Is there anything Col. Erran Morad can’t do? Considering he’s a fictional IDF officer – or a Mossad agent, depending on his mood – Morad can get away with saying and doing just about anything.In fact, the ending credits of each episode of Sacha Baron Cohen’s new Showtime series Who is America? include the disclaimer “nothing in this series should be considered factual.”
But on the third episode of the show, which aired on Sunday evening, Morad continued to say and do outrageous things, while the men around him don’t seem to bat an eyelash.And as buzz around the show climbs, more people around the globe are tuning in to watch Cohen’s ludicrous Mossad character dupe public and private figures. Though just 327,000 people watched the premiere on Showtime two weeks ago, the online figures tell a different story. As of Monday, a clip of Morad convincing congressmen to endorse arming toddlers has been viewed 14 million times. The segments featuring Morad – a cocky, macho and ridiculous stereotype of an Israeli terrorism expert – have proved the show’s most successful.On the third episode of the show, Morad met up with Roy Moore, the disgraced GOP Senate candidate who just barely lost his race last year after nine women accused him of sexual misconduct – several while they were minors.Cohen reportedly lured Moore to the meeting with the promise of honoring him for his dedication to the State of Israel. In a statement earlier this month after learning he had been duped, Moore said he did not know he was taking part in something “planned to embarrass, humiliate, and mock not only Israel, but also religious conservatives.”And when they sat down, the fearless Cohen – dressed as the even more fearless Morad – showed off some top-notch Israeli technology: a tunnel detection wand that has been repurposed to sniff out pedophiles.Not surprisingly, the segment ends with Moore storming off set away from the beeping wand, after stating: “I support Israel, I don’t support this kind of stuff.”But that wasn’t it for Morad’s presence in this episode; he returned in a truly cringe-inducing clip (that is, if you weren’t already cringing) that involved training three anti-immigration Trump supporters how to lure and trap Mexicans.It was here that Morad dropped any pretense of logic or sense, since there seemed to be nothing he could do that would tip the men off – or deter them from their plot to deport immigrants.That included having one of them dress up as a 15-year-old Mexican girl celebrating her Quinceañera, complete with underwear sporting a fake vagina “based on Gal Gadot.” None of the men seemed to blink an eye when Morad – dressed as a mariachi performer – began singing “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold).” The truth may have only begin to dawn on them when actual police officers showed up to the scene of their trap.With four episodes remaining in the first season, there’s no doubt viewers will be seeing more of “Erran Morad.” And more targets will be ignorant enough to find his tough-guy Israeli act entirely believable.
Georgia Lawmaker Under Fire for Actions on Sacha Baron Cohen"s "Who Is America?" (Reuters)
But on the third episode of the show, which aired on Sunday evening, Morad continued to say and do outrageous things, while the men around him don’t seem to bat an eyelash.And as buzz around the show climbs, more people around the globe are tuning in to watch Cohen’s ludicrous Mossad character dupe public and private figures. Though just 327,000 people watched the premiere on Showtime two weeks ago, the online figures tell a different story. As of Monday, a clip of Morad convincing congressmen to endorse arming toddlers has been viewed 14 million times. The segments featuring Morad – a cocky, macho and ridiculous stereotype of an Israeli terrorism expert – have proved the show’s most successful.On the third episode of the show, Morad met up with Roy Moore, the disgraced GOP Senate candidate who just barely lost his race last year after nine women accused him of sexual misconduct – several while they were minors.Cohen reportedly lured Moore to the meeting with the promise of honoring him for his dedication to the State of Israel. In a statement earlier this month after learning he had been duped, Moore said he did not know he was taking part in something “planned to embarrass, humiliate, and mock not only Israel, but also religious conservatives.”And when they sat down, the fearless Cohen – dressed as the even more fearless Morad – showed off some top-notch Israeli technology: a tunnel detection wand that has been repurposed to sniff out pedophiles.Not surprisingly, the segment ends with Moore storming off set away from the beeping wand, after stating: “I support Israel, I don’t support this kind of stuff.”But that wasn’t it for Morad’s presence in this episode; he returned in a truly cringe-inducing clip (that is, if you weren’t already cringing) that involved training three anti-immigration Trump supporters how to lure and trap Mexicans.It was here that Morad dropped any pretense of logic or sense, since there seemed to be nothing he could do that would tip the men off – or deter them from their plot to deport immigrants.That included having one of them dress up as a 15-year-old Mexican girl celebrating her Quinceañera, complete with underwear sporting a fake vagina “based on Gal Gadot.” None of the men seemed to blink an eye when Morad – dressed as a mariachi performer – began singing “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold).” The truth may have only begin to dawn on them when actual police officers showed up to the scene of their trap.With four episodes remaining in the first season, there’s no doubt viewers will be seeing more of “Erran Morad.” And more targets will be ignorant enough to find his tough-guy Israeli act entirely believable.
