Line #29 Series/PrisonersOfWar


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a5ae1f4a_b4f0_46a4_a585_b9ff78ded155.png]]
2	Israeli drama series (originally titled ''Hatufim'', literally "Abductees") dealing with the return and slow rehabilitation of three [[UsefulNotes/IsraelisWithInfraredMissiles IDF]] soldiers who have spent 17 years as prisoners of [[UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict Arab insurgents]] following their capture in Lebanon.
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4	More-or-less served as the basis for the acclaimed Showtime series ''Series/{{Homeland}}'', which was actually developed with the creator of ''Hatufim''. In contrast to its American successor, the series involves far fewer thriller elements and primarily focuses on the long recovery and readjustment of the soldiers after their prolonged trauma, and the effects their absence and sudden return has on their loved ones.
5	----
6	!!This series provides examples of:
7	* AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder: During his captivity, Uri's girlfriend Nurit became convinced that he had died and married his brother Yaakov.
8	* TheAce: Ynon.
9	* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler: Amiel]].
10	* BreakTheCutie: Yael does ''not'' take her brother's death well.
11	* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: Ismail's math workbooks and Jamal's Beach Picture]]
12	* ColdBloodedTorture: Nimrode, Uri and Amiel endured years of beatings, burns, mock hangings, [[ElectricTorture electrocution of genitals]] . . . . and as the series progresses, fewer [[GoryDiscretionShot Gory Discretion Shots]] are employed.
13	* DeadAllAlong: The third soldier who was taken captive, Amiel, returns home in a coffin.
14	** [[spoiler: Subverted by TheReveal at the end of series 1.]]
15	* DeadPersonConversation: Grieving and in denial, Yael imagines that her brother really came home, and carries on talking to him and interacting with him.
16	* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: As we find out at the end of series 1, Amiel faked his own demise.]]
17	* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Non-supernatural version. Uri and Nimrode have missed 17 years of political and technological developments, such as the invention of [=DVD=]s (which Nimrode repeatedly mistakes for [=CD=]s) and the world wide web.
18	* HoneyTrap: Iris is sent by a suspicious Haim to spy on Uri. He doesn't take it well.
19	%%** GenderFlipped in Season 2, where [[spoiler: Noni is one for Yael.]]
20	* InterruptedSuicide: Yael interrupts her own - she swallows a bottle of pills, but changes her mind and calls an ambulance before any serious harm is done
21	* IWillWaitForYou:
22	** Talya waits patiently for her husband's return. Though her reunion with her husband is far from simple.
23	** Ironically, it is Nurit who promised to wait for Uri before he left to perform active duty, but in her case, [[AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder Absence Made The Heart Go Yonder]].
24	* {{Jerkass}}: Abdullah.
25	* TheLadette: Dana. Rather aggressive sexually, very tomboyish.
26	* MadonnaWhoreComplex: The way the Israeli public treats Nurit, who remarried after Uri's kidnapping, in comparison to Talya, the "faithful wife", reeks of this trope. Good thing Nurit makes up her mind not to take it lying down.
27	* MoralityPet: Ismail, Jamal's son, is one for [[spoiler: Amiel]].
28	* NervousWreck: Uri barely speaks, jumps at sudden movements and noises, and has a tendency to huddle in corners.
29	* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: Uri's mother.
30	* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: An unnamed female Prime Minister greets Uri and Nimrode on their return. Though, of course, Israel's already had a woman as PM.
31	* PrisonerExchange: Uri and Nimrode are returned to Israel by exchanging terrorists for them, and not everyone in the country is happy about the trade
32	* {{Protectorate}}: Uri is one for Nimrode. [[spoiler: He kills Amiel (mostly) because the insurgents threatened Uri.]]
33	* SadisticChoice: [[spoiler: The insurgents threatened to kill Uri unless Nimrode continued beating a weak, bleeding, and bound Amiel, until finally the latter died. Apparently.]]
34	* ShellShockedVeteran
35	* SmugSnake: Abdullah.
36	* StepfordSmiler: Talia.
37	* SurvivorGuilt: Nimrode suffers this in particular, as he is plagued by memories of his captors [[spoiler: forcing him to kill Amiel with his bare hands]].
38	* TheseHandsHaveKilled: [[spoiler: Amiel does not take it well when Abdullah goads him into killing a "collaborator", who turns out to have been a child.]]
39	* TomboyishPonytail: Dana's hairstyle of choice. Iris also usually wears a ponytail when working in her capacity as an IDF operative, in contrast to her [[LettingHerHairDown hairstyle when she acts as a]] HoneyTrap for Uri.
40	* TroubledFetalPosition: Both of the returnees on occasion, but Uri does this far more frequently.
41	* WhamEpisode: The Tape. [[spoiler: Amiel is alive]].
42	* WhamLine: "Help...Me". [[spoiler: Said by a thought to be dead Amiel after Nimrod beats him into unconsciousness.]]

Context Series / PrisonersOfWar