6 questions we still have about AlRawabi school for girls

6 questions we still have about AlRawabi school for girls

The Netflix original AlRawabi Jordanian School for Girls took the region by storm last week after highlighting several important issues from a Middle Eastern perspective, primarily bullying.

UPCOMING SPOILERS: The points below cover elements of the series, including the final episode, so stop reading if you haven’t finished it yet!

Created by Shirin Kamal and Tima Shomali, the show’s themes are reminiscent of their American counterparts such as 13 Reasons Why and Mean Girls, but its ending shocked Western viewers as it didn’t shy away from portraying the more sides. ugly patriarchy, such as honor killings and violence against women.

It’s unclear if the series will have a second season since its limited-series release, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions and unresolved issues in the plot.

1. Who helped Mariam (Andria Tayeh) with this explosion of vocal notes?

When Mariam implemented the first step of her revenge plan in episode two by setting off the school fire alarm and playing the private voice notes of her bullies for the whole school to hear, the camera shows us the hands of his accomplice, but we never see who the accomplice is. All other students and teachers are in sight in the schoolyard. Judging by the hands (and the fact that it’s a girls’ school), we know the accomplice is a woman. The scene was filmed so ominously that it looked like a setup for a big reveal.

Our closest guess would be that it was the Somaya school guard (Sameera Asir), who also fell victim to the bullies – especially since the other phone in his hand is a cheap model rather than a smartphone, which makes the accomplice less likely to be a classmate. However, if she had been caught, she would have risked losing her job. If that was an option, wouldn’t she have resisted the bullies sooner? Additionally, the accomplice was wearing a bracelet, and there is no bracelet on Somaya’s wrist when she appears in the following scene.

2. How were the three girls so sure to have Roqayyah (Salsabiela A.) alone at the school open house?

During the school’s open house in episode three, Mariam, Noaf (Rakeen Saad) and Dina (Yara Mustafa) proceed with the first part of their plan: to take down the wicked veiled girl Roqayyah. For the plan to work, Roqayyah had to be separated from her clique: Layan (Noor Taher) and Rania (Joanna Arida). Mariam, Noaf and Dina already knew that the other two bullies were on dates, so it was safe to assume that Roqayyah would feel like a fifth wheel, but Laith (Layan’s boyfriend, played by Ahmad Hamdan) brought Roqayyah a blind date, Rakan, who incidentally glances at Roqayyah and leaves the event without even bothering to make up an excuse.

If he had stayed, the whole plan would have been in jeopardy. Roqayyah and Rakan reportedly spent time together and she wouldn’t bother to check her phone to send a message to the three girls’ fake alter ego, Tarek.

Rakan’s reasoning for leaving so abruptly and judging her so quickly (less than five seconds) made no sense in the plot and seemed to just happen to make way for the plan to work. It was either a writing problem or there was something we were missing, as even the rudest person in the world would try to chat for five minutes before letting the other person dry, especially since Roqayyah had shown interest in knowing him. .

On another note, it is suspicious that no one paid attention to Mariam, Dina and Noaf: three underage girls giggling and laughing in front of a laptop screen for several hours should have attracted the attention of classmates or schoolmates. ‘a teacher.

3. Why did we only see Dina’s brother for two minutes?

Dina’s brother Karim appears in episode four for less than five minutes, and we’re surprised to find out that he’s a lovely, handsome young man. It’s hard to say how old he is, but he appears to be in his twenties. Dina treats him like most teenage girls treat family members, in a “get out of my room!” ” channel type.

Debuting so late in the series made it seem like he would reappear later and possibly play a part in the unfolding of the plot, but we’ll never see him again. Perhaps he had appeared in another scene that didn’t make it to the final cut, but that makes the whole scene featuring him completely useless.

4. Why did Mariam think she was also eliminating Miss Faten (Nadera Emran)?

The school principal, Miss Faten, was never a crowd favorite as she allowed Layan to continue wreaking havoc in the school due to her father’s connections, but her complete reluctance to do so. contact and the fact that he only appeared in episode six made viewers believe there would be a much juicier big reveal. Were they secretly lovers? Business partners? Was there any money exchanged under the table?

No, the “big deal” that “would bring down Miss Faten” was that Laith, Layan’s boyfriend, turned out to be Miss Faten’s son. Maybe she was reluctant to contact Layan’s dad for fear he would connect the dots and find Laith, but if she had known the relationship, she would have nipped it in the bud since she never did. been a Layan fan as a person.

Miss Faten was only “pulled” because of Miss Abeer’s (Reem Saadeh) decision to contact Layan’s father in episode six, who threatened to close the whole school if anything happened to her. girl, so it wasn’t really Mariam’s plan that pushed the plot in that direction.

5. What is the age difference between Laith and Layan?

Laith’s age is never revealed; he looks young enough to still be in college, but certainly a school graduate since he hung out with Layan during school hours, so maybe he’s in his twenties. His character was apparently set up to look a bit like a creep, especially since he was so keen on being alone with Layan and tried to kiss her in the school supply closet during the day’s episode. open doors.

However, in episode six, he understands when Layan tells him that she isn’t ready to go deeper into the relationship while they hang out in her bachelor pad. This was seen as a twist to many viewers, as setting up a character as a creep usually implies that the character will stick to that term later on, like the guy who checked out Noaf by the pool before attempting to latch onto it. ‘sexually assault.

6. Finally, where is the supervision in this school?

After the initial attack on Mariam in the first episode, which seriously injured her, one would assume the school would take better steps to keep an eye on its students – perhaps surveillance cameras, more supervisors, anything, especially considering how prestigious the school is. status.

However, bullying continues to take place at school. Petty comments in the hallway are one thing, but that Layan, Roqayyah, and Rania casually steal Noaf’s younger sister’s inhaler and go completely unnoticed? Or for Layan to print out the pages of Mariam’s diary and litter the hallway with her pages – how did that happen without a single teacher noticing?

The lack of supervision and the gravity of these incidents end up portraying AlRawabi as a prison yard for all rather than a school.

If a second season of AlRawabi School for Girls is in the works, we hope the creators can help viewers find a closure!

Subscribe to the Egyptian Streets weekly newsletter! Stay up to date with the latest news, arts and culture headlines, exclusive features, and other stories that matter, straight to your inbox by clicking here.

Subscribe to our newsletter