''When Heroes Fly'' ( he, בשבילה גיבורים עפים, Bishvila Giborim Afim, Heroes fly for her) is an Israeli drama television series that was first broadcast in Israel on Keshet 12 in May 2018. The series was created by Omri Givon and loosely based on the novel of the same name by

Amir Gutfreund Amir Gutfreund ( he, אמיר גוטפרוינד) (July 23, 1963 - November 27, 2015) was an Israeli writer and columnist for the ''Maariv'' newspaper.Netflix acquired international broadcasting rights to the series. Keshet has commissioned a second season. The series will also be adapted into an English version for the United States market titled '' Echo 3'' by Apple TV+.

Synopsis

Four former IDF veterans who served together in the

2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Leva ...

are reunited for a rescue mission in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, where one of them lives, to find Yaeli (Ninet Tayeb), a woman once believed to have died in a car accident after the war.

Cast

*Tomer Kapon as Aviv Danino *Ninet Tayeb as Yael 'Yaeli' Ashkenazi *Michael Aloni as Dotan 'Himmler' Friedman *Nadav Netz as Dov 'Dubi' Ashkenazi *Moshe Ashkenazi as Yakir 'Benda' Ben-David *Vanessa Chaplot as Maria *Oded Fehr as Moshiko Boaron *Dan Mor as Azoulay *Yael Sharoni as Noga Avrahami *Rita Shukrun as Aviv's mother *Gil Franc as Elisha ("Padre Palido") *Muli Shulman as Ronen Levinger *Assaf Ben-Shimon as Yaki *Nili Rogel as Rona Ashkenazi *Micha Celektar as Avi

Production

Creator Omri Givon had already met Amir Gutfreund, the writer of the original novel years before Gutfreund's death in 2015. Givon spent eight months writing the final script and decided to concentrate on adapting the final part of the novel that deals with Yaeli's rescue. Givon also decided to replace Chicago with

as the site of the rescue mission so that he could focus on the drug trade industry. Givon decided to film in Colombia due to the budget constraints of filming in his original choice, San Diego. Filming also took place in Tel Aviv.

English adaptation

In July 2020, an English adaptation titled ''Echo 3'' was ordered as a straight-to-series of 10 episodes by Apple TV+., to be produced by Keshet Studios with Mark Boal as showrunner and executive producer. In May 2021, it was announced that Luke Evans was set to star in the series. In June 2021, Elizabeth Anweis and Jessica Ann Collins joined the cast.

Reception

The series won Best Series at the first Canneseries Festival in April 2018. Adrian Hennigan said in his review of the series for ''Haaretz'':

"What it does best is show how in Israel, mandatory army service is the melting pot that throws diverse groups together – so an Ashkenazi elite or Orthodox Jew can end up taking orders from a scrappy Mizrahi Jews, Mizrahi kid in a combat unit – and how these formative experiences bond them like brothers for life." Hennigan also compared the show to the Israeli series ''Prisoners of War (TV series), Prisoners of War'': "...with both shows powerfully depicting the silent horrors of PTSD as ex-soldiers struggle with their wartime experiences." Hennigan praised the performances, noting that "Aloni’s performance is the one that really stays with you."

Decider.com, a pop culture website operated by the ''New York Post'', reviewed the series positively.

References

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, tv/when_heroes_fly Israeli drama television series Hebrew-language television series 2018 Israeli television series debuts Thriller television series Channel 12 (Israel) original programming