The Looming Tower

[SigmundChurchill]

I am surprised I missed this when it originally aired in 2018, but I have been binge watching it on Hulu.

It is only "based on" real events, so I don't know how much of it is true, but it is about an Esplendido-smoking, head of the NY division of the FBI (Jeff Daniels), who is tracking Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden in the years leading up to 9/11.

I probably wouldn't have mentioned it on this forum, if not for the prominent role the Esplendidos played in multiple episodes, but even without them, it is a really good series.  

[Ken Gargett]

11 hours ago, SigmundChurchill said:

I am surprised I missed this when it originally aired in 2018, but I have been binge watching it on Hulu.

It is only "based on" real events, so I don't know how much of it is true, but it is about an Esplendido-smoking, head of the NY division of the FBI (Jeff Daniels), who is tracking Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden in the years leading up to 9/11.

I probably wouldn't have mentioned it on this forum, if not for the prominent role the Esplendidos played in multiple episodes, but even without them, it is a really good series.  

i thought it definitely worth watching. 

[joeypots]

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm a couple of episodes in to it and I think it's very good. The writer, lawrence Wright is worth looking at. I read THE End Of October after hearing about it last spring. Prescient? Unbelievable. 

[Head83]

I can not recommend the book enough!  I’ve read it three times and still learn something new every time. Anyone that asks me how and why we got so involved in the War on Terror I tell to read that book. 

[Nino]

1 hour ago, Head83 said:

I can not recommend the book enough!  I’ve read it three times and still learn something new every time. Anyone that asks me how and why we got so involved in the War on Terror I tell to read that book. 

Plus two - The book is brilliant in explaining how it all started. Cannot recommend it enough.
Great read.

[JohnS]

Thanks for the recommendation. This is now on my 2020 binge watchlist!

[SigmundChurchill]

3 hours ago, JohnS said:

Thanks for the recommendation. This is now on my 2020 binge watchlist!

You won't be disappointed.  Since finishing it, I have been reading up a bit.  Jeff Daniels character was actually a real guy, and from what I have been reading, it is a reasonably accurate story.  With some Hollywoodization, of course.

There was one part where he tried to give a box of Esplendidos to one of the higher-ups that he didn't get along with, to make peace.  It didn't work.  The guy asked him if they were Cuban, because there is an embargo against Cuba.  He said, "I don't know, I was re-gifting them to you."?

[porkchop]

Rewatched this the last couple days and, considering Cohibas make multiple appearances, jumped on here to see if there was a thread. 

For the record, there is also a really good documentary on John O’Neill. Almost made me tear up.