Homeland

Started by Kal, October 01, 2012, 11:21:49 AM

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Jeremy Blackman

Re: Pubrick

I don't see either Homeland or The Walking Dead as a serious show, so I don't experience heartbreak or actual outrage. They are often brilliant and always fun to watch. Sometimes especially when things go off-kilter. They are also both strangely interesting to talk about.

This applies to Homeland in particular. My head almost exploded, literally, during Dana's goodbye scene. I'm convinced my neurons were firing in such a way that an actual explosion might have occurred. That kind of Homeland episode is actually sort of hard to beat for impact.

It's a good return on a meager investment of time each week. I don't think any further justification is required.

I think your stronger argument is against people (like myself, unfortunately) who continued to watch Dexter. Those are hours of my life that I will never get back. I have no rational defense for that; I can only explain it as a case of Stockholm syndrome.

(Or maybe it was worth it, for if nothing else.)

Kal

It definitely feels like the writers took a vacation for the first half of the season and now came back.

Last night was intense and pretty great.

Kal

SPOILERS and Boardwalk Empire spoilers!!!

I say that because I just watched the last few episodes of Boardwalk Empire this weekend and there was a great moment with a very similar situation as last night's Homeland.

Van Alden confessing his whole truth and plans to O'Banian, then killing him with no witnesses before he can tell anyone else. Same last night with Brody. I thought that was cool because as he was doing it I was remembering that scene and waiting for it to happen.

©brad

Quote from: Kal on December 09, 2013, 12:04:08 PM
It definitely feels like the writers took a vacation for the first half of the season and now came back.

Last night was intense and pretty great.

Yes! Great episode. Why Brody was allowed to be in that room alone with whatshisfuck I don't' know but it's the kind of ridiculous Homeland flaw you just have to expect and deal with. This show has always ended well. I'm excited for next week's finale.

Brando


The finale was disappointing. You could see Brody's death coming. There really wasn't anything left for him to do but die. I never thought Brody and Carrie were going to get out. The writers just needed to get Carrie and Brody together one last time.

I was surprised that they didn't show any of Brody's family after he died. It felt strange to spend the first half of the season with a lot of focus on them but forget them at the end. It makes me think we won't see them in the upcoming seasons.

It is a good sign that the writers realized they took the Brody storyline as far as the could and needed to restart.
If you think this is going to have a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.

AntiDumbFrogQuestion

I'm just glad they're moving past Brody and making it Carrie's story.

Fernando

is anyone watching?


SPOILERS SEASON 4 UP TO EPISODE 6

It's a shame that sometimes this show enters 24 territory of ridiculousness like moles in key positions (see ambassador's husband), but, it's really entertaining and makes me nervous as hell.

The bad.

- How they got Saul, seriously someone like him going to that bathroom trap alone? and with all his experience? come on.
- Suddenly the ambassador's husband is a great tracker, and how the hell Carrie sends just ONE person to clean up a safe house, seriously, this isn't ridiculous, it's just plain stupid., so far the worst one.
- Carrie trying to off Haqqani while Saul being there doesn't look that bad considering she had the thought of letting drown her baby to get rid of that responsibility.


The Good.

- Quinn FTW.
- I love that Saul is caught and how they are going to get him out of that one, right now I don't think the show will kill him but who knows.
- Claire Danes as usual is great.
- Can't wait to see how they catch Dennis Boyd (ambassador's husband) and everything falls apart, or maybe nothing does and everything ends up in a negotiation where everyone lives and nobody is caught.

Jeremy Blackman

SPOILERS

I've been watching and enjoying it.

The show is strange, because it's essentially campy plotting underneath an attractive gloss. It feels serious and credible but is absolutely insane at the same time. This enrages some people, but I think it's fun.

I can possibly buy Saul falling into the bathroom trap. They did a pretty good job of establishing how bored he was in his new job. It kind of makes sense how childishly excited he got when he was suddenly being a spy again. His literal fumbling was a bit over the top, but I guess even great ex-spies have their embarrassing moments. (Was he ever a field guy? Probably not.) I was mostly confused by how quickly he went into the bathroom. Eh... the more I think about it, the more problematic that was. Maybe that's a tossup.

Saul is probably due for a redemption considering how dumb he was. I'd like to see him escape... or at least escape far enough to be rescued. Preferably in the process he helps actually capture/kill Haqqani.

The AV Club review argues that Saul would have wanted Carrie to take the shot. Thoughts? I dunno, I think Saul would have / should have yelled "take the shot!" when Haqqani was on the phone. It's a worthy sacrifice to make, and he wouldn't have to see his horrible wife again.

The Ayaan stuff was so good that I'm prepared to forgive a lot.

The absence of Dana Brody has really opened my heart.

©brad

I'm with you guys. The show is more fun if you don't think about it too much. Remember when Sal told Carrie "You are the smartest and dumbest fuckin person I know." Well that line sums up Homeland pretty well. I've never seen a show that can pivot from batshit craziness to well-plotted suspenseful verisimilitude so easily. Sometimes you'll watch two scenes back to back and wonder how the same writer(s) came up with something so smart followed by something so mind-numbingly dumb. But what can you do. Every show can't be Breaking Bad.

I wonder what the arc will be for the second act of this season. So far we're getting a lot about the unhidden costs of modern drone warfare and the toll it's taking (if any) on Carrie. It'd be too easy to assume the remaining episodes will be spent on Carrie successfully rescuing Saul and killing this new terrorist bad guy. Speaking of which, does he not look exactly like one of the stereotypical terrorists from Team America?





Jeremy Blackman

That was the most Homelandy Homeland episode I've ever seen. You could put this one in a bottle and give it to someone as a perfect representation of the show. A nail-biting teeter between absurdity and excellence.


MASSIVE SPOILERS


When you know who appeared at the end, my brain knew he was a hallucination, but my heart believed that Homeland would absolutely pull something like this. I could feel my very consciousness being twisted and contorted, and it lasted so long. I can only compare that experience to watching Dana leave home:

Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on November 04, 2013, 02:22:18 AMDuring Dana's entire goodbye sequence, my mouth was literally agape with horror, and I almost started throwing things at the screen.
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on November 30, 2013, 02:03:28 PMMy head almost exploded, literally, during Dana's goodbye scene. I'm convinced my neurons were firing in such a way that an actual explosion might have occurred. That kind of Homeland episode is actually sort of hard to beat for impact.

And in this case, I absolutely enjoyed being trolled. Completely on board.

I think it does strain credulity (I just said that in a Homeland review) that Carrie didn't realize she had been drugged. These were new symptoms. Certainly in at least the early stages, she should have recognized that.

Pretty sure the guy whose arms she ends up in is going to help her out. He must have figured out that he has a rogue agent. It was made clear to us that he didn't authorize Saul's capture and didn't know about it; I believe they even repeated that in a "previously on Homeland." The guy seemed genuine at the airport, too. It's probably time for an ISI protagonist.

Fernando

Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on November 10, 2014, 12:21:11 AM

MASSIVE SPOILERS

Pretty sure the guy whose arms she ends up in is going to help her out. He must have figured out that he has a rogue agent. It was made clear to us that he didn't authorize Saul's capture and didn't know about it; I believe they even repeated that in a "previously on Homeland." The guy seemed genuine at the airport, too. It's probably time for an ISI protagonist.

I too get the feeling that he is going to help her, mainly because when she's calling him Brody he doesn't know who that is; still I hope Carrie being crazy doesn't go further than the next episode.

Dennis Boyd who not long ago was terrified to be a mole right now is really enjoying playing that part, can't wait to see how that turns out.

Loved the conversation between Haqanni and Saul at the dinner table.

samsong

the show's gone full espionage serial and i love it.  that last episode was pretty enthralling with big, pulpy feels to spare.  the carrie quinn relationship is coming along in such a way that i'm hoping will come to fruition in as mythic proportion as there is the potential for.  Big Ideas Entertainment... grand, generalizing, sweeping statements about human existence but as a person who struggles to find hope in anything, this season is gearing up to be particularly cathartic in its sprawl, and its deeply poignant sense of the modern survival instinct.

i've also developed a love of scotch and have had my daily dose while watching last night's episode and writing this now.  too much of anything is bad but too much good whiskey is barely enough, amiright?

happy to have something to look forward to next week.

diggler

That sequence with Saul was pretty breathtaking. They really had me believing he was going to die, which would've been a ludicrous move for the show to make. I'm enjoying this season quite a bit.
I'm not racist, I'm just slutty

Jeremy Blackman

Now that was an episode.

samsong

what the fucking fuck.  i'm tempted to deem this homeland's ozymandias (a la breaking bad).  their finest hour yet, and one of the best episodes of tv i've seen period.  i think i'll watch it again right now.