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Homeland (1 Viewer)

pantherclub said:
Raider Nation said:
"Oh, Carrie... have a seat. I'll cut right to the chase. Sure, this office has never had a more insubordinate employee. And sure, you have a long and storied history of mental problems. And yeah, okay.... I CAN'T STAND YOU. But howzabout I offer you the most sought-after position in the entire agency? Is that something you'd be interested in?"
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Dont forget, "I see that you are also 5 months preggers and that shouldnt impact you doing your job at all right?"
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I don't think he can take her pregnancy into account in a hiring decision.

 
pollardsvision said:
pantherclub said:
Raider Nation said:
"Oh, Carrie... have a seat. I'll cut right to the chase. Sure, this office has never had a more insubordinate employee. And sure, you have a long and storied history of mental problems. And yeah, okay.... I CAN'T STAND YOU. But howzabout I offer you the most sought-after position in the entire agency? Is that something you'd be interested in?"
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Dont forget, "I see that you are also 5 months preggers and that shouldnt impact you doing your job at all right?"
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8 months, I believe.
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Don't forget we ordered our guys to shoot to kill you because you were about to sabotage the mission. Luckily Quinn is a better shot then a father.

 
bostonfred said:
swirvenirvin said:
Lots of complaining in here. Why does everyone watch it if they think its so far fetched and hate everything?
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Lots of complaining everywhere. This whole season sucked. Just when you thought they were maybe putting something together for the season finale, they put the big moment at the end of episode 11, and made episode 12 a sad epilogue to the brody story that went on 1.5 seasons longer than it should have. The biggest moment in this episode ought to have been brody getting betrayed. Instead, they got that out of the way 20 minutes in.The amount of time they spent on other things gives you a good idea of their priorities. They spent more time on carrie and brody talking, and carrie being sad that he was going to die, and brody being stoic, than on any exciting escape plan. So their priority was on carries emotions, and saying goodbye to their award winning actor, not on the actual action.

The next few minutes were things like saul getting croissants instead of baguettes so you would know he left the country, and coming back to the cia so the writers could write him out if he quit or bring him back if they wanted to.

Then they wrapped up the carrie storyline by saying that she might get rid of the baby and she might be taking over as station chief. But she was also sad about brody and put a fake star on the wall. So their priority was setting up season four without brody, and simultaneously saying goodbye to their star and his wife and kids.

It was like they heard the complaints from the fans, realized we were right, and the finale was a horribly boring apology letter to us. Hey guys, we promise, no more brody crap, and no more watching his daughter make bad relationship decisions. We're sorry this season sucked but if you just give us one more chance we'll get back to the good stuff next year.

And you know what? We will probably all watch, just to see if they can get some of that magic back. But its going to be really, really hard. This season was unbelievably unbelievable. The curtain is lifted. I don't know if they can get us to suspend disbelief again.
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Spot on. And the writer who decided it was a good idea to spend 3 episodes with Dana on a road trip with some loony teen ought to be sent to the mail room for next season.

 
shadyridr said:
Its like the writers had no clue what to do this season. What was the point of the pregnancy? And the whole reason for having the family dominate the first half of the season. And carrie is an eight month pregnant lunatic who almost ruined the mission fifty times yet gets offered the highest position? Carrie was awesome in season 1. I cant believe how they ####ed up her character. Oh and how about some ####### closure with brody's family. You shoved them down our throats all ####in season and you cant at least show their reaction when they find out that their father was a "hero"?
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Brody was never a hero he was an admitted terrorist and I doubt his name was ever cleared in the CIA bombing.

 
:shrug: Not sure how anyone expected the story to end - but that was about the only way they could shut one story line, and open the door to the next season. There was never going to be a great chase/shoot-out, and there was no way to "save" Brody in that situation. The greater good demanded his capture and death.

In retrospect, once the decision was made in season 1 to continue focus on Brody, then they should have done a better job showing how he was just a pawn in the game, used by everyone else, but never really making his own decisions - even though he thought he was. He was neither a hero nor a traitor simply brainwashed into acting on behalf of others.

I also don't think anyone has any respect for Carrie as a CIA agent, which is a shame, because she apparently used to be pretty good at her job. I think that is what most viewers wanted - a good CIA agent, who maybe had trouble convincing her bosses, but who never jeopardized missions with emotional gobbledy####. Baby story arc was a bit unnecessary - since it was obvious she had feelings for Brody, with, or without, the baby. And it made for an awkward wrap-up.

 
Chaka said:
shadyridr said:
Its like the writers had no clue what to do this season. What was the point of the pregnancy? And the whole reason for having the family dominate the first half of the season. And carrie is an eight month pregnant lunatic who almost ruined the mission fifty times yet gets offered the highest position? Carrie was awesome in season 1. I cant believe how they ####ed up her character. Oh and how about some ####### closure with brody's family. You shoved them down our throats all ####in season and you cant at least show their reaction when they find out that their father was a "hero"?
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Brody was never a hero he was an admitted terrorist and I doubt his name was ever cleared in the CIA bombing.
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It was unclear on the show if it was cleared however would Carrie have asked the director to put a star on the wall for him if the public wasnt made aware? Who knows, shes a ####in lunatic so maybe she would have

 
Raider Nation said:
I have a theory that Brody requested the hanging so he wouldn't have to listen to Carrie babble any longer.
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And what's the last thing he heard?

BRODY!!!!!

Hey Iranians, please pay no attention to the white broad screaming out the name of the enemy of the state.

:wall:

Also thought for sure that the fall from the fence was going to cause her to miscarry.

 
shadyridr said:
Chaka said:
shadyridr said:
Its like the writers had no clue what to do this season. What was the point of the pregnancy? And the whole reason for having the family dominate the first half of the season. And carrie is an eight month pregnant lunatic who almost ruined the mission fifty times yet gets offered the highest position? Carrie was awesome in season 1. I cant believe how they ####ed up her character. Oh and how about some ####### closure with brody's family. You shoved them down our throats all ####in season and you cant at least show their reaction when they find out that their father was a "hero"?
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Brody was never a hero he was an admitted terrorist and I doubt his name was ever cleared in the CIA bombing.
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It was unclear on the show if it was cleared however would Carrie have asked the director to put a star on the wall for him if the public wasnt made aware? Who knows, shes a ####in lunatic so maybe she would have
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I got the impression that his name wasn't cleared when Lockhart stressed "Im not putting a star for him on THIS building"

 
Sinn Fein said:
In retrospect, once the decision was made in season 1 to continue focus on Brody, then they should have done a better job showing how he was just a pawn in the game, used by everyone else, but never really making his own decisions - even though he thought he was. He was neither a hero nor a traitor simply brainwashed into acting on behalf of others.
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:goodposting:

I thought the best part of the finale was when Brody asked Carrie if killing one man really excused all of the other killing that had been done for the sake of country or religion (paraphrasing). Carrie then asked him why he went through with the mission if that was how he truly felt and he admitted that it wasn't clear to himself why he did it. If the writers had done what you suggested, that conversation would have been a good payoff to the main arc of the story. Instead, that conversation is almost a throw-away to the part where Carrie says that she was put on earth to interact with Brody. :X

 
Sorry if this has already been pointed out...did anyone notice in the safehouse scene with Brody that first her hair is behind her ear, then down, then behind her hair and down again? Tiny detail but it ruined the scene for me.

 
Good Posting Judge said:
I honestly hope the producers go into full-on troll mode next year and just have 12 episodes of Dana cleaning hotel rooms and smoking weed with her "friend."
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I hope they take a lesson from 80s-90s sitcoms and have Carrie's kid age 10 years in one season. Brody Jr is now a 5th grader being secretly trained as a terrorist by a sleeper cell.

 
One time i actually wanted a scene with dana/family was to see her reaction regarding brody's actions and execution in Iran. Nope.

 
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cstu said:
Sorry if this has already been pointed out...did anyone notice in the safehouse scene with Brody that first her hair is behind her ear, then down, then behind her hair and down again? Tiny detail but it ruined the scene for me.
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i did. Was gonna mention it here but figured nobody would care
 
Article by Bill Wyman in The New Yorker.

The culmination of the third season of the generally respected TV series “Homeland” has been so unfulfilling, anticlimactic, and in some ways offensive that I’ve been going back to figure out where the series went wrong. Here be spoilers, so those offended at the prospect should stop reading now.

“Homeland” is an inventive twist on the old conceit of the top-notch detective whose instincts are almost always right—but who, in the face of sometimes ornately ginned-up events, is exposed again and again as someone who just can’t play by the rules. The twist here is that our hero, a C.I.A. agent named Carrie, played by Claire Danes, is bipolar. She finds that the pills she takes to ameliorate the condition weaken her analytical powers; but, of course, without them her behavior becomes erratic, and she has a job in which, understandably, this causes problems for both her and her mentor Saul, played with delicious probity by Mandy Patinkin.

Carrie’s improbable love interest is Brody, a Marine who, before the first season began, was captured and brainwashed by a terrorist mastermind. Back in the U.S., he is seen murdering several people (including the Vice-President!) and almost perpetrates a major terrorist attack. In the end, he balks, and in the time since has been seeking some kind of redemption. Season Two ended with a devastating bombing of the C.I.A. headquarters; Brody became a suspect and went on the run.

This season has expanded the show’s focus to an unfortunate degree. Its dense, almost Grand Guignol plotting has become relaxed and languid. We follow Brody to a hideout in Caracas. This turns out to be inside an abandoned high-rise that has spawned a makeshift society. For Brody, it morphs into a prison where he is beaten and, ultimately, hooked on heroin. A second digression has to do with Brody’s daughter who, we learn, has attempted suicide after the revelations about her father came out. We see her in a psych ward for kids, and watch her as she bonds with a boy in the ward. They couple up and ultimately take an unauthorized joyride to Vermont.

These very long, tedious story lines never go anywhere, literally. We are given to understand that Brody was directed to Caracas by Carrie, but I was never clear on whose authority he was made a prisoner there. In any case, one of the show’s main characters was placed in a dead end. Brody’s daughter and her boyfriend never get anywhere, either. Nothing against the actress Morgan Saylor, she of the trembling lip, who plays Brody’s daughter, but I’d much rather be spending time with Mandy Patinkin.

In the end, as we found out, this was all to distract us from a narrative sleight-of-hand that Saul and Carrie were cooking up. When John le Carré concocted such maneuvers, we saw the characters’ machinations but didn’t understand their intent. “Homeland,” by contrast, just did it all off-screen, and I can’t be the only viewer who felt misled, as opposed to misdirected, when it all was revealed.

In the overheated “24,” the hero, played by Kiefer Sutherland, would find himself being tortured once or twice an episode; physical abuse is de rigueur these days. “Homeland,” however, is paced more calmly and is much less of a cartoon. The abuse that its two main characters undergo is much rougher going: Carrie is subjected to electroshock therapy, and is later shot; Brody is tortured and put through heroin withdrawal.

But it is never clear what it all means. Carrie’s outrageous behavior comes out of an archetypal character that we all understand. Brody is something different. It’s taboo to say it in regular political discourse, but many of the heroes that we salute for serving their country and suffering terribly for it, are, in another sense, victims. Brody certainly is one. Once he successfully re-demonstrated his loyalty to the country, the show’s creators had the opportunity to explore this dichotomy. We know our heroes suffer; but to what lengths will we go to give them the forgiveness they deserve?

The show’s writers faced the same problem with Brody that, in effect, faces a country obsessed with the terrorist bugaboo. Could any public figure shake the hand of a reformed terrorist? How could Brody and Carrie continue their relationship together? How could she work for the C.I.A. and be involved with such a tarnished figure?

Instead, Brody, already physically and psychologically tortured, was martyred, in the most unappetizing recent scene on television that I can think of. The production values of the outdoor-hanging scene were weak—it looked stagey—and the emotional degradation it contained was beyond unpleasant. To make the tableau even bleaker, we are made to watch Carrie as she witnesses her lover’s face contort as he was asphyxiated, dangling from a crane. The overtones of crucifixion only increased the crudeness of the scene.

Brody’s death was sad and pointless. His story arc magnified one of the show’s underlying problems. Danes is a compelling, if somewhat quirky, screen presence; Brody, as played by Damien Lewis, is a cipher. “Star power” is a subjective quality, but to me Lewis lacks obvious oomph, and his Brody was never really limned with any personality or depth by the writers of “Homeland.” All that was left, given his back story, was an outline of a once-strong, but now psychologically disabled man. The show’s occasional attempts to add pathos to his condition—I’m thinking, for example, of an uncomfortable scene in the first season that chronicled his first intimate moment with his wife after eight years in captivity—never went anywhere. (He and Carrie, however, boffed enthusiastically.)

So many other plot turns this season were bumpy. An Iranian spymaster is introduced as an unspeakably psychopathic killer; by the end of the season, he’s an avuncular professional. Similarly, the brutish senator who displaced Saul as the head of the agency becomes Carrie’s new B.F.F. in the finale. Carrie’s predilection for going off the reservation was taken to absurd lengths. But that doesn’t stop her superiors from putting her in a position, again and again, to do the same damn thing. Brody’s redemption—assassinating Iran’s top spy chief—is plotted with utter preposterousness. And then there’s Carrie’s pregnancy, an unnecessary plot point that served only to highlight Brody’s Christ-like sacrifice.

And finally, to describe the final scene as anticlimactic is to torture the word. There is no dramatic plot twist or cliffhanger. The setting is a memorial to honor the C.I.A. employees who’d died in the explosion the year before. This wan conclusion only points out a personal plot hole: I still don’t know who executed the bombing at the C.I.A. (Brody’s car, you’ll remember, was moved by someone on the agency grounds.) The very best series in this wonderful TV age are pleasurable, in part, because we learn to trust their creators; we know that we are in good hands, and that, in the long run, our questions will be answered. In Season Three, “Homeland” slid perceptibly out of that category.
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Officer Pete Malloy said:
Finally watched Sunday's EP.

It's amazing how much Carrie drags down the show. You've got a pretty well-crafted thriller/drama/spy show and then all of a sudden here comes Danes acting like a drunk 17 year old girl that found out her boyfriend is talking to another girl at a party. I wish Quinn would have head-shotted her and then teabagged her like in COD.
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:lmao:

catching up and couldn't resist

 
Anyone else think that it's odd that the kid who played Dana's boyfriend was also in the last season of Dexter? I think he might be a curse to good TV shows.

 
Just had a chance to watch season 3 over the past week and I really enjoyed it. I was actually surprised to read all the negative posts in this thread, but then I remembered what site I was on.

Oh well, off to the Olive Garden and then to pick up some store sauce for my pasta later this week.

 
avoiding injuries said:
Just had a chance to watch season 3 over the past week and I really enjoyed it. I was actually surprised to read all the negative posts in this thread, but then I remembered what site I was on.

Oh well, off to the Olive Garden and then to pick up some store sauce for my pasta later this week.
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If I had to guess, I'd say that watching it like you did, versus watching it one episode a week probably played a part in your views. I didn't hate this season, but I felt that it dragged at parts. But if I could have watched a couple of episodes a week, I may not have felt that. That's just my thought, though.

 
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