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Homeland on Showtime (https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=251198)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiveturkey (Post 9196695)

I just don't see where they're going but I had the same issues at the end of season 1.

They've basically wrapped up the current story line and put a bow on it.

I wouldn't go there just yet.

Spoiler!

A terrorist with the notoriety of Bin Laden is holed up in a factory and nobody can find him after an hour or so, so everyone just gives up and goes home? They don't do a walk through with the CIA operative who was captured and last saw him? They don't bring in dogs or any heartbeat monitor equipment, blue prints of the factory, etc?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2 (Post 9199107)

Pretty much, heh

The biggest problem for Showtime's "Homeland": A serious case of Persistent Disbelief Syndrome

As Homeland winds towards a promisingly explosive finale next Sunday night, some critics are tied in knots over what they think are the show's outlandish plot twists and revelations.

But in watching last Sunday's episode, that stuff didn't bother me nearly as much as a typical TV convention that ties me in knots:

I'm calling it Persistent Disbelief Syndrome.

It's that setup in a show where almost no one believes the star character, despite the fact that he or she is almost always right and has a really long track record of being right.

For a while, in Homeland, the writers managed to turn that formula on its ear by having the lead character, Claire Danes' bipolar CIA agent Carrie Mathison, distrust herself when her grand conclusion -- that Damian Lewis' war hero Nick Brody was a sleeper agent working for terrorists -- seemed wrong.

showtime_at_comiccon_2012_homeland.pngOnly the viewers knew she was actually right. And that led to delicious moments when we, as viewers, were sitting at home shouting at Carrie to trust herself. Because only we knew how on-target her instincts actually were.

Flash forward to the end of this season, and Homeland is drowning in a serious case of PDS.

Everyone, especially Carrie, now knows she was right about Brody and he's been turned into an double-double-agent asset for the CIA. Still, the other characters, especially David Harewood's butt-covering CIA director David Estes, must doubt Carrie's instincts to create conflict in each episode. Carrie is not only fighting the terrorists and her own self-doubt, she's fighting the jerks within the CIA who are just itching to marginalize and discredit her for their own reasons.

But, since the show began, Carrie is the only one who has had those patented "magic moments" on TV shows where she connects the dots to figure out details no one else can about what the terrorists are planning.

no-end-in-sight-for-showtime-s-homeland-says-showrunner.jpgIt was Carrie, of course, who originally figured out that Brody was working secretly with Middle Eastern terrorists to try and assassinate the vice president. It was Carrie who rushed into a building in Beirut, as men with guns were trying to hunt her and fellow CIA agents down, to grab the vital evidence which eventually proved her theory.

It was Carrie who figured out how to play Brody so he would turn on his terrorist compatriots. And, Sunday night, we saw it was Carrie who figured out that the show's Bin Laden, terrorist Abu Nazir, had not actually left an abandoned warehouse where he had been holding her captive -- forcing security forces to search the building yet again until she uncovered the place where Nazir was hiding.

If you ask me, the show's most outlandish element is the way no one else makes important discoveries about the terrorists except Carrie -- its as if America's worldwide intelligence network has just one person smart enough to figure out their tactics and plans. And that person is an unstable, impulsive analyst just off electro shock therapy and an affair with a soldier-turned-terrorist who somehow got elected to Congress.

The unbelievable plot stuff -- Carrie just accepts that her sleeper agent beau killed the vice president of the United States, Brody is a Congressman who never seems to be in Congress, Estes knows Brody tried to kill the vice president once but does nothing when the VP dies of a heart attack in the same room with the guy -- doesn't bother me so much.

homeland-season-2-episode-7-video-preview-the-clearing.jpgEven the way Homeland has turned Brody's daughter into a mopey, annoying teen who can't get over killing a woman in a hit-and-run during a joyride with the vice president's son feels like a forgivable sin -- though it has made an irritable afterthought of a character who promised to be so much better than the throwaway teens on most adult-oriented TV dramas.

After a while, Homeland is like Lost; you just have to go along with the ride and try not to think too much about a storyline with more holes than an average piece of Swiss cheese.

But the PDS stuff drives me crazy. Someone who has been right as Carrie has about something so important should not be ignored. Every time Estes gives her that skeptical look, she should say to him: "You're the guy who put somebody with an exploding vest in a concrete bunker with the vice president, jerkface! And I'm the one who figured it out."

homeland-claire-danes.jpgIn truth, somebody savvy as Estes should be using her insights as much as possible, bringing her close and exploiting her to his advantage until Nazir is caught and he can dump her. But to serve the story, he has to doubt her abilities, even as her insights keep piling up. The writers do a savvy job of damaging her -- she sleeps with Brody in a room under surveillance by the agency and incorrectly accuses a fellow agent of working with Nazir. But it still seems silly how often the guys in charge ignore her insights when she's the only one who ever figures out important connections in time.

PDS is also making it awfully tough for me to watch CBS' Sherlock Holmes remake Elementary. Jonny Lee Miller is magnetic as a new-school, super-perceptive Holmes, solving cases for free as a consultant to the NYPD, aided by Lucy Liu's sober coach-turned-confidant Joan Watson.

And in every episode, despite Holmes' impressive and growing track record of solving impossible cases, the detectives who work with him are skeptical of his unorthodox methods and doubt him when his conclusions seem outlandish. By now, they should know -- Holmes is going to figure it out, just let him do his thing. But to create a sense of drama and conflict, they have to doubt and resist him, even as he uncovers every major twist in every major case they investigate.

PDS nearly turned me off another show I loved, CBS' supernatural procedural Medium. Patricia Arquette's middle class mom was a secret psychic whose abilities helped the District Attorney's office in Phoenix, Arizona solve countless cases. But all too often, her insights would be downplayed or ignored, building drama even as I sat at home wondering: Hasn't she proved herself by now?

I'm sure that feeling will nag again on Sunday, as we learn whether Estes' plan to kill Brody and sideline Carrie's mentor Saul -- the only other guy who seems to figure out anything in time -- works out.

But for the future of an often-amazing show, I'm hoping producers figure how to get over their nagging case of Persistent Disbelief Syndrome.

It's the kind of disease which can prove fatal if untreated long enough.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/media/...ampabay.com%29

Yeah, it's turned into just a tv show. A very good t.v. show, but it won't reach that pantheon status.

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Originally Posted by L.A. Chieffan (Post 9201072)

Yeah, it's turned into just a tv show. A very good t.v. show, but it won't reach that pantheon status.

This only started the last 4-6 episodes. It can turn it around next year.

I still think Valdez is the mole.

I read the spoiler for next weeks episode on IMDB last night.

Eh.

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Originally Posted by Sorter (Post 9202099)

I read the spoiler for next weeks episode on IMDB last night.

Eh.

link?

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Originally Posted by Dallas Chief (Post 9204011)

link?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1796960/...read/208079279

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Originally Posted by BigRedChief (Post 9201237)

This only started the last 4-6 episodes. It can turn it around next year.

I hope so. The first 16 or so episodes of this show were incredible. Now it's in wackytown and while it's still watchable, it's nowhere near what it once was. I still haven't seen Friday Night Lights but I've heard they were able to bounce back from an absurd second season. If the writers can reset the show in season 3, I think we could see it get back to greatness.

Thoughts on the finale, as I watch:

15 minutes into the episode: What the **** is this shit? A quarter of the season finale is Brody and Carrie talking about relationships in a cabin while Quinn watches from across the lake. Jesus. It's like Sex and the City and Dexter had a baby together.

Line of the night:

Estes: What is all this squishy bullshit?

It's like he was reading my mind.

I'm starting to think the only way this season makes sense is if Carrie wakes up at the end, and it's been a shock-therapy dream.

I bet the most obvious mole of all time, Valdez, planted the bomb and moved Brody's car. No mention of him in that finale, though he would have conceivably been at the memorial.

Show went full reerun, lol. Silly.

I've still only watched half the finale. I can't believe how bad it's been, aside from the really cool moment with Quinn in Estes' bedroom.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 9220792)

I've still only watched half the finale. I can't believe how bad it's been, aside from the really cool moment with Quinn in Estes' bedroom.

The last half actually makes me hopeful that season 3 will be a return to season 1 quality.

Spoiler NSFW:

Spoiler!

To borrow from Saul, this is the smartest and dumbest ****ing show on television.

How the **** did Carrie and Brody leave Langley? That place would be on lockdown.

What the **** is Carrie going to tell Saul after being missing for over 16 hours?*

I got caught up in a "Honey Boo-Boo" marathon? Took my meds and went to sleep?

Sloppy.

*actually, more than 16 hours. Best case scenario from CIA to a place you could hike across the Canadian border (Lansdowne, Ontario) is 16 hours round trip, not counting the time it took to get the forged documents.

Excellent review of the finale by Sean Collins of Rolling Stone:

Spoiler!

Where do you even begin?

Alphabetically by character, I suppose. Because yeah, for every one thing that worked in "The Choice," Homeland's woeful second season finale, there were three things that didn't. Yeah, my jaw dropped from the twisted brilliance of Al Qaeda releasing Brody's suicide tape, but it dropped again, in the bad way, over the cheesy suspense-movie score when Quinn creeps up on Brody at the lake, and over Carrie tearing into Saul's personal life during their argument for no apparent reason, and over Nazir hitting the little memorial attended by CIA functionaries instead of the eventual big one attended by the majority of the federal government from the president on down. But that's almost irrelevant, because in fiction, plot holes and missteps don't matter if you still get where you need to go. Homeland didn't, not even close. It blew it on a character-by-character basis.

So, Brody: A character who passed his sell-by date all the way back when his bomb and his storyline failed to detonate at the end of Season One lives through yet another season, ready to return for the world's most unlikely and now least credible romance. His continued existence makes a series staffed nearly top to bottom by seasoned showrunners look as in love with its own characters – too in love to do what the story requires – as any first-time novelist or sophomore screenwriting student. For a show all about the consequences of terrorism and counterterrorism, it sure is intent on sparing its leads from them. And the constant George W. Bush won't-get-fooled-again routine is now so old and so exhausted of potential that it's ruining a previously pretty perfect performance by Damian Lewis; his talking-down of a gun-toting and enraged Carrie in Estes's vacant office following the explosion was dire. We put up with Brody's implausible survival after the end of Season One in hopes that the show knew what it was doing, that the character in combination with Carrie was such dynamite that it was worth postponing the explosion. Instead: another clumsy attempt to have their cake and eat it too. I'm not biting this time.

Then there's Carrie, a character who spends half the episode so blithely confident that she'll be asked to rejoin the CIA despite hiding the existence of her mental illness and the extent of her relationship with a double agent and oh yeah, her collusion in the assassination of the vice president of the United States that it reads like the manic ideation she takes pills to prevent. I mean, it'd be totally crazy for them to ask her back, right? Right! But then the show does it anyway, and offers her a goddamn promotion! That's Homeland throwing its future away just as surely as Saul says Carrie would have done had she stayed by Brody's side. You can't trust a series that sets up a crazy, pie-in-the-sky daydream and then makes it come true.

Sometimes, when a storyline comes full circle, it just makes it easier to see how long it's been spinning its wheels. With everyone who could have blown up her spot regarding the hit-and-run up in smoke, Dana's entire season comes back to the final episode of last season, and whether or not she believes her dad is a terrorist in his heart of hearts. The conversation they had, her defense of him to the investigators, her devastation when she sees the confession tape, her perfunctory drawing of the curtains when she sees the press show up—all of that could have happened in exactly the same way the day after Brody's failed attack instead of after some mystery mole's successful one. Everything in between might as well have been Bobby daydreaming in the shower on Dallas. I kind of wish it was – then "Q&A" would have been an all-time great episode of television period, instead of an all-time great episode of television with a dopey car accident at the end.

Next up: Peter Quinn, the Wolverine of Homeland. Don't get me wrong – that lingering shot of Peter sitting in the corner of Estes's bedroom, the way it just. wouldn't. let. you. turn. away. was deeply creepy and unnerving. It didn't hurt that he suddenly sounded like Richard Harrow, either. But what good is a black-ops buttonman to do your dirty work if the buttonman is willing and able to un-press himself? So he's Jason Bourne now? Or the Punisher, insistent that he kill only bad guys? It's comic-book morality, and I very much doubt that you get to be the kind of person Quinn must be to have the job he has and preserve that superhero ideology. The guy they trust to carry out super-duper-illegal assassinations of American citizens on American soil is also a mensch who defends Carrie's romantic entanglements and turns off the spycam when his target gets amorous?

It's tough to hold this against actor Rupert Friend, a strangely magnetic performer who normally gives Quinn the look and vibe of your middle-school friend's mysterious college-age brother, but man is that some phony-baloney Jean Reno in Leon: The Professional hitman-with-a-heart-of-gold bullshit. And it further muddies the waters of an already needlessly sloppy allegory for CIA malfeasance. Why invent Dar Adal's black-ops shop when we know, for a fact, on both the show and IRL, that the highest levels of government routinely order drone strikes that kill innocent civilians by the hundreds? Given that this was the set-up for the entire Brody/Nazir storyline, shouldn't that be plenty to work with right there?

And Saul – oh, alright, Saul's cool. Well, mostly. It's ironic, in the "No, Alanis, it's unfortunate" sense of the word, that Mandy Patinkin was given his best material in the show's worst stretch of episodes, but the one-two punch of his rat-in-a-cage rage while detained by Estes and his clipped, painfully blunt, verge-of-collapse phone call with his estranged wife Mira was a knockout combination. (For real, what a great idea to have her resurface as a character at that moment. Our sense of out-of-nowhere relief mirrored Saul's own.) And since performance trumps plot holes every time, you might, might, even be able to overlook his deep, deep involvement with a double-agent believed to be responsible for the murder of hundreds of people inside ****ing Langley – let's face it, the Agency should have thrown anyone associated with this disaster of an operation off the aircraft carrier with the late Abu Nazir. But they had to go and ruin it with that goofy-ass final shot, in which he reacts to the discovery that Carrie's still alive by widening his eyes and breaking into a lopsided grin like the CIA's highest-ranking Muppet. That this is a callback to Carrie's season premiere-ending smile only makes it worse. That was awesome. This just made me want to shout "Stop looking like a Dr. Seuss character and start placing this woman under arrest."

Look, this episode got off to a strong start, and not just because it jettisoned TV's worst theme song. The opening shot of Brody and Carrie with their hilarious Whole Foods grocery bags? I was so ready to watch the agonizing flameout of the Odd Couple's bittersweet attempt to recreate the magic of their woodland weekend. Even their conversation in the cabin, which consisted almost solely of portentous dramatic irony ("There's no secrets right now," "My only real plan now is to be a good person again," "Maybe this will all end in tears," the amazingly clunky "The thing is, Brody, I also love –" "Careful . . ." ". . . being with you" exchange), couldn't dissuade me from the belief that hey, maybe Homeland's turning it around, maybe they're going to go where they need to with these characters at last.

Instead they concocted a terrorist attack that, were it to happen in real life, would fundamentally rewrite America's source code, and used it just to uncross their star-crossed lovers so that they could live to fight and **** and flee another day. In every way it's a grievous misreading of what made this show matter: pushing the examination of the War on Terror, and the audience's ability to continue to like its fundamentally good-hearted protagonists in the face of their morally and emotionally disastrous actions, as far as they can go. They chickened out. They pulled back. How can you watch a show about matters of life and death that so fundamentally lacks the courage of its convictions? In "The Choice," Homeland chose not to choose. They chose poorly.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/n...#ixzz2FRzd9MKJ
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

Seriously, this season has mainly been garbage and the finale was awful. I love this show but it jumped the shark a long time ago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sorter (Post 9222293)

Seriously, this season has mainly been garbage and the finale was awful. I love this show but it jumped the shark a long time ago.

I hated the love BS between Carrie and Brody. Lame ass shit. But, after that, starting with the guy who kills the bad guys it started to get redeemed. I thought that scene in the bedroom was awesome.

Saul is a great charector and the acting chops on Mandy Pantinkin are off the charts for TV. I never saw the bombing coming. Wonderful acting by Claire immediately after the bomb. And then the episode went back to displacement of reality. Mandy's acting at the end going from praying to smiling at Claire was off the charts too.

I not ready to proclaim its jumped the shark. There is too much talent on this show. I just don't see that talent letting it go off the rails.

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Originally Posted by BigRedChief (Post 9222488)

I hated the love BS between Carrie and Brody. Lame ass shit. But, after that, starting with the guy who kills the bad guys it started to get redeemed. I thought that scene in the bedroom was awesome.

Saul is a great charector and the acting chops on Mandy Pantinkin are off the charts for TV. I never saw the bombing coming. Wonderful acting by Claire immediately after the bomb. And then the episode went back to displacement of reality. Mandy's acting at the end going from praying to smiling at Claire was off the charts too.

I not ready to proclaim its jumped the shark. There is too much talent on this show. I just don't see that talent letting it go off the rails.

God I hope so. I did think that about Dexter too though...

i havent watched season 2, but i hear people saying that season 2 turned this show into a joke and its just really bad now, is it true? i was going to just wait and watch them all back to back to back, but now im not sure i want too.

Finally watched the rest of the finale. Wretched from beginning to end. Wow did this show just completely go off the rails this season.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fruit Ninja (Post 9222748)

Great up until around episode 6 this season then it got quite crazy. There is still potential here, but it remains to be seen whether that previous quality will return.

Blew through the entire show in nearly 2 weeks. Season 2 went from something on Showtime to something on TNT.

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Originally Posted by Fruit Ninja (Post 9222748)

This. I was awaiting to download the entire season at once instead of week by week.... but after the terrible reviews of season 2, I'm just going to retire this show from my watch list and leave it on a high note (season 1).

The storyline with Brody's daughter nearly made it unwatchable on its own.

at least it made a little sense at the end...she was the only one who understood who her dad really was

Maybe it already exists, but somebody should put together a season 2 goofy facial expression gif collage of Carrie, Brody, and his daughter.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fruit Ninja (Post 9222748)

Mrs. FMB! and I watched the entire season 2 over the course of about 5 days. Back-to-back watching, we enjoyed it. But after reading some of the reviews and revisiting some of the plot points, that may be simply because we didn't really have time to dwell on any of the episodes or really think about them.

The more time I've had to think about it, the more I am realizing how bad this season was. Hopefully they can fix it with a new storyline next year, or I'm out.

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Originally Posted by Buck (Post 9237409)

The more time I've had to think about it, the more I am realizing how bad this season was. Hopefully they can fix it with a new storyline next year, or I'm out.

they will realize they lost their way. The feedback has to be everywhere and getting back to them. This was quality TV. Hopefully, it can be again.

just started watching this series. 3 episodes in. Holy **** that chick is hot! the wife. I think I have a new #2 (Natalie Portman is still #1)

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Originally Posted by Bump (Post 9237711)

just started watching this series. 3 episodes in. Holy **** that chick is hot! the wife. I think I have a new #2 (Natalie Portman is still #1)

You stay the hell away from Natalie.

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Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy! (Post 9237782)

You stay the hell away from Natalie.

This.

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Originally Posted by Bump (Post 9237711)

just started watching this series. 3 episodes in. Holy **** that chick is hot! the wife. I think I have a new #2 (Natalie Portman is still #1)

She was the queen in the TV show V.

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Originally Posted by BigRedChief (Post 9237896)

She was the queen in the TV show V.

Was that any good? I had a buddy recommend it but he also watches Big Bang theory religiously.

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Originally Posted by BigRedChief (Post 9237896)

She was the queen in the TV show V.

Morena Baccarin was on Firefly way before that.

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Originally Posted by Sorter (Post 9237913)

Was that any good? I had a buddy recommend it but he also watches Big Bang theory religiously.

Not really. Of course I pretty much think all network shows blow.

my wife an I watched season 1 while traveling to Mexico a few weeks ago, and caught Season 2 over the last 2 weeks. What an uneven plot. Did the writers or director change between seasons?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats. (Post 9241442)

my wife an I watched season 1 while traveling to Mexico a few weeks ago, and caught Season 2 over the last 2 weeks. What an uneven plot. Did the writers or director change between seasons?

It was really about 1/2 way through this season when the show seemed to lost its way. It changed. I was assuming it was a director, producer, writer change.

Wow. I just finished up watching Season 2 of Homeland over the past six days and despite the fact that it's a TV show, I don't have any problems with the way the show unfolded, nor did I think it "fell apart" over the course of the final episodes.

One point that seems to be missing is that IF there is a mole, it's Peter Quinn. Quinn was thought dead at Bassel's shop ("Abu Nazir has no problem killing his own"), didn't kill Brody when he had the chance point blank and wasn't at the memorial service, making it likely that he pulled Brody's car and loaded it with the C4.

Spoiler!

I'm psyched about Season 3.

i hope to god Season 3 isnt a giant scapegoat witchhunt conspiracy on blaming Carrie for everything and she has to turn rogue agent fugutive

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud (Post 9513642)

Wow. I just finished up watching Season 2 of Homeland over the past six days and despite the fact that it's a TV show, I don't have any problems with the way the show unfolded, nor did I think it "fell apart" over the course of the final episodes.

One point that seems to be missing is that IF there is a mole, it's Peter Quinn. Quinn was thought dead at Bassel's shop ("Abu Nazir has no problem killing his own"), didn't kill Brody when he had the chance point blank and wasn't at the memorial service, making it likely that he pulled Brody's car and loaded it with the C4.

Spoiler!

I'm psyched about Season 3.

If there's a mole, I'm guessing it's Galvez.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ponderception (Post 9514127)

If there's a mole, I'm guessing it's Galvez.

Then why didn't Quinn take the shot, as ordered?

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Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud (Post 9514189)

Then why didn't Quinn take the shot, as ordered?

Because he felt bad?

Hence the meeting with Estes.

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Originally Posted by Ponderception (Post 9514318)

Because he felt bad?

I see it like this: He's a professional killer. Professional killers don't "feel bad" when they kill people. Brody was a terrorist and earlier in the season, he stabbed a knife through his hand for "effect". Now suddenly, we're supposed to believe that Quinn has a conscience because he saw Brody praying to Allah? If anything, that scene and the results seem to indicate that Quinn was on Abu Nazir's side, at least from my perspective.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ponderception (Post 9514318)

Hence the meeting with Estes.

I think the meeting with Estes happened so that he'd release Saul, who in turn would make sure that Abu Nazir's burial rites were performed correctly.

I still think Saul's the mole. Which I know seems really wacky.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 9514412)

I still think Saul's the mole. Which I know seems really wacky.

I do too. They teased that possibility early with his wife leaving him, not to mention giving the terrorist girl the means to kill herself in prison before she gave up anything workable.

I think Saul is the mole, and Quinn is there trying to flush him out.

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Originally Posted by Bowser (Post 9514415)

And by all that I think Saul has become disenchanted with America and all her secrets, especially since it has seemingly cost him his family.

I think my random explanation was that Saul is somehow tied to Mossad.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowser (Post 9514415)

I'd take that.

I hope the new season focuses more on Saul than Carrie because she's played out, IMO. Plus, the Carrie-Brody sex scenes are boring. It's not porn, it's like romance novel garbage. Don't waste my time.

Mandy Patinkin is amazing on this show. F. Abraham Murray's character was interesting and I'd like to see that relationship explored a little further.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 9514434)

I think my random explanation was that Saul is somehow tied to Mossad.

I definitely think he's Mossad.

*puts tin foil hat on*

Bit of news that might shed some light on the direction of season 3:

Quote:

NEW YORK, NY – (May 22, 2013) – Today, SHOWTIME announced a number of guest stars that will appear in a variety of roles in the upcoming third season of its Emmy® and Golden Globe®-winning drama series HOMELAND. The series returns for a third season on Sunday, September 29th at 9 p.m. ET/PT, followed by the series premiere of MASTERS OF SEX. HOMELAND season three opens during the aftermath of the horrific terror attack that decimated the U.S. intelligence apparatus, and prompted a global manhunt for the world’s most wanted terrorist – Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis). As Carrie (Claire Danes) and Saul (Mandy Patinkin) begin to pick up the pieces of their shattered professional and personal lives, they are swept up in the political and media firestorm surrounding the terror attack and the subsequent search for Brody’s whereabouts. The guest stars for season three include:

Joanna Merlin (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) as “Grandma Lois,” Jessica Brody’s mother.

Nazanin Boniadi (How I Met Your Mother) as “Fara,” a capable analyst despite her young appearance.

Amy Morton (Boss) as Carrie Mathison’s CIA appointed attorney “Erin Kimball.”

Gary Wilmes (Louie) as “Dr. Richardson,” a psychiatrist helping Dana Brody cope with recent events.

Sam Underwood (The Last Keepers) as “Leo,” a new friend of Dana’s with a troubled past.

In the wake of a terror attack on U.S. soil, the government’s investigation deepens. Those asking for answers include:

Tracy Letts (Prison Break) as “Senator Andrew Lockhart,” the powerful, authoritative and commanding Committee Chairman.

Broadway veteran Lawrence Clayton (Dreamgirls, The Big C) as “Admiral Jim Pennington,” the President’s National Security Advisor.

Pedro Pascal (Graceland) as “Majority Counsel David Portillo,” a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Using "stars" kind of liberally there. Pretty pumped.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveNull (Post 9703162)

Using "stars" kind of liberally there. Pretty pumped.

"stars"? I don't know a single person in that list.

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Originally Posted by BigRedChief (Post 9704963)

"stars"? I don't know a single person in that list.

"Guest Star" refers to an actor that plays a primary role but isn't a series regular.

Wonder if time warner and cbs will work things out so I can have showtime by the end of September:

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iXOUIsu-E0Q?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Seriously, **** Time Warner. I cannot WAIT to be giving my monies to Google Fiber.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 9870986)

Wonder if time warner and cbs will work things out so I can have showtime by the end of September:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...88_634x360.jpg

Just give her the Emmy already.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 9870986)

Wonder if time warner and cbs will work things out so I can have showtime by the end of September:

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iXOUIsu-E0Q?feature=player_embedded" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640"></iframe>

Better. Bad enough to be missing Ray Donovan but to miss Homeland :cuss:

There's a torrent out of the 3rd season premiere already.

The Premiere is September 29th.

What was the deal with the overdub of 'even our own analysts' when Dar was talking with Saul?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baby Lee (Post 9946582)

What was the deal with the overdub of 'even our own analysts' when Dar was talking with Saul?

I couldn't figure that out either. Once great show has fallen, IMHO. Boring and predictable start to the new season. No wonder this hadn't been bumped yet.

homeland sucks right now

Quote:

Originally Posted by tambaberry (Post 10057815)

homeland sucks right now

Could not disagree more.

Saul bringing the hammer down on the new analyst and the new analyst bringing the hammer down on the bankers was top notch writing.

The long game Saul appears to be running is intriguing and damnably opaque right now.

Dana is still irritating, but her speech about why she tried to kill herself and why she now wants to live was pretty solid as well. And at least they finally got her out of those ****ing clunky chunky shoes.

Its quite interesting to peel back the 'Twilight' aspects of the Carrie/Brody romance and see just how much of a drag it has been on her credibility within the CIA, and even her inner circle.

Also - wasn't sure whether to put this in the Breaking Bad thread or here, but apparently 'Lydia' was originally cast as Brody's wife, and even filmed some early episodes. Then they decided they needed some Monica Baccarin sexiness and changed casting.

Saul was not very nice to that muslim lady.

He's totally Mossad.

Great line by a TV blog - re: too much Dana.

I don't want to watch "My So-Called Life: Terrorist Dad Edition

Turned into a yawner a while ago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58 (Post 10060881)

Great line by a TV blog - re: too much Dana.

I don't want to watch "My So-Called Life: Terrorist Dad Edition

WTF is with this Dana BS? This is Showtime, why do we have to change story arc's to cater to the tenny bobber demographics on Showtime?

This has been a slow start. They need to shit can the Dana storyline and get on with Saul's long game and what they got planned for Brody.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRedChief (Post 10065217)

Seriously.

More Mossad Saul. Moar Brody.

...

Kill Dana.

Enjoy this season so far. Much better than last. Assume the action will come.

Oh shit, she and Saul been playing everyone. How did I not see that coming?

Unexpected. There may be some life left in Homeland yet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC_Connection (Post 10110823)

Unexpected. There may be some life left in Homeland yet.

If they kill Dana.

Did you see them killing the Oman and his wife?

A few surprises. Now it may get interesting.

Nice twist. I was wondering where the hell they were going with this.

With the Iranian they can prove that Brody wasn't the bomber.

I'd still like for Dana to successfully off herself. I've never understood where they're going with her story line and unless she winds up being the mastermind terrorist I think that they're wasting my time and testing patience.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keg in kc (Post 10109520)

Oh shit, she and Saul been playing everyone. How did I not see that coming?

Yeah that was crazy. And they did that over 4 episodes. Glad they spent time on that instead of it all happening in one episode.

Need to watch the episode again. Was on a melatonin pill while watching and didn't catch everything I think.

Clare Danes act not can...

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiveturkey (Post 10113433)

I thought she was going to try to sell Saul on the double-agent route. Didn't see him in on it...