Asfour



"Get a degree, find a job, make a career-- Find the one, start a family, take a high-interest mortgage-- Go to the gym three times a week, buy a 20,000 shekel bike, take proper care of yourself!-- Chase, achieve, surpass, consume, realise, dress up, plan, finance, make a profit, use, calculate, dance, build, wreck, scheme, develop, quit your job, stand out, break out, succeed-- But why should you? Just live."

- The show’s promo

Asfour (Hebrew: עַסְפוּר) is an Israeli Dramedy series written by Khanan Savyon and Gai Amir, directed by Rani Sa‘ar, and produced by Sumayoko productions.

The series tells the story of Moti Amoyal, a man in his early thirties who decided to ‘quit the rat race’: he lives with his three best friends, Itzik Bensuli, Ra‘anan ‘Katsar’ Avital, and Morley ‘Newton’ Avital, on a little lot Moti inherited from his grandfather, with old unused buses (hence the nickname ‘the Bus Farm’) used as houses and a built-in shower and kitchen and anything they need, in the outskirts of Jerusalem. Moti has a job washing bodies before their funerals and Itzik works at a local garage, while Katsar and Newton get their food from a local soup kitchen.

The trouble starts when Moti is informed by the Jerusalem city hall that he has a debt of 750,321 NIS, due to his late grandfather allowing criminals to use the place as a dumping ground for their waste. He has two months to get the sum, lest the four get evacuated and have nowhere to live.

This just gets more complicated, as it turns out that Moti, in a trip to India he had before the show began, had a passionate romance with an Israeli traveller he found there. Said woman, Shir Ambar, is now back in Israel, and her boyfriend, ‘Amit Peled, trying to impress his father Yaïr into getting his father’s appreciation and a promotion (he works for his father’s insurance company, Peled Insurance), is doing everything in his power to make Moti and his friend fail at getting the money and get the lot for himself, as he finds out the city hall has big building plans for the lot, making it worth millions.

Add to that a Love Triangle with both Moti and ‘Amit trying to get and hold onto Shir, Shir’s best friend friend Yuli Barkai and her quest for love, some shady connections to organised crime, Moti’s complicated relationship with his family, Moti’s sister Sivan trying to get the money for the class trip to Poland and budding romance with her shady classmate Tavor, mix it all up with the recurring themes of social casting, morality, and faith and you got one of the most critically acclaimed series in Israeli Television ever.

"Sivan: Just because he has one more pigment than you do makes you think you’re better than him! You’re being a hypocrite and it’s getting on my nerves!"
 * Abusive Parent: Itzik’s father. The gang mentions he used to beat Itzik before the latter ran away from home (they said he frequently gave him kafot, but the fact it was so bad he ran from home implies it was likely more than just that). They treat it lightheartedly, saying he deserved every kafa he got.
 * Ambiguous Disorder: Zvulun ‘Zuta’ Khajbi. He has a strange body language and style of speech and is constantly seen filling lottery tickets, waiting to win (he eventually does, but gets hit by a bus; he survives and initiates a brief subplot). He could also be somewhat mentally retarded, though he hasn’t shown any signs of poor deductive abilities, and, in fact, found an interesting and original way to protect his winning lottery ticket.
 * The Atoner: Itzik. Once, he makes amends with a religious woman he slept with and ruined her shidduch (amusingly, she wanted him ). Twice,
 * Badass Grandpa: Victor.
 * Berserk Button: Do not, repeat, do not threaten Moti’s life around Victor.
 * Betty and Veronica: Moti and ‘Amit. YMMV on which is which, as Moti leads a simple life while ‘Amit leads a more high-class life, yet everyone expects Shir to follow conventions and be with ‘Amit instead of living on a ‘bus farm’.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Moti and Victor. It’s nigh impossible to get Moti really furious, and Victor seems to be a nice person in his few appearances, but you should never, ever cross the line with those two.
 * Bilingual Bonus: Watching the gang talk in their special Jerusalem jargon tends to make one feel that way. It doesn’t help that occasionally some words are difficult (or even impossible) to understand from context, and that cultural memes like the tishpishti and the dola and zurna are usually not understood by common Israelis.
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Avigail, Shir’s mother, is a subversion. She tends to act like that to Moti, finally even, but it’s all due to genuine concern for her daughter.
 * Bittersweet Ending: The first season’s would have been a Downer Ending, had it not been for the fact that
 * Book Dumb: Newton. He is actually not quite as stupid as he tends to think he is every now and then.
 * Bury Your Gays:
 * Butt Monkey: Newton.
 * Casanova: Itzik. Oh God, Itzik. What’s even more amazing is that the person he’s based on dwarfs the fictionalised character. It leads to a Crowning Moment of Funny when he leaves his room wearing red underpants, a red cape, and a Superman T-shirt.
 * Cannot Spit It Out: Moti never tells Shir he left her because he knew their positions in society were too far apart (he comes from a poor family, the son of a poor night guard; she is from the very top of society, the daughter of the late Mikhael Ambar, a very successful criminal lawyer), or why he was troubled around her (he overheard Avigail badmouthing him in front of Shir over the phone, when Shir accidentally answers his phone call instead of filtering it). Also, his code of honour never lets him rat out his friends, even after they’re no longer his friends.
 * Cassandra Truth:
 * Catch Phrase: ‘What, ain’t that right?’
 * Caught with Your Pants Down: Inverted: Itzik pretends to be doing this with porn on when Moti catches him continuing his Poker scheme.
 * Chekhov's Gun: Moti’s work at the morgue, as well as.
 * Cerebus Syndrome
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: Averted. Skin tone and non-Ashkenazi heritage do not prevent anyone from fitting into high society. Invoked only once when Sivan accused her friend Mor of bigotry when she expressed suspicion at Tavor.

"Newton: Zuta, as we all know, is a son of a whore."
 * Complete Monster: Kobi, Itzik’s rather shady friend. It’s implied his boss Saragousti an even bigger one, nearly killing him.
 * Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch: People frequently call it a show for arsim, mention frequent use of bad language, and generally don’t think much of it. Those people rarely actually watch that show, or watch it from a biased point of view (the characters rarely curse, just use rugged slang).
 * Crowning Moment of Funny: Katsar and Newton bet 18,000 NIS on Hapo‘el Umm al-Fahm (hopeless team) against Beitar (major team, which they support), having misinterpreted an earlier scene as a bribe given to the ref. A cop asks them why they did it. Hilarity Ensues.
 * A Date with Rosie Palms: See Squick below.
 * Defeat Means Friendship:
 * Delusions of Grandeur: Averted. Newton uses a lot of Shlubb and Klump Hebrew, producing gems like ‘Tiberian horse’ and ‘don’t add oil to the kummsitz’, and he goes by the nickname ‘Newton’, but no-one thinks he’s particularily sophisticated, including himself (as he explained in a self-deprecating little rant to Orli), though he is mostly just Book Dumb.
 * Did They or Didn't They?: After a night of heavy drinking, Katsar wakes up next to . He panics.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: Jackito gives Itzik, Newton, and Katsar a rather poor sum for their stolen jewelry. Later, Itzik . Justified, as this is.
 * Distracted by the Sexy: Itzik is tempted to stay a bit too long with his, ahem, ‘ladyfriend’ who works for city hall. He makes it back to the Bus Farm in the nick of time to tell Moti not to sell the lot to ‘Amit.
 * Domestic Abuser: Kobi is this to his wife when she.
 * Double Standard: Kobi constantly cheats on his wife and barely even bothers to see her. He just supports her financially and goes on with his daily business. When his wife has an affair, Kobi becomes determined to kill him, even before he knew who it was.
 * Dumb Muscle: Kobi’s henchman Mishtawa
 * Dysfunction Junction: The gang and ‘Amit.
 * Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: Mishtawa. Presumably named so after the Hebrew word mishtara (מִשְׁטָרָה), ‘police’ (in other words, an American equivalent would be ‘Puweece’).
 * Even Evil Has Standards: Itzik says he’d sooner chop off his dick than touch a friend’s woman.
 * Moti is more than willing to trick the government in any way possible, including laundering money and tricking the IRS, but would never cheat anyone ‘with a face’ out of anything.
 * Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Juliette.
 * Failure Is the Only Option: Trying to open a bank account without a steady income and while high is not wise. (It is, however, quite hillarious to watch.)
 * Five-Man Band:
 * The Hero: Moti
 * The Lancer: Itzik
 * The Smart Guy: Newton
 * The Big Guy: Katsar
 * The Chick: Sivan. She starts off as somewhat of a Sixth Ranger, as Itzik hooks up with her at first without realising who she is, causing brief and mild drama. Later on she becomes something between this and the Tagalong Kid or a subversion of the Cool Big Sis.
 * Team Pet: Afkhad (Noone); subverted as he is never actually shown on screen.
 * The Sixth Ranger: Shir
 * Alternately,
 * The Hero: Shir
 * The Lancer: Yuli
 * The Smart Guy: ‘Amit
 * The Big Guy: Itai, ‘Amit’s best friend
 * The Chick / Team Mom: Avigail
 * The Sixth Ranger: Moti
 * Freudian Excuse: Tavor says his life of crime was because he’s ‘never had anyone to make [him] sandwiches for school’ ever since he was a kid. As he lives on his own in his own apartment, it’s implied his family neglected him.
 * Yaïr qualifies too, as he.
 * Kobi might qualify, as.
 * Fridge Brilliance: Newton’s first name rhymes with Orli’s.
 * Fridge Logic:
 * GIRL: One of the identities the gang assumes for their online Poker scheme.
 * Good People Have Good Sex: Subverted. Newton turns out to be mind-blowing good in bed. He’s not some outstanding moral beacon, but he does have his moments, he does get punished when he tries using tricks to get the money, and he is shown to be a bit naïve.
 * Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Victor was shown smoking a hookah. Practically everyone smokes pot. The more morally ambiguous Itzik and Kobi smoke cigarettes.
 * Gratuitous English: Slipping occasional English phrases is an indicator of high position. ‘Amit does this a lot. This is in contrast with the gang’s language, which is riddled with Arabic words.
 * Grey and Grey Morality: Moti, though he seems to be a very, very moral person, seems to have a rather strange view on morality, claiming that it’s OK to fool the IRS because they’re ‘faceless’.
 * As a matter of fact, this is pretty much what gets the whole plot going (see Laser-Guided Karma below).
 * Groin Attack: Brief scene played for laughs. Katsar kicks the ball at Newton’s soft spot during a game of penalties.
 * Played more seriously when Shir knees a police higher-up who hits on her, threatening to release info about him if he doesn’t reveal info about her father.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Itzik pulls this off twice.
 * He Who Must Not Be Seen: Saragousti. At least until The Reveal.
 * Hide Your Pregnancy:
 * Hollywood Atheist: Subverted. Moti seems to become more or less faithful (he’s never full-on religious or anything) depending on how good his luck is. The most notable example is his reaction when, telling his rabbi boss God cannot possibly exist.
 * How We Got Here: The first episode shows Moti, Newton, and Katsar, standing next to a fresh grave, and putting a funeral wreath with a ribbon saying, ‘Farwell, say hi to Zohar’. The show backs up two months, showing only one more scene from the end of the plot at the end of the episode (Shir coming by car in her wedding dress with teary eyes, taking the veil off her head). What exactly happened is revealed entirely only on the last episode.
 * Ill Girl: Subverted, as this case has a young gay man named Tsuf Nakdimon instead. Avigail also counts, as she once has cancer before the show began.
 * Informed Ability: Shir can, apparently, interpret people and social situations very well; as she put it, she has ‘HD vision ’, except when she’s in love. This was only brought up in the introductory short clip about her and never again, possibly justified by the fact she pretty much spends the whole series going in an out of a relationship.
 * In Name Only: Katsar wears a yarmukle, but barely shows any signs of actually being religious. At one point Moti brings to the Bus Farm a girl he had a relationship with long ago, and asks where his yarmukle is, and he says, ‘In my pocket.’ She is amused and says, ‘Same old Katsar!’
 * It Will Never Catch On: The creators tried suggesting their idea as a ‘daily drama’ (basically a euphemism for ‘telenovela aimed at bored housewives’), in the ‘daily drama’ time slot. They were told it won’t work, as a daily drama ‘has a very specific part’. Heh...
 * Karma Houdini:
 * The Lancer: Mor is Sivan’s. Shir might also qualify for a while, as Moti says once that she completes him, making him a better person, a ‘Super-Moti’.
 * Laser-Guided Karma: Yuli introduces her new boyfriend Bo‘az to Shir. Bo‘az tries to hit on Shir. Shir tricks him into getting handcuffed to the bed with a blindfold on while Yuli tasers him thoroughly. Both ‘Amit and the gang get screwed over for every immoral trick they play for their gains. At the end,.
 * Last-Name Basis: Saragousti is only known by his last name. Hell, even that might be an alias.
 * Late Arrival Spoiler: You better not watch the second season’s trailers unless you know.
 * Law of Inverse Paternity: Averted.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters: A rather moderate example. The opening credits show all main characters with their names to alleviate this.
 * Local Hangout: For the gang, it’s the ‘Diwan’, a local simple pub run by the Christian Arab Amir; for Shir, ‘Amit, Itai, and Yuli, it’s ‘Eldad’, a fancy restaurant.
 * Looking for Love In All the Wrong Places: Poor Yuli.
 * Make It Look Like an Accident:
 * Magnificent Bastard: ‘Amit. Kobi is even worse.
 * A Man Is Not a Virgin: Subverted. Katsar has plenty of sex, but on the second last episode he tells Mazal that.
 * Mean Character, Nice Actor: Subverted. Savyon and ‘Amir, who also play Newton and Katsar respectively, actually match he other person’s character in personality.
 * Memetic Molester: In-universe example: Newton tells Orli about their childhood friend Yonatan ‘Don’t Touch Me’, who avoided touch like the plague. After a few years they found out it was due to him being a victim of Danny ‘Buddies’, ‘some freak who’d walk around the city park, showing kids his “parrot” ’.
 * Memetic Mutation: Several phrases and Jerusalem slang words in the series became somewhat more popular during and slightly after its airing. Notable examples are the Catch Phrase above and Itzik’s quote below, as well as terms like zhonglaire (‘playa’) and papuk (‘dummy’, as in ‘stupid’; originally from Kurdish), and.
 * Mistaken for Spies: Itzik suspects Shir of being the mole after she makes him stop the Poker scheme. He finds it suspicious she got back together with Moti shortly after ‘Amit failed to make Moti sell him the lot.
 * The Modest Orgasm: Shown in a flashback from when Moti and Shir were in India. Justified, as they were trying not to wake up Yuli, who was in the room with them.
 * Mood Whiplash: When Shir is introduced to the gang and asks how Katsar (קָצַר, Hebrew for ‘short’) got his name. Moti says it was because ‘his father was born with no legs’. This is just a mean joke: Katsar is named so for his short temper.
 * Moral Guardians: The series was moved to a later hour and limited to viewers aged 18 and up due to Egregious use of cannabis.
 * Mundane Solution: Katsar and Newton both apply for a job at Mazal Okhayun’s pitsutsiya . She gives them the ‘100 Test’: she gives them the imaginary scenario of a man walking in with exactly 100 NIS to spend. Both then have to find items that cost exactly 100 NIS in total. Newton goes first, grabs an assortment of products, reaching about 94 NIS. Katsar, in turn, says, ‘Three Gato Negros .’ He wins: Newton never noticed the sign saying ‘SALE: 3 Gato Negros for 100 NIS’.
 * Neck Lift: Subverted.
 * Noodle Incident: We might have a clue, based on Itzik’s most obvious defining trait, but what exactly happened between him and Mazal is never brought up in full. All we know is that Mazal hates Itzik’s guts.
 * No Periods, Period:
 * Oh Crap: Itzik finds out.
 * One-Hour Work Week: Itai.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname: Katsar and Newton. Their real name comes from Word of God.
 * Poor Communication Kills: The basis of practically all interactions between characters.
 * Pride:
 * Pull the Thread: Newton goes on a date with a Hebrew University student named Orli. He pretends to be a student of architecture, but it turns out he Did Not Do the Research: there is no architecture faculty in Jerusalem, and Orli thinks he goes every day to the Tel-Aviv University to study there (that’s about one hour by car in either direction, if you’re lucky enough to avoid traffic). Newton decides to stop lying, tell her his true situation, which makes her think of him as honest and refreshing, soon becoming his girlfriend.
 * Rage Quit: Katsar does this to Newton as he’s about to lose a game of Backgammon, to make it a ‘technical loss’ that somehow ‘doesn’t count’.
 * Really Gets Around: Yuli and Itai.
 * The Reveal:
 * A less dramatic one:.
 * Right Through the Wall: Newton and Orli. As it turns out, Newton is an outstanding lover.
 * Separated by a Common Language: Invoked. When the gang goes to open a bank account to save money while high, Katsar asks the clerk, a woman, who is already impatient towards them, for a metsitsa . She kicks them out angrily (as this word means ‘blowjob’ anywhere in Israel but Jerusalem), and they explain they were referring to the lolipops (that’s what that word means in Jerusalem) on the table.
 * Shout-Out: Newton pretending to be a student of architecture might be a Shout-Out to Seinfeld.
 * Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Itzik argues with Shir about the efficiency of getting money through hard work. Also, Moti’s views on social classes and fate along the course of the series.
 * Small Reference Pools: Averted. The setting is in Jerusalem, where, frankly, little contemporary fiction seems to take place. The characters, especially the gang, use loads of Jerusalem slang most Israelis have to interpret from context. Two words had to be given a translation in parentheses in the closed captions.
 * Sophisticated As Hell: Newton explains his plan (with a drawing board and a silly attempt at looking organised and formal and all that jazz) to get Zuta’s winning lottery ticket for their money laundering scheme. His explanation begins thus:


 * Squick: In exchange for the winning lottery ticket, Zuta asks Itzik (who is also hospitalised, as Kobi was hired to beat him up by ‘Amit) to get him Mazal Okhayun naked. This turns out to be troublesome, partially due to a certain Noodle Incident mentioned above. What does Itzik do?
 * Tagline: ‘Working black, smoking green , and seeing pink .’ There is also Itzik’s famous quote: ‘You can only see a pink world through red eyes.’
 * Tear Jerker: The show has a few, with the last four episodes have those concentrated:
 * Technology Marches On: The gang is completely ignorant about computers and need Orli’s help for an online Poker scheme.
 * Terrible Trio: Kobi, Tavor, and Mishtawa.
 * Those Two Guys: Katsar and Newton.
 * Title Drop: The first episode has Victor calling Moti ‘Asfour’ (from Arabic عصفور ʿaṣfūr, ‘a swallow’), saying it’s some sort of a bird that brings good fortune. Later on it’s used in its other meaning: Israeli law-enforcing jargon for ‘police informant’.
 * Undercover Cop Reveal:
 * Unusual Euphemism: Newton asks whether he played hanakhash ba with Orli.
 * Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Based on Itzik Savyon, Khanan’s brother, and Moti Levi, who used to live in an abandoned bus on the mountains of Jerusalem. The other two friends are also based on real people. Moti Levi is really a good person: he founded a charity organisation called ‘Youth of Light’, dedicated to helping teenagers at risk.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: Subverted twice. ‘Amit tries to get his father’s approval due to a great part to the promotion his father put up for him. He also doesn’t seem to obsess to much about it, even threatening to leave his father’s company. It turns out . Moti also has issues with his father, Reuven, who strongly disapproves of his son’s lifestyle, to the point Moti generally avoids his father when he comes to visit and his father doesn’t hesitate to call him a thief at one crucial point. Moti doesn’t want to live up to his father’s expectations, but rather to accept his way of life.
 * What an Idiot!: Newton tries hinting someone that he has pot to sell. That someone is an undercover cop. This on its own is not so bad, only Newton does increasingly more obvious gestures and clearer language, to the point he mimics quite grotesquely the act of smoking a joint.
 * Will They or Won't They?: Yuli and Itai, to some extent.
 * Witness Protection:
 * What Did I Do Last Night?: Katsar never remembers anything he did once he becomes sober. The gang, in their usual Running Gag, tell him he does all sorts of crazy stuff when he’s drunk, which he believes.
 * Write What You Know: The story is based on real people (see Very Loosely Based on a True Story above) and set in Jerusalem, where the writers are from. Critics applauded the authenticity of the show.
 * You Can't Fight Fate: deconstructed. Moti claims this on the first episode adn the theme is explored, but it generally seems characters believe in it mostly in relation to good profecies and when they’re luck turns for the better.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: