A Recap of Kuwait's Netflix Show 'The Exchange' Season 1
The second season of the Kuwaiti Netflix show 'The Exchange' will be released on Thursday, Feb. 13.
فيديو ذات صلة
This browser does not support the video element.
Before you dive into the exciting second season, here is the full recap of the first season.
The Exchange Season 1
The show opens in 1980s Kuwait when two competitive cousins, Farida and Munira, become the first women to work in the male-dominated stock exchange.
The show begins with Farida getting divorced from her husband and moving back in with her parents with her young daughter Jude.
Farida wants to work because her husband, Omar, does not pay for their daughter's school fees, however, her father, Adeeb, is not too happy about her starting work after getting divorced.
He is also not happy about paying for Farida's lifestyle, which worries the divorcee. To take her mind off things, she goes to a fundraiser event at her friend Yara's home, where she meets her cousin Munira who is the first female clerk at the Bank of Tomorrow in the Kuwait Stock Exchange.
Munira's manager, Saud, tasks her with gathering information about the company where Omar works, therefore she asks for Farida's help.
The Kuwaiti Stock Exchange
Farida agrees to help and decides to use this opportunity to make a place for herself at the Stock Exchange.
Farida sneaks into her husband's home and gets the information needed for her and Munira's plan. However, instead of giving it all over to Munira, she heads directly to the bank’s vice president, Amir, who she knows personally because he is Yara's husband.
In this way, she secures a job at the stock exchange as a clerk. Omar does not want to pay for his daughter's private school tuition and wants to transfer her to a public school. Farida agrees to this for the time being so that she can earn enough money to transfer Jude back.
Although, Munira makes things difficult for Farida at times, they do realize that as the only two women at the stock exchange, they have stick together.
Both women receive recognition for their work in the finance field by a newspaper, which leads to their families appreciating and respecting them.
Challenges at the Stock Exchange as a Woman
Nonetheless, both women face various challenges at work. Saud and Amir decide to short-sell a company called 'National Cement', but the women do not want to be involved in this transaction since they think it unfair, however they are compelled to do so.
The short-selling coincides with the company's presidential reelection and Munira finds out that her father is leading the reelection and he soon becomes the president of the company. He had also directed the Bank of Tomorrow to put the company and its current president in this precarious situation.
The journalist who wants to interview Munira and Farida wants to cover this story and reveal it to the public.
Nevertheless, Munira and her father's relationship is salvaged when the story about her and her cousin is published in the newspaper, which makes her father proud of her.
The cousins face various instances of gender discrimination at work. One instance shows a successful trader at the exchange making a mistake writing the checks, which leads to the bank owing him a large amount of money. Although, the trader was in the wrong, the all-male jury put the blame on Farida who was involved in the transaction.
Both cousins are approached romantically: Munira by Saud and Farida by an employee of a rival bank, Khalifa. Neither accept these men's proposals because they want to focus on their careers.
The Ending of Season 1
The show ends with showing the chaos of October 1987, when the stock markets of various countries around the world crashed, leading to panic and worry in Kuwait as well.
The investors and traders feared a financial crash of the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange, therefore the banks involved work towards developing solutions to save themselves.
In the final moments of the series, before the assumed crash, chaos erupts at the exchange as everyone tries to save their money.
Saud falls sick and Munira comes to help him while Farida triggers the fire alarm system, forcing everyone to exit the building.
The transactions during these moments are not finalized, which saves these banks from losing money and the stock exchange does not suffer the crash.
Read More: Plestia Alaqad's Book Comes out This April
When Munira and Farida return to the Stock Exchange after some days, Munira has been promoted to manager since Saudi quits his job and Farida has taken on Munira's previous responsibilities on the trading floor.
The two women helped with the success of a deal between the Bank of Tomorrow and a successful company which wanted to launch IPOs through the bank.
Although, Farida is not able to get her daughter back into private school, she explains the situation to Jude who understands the situation.
Amir decides to waive off Farida's debt which she owed the bank for the miscalculated checks.
The two women finally settle into their roles at the stock exchange and the second season promises more exciting twists and turns at the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange.
This article was previously published on kuwaitmoments. To see the original article, click here