The “honorable woman” of the title is Nessa Stein (Maggie Gyllenhaal), daughter of Eli Stein, the so-called Sword of Israel, who was a major supplier of weapons to the Israeli Defense Forces. She and her brother Ephra (Andrew Buchan), want a different legacy for the Stein name and so have created a foundation to build bridges, through the internet, between Israelis and Palestinians.
The underlying problem is that Nessa has a secret that she is willing to do anything to keep; a secret she believes would bring down the Foundation if it were revealed. Ephra too has a secret, which happens to be the trigger for everything that occurs in this brilliantly written and acted espionage drama.
An important contractor for the Stein Foundation dies under unusual circumstances, so Sir Hugh Hayden-Hoyle (Stephen Rea), of MI6 is assigned to investigate. His dissipated manner and hang-dog expression belie his determination to close what is to be his last case before retirement (a bit of a cliche, to be sure).
Atika Halabi (Lubna Azabal), is housekeeper and nanny to Ephra Stein’s children. She is the only person who knows both Nessa’s and Ephra’s secrets, and has one of her own as well. She is of such a strong and consistent character, that I can say that this series has more than one honorable woman.
My praise is not unalloyed however, due to two glaring weaknesses, one of which undermines the entire premise of the story. The first is the fact that one of the main characters is continuing to pine over his ex-wife. I wouldn’t mind if this were somehow relevant, but it’s not. Each time we are subjected to this pathetic display, everything comes to a screeching halt.
The second weakness is the secret that Nessa Stein has chosen to keep. In my opinion, her secret is one that need not ever have been kept. Her rationale for deciding to keep it strains credulity, at least it does mine. However, if you are willing to overlook the sappy love story and the unlikely premise for this drama, I still recommend it very highly.