Storyville: FBI Undercover, BBC4 - TV review: There is no perfect solution in these difficult times
It was hard not to make comparisons with Showtime drama Homeland
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Your support makes all the difference.Storyville: FBI Undercover's creators had impressive access to the mechanics of a security organisation, but without consent. The result was a tense, gripping 90 minutes that left a feeling of unease.
Cameras followed Saeed “Shariff” Torres, a 63-year-old Muslim Black Panther activist-turned FBI informant dispatched to Pittsburgh to befriend Khalifah al-Akili, suspected of engaging in terrorist activity. Shariff said he was in it for money (a six-figure sum) and didn't tell the FBI that he was letting film-makers in. Uncooperative and argumentative, he was not a sympathetic subject. There were glimmers of positivity – a love of baking and devotion to his son –but he appeared disillusioned with the very organisation that gave him purpose.
In the place of narration, were text exchanges between al-Akili, Torres and the FBI. It was hard not to make comparisons with Showtime drama Homeland, which sees the FBI and informants blundering in a bid to infiltrate terrorist organisations. At one point, Torres attempted to engage al-Akili in a conservation about the programme, a move that contributed to blowing his cover. After al-Akili posted his suspicions on Facebook, he, too, became part of the film.
In the end, all felt let down by the system. Al-Akili was in prison on a firearms charge, Torres was back with his family but unemployed and depressed, and the FBI refused to comment. If anything, it crystallised a point: there is no perfect solution in these difficult times.
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