Homeland - Emmy wins - is it really that good?

Cafe Society
1

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.

2

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.

3

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.

4

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

5

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

6

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.

7

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.

8

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.

9

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

… 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.

10

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.

11

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.

12

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

13

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.

14

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).

15

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.

16

So much for avoiding spoilers.
mmm

17

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.

18

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.

19

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.

20

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.