Filip has been manipulated, isolated, and mentally/emotionally abused his whole life — there’s no excuse for him hitting Naomi, but of course he can’t immediately see through the facade that Marco has built and carefully maintained for Filip.

It’s a pretty good portrayal of abusive relationships and how the abuser manipulates everyone, from the abuse victims to the bystanders. I appreciate that the show has taken the time to show the complicated dynamics of abusive family relationships — Naomi had to make the hard choice to leave her son because if she had stayed, she either wouldn’t have survived or she would have been part of Marco’s terrorism (or both).

She chose to leave knowing that Marco would use her “abandoning” them as a way to further radicalize Filip. When she found them again, she did what she could to help Filip see through Marco’s lies while also protecting herself from her abuser.

I have a lot of empathy for Filip and I think that’s the point — he’s young and he has a short amount of time to figure out the truth after a lifetime of isolation and lies told to him by his father, a narcissist, abuser, and terrorist. What would you do if you were 16 and in Filip’s shoes? I think we would all be overwhelmed and confused and make some bad calls.