for a little while but as u grow as a person it becomes the very thing u hate about urself and theres no worse thing to do than to hate urself and wanting to turn back the time.
For the comment above me.. B i hope u find healing from the wrong that has been done to u..
I agree with B
If you’ve never been bullied you will never understand what it means . She was justified 100💯