HBO has always had a monopoly on gripping cable dramas that transport viewers from week to week and make network TV seem childish in comparison. However, over the years various other cable channels have started to get their foot in the door and this rivalry has resulted in a feast of well-scripted shows for the TV audience. AMC has been decimating the competition at every awards ceremony with their superb Mad Men, Showtime's Dexter has been long-revered and is going strong in its sixth season, and even Starz got into the act with the critically loved but short-running Party Down. Now the cable excellence continues with Showtime's latest entry: Homeland.
The show's two protagonists are Carrie Mathison and Nicholas Brody. Brody is a US Marine Sergeant, missing in Iraq since 2003 who is rescued after spending 8 years as a prisoner of war. Mathison is a mulish CIA officer, who is acting on a scrap of intelligence that suggests that Brody has been turned by Al-Qaeda and will be helping to further a terrorist plot on American soil. As you can imagine, these are two highly complex characters and you simply cannot figure out who to root for. The ultimate goal of the series will be to unravel which side is right - will Mathison's suspicions be confirmed, or is Brody a genuine war hero?
The series is slated for 12 episodes and if you think this means that each episode will be ploddingly paced, giving nothing away until the penultimate episode when everything starts to unravel, think again. There is a wealth of story here, none of it dull. The show is based on an Israeli series and has been developed by writers who worked on 24. Unlike 24, the characters on Homeland are free to express themselves rather more coarsely and nakedly (yes there's nudity, what do you expect from cable?) than the "Damn it" that was 24's go-to expletive. Like 24 however, Homeland is filled with urgency, plot twists, and mind games. Brody has been tortured, he has recurrent flashbacks, he has clearly had dealings with the head of Al-Qaeda, he seems to be signalling some sort of code when he's on camera, but maybe that just a nervous tic, and so on. Every time you think he's a good guy, there's a flashback that makes you question it. On the other hand is Mathison. She is tenacious, rather unlikeable, beset by personal and psychological problems, and filled with an absolute certainty when everyone else is racked by doubt. Yet she has people who are willing to break the law for her, a mentor who supports her even when she lets him down, and as the episodes progress, her emotions escape her hard shell once in a while.
Aside from the two leads, the cast is rounded out with captivating performances like that of Morena Baccarin who plays Brody's wife. As a Firefly groupie, it is just a joy for me to see Morena back on my TV set, but even if you don't know who she is, you will now. She effortlessly portrays this woman who is struggling with the return of her presumed-dead husband, the secrets of what she did during those past 8 years, and trying to keep the peace with journalists at her front door and a rebellious teenage daughter who seems bent on undermining her. In the CIA, Mandy Patinkin (that's Inigo Montoya to you Princess Bride fans) plays the wise and venerable Saul, Carrie's mentor and her only confidant in the agency, while David Marciano is the surveillance agent who helps Carrie keep track of all of Brody's movements.
Homeland is a welcome addition to Sunday night TV and since it airs right after Dexter, it will keep viewers riveted on Showtime for a solid 2 hours of quality entertainment. I have no idea how the series will end, and who I want to be right. Both Mathison and Brody are compelling figures and I will be keen to see how the writers bring about the ultimate resolution of this series. If you want to catch up on the 3 episodes that have aired so far, Showtime will be airing a Homeland catch-up on Saturday starting at 9 pm. Let me know what you think - there's plenty of discussion to be had before the series concludes.
The show's two protagonists are Carrie Mathison and Nicholas Brody. Brody is a US Marine Sergeant, missing in Iraq since 2003 who is rescued after spending 8 years as a prisoner of war. Mathison is a mulish CIA officer, who is acting on a scrap of intelligence that suggests that Brody has been turned by Al-Qaeda and will be helping to further a terrorist plot on American soil. As you can imagine, these are two highly complex characters and you simply cannot figure out who to root for. The ultimate goal of the series will be to unravel which side is right - will Mathison's suspicions be confirmed, or is Brody a genuine war hero?
The series is slated for 12 episodes and if you think this means that each episode will be ploddingly paced, giving nothing away until the penultimate episode when everything starts to unravel, think again. There is a wealth of story here, none of it dull. The show is based on an Israeli series and has been developed by writers who worked on 24. Unlike 24, the characters on Homeland are free to express themselves rather more coarsely and nakedly (yes there's nudity, what do you expect from cable?) than the "Damn it" that was 24's go-to expletive. Like 24 however, Homeland is filled with urgency, plot twists, and mind games. Brody has been tortured, he has recurrent flashbacks, he has clearly had dealings with the head of Al-Qaeda, he seems to be signalling some sort of code when he's on camera, but maybe that just a nervous tic, and so on. Every time you think he's a good guy, there's a flashback that makes you question it. On the other hand is Mathison. She is tenacious, rather unlikeable, beset by personal and psychological problems, and filled with an absolute certainty when everyone else is racked by doubt. Yet she has people who are willing to break the law for her, a mentor who supports her even when she lets him down, and as the episodes progress, her emotions escape her hard shell once in a while.
Aside from the two leads, the cast is rounded out with captivating performances like that of Morena Baccarin who plays Brody's wife. As a Firefly groupie, it is just a joy for me to see Morena back on my TV set, but even if you don't know who she is, you will now. She effortlessly portrays this woman who is struggling with the return of her presumed-dead husband, the secrets of what she did during those past 8 years, and trying to keep the peace with journalists at her front door and a rebellious teenage daughter who seems bent on undermining her. In the CIA, Mandy Patinkin (that's Inigo Montoya to you Princess Bride fans) plays the wise and venerable Saul, Carrie's mentor and her only confidant in the agency, while David Marciano is the surveillance agent who helps Carrie keep track of all of Brody's movements.
Homeland is a welcome addition to Sunday night TV and since it airs right after Dexter, it will keep viewers riveted on Showtime for a solid 2 hours of quality entertainment. I have no idea how the series will end, and who I want to be right. Both Mathison and Brody are compelling figures and I will be keen to see how the writers bring about the ultimate resolution of this series. If you want to catch up on the 3 episodes that have aired so far, Showtime will be airing a Homeland catch-up on Saturday starting at 9 pm. Let me know what you think - there's plenty of discussion to be had before the series concludes.
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