Homeland - Emmy wins - is it really that good?

[aceplace57]

I haven't watched Homeland yet. Last nights Emmy wins for season 1 got me interested.

I know there's 12 episodes to get through and Season 2 starts Sept 30.

Is it really this great? I was skeptical that a story about a CIA agent and a possible Marine traitor could make a series. A 2 hour movie? Sure.

Is there more to this series than Claire Danes giving this guy the stink eye for 12 episodes? I'm having trouble imagining 12 hours of "is he a traitor or isn't he". Is there some good character development? What makes this show so good?

Lets discuss, but try to avoid spoilers.

[Munch]

Yeah, it's really that good. Breaking Bad continues to get the shaft in Emmy wins, but Homeland is an incredibly well done show. The first couple episodes should be all you need to determine if you want to keep watching - it's not a "you gotta give it 6 episodes before it really takes off" kinda thing.

[PacifistPorcupine]

I've really enjoyed the series. The first season managed to keep me guessing. Plus it's filmed around here so that's new and cool. Mandy Patinkin was about 10 yards away from me at Symphony in the Park earlier this year, and I almost bumped into Damian Lewis at IKEA. Plus I'm pretty sure it's them that have taken over the fire station a couple of blocks away from my office for the past few months.

[Rollo Tomasi]

Yes, it's absolutely that good. I was glued to it pretty much from the opening scenes.

[RetroVertigo]

Yes it is excellent. Both Lewis and Danes give very realistic performances (to what I'd call difficult characters).

[NAF1138]

I will go so far as to say that it's a better show than Breaking Bad, and I love Breaking Bad. It's really good. I don't think I can say more without spoilers. Just check it out.

[Dewey Finn]

I agree that the show is very, very good, but I think it loses a few points for being a remake. (It's an adaption of an Israeli show.) I'd have preferred to see Breaking Bad, Mad Men or even The Good Wife win.

[NAF1138]

Originally Posted by Dewey Finn

I agree that the show is very, very good, but I think it loses a few points for being a remake. (It's an adaption of an Israeli show.) I'd have preferred to see Breaking Bad, Mad Men or even The Good Wife win.

From what I can tell it is a very very different show from the Israeli version which was more about dealing with shell shock after being a POW. More inspired by than a remake.

[Tarwater]

It's good because the actors are phenomenal and the writing is great. But...

Is there more to this series than Claire Danes giving this guy the stink eye for 12 episodes? I'm having trouble imagining 12 hours of "is he a traitor or isn't he". Is there some good character development?

... this is pretty much what it is.

It works because the characters are interesting and honestly portrayed. If you've ever seen 24, then you'll be more or less prepared for how the major beats unfold. Howard Gordon, one of Homeland's creators, was also a major contributing writer to 24 and it's easy to see that experience coming up time and time again when you're watching Homeland.

It feels like 24 for adults, basically. Not to denigrate 24's audience, among whom I would count myself, but network television requires that a show appeals to the lowest common denominator. The characters broader, more cartoonish in network television; the writing is very easy to grasp, sometimes juvenile, and more often than not, patronizing in the way that it's always, always dumbing everything down.

Homeland doesn't do most of that.

[theR]

Homeland is good, particularly the acting. I don't think it should have won for best drama or writing. It's a very good show, but I find it difficult to suspend disbelief at certain points, which I believe is because of not-quite-great-writing, and I feel it could definitely be a notch better than it has been.

[Wheelz]

Every clip I've seen features Claire Danes chewing up the scenery and SHOUTING all of her lines with EXTREME URGENCY. I assume she's not always like that, but it seems to be what they choose to showcase, and my god, that makes me never want to watch, ever.

[Mk VII]

She's supposed to be a manic-depressive. Her performance as such has been praised by people with experience of this.

[aceplace57]

I just finished the pilot. There are some good characters. Claire Danes is really, really intense. She alienates nearly everyone that she meets. It gets in the way of her job. Her secret anti psychotic drug use is a nice twist.

Brody's family is interesting. The wife screwing his best friend. Teen daughter doing drugs. Welcome home daddy. LOL

It is weird seeing the guy from Band of Brothers as a possible traitor.

I'll keep watching. So far its off to a good start.

[Ibn Warraq]

I loved the first season. Fantastic characterizations.

I also liked the way the writers were often willing to look at it from the point of view of "the terrorists" and the "terrorists" we meet were neither humanized nor demonized.

The only other Hollywood production I've ever seen do that was Sleeper Cell, unless you want to classify Paradise Now as such.

It's certainly a nice break from seeing them as either mustache twirling villains or good people who went nuts when the saw their parents/wife/kids/family slaughtered(IE Brad Pitt in The Devil's Own).

I also loved the leader of an radical Islamist guerilla group having a son named Issa(Jesus in Arabic).

[aceplace57]

I thought returning long held POW's got extensive counseling for months or years. Brody could still be helped even if he got turned in captivity.

I'm enjoying it so far. I watched two eps today. I should be caught up in a week or so. Just in time for the new season.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Originally Posted by aceplace57

Lets discuss, but try to avoid spoilers.

Originally Posted by aceplace57

I just finished the pilot. There are some good characters. Claire Danes is really, really intense. She alienates nearly everyone that she meets. It gets in the way of her job. Her secret anti psychotic drug use is a nice twist.

Brody's family is interesting. The wife screwing his best friend. Teen daughter doing drugs. Welcome home daddy. LOL

It is weird seeing the guy from Band of Brothers as a possible traitor.

I'll keep watching. So far its off to a good start.

So much for avoiding spoilers.


mmm

[Snupzilla]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

So much for avoiding spoilers.


mmm

Actually, I think these are all things you could learn in the extended commercials for the show they'd play on Showtime before the first season started.

[aceplace57]

Yeah, any review of the show revealed what I wrote. I don't know any spoilers after watching only 2 shows. The plot has barely gotten started for me.

[phxjcc]

Originally Posted by aceplace57

I thought returning long held POW's got extensive counseling for months or years. Brody could still be helped even if he got turned in captivity.

I'm enjoying it so far. I watched two eps today. I should be caught up in a week or so. Just in time for the new season.

Yes, but do not bring reality into a fictional show.

Ditto our protagonist's issues, oh and the antagonist's army buddy boinkin' his wife, oh--and....

But it is a very effectively manipulative drama.

[HenryGale]

Just had to chime in and say that I was one of the people who had never seen Homeland, and was cursing its name on Emmy night as it nearly swept the Drama category, stealing awards from all of my favorites.

Yeah, and now I'm six episodes in and completely hooked. I don't know if I'd call it a better show than Breaking Bad, or Damian Lewis's performance better than Brian Cranston's or Jon Hamm's... but it has six episodes left to change my mind.

(as a side note, I'm also very happy to finally find Mandy Patinkin in something that I'm interested in watching! The beard suits him.)

If anyone else is perusing this thread and considering watching Homeland, I'd recommend giving it a try. I agree with whoever said that you'll know if you're going to like it after an episode or two.

[Cumbrian]

Originally Posted by aceplace57

It is weird seeing the guy from Band of Brothers as a possible traitor.

I think this was an inspired piece of casting, precisely for this reason.

I'll chime in with everyone else and say Homeland is a really good show, lifted by some simply brilliant performances. The two leads are great but some of the supporting cast are just as good. The writing could have lead this to be a bit hackneyed in the wrong hands but the actors really make this piece stand out.

As to whether it's better than Breaking Bad, Mad Men or what have you. Who's to say? They're all so different that the call on that is pretty much down to the person who's watching. They're all great. Is that enough?

[aceplace57]

Season 1 cheat sheet for anyone that wants to get up to speed for season 2.

I'm still watching the episodes. Saw ep 5 tonight. Haven't peeked at the cheat sheet yet. I'm tempted, but won't look until I've seen all season 1.

**spoilers**
http://theclicker.today.com/_news/20...-season-2?lite

[LVBoPeep]

FYI... looks like Showtime is running a marathon of season one this Saturday...

[AuntiePam]

Don't listen to Bianculli's review on NPR today if you want to avoid spoilers for the first season.

He's seen the first three episodes of season two and says the excellence continues.

[SaharaTea]

My husband and I got so addicted to season 1 that we were staying up til 1 or 2 on work nights simply because we had to see one more episode. It was just like the hilarious Battlestar Galactica skit from Portlandia.

[ThelmaLou]

I'm just starting to watch it. The pilot is on Showtime right now.

Trivia note: the Asian woman at the debriefing Carrie is attending is "W," the irascible kitchen gadget guru from Good Eats.

That is all.

[don't ask]

Originally Posted by aceplace57

Is there more to this series than Claire Danes giving this guy the stink eye for 12 episodes? I'm having trouble imagining 12 hours of "is he a traitor or isn't he". Is there some good character development? What makes this show so good?

One of the best things about the series, other than the uniformly terrific acting, is the story telling decisions that were made. So no they don't do is he/isn't he like most series would - they let you know his allegiance during the first episode. And then they manage to muddy the waters with a cliffhanger a week for most of the series.

I only started to watch it because I had recently seen Claire Danes in Temple Grandin and been very impressed. I was instantly hooked by Homeland.

[ThelmaLou]

Okay. Midway through the second episode. I'm hooked.

I think brown hair looks more natural on our heroine than pale blond.

[Tarwater]

Originally Posted by don't ask

So no they don't do is he/isn't he like most series would - they let you know his allegiance during the first episode. And then they manage to muddy the waters with a cliffhanger a week for most of the series.I].

They do, though. Nothing in the first episode, including the last scene, does anything other than imply that Brody went through some really terrible shit. Like Saul said in one of his first scenes, verbatim: "It's all open to interpretation." The writers drop various hints throughout most of the first season, that taken by themselves seem to imply something nefarious about Brody, but when given further context don't seem to say anything, except that he was changed in some fairly significant ways -- not that he's a terrorist, but he has some serious doubts about the U.S. military and its operations abroad.

To me, it's more like the writers were asking, "Is he a terrorist? Look at what he's doing now, that makes him a terrorist, right? No, it doesn't! Haha! But what about this -- how can this mean anything but.. no, aha! Got you again, you xenophobe!" right up until the final handful of episodes.

And that's really the modus operandi for the entire series, at least the first season. It's a pretty timeworn concept, the turning of somebody who's ostensibly in our "tribe" into something foreign and scary. The notion that Brody was seduced by some exotic terrorist, who looks different from us, speaks a different language, worships differently, and has a world-view that's almost diametrically opposed to ours -- that's really, truly frightening. Brody is a "Constitutive Other," and his relationship (both personally and in a general way) with Carrie is reflective of our cultural paranoia, and this incredible anxiety we feel when confronted by something radically different.

[ThelmaLou]

Brody's wife is a Catherine Bell look alike.

[ThelmaLou]

Watched the whole first season today. Insanely good series. I wish The Newsroom was one-tenth as good.

To keep the writing and the plot twists at such a high level throughout is a major accomplishment. The characters seem rounded and realistic. And the relationship stuff that is so annoying in shows like Bones is well-integrated into the whole web of events. Like the problems with Saul and his wife-- that doesn't feel like a gratuitous detour like Bones' problems with Seely.

Claire Danes' character is one loose cannon, eh? I heard the Fresh Air interview with her where she talked about studying the behavior of manic people, mostly in YouTube videos. Even medicated, she's pretty hyper, but in this second-to-last episode after the thing at the fountain when she's off her meds... wheee! She nails it.

Carrie would be a seriously annoying character to work with! Always so SURE of herself even when she's wrong. Reminds me a little of Holly Hunter's character in Broadcast News.

Even though the plot keeps unfolding, you don't feel like the writers are just piling one lame complication upon another to keep the engine turning (when it's really running out of gas). There is a sense that someone knows where this is going and that we keep seeing a bigger and bigger picture.

I'm impressed. This will hold me until Mad Men comes back on.


Amending what I posted earlier: Jessica Brody is a cross between Catherine Bell and Ashley Judd, which may just make her the most beautiful woman in the world.

Back to the TV. One more hour to go.

[shijinn]

you must not be a fan of Sci Fi on TV.

[ThelmaLou]

Originally Posted by shijinn

you must not be a fan of Sci Fi on TV.

Explain?

[Tangent]

I'm not sure if this is what shijinn is referring to, but "Mrs. Brody" is played by Morena Baccarin. She is well known to us sci-fi fans for her roles in Firefly, Stargate SG-1, and V. And I agree--she is remarkably beautiful.

[shijinn]

i er, cannot conceive the idea of a doper who has not watched Firfefly is all. (she's also in Stargate, V, etc)

[What the .... ?!?!]

It is really that good. I watched the first season this week. The first two eps were great.... the next two bogged down a little and then it got great again.

I'm surprised that there aren't threads for each ep ... maybe I'm just searching wrong and not following the title convention like I did with MadMen.

My wife is already mad at me for finishing Season One before she did. I'm not sure if I can hold off on Season Two either. I'll probably watch and pretend that I didn't. At least the show has/will inspire my covert activities and less than totally honest conversations with her re the show.

[What the .... ?!?!]

... apparently it really isn't that good. Why else would there be so little SDMB traffic on the show?

Politics perhaps?

[AuntiePam]

Thread traffic isn't a good barometer of a show's quality or popularity. Seems like the longest threads are for shows that lend themselves to nitpicks, like Walking Dead.

[Tarwater]

Originally Posted by What the .... ?!?!

... apparently it really isn't that good. Why else would there be so little SDMB traffic on the show?

Politics perhaps?

Perhaps. Perhaps.

* strokes his chin thoughtfully *

[Munch]

Originally Posted by What the .... ?!?!

... apparently it really isn't that good. Why else would there be so little SDMB traffic on the show?

Politics perhaps?

Showtime subscription rates amongst the SDMB membership?

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by Munch

Showtime subscription rates amongst the SDMB membership?

This is probably it. Seems like Showtime's original programming doesn't generate nearly as much interest as HBO's.

As for politics -- someone will need to educate me on this, because I'm not seeing any particularly liberal or conservative bent on the show.

[conway]

Here's the season 2 thread for Homeland.