Homeland

[Fernando]

SPOILS S03E04


So everything was a ploy to get Carrie into the terrorist pay roll....ok that was nice, I knew there was no way she would turn on the CIA, but didn't see coming that it was a plan, I thought she would spill the beans with Saul to earn her way back in (again), anyway that was good stuff.


OTOH...Dana's story line is worthless, or at least too boring for me, yeah she's a teen and teens do stupid shit but still.

Jessica Brody's story could be better if they took the ''we need to talk about Kevin'' route, showing the horror to live under such a dark shadow; so far I have no idea if the writers have something interesting on the horizon for the Brody clan but right now it all seems pointless.

[Stefen]

He doesn't know what's going on with Dana but whatever it is, Mike's going to get to the bottom of it.

He can't carpool the Brody family around if Dana stole their economy mid-side mini-wagon.

[AntiDumbFrogQuestion]

They're turning the Brody family into every other character on Dexter besides Deb & Dexter.

[©brad]

Spoilers...


Oh christ I give up. That Dana goodbye scene was some of the most ridiculous shit ever committed to celluloid. The new bad guy is a bore and totally unearned. They spent two seasons building up Abu Nazir as the scariest brown guy ever and now we get this random feckless asshat as the new villain. And Carrie is pregnant? They're already jumping that lazy shark?

I'm going to start watching movies again.

[cine]

Spoilers...


Oh christ I give up. That Dana goodbye scene was some of the most ridiculous shit ever committed to celluloid. The new bad guy is a bore and totally unearned. They spent two seasons building up Abu Nazir as the scariest brown guy ever and now we get this random feckless asshat as the new villain. And Carrie is pregnant? They're already jumping that lazy shark?

I'm going to start watching movies again.

so glad i stopped watching this show after season 1.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Uh, yeah. That episode was unforgivable.

(SPOILERS)

During Dana's entire goodbye sequence, my mouth was literally agape with horror, and I almost started throwing things at the screen. She is officially the most loathsome character I have seen in recent memory.

And that's not the intended effect. We are obviously supposed to respect her decision, as her mom does, which itself is more than a little unrealistic. Why would she just let her go? I'm sorry, no, don't let her go anywhere. I just wanted to run into that scene and slap everyone.

Seriously, is Dana aging backwards right now? Why is she so dumb? Why can't she be like her brother and just deal with things? Why must she create massive public drama out of every human emotion that she experiences? What is clearly meant to be "inner turmoil" and "her experience" simply translates as bratty self-righteousness. Absolutely insufferable.

Dana is a cancer on the show, which even metastasized into Carrie's story last week.

I actually do think the Saul/Carrie/Quinn operation is engaging and has a lot of promise. But this episode shot itself in the face... twice.

My reaction to the pregnancy test scene went something like this:

1. Abject horror
2. I'm just going to pretend this scene didn't happen.
3. So wait, she really has an entire stinky drawer full of urine-encrusted plastic sticks?

I think the shark has indeed been jumped.

[diggler]

I don't understand why they haven't written Brody's family out of the show yet. Dana's entire story line this season could have been summed up in an episode or less. I also think they're going to have a hard time coming up with new brown boogiemen after Nazir was built up so much. I like Saul, Quinn and even lip quivering Carrie but the melodramatic plotting of the show really drags it down. 

[Kal]

So the key to this show is to forget the details and not get caught up in sloppy writing and plot holes. Just enjoy the ride. It's finally fun and fast paced again. The last few episodes feel like there's been a lot happening and it's good!

[Jeremy Blackman]

I agree. The show is back on track and doing pretty much as well as I can ask.

Dana's appearance this week was a real drag, as one would expect. It was at least satisfying to learn that she's living with the consequences of her own stupidity. Several episodes ago I wanted her killed off, but now I'm content to let her suffer.

And of course she continues to be oblivious to reality when it's literally staring her in the dumb face. Carrie bringing her dad to see her is basically proof that the CIA believes he is innocent, but that went right over her head.

[Jeremy Blackman]

SPOILERS

So wait a second. If Brody takes out Iran's defense minister, won't Iran instantly realize that the CIA turned him? And that one very possible reason for this assassination is Javadi's ascent to power?

Won't Javadi be incredibly suspect, especially when he starts pushing for reconciliation? He is already suspect, having just had an adventure with a CIA agent.

This is a pretty big flaw in Saul's plan, is it not?

[©brad]

Um YEAH. This freaking show I swear. 

I still can't get over the Rocky montage and the "6 weeks later" titlecard that preceded it.

[Pubrick]

why do you guys keep watching this crap when you KNOW it will jump the shark AGAIN and AGAIN? are you really that hard up for things to watch? then kal says the only way to enjoy the show is to ignore all the things that make it a bad show.

why don't you just fling some feces on a wall and watch it drip down to the floor? sounds like if you just ignored that it's a piece of poo and on your own wall and that it stinks, it might actually make for some good viewing!

i haven't seen this but it was obvious from the beginning that it's one of those shows that goes nowhere. same thing happened to dexter, same thing happens with a million shows, and it will happen with walking dead too. they have no idea what they're doing and it's weird that you guys don't care. i honestly think of pod people when i think of the audience that watches these duds.

no offence. i'm just baffled. i wonder if it's the american culture to just consume anything that's served to you, even if it sucks. or maybe it's something else, because there's a mexican here too. maybe it's just the kind of people we all are. it's fascinating really. you're like abused spouses.

i speak from experience you see. there was nothing that hurt more in terms of leaving a tv show than when i completely stopped watching the simpsons after they became unforgivably bad in season 13. i noticed the signs two years earlier, but it was undeniable that they gave zero fucks about their audience at that point. and i love that show like nothing else. i haven't seen a single episode since then.

it's tough. but you just have to walk away. spend some time with things that are actually good. there's so much out there. just my advice.

[©brad]

This show is not essential viewing by any means but it's not bad enough to warrant no discussion at all. Yes it can be maddening and batshit crazy but then out of nowhere it can turn around and do something awesome you didn't expect. It's rarely boring and definitely not the worst way to spend 43 minutes on a Sunday evening. None of us are investing that much energy analyzing it. We know what we're getting. We pop in here, make a stupid comment and move on. I generally agree with you that life is too short to waste watching crap, which is why I avoid most TV. But come on, you're never in the mood to relax and watch something stupid?

[Pubrick]

But come on, you're never in the mood to relax and watch something stupid?

Absolutely. I just got the impression from the last couple of pages that people were genuinely upset and surprised that the show continued to display little respect for the viewer's intelligence. It doesn't seem like a reaction you would get for something that was really just for dumb enjoyment like the housewives of whatever.

I was under the impression that it was actually trying to be a good show. Certainly people I know call it the best thing on tv and I have no respect for their opinion thereafter. If it's really meant to be mindless entertainment then I apologise, as I misunderstood.

In that case, no one should show any surprise when it goes to shit yet again. I mean that's what you're all expecting isn't it?

[BB]

i speak from experience you see. there was nothing that hurt more in terms of leaving a tv show than when i completely stopped watching the simpsons after they became unforgivably bad in season 13. i noticed the signs two years earlier, but it was undeniable that they gave zero fucks about their audience at that point. and i love that show like nothing else. i haven't seen a single episode since then.

Just to clarify, do you mean you've stopped watching the show altogether (no reruns, DVD viewings, etc.) or you stopped at season 13 (which is when I stopped too)? Did 13 sully all that came before it? I sense this can't be...