![]() Second Season Poster | |
Written by | Ethan Reiff Cyrus Voris Angel Dean Lopez Alexander Woo Kamran Pasha Katherine Lingenfelter Andrew Barrett Nina Fiore |
Directed by | various |
Produced by | various |
Starring | Michael Ealy Oded Fehr Carlos Gómez Kevin Alejandro Henri Lubatti James LeGros Melissa Sagemiller |
Music by | Paul Haslinger |
Cinematography by | various |
Editing by | various |
Distributed by | Showtime |
Rated | TV-MA |
Sleeper Cell is an American one-hour drama on the Showtime network that began airing on December 4, 2005. The tagline for the first season was "Friends. Neighbors. Husbands. Terrorists." and the tagline for the second season was "Cities. Suburbs. Airports. Targets."

The series was nominated for an Emmy award for Outstanding Miniseries. The eight-episode second season of the series, titled Sleeper Cell: American Terror and premiered on December 10, 2006. Both seasons of the show were originally aired in an unusual fashion, by filming the entire season ahead of time and then airing the episodes on consecutive nights, such that each brand new season was aired for the first time over a period of less than two weeks.
Show Concept[]

Darwyn Al-Sayeed, a 30-year-old American undercover FBI agent who is a Muslim and embracing Islam as his religion, is assigned to infiltrate a terrorist sleeper cell that is planning an attack in Los Angeles. The cell is run by an Arab extremist named Faris al-Farik who disguises himself as a Jew. The members of the cell come from a variety of racial backgrounds and conflicting personalities. The series also portrays the hypocrisy and dichotomy of the cell members who claim to be Muslims but engage in behavior that is sinful in Islam (e.g. sex outside marriage) yet they profess a desire to be martyred for Islam.
Darwyn is supervised by FBI senior agent Ray Fuller, also a close friend who worries for Darwyn's safety.
In the second season, Darwyn infiltrates a new cell that has formed to avenge the defeat of the original cell. When his second handler, Patrice Serxner, is killed in Sudan, Darwyn must try to work with yet another handler, Special Agent Russell. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Gayle is drawn deeper into the intrigue when she's caught between Russell, Darwyn and a member of the cell.
The writers once again offered a non-stereotypical mix of cell members, including a white European woman, a Latino-American man and, in a first for American television, a gay Muslim man.
Cast of Characters[]
Main Protagonists/Antagonists[]
- Michael Ealy as Darwyn al-Sayeed (Alias: Darwyn al-Hakim)
- Oded Fehr as Faris "Farik" al-Farik / Saad bin Safwan
- Henri Lubatti as Ilija Korjenić
- Alex Nesic as Christian Aumont
- Blake Shields as Thomas "Tommy" Allen Emerson
- Melissa Sagemiller as Gayle Bishop
- Omid Abtahi as Salim
- Kevin Alejandro as Benito 'Benny' Velasquez
- Thekla Reuten as Mina
Recurring Characters[]
- James LeGros as Special Agent Ray Fuller
- Albert Hall as The Librarian
- Michael Desante as FBI Special Agent Alim Saleh
- Joshua Feinman as FBI Tech
- Sonya Walger as Special Agent Patrice Serxner
- Megan Ward as Mrs. Fuller
- John Fletcher as Deputy Attorney General of the US
- Ally Walker as Lynn Ellen Emerson
- Raj Mann as Radical Muslim Man
- Luis Chavez as Khashul
- Jay R. Ferguson as Special Agent Russell
- Michael Rady as Jason
- Susan Pari as Samia
- Sarah Shahi as Farah
- Angela Gots as Carli