Word to most of what you said. Re. the Imam, I think it was both a natural extension of the narrative and a political statement. Pretty much every season has had its "Good Muslim" moment, but they managed to put a different twist on it this year. And props to TPTB for that. There are a lot of fans of this show who hate Islam with a white-hot hatred. Not that the show is going to convince them otherwise, but it's good not to reinforce their existing views.

Of course the writers thought about the politics, but I think they thought about it earlier when they made the decision to introduce the brothers. The later moment with Gohar flowed naturally from that. Gohar provided a confessor figure and absolution for Jack, and it would have been jarring to introduce some other figure for that, clerical or otherwise. Gohar made sense. He also provided a fantastic way to close the circle of the season. Jack started the day on trial for torturing a Muslim, and ended it seeking forgiveness from one. With one, perhaps I should say, as he wasn't seeking Gohar's forgiveness, just asking Gohar to help him find forgiveness.