“Unconditional” Brings Moral Questions to a Mother’s Love

Apple’s “Unconditional” follows mother Orna Levy (Liraz Chamami) after her daughter Gali (Ronn Talia Lynne) is arrested in Moscow. Almost immediately, Gali disappears in Russia’s byzantine and corrupt carceral system, leaving Orna on a quest to figure out why her daughter was arrested, where she is, and how to get her back.

Showrunners Adam Bizanski and Dana Idisis build a compelling thriller here with surprising twists that build rather than simply redirect. With a muted palette and nerve-wracking score, “Unconditional” had my heart racing through action sequences and emotional revelations alike.

Now, a mother’s unconditional love for her child is hardly new territory, and “Unconditional” does fall into some of the standard cliches. Why Orna can overcover what a host of Russian oligarchies, Indian police, and Israeli spies cannot, never really adds up. Her ability to become a recognizable TV fixture gets a bit more explanation, but still stretches credibility.

Particularly because Orna appears to be struggling with an incomplete sense of herself. At times, she worries that she’s just letting life carry her along, exerting little influence of her own. In a particularly damning flashback, Gali says the same.

Thankfully, Orna has just the friends you need for this sort of crisis—an expert in PR and an ex in the secret service. And while those relationships are certainly convenient, they feel natural inside the series, unlike her self-doubt.

For the Orna, we see a force taking on government officials, media personalities, her in-laws, spies, and mobsters alike. She has an uncanny ability to spot a lie and act on it. How could this woman have languished for years, seemingly doing nothing? It’s unclear, and it isn’t helped by the fact that the show doesn’t bother to explain whether she had a career in or outside the home… ever.

Presumably, she stops being passive (if she ever was) because her daughter needs her, but even that doesn’t hold up under the show’s internal logic, as Orna recounts times when she failed Gali as a child through inaction. Orna does say she only feels ready to be a mother now that her daughter is 23—and perhaps that’s the answer. Maybe in “Unconditional,” being ready to be a mom means being able to complete extraordinary feats to protect the offspring.

Better not to worry about it. TV and film are filled with these types of stories, of parents beating the odds to protect their families. It’s a genre of its own, and the parents’ ability to move mountains is just one of its tropes. Viewed in that light, “Unconditional’s” flaws fade to the back, and the show begins to shine as more interesting than many of its peers because of how it raises moral questions.

Perhaps the most well-known example of this genre is Liam Neeson’s 2008 film, “Taken.” Maybe you can recite his oft-repeated “particular set of skills” speech. But while that film scratched a particular itch (bringing white-hot, holy revenge on bad guys), it made me furious at its lack of moral probing. Neeson’s character rescues his daughter, but leaves all the other trafficked young women behind to rot—and the film portrays that as the sensical, smart thing to do, ignoring that they too are someone’s daughter.

In this streamer’s most similar title, “The Last Thing He Told Me,” Jennifer Garner must protect her teenage stepdaughter as she tries to understand why her new husband disappeared, leaving both women in danger. Like “Taken,” this Apple series doesn’t ask the audience to think much. Its main takeaway is “Jennifer Garner: Warm. Strong,” and that’s it—a lesson that soothes in its blandness.

But “Unconditional” challenges, rather than placates. Orna initially believes her daughter to be a doe-eyed innocent, but as she learns more, she must investigate who Gali is and what it means to have raised such a person. As the title implies, Orna’s love never wavers, but the shocks and the questions linger long after the credits are done rolling.

Which is to say “Unconditional” is smart, the type of thing you have to give your full attention to (particularly if, like me, you’re reading the Hebrew and Russian subtitles).

Going in, I was particularly interested in how they portrayed the Levys’ Israeli identity. There’s no mention of Gaza or the West Bank, with the show appearing to be set in a sort of non-descript present. But there’s plenty to mine in how the Apple series portrays Israeli compulsory military service, the intelligence community, and violence more broadly. Bizanski and Idisis’s show doesn’t give any group the moral high ground, but instead finds us stuck in the muck of Orna’s impossible situation.

And this ambiguity continues in how “Unconditional” portrays its Russian characters, giving them meaningful backstories that complicate an all-bad reading. In fact, Orna makes some questionable decisions that, without giving away too much, put her moral standing into question. The show doesn’t judge her for it, but doesn’t pretend that all is well either.

And that makes this imperfect show stronger. “Unconditional,” for all the surety in its title and main character’s motivation, is a series of haunting, thought-provoking questions, which is a lot more than most of its peers can boast.

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