TV Recaps Reviews

Tony in his blog states he’s been to eighty or ninety countries in his travels. Tony describes the Liberia episode saying “It was hard for me”. Tony tells the audience that no place has depressed, inspired, confounded, amazed, sickened, intimidated, horrified, exhausted him as much, or shown him how wrong he was about Liberia. Tony is conflicted about the history of violence, the myriad of natural resources available that are not used enough for the benefit of the country, and the changed status of this once violent country that at once inspires him and depresses him. Tony tells the audience about the history of Liberia, supposed to be “Little America”, that fell into a civil war with child soldiers, guns, drugs and where a quarter of a million citizens died in battle. Today Liberia is the first African nation with a woman president. Personal safety is still an issue here, requiring Mr. Bob, a security consultant, to roam with the film crew. The people of Liberia are hopeful that this extreme violence is in their past, not their future.

The story begins in Staten Island, New York as Tony visits Liberian expat Joe Dugbo. Joe left his children during the civil war and has not seen them since, telling Tony stories about the war and his survival during the conflict. Tony learns about Joe’s son Rochford, who is completing his schooling in Liberia, and agrees to meet with him when he visits Liberia. Tony sits at the kitchen table with Joe as his wife serves them pepper soup, crawfish with rice, palava sauce, fufu made from cassava, and pig’s feet. Tony discovers that Liberian food often features crab, meat, dried fish, hot peppers and palm oil.

Tony arrives in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia where he tells the audience its hot here, “really, really, really hot”, with no hint of wind, noting Liberia has bad roads and poor infrastructure. Tony travels to Duala Market, where women tend to hold the most power. The market features Liberian foods such as kissimmee snails, cassava, monkey meat, hot peppers, palm oil, and palm nut. One of the local market women shares with Tony that the final battle of the civil war ended at Duala market, where the women there stood up to the soldiers, ending the conflict. Tony meets Mr. Sinaray, president of the Scrabble association. Tony sits in the meeting room of the association where the men talk politics, drink chinese tea and play scrabble.

Next Tony visits Joe Dugbo’s son Rochford, who lives with his aunt. Rochford at 28 is finishing high school, his schooling interrupted by the years of civil war. Rochford plans to attend college next. Rochford’s aunt prepares an okra soup for their meal, served with fufu and rice. Rochford tells Tony he was born at LAMCO, a company mining town that housed Liberians, along with the other company compound for the Firestone company. Once the civil war began, the compounds were destroyed and locals fled. Rochford asks Tony to take a family keepsake, a bottle with pictures of Joe and his wife, back to his father. Tony tells Rochford he would be honored to deliver this gift to Rochford’s father Joe in Staten Island.

Tony visits Gurley ghetto, where World Resurrection Ministry is located. Tony tells the audience that church is a major part of the Liberian life, churches are everywhere, even in dicey areas rife with violence, the churches are loud and lively. The scenes showing the church service at World Resurrection Ministry seems similar to evangelical and Baptist church services with the addition of some extreme dancing. Tony talks church in Liberia with Bishop Francis Thomas while dining over some grilled street meat. The reverend tells Tony that “Church comes first, then education” in Liberia.

Tony and the crew take a trip off the grid, “A journey without maps”, visiting Zarwulugbo Village in Nimba County, a rural Liberian tribal village that is so remote the only way to find it is by using GPS. Tony tells the audience this is the most remote place he has ever been. Tony and his guide are greeted by the villagers as the helicopter takes off, leaving them in the village to stay overnight. Tony and his guide are greeted with a ceremony of food: rice, egg and chalk, the chalk used to decorate the face after eating. Music and dance follows the food ceremony as they are welcomed. Tony is feeling intimidated and unsure what to do next. The camera crew and producer agree to simply film the dancing and singing as it happens with no structure as Tony watches in amazement and smiles at the villagers. The village suddenly returns to normal life as they begin pounding cassava for fufu and go fishing. Tony notes the few Americanized items of donated t-shirts and plastic bottles in contrast to the ancient setting of thatched huts and village life. The women fish and cook as the men go off to hang out together, jokingly described by Tony as “The trail to Palm wine city where everybody knows your name”. Tony joins the men as they gather palm wine, a drink which ferments quickly but is far from Tony’s favorite alcoholic beverage. Tony’s guide tells him this place in the village is a place of compromise where men who have differences work them out and make peace with each other.

Tony and his guide join the village in a meal comprised of cassava leaf, dried fish and anteater stew, served with a variation of fufu dipped in sauce which is swallowed instead of chewed. The villagers entertain themselves in the evening with music and dance. Tony wakes up the next day to find that “the devils”, who are believed to be the power of the village, visit in the day and in the evening in the village. The daytime devil appears in costume, dancing through the village, while the nighttime devil is not allowed to be seen by visitors outside of the village. Tony tells the viewing audience he was treated the best in this rural village in all of Liberia, given respect, food, and welcomed gladly to their way of life.

The next day Tony is seen in Monrovia at the beach, looking poorly. Tony has not had food poisoning since 2000, but he thinks the culprit is the giant sea snail he ate. Tony tells the viewers he has spent the last 48 hours barfing his brains out, “Crawling and puking between bed and bath, praying to every known deity”, and feeling like death warmed over. Tony says his producers tell him today he must go to the beach and surf. Tony, who can barely walk, follows his instructions, meeting with the original local surfer of Liberia who gives him lessons. Tony can barely paddle his board out into the surf and knows very quickly what a mistake it was for him to try and surf that day, saying he was “Dead on my board” and calling it a “Very, very, very bad idea…you might as well have strapped Jimmy Hoffa to the board, he’d have been more animated and grateful”. Tony gives up on the surfing and stumbles out of the water.

Tony is feeling better today and ready for barbecue beachside and some fishing with the locals. Tony helps the fishermen pull in the catch at shore using the wide net they cast out. Fishing occurs three to four times a day, with the boat owner getting the best of the catch, then dividing up the rest of the fish with the fishermen. Tony finally feels like he can eat again, having not been able to keep down water or saltines for some time now. Mrs. Peabody, the host of the barbecue, grills up blood fish, tuna, grouper, along with sides of rice, fufu, sweet potato greens and collard greens. Tony decides he will pass on any foods with palm butter for now due to his queasy stomach. Tony and the surfer guide feast on the barbecue meal under a beach tiki hut with the surf behind them.

On his return to the U.S., Tony visits Joe Dugbo in Staten Island and delivers the treasured bottle from Rochford. Joe smiles and tells Tony if the bottle remains closed his marriage will last. Tony shares time with Joe as they remininsce about Liberia, with Tony telling the audience he is still feeling torn about his travel experiences in this complex country.