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Saturday, October 20, 2012

Homeland is Where the Heart Is




At the urging of my brother, and because I don't watch that many TV shows too closely, I decided to start the new Showtime series "Homeland," starring Damian Lewis and Claire Danes. I'll be the first to admit it.  I have a short attention span these days.  Chalk it up to being super busy with family and school, or whatever other excuse I can come up with, but I usually stick to comedies and other half hour shows.

"Mad Men," "True Blood," and "Dexter" are the rare exceptions.  So I watched an episode of "Homeland" on demand one Friday night, and I wasn't hooked immediately but I definitely knew I wanted to watch the rest.  Serendipitously enough, there was a marathon on the next day because it was premiering soon, so I let it ride while I did other things.  I can't justify sitting myself in front of a television and simply doing nothing.  I have to be accomplishing something, however small.  But "Homeland" was worth it.

The show tells the story of Nicholas Brody(Lewis), a U.S. Army Sergeant who was captured and held by al Qaeda for a few years.  As the show opens, he is being rescued in Northern Iraq.  He is brought back to the United States where he is immediately hailed as a hero for his tribulations.  His partner in Iraq, Sergeant Walker, is presumed dead and the show follows the assumption that he died a traitor as he succumbed to the torture and allegedly offered his allegiance to al Qaeda.



Brody, however, is not what he seems.  Despite being back with his wife (Morena Bacccarin, "V") and family, he acts suspiciously.

He quickly piques the interest of Carrie Mathison (Danes), who is a CIA operative with a specialization in the middle East.  She speaks Arabic fluently, but she has a few secrets of here own.  Danes gets a hunch about him after meeting him and decides to wire his house to spy on him.

Her suspicions are heightened when he continues to act suspiciously, and she comes to the conclusion that he, too, has succumbed to al Qaeda and is essentially a sleeper agent inside the U.S.  The al Qaeda leader in this show is named Abu Nazir, a high profile target who has eluded capture and has terrorized U.S. interests at home and abroad.



With Brody in the spotlight and Mathison pushing her paranoid conclusions that Brody is going to help Abu Nazir launch an attach on the United States, the stage is set for a clash of morals and patriotism.  Has Mathison gone too far? Is Brody innocent? Or is he really a sleeper agent working on behalf of Abu Nazir?

My summary couldn't possibly do the show justice but I urge everyone to check it out to see the intrigue.  Mandy Patinkin also co-stars as Carrie's mentor and foil, Saul.  Who's hiding what?  Who's wrong? Who's right?  You'll have to watch to find out.