About a month ago, teasers came out for an Egyptian 10-episode show on a streaming platform, called ‘Seeb Wana Seeb’ or Let Go, Then I Will. When these teasers dropped, I chose not to watch them and just dove into the story blindly. After having watched the entire show, here are my thoughts but first let’s get into the people behind it.
The show stars Hannah El Zahed and Ahmed Salah El Saadany along with Aya Samaha, Donia Sami, Mohamed Gomaa and many more. The show is written by Rana Abu Al Rish who just wrote the light ‘Kamel El Adad’ this past Ramadan and it’s directed by Wael Ehsan who is known for creating several comedies with the latest being the Mahmoud Hemeida film, ‘Matrah Matrouh.’
Across the show, we follow El Zahed’s character, Nabila who leaves everything she knew in Alexandria including El Saadany’s character, Ibrahim to become a fashion icon in Lebanon. Truly transforming into Bella Jondi.
It’s great that El Saadany has picked a comedy role after many years of doing heavy drama. However, maybe this role hasn’t truly lived up to his last one, ‘Fe Shebr Maya.’ This is due to the characters lacking depth across the 10 episodes.
While the story in itself is gripping, how the characters behave in the situations they’re presented is quite fantastical. Therefore it gives the show an unrealistic feel when it’s aiming to tackle subjects related to marriage and achieving dreams.
The way in which the dialogue is laid out made it difficult to truly sink into the story. It also didn’t make sense to have cursing in each episode for several scenes, if it was going to be censored. The language used didn’t suit the topic discussed and was often dramatized with the intent of being comedic, but unfortunately felt flat.
Looking past the writing, El Zahed’s performance was great. She wasn’t over the top when playing Bella Jondi the fashionista who secretly still misses Alexandria. And of course, El Saadany manages to make you root for his character over and over again.
Moreover, the ending of the show without giving it anyway was a little frustrating. It also sets up for a potential sequel which is quite unnecessary for the story.
All of this is to say, that the true star of the show was the fashion curated by celebrity stylist, Dina Nosseir. As it truly shone the different stages of the characters. From Bella Jondi’s vibrant and luxurious outfits to Ibrahim’s plaid shirts, the fashion was a character alone.
‘Seeb Wana Seeb’ is a light show that will entertain, but also leave a lot to be desired. It felt like the script ‘let go’ (pun intended) of the story it was trying to tell.
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