The Looming Tower is a dramatic look at how the FBI and CIA played keep-away with information that, had they worked together, could have prevented the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
The Looming Tower is an original limited series from Hulu. I’ve always enjoyed watching docuseries, especially about conflicts in the United States. However, this show is different from the docuseries I usually pick up in that it covers events that happened not so long ago.
The Looming Tower focuses on the disputes between the FBI and the CIA in their hunt for Osama bin Laden and how this foolish fight may have kept the United States from protecting itself against the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Most everyone remembers what they were doing when they heard about the attack on 9/11. I was too young to remember, but each year, as a nation, we remember what happened. This series dives much deeper into the lead up to the 9/11 attack and is captivating in doing so. Check out the trailer:
Overall, the series is quite enticing. From the get-go, the momentum is steady. Each episode seems to keep pace and doesn’t lag behind so much that you feel bored. Intrigue is the name of the game, and The Looming Tower knows how to play.
The series starts off with the CIA getting intel about UBL, which is how the agencies quickly refer to Usama bin Laden. The CIA is supposed to share any intel with the FBI so that they can act as a singular, united force. Instead, Martin Schmidt, head of a CIA team, attempts to keep the FBI in the dark as long as possible.
The Looming Tower, although entertaining to watch, makes some interesting decisions. First off, the amount of vulgar language is superfluous. The vulgarity is often unnecessary and does next to nothing to add to the story. The series presents John O’Neill, the chief of the New York FBI’s Counterterrorism Center, as utterly unprofessional, often telling coworkers or peers to go make love to themselves, to put it gently.
The series tries to make sure that the main characters do feel human, and in doing make sure to remind you that they are, in fact, flawed beings. O’Neill has two girlfriends as well as his wife, with whom he has two daughters. His protege, Ali Soufan, is a Muslim FBI agent, who is treated with disrespect until he informs the offender that he is from Lebanon.
It is good that The Looming Tower reminds us that people are in fact flawed, but it also portrays the CIA in a grossly negative light. The point of the show is to detail the conflict between the CIA and FBI, and the series attempts to place the blame solely on the CIA right from the beginning. ***The rest of this paragraph contains spoilers up through Episode 2: Losing My Religion. Skip ahead to avoid spoilers.*** It comes to light that the CIA was informed about a bombing of a US embassy in Kenya 12 months before the incident. They felt it was not credible and brushed it aside. However, they had information about the possible location of Usama bin Laden and wanted to carpet bomb a region of Afghanistan, a country that had not done anything to the United States. This causes John O’Neill to become outraged and causes everything to go spiraling even more.
Often I found myself annoyed and irritated with the CIA in The Looming Tower. In a show bringing to light the disputes between two agencies, it is important to remember that the CIA was acting in what they believed to be in their best interest. Martin Schmidt, the head of the CIA team withholding information, felt that John O’Neill would have jumped the gun and the intel would have been rendered useless. Even though they may seem to be the antagonist, it is important to remember that the CIA and FBI were both playing cat and mouse with the same mouse.
The Looming Tower is nothing impressive when it comes to how it was shot or put together in general. It feels like any other action-drama. The music is good further conveying the emotion of a particular scene, but its nothing memorable. The story is what keeps the series interesting. But there are a few good visuals.
There is a scene in episode 2 where Ali Soufan is entering a mosque, and it parallels with John O’Neill in a church with one of his girlfriends. John, who had forsaken the church a while ago is uncomfortable; as is Ali, who is seeing what is being preached about Americans in the mosque. There are also actual videos from the situations referenced. The Looming Tower inserts videos of its own to help supplement the television reports but makes sure that it is in the same aspect ratio, so it feels authentic.
One visual stood out to me more than anything, and it has nothing to do with the story. There are abundant scenes where a weapon is drawn. I grew up with a father in who was in the military who would point out issues with similar scenarios. One major thing is that in various works when a weapon is drawn, the person’s finger is immediately on the trigger. As a gun safety rule, unless the person has the intent to fire right away, their finger should not be resting on the trigger. The Looming Tower does a good job about this.
In the first episode, Ali Soufan and some CIA agents are chasing down a man for information. Although they have guns drawn, none of their fingers are on the trigger. They are trying to take this man alive, and shooting is a last resort, but still an option. They lie their fingers alongside the weapon but avoid the trigger.
Little details like this help bring the viewer into the world and remind them that these were real people with the proper training because they are in fact agents of the government. Even though the whole series has situations added in for dramatic effect, it does feel real. The Looming Tower is enjoyable, but aside from the content, it isn’t anything special.
