Best Things of the Year: Homeland
As the year closes down, everyone's putting together their "best of" lists - and with the caveat that I'm not a frequent viewer of non-sports television, and thus have no ability to compare it to other shows, I've been amazed at the quality and suspense of the first season of Homeland on Showtime, which many of you have probably already seen (for those who haven't, only a very small spoiler below).
The writing of the show overlaps a good deal with 24, a series that turned comic book a bit too soon for my taste (but resulted in some of the most hilarious online fan writing I've ever read). Now they've gone from comic book anti-terror to modern Manchurian Candidate - and the transition is serving them well. As for the talent, Damien Lewis is impressive as ever - his character actor work prior to this seems easy by comparison - and Mandy Patinkin is amazing as always, but the really shocking part of the show for me has to be Claire Danes.
I've still got an image of Danes in those early teenage years or in a few unimpressive turns since; now, she fully envelopes a character of desperate patriotism, warped emotion and brokenness, a reliable narrator who doubts her reliability. She's harder now, more striking, with a slate-edged stare. Her one flaw as an actress remains that she's a bad crier - but other than that, she's managing to portray the closest thing we've had to a Hitchcock starlet in the modern day. In the finale which aired this weekend, there's a moment when she's arguing with a colleague about what must be done to stop an impending attack. He points to the men with guns and earpieces, saying "it's their job" to handle it, their job to keep America safe. She glares in a way that is captivating and terrible as she says "It'll always be my job." The idea behind that comment is so much deeper than the moment allows, but the writers don't wring it out, and they shouldn't.
Homeland is a show about fear - fear of loss, fear for family, fear of failure. Within it, Danes is a woman with a broken mind and a spine of iron - and she has set herself between the nation and the hellish fiends who would do it harm, and she will not fail them, even at the cost of life and limb and sanity.
There are dangers here - let's hope the second season slump doesn't hit this show as it has so many others, and I'm naturally jaded about terrorist-related dramas because of the political naivete of Hollywood - but as someone generally bored by the predictability of dramas, when writers surprise me with turns that aren't gimmicky, I'm impressed.
If you haven't seen it yet, stream it. Well worth your time.
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Sep '10
Re: Best Things of the Year: Homeland
I loved this series; however, I did not like the finale. Don't worry, no spoilers. I thought the series gave a wonderful look at both the patriotism and devotion of the CIA agents, but it also gave us a look at the bureacratic log jam and political ambition within the agency that puts the country in danger. I think conservatives should watch this show and support it but also be weary of a sucker punch. 24 took a leftward, preachy turn, and I hope this show does not.
May '11
Re: Best Things of the Year: Homeland
this is a great show, but it has some left wing sucker punches.
1) Kid gloves with respect to Islam. Basically the rituals and garb and all that benign stuff, no misogyny and kill the infidel talk.
2) Argues we torture and cover it up.
3) Argues Islamic terror is nothing more than revenge for us killing innocent civilians, a revolting moral equivalency.
Danes really is fantastic though.
Aug '10
Re: Best Things of the Year: Homeland
My favourite things of 2011:
May '10
Re: Best Things of the Year: Homeland
Misthiocracy: My favourite things of 2011: · Dec 30 at 7:58am
Me too...until the new expansion comes out...
Aug '10
Re: Best Things of the Year: Homeland
Keith Preston
Misthiocracy: My favourite things of 2011: · Dec 30 at 7:58am
Me too...until the new expansion comes out... · Dec 30 at 8:41am
No way. I stopped paying the monthly fee, and there's no way I'm starting that up again!
Dec '10
Re: Best Things of the Year: Homeland
Misthiocracy
Keith Preston
Misthiocracy: My favourite things of 2011: · Dec 30 at 7:58am
Me too...until the new expansion comes out... · Dec 30 at 8:41am
No way. I stopped paying the monthly fee, and there's no way I'm starting that up again! · Dec 30 at 8:44am
A friend keeps taunting me with Star Wars The Old Republic. But I'm just not paying the monthly any more for anything.
More on topic, anything with Mandy Patinkin is watchable. I'll have to check this out and see if the Claire Danes praise holds up to scrutiny.
Aug '10
Re: Best Things of the Year: Homeland
You could try Anarchy Online. It's a free sci-fi MMORPG.
The gameplay is VERY similar to World of Warcraft. For some that's a feature. For others, it's a bug.
Dec '10
Re: Best Things of the Year: Homeland
Misthiocracy
You could try Anarchy Online. It's a free sci-fi MMORPG.
The gameplay is VERY similar to World of Warcraft. For some that's a feature. For others, it's a bug. · Dec 30 at 10:45am
Meh. If I need an online escape (other than Ricochet) I can just fire up LotRO. It's free and quite possibly the most visually appealing game made.
Aug '10
Re: Best Things of the Year: Homeland
Well excuuuuuuuse me! You're the one that brought up a sci-fi MMORPG.
;-)
Jun '10
Re: Best Things of the Year: Homeland
sorry. Won't watch a show in the age of Islamic terror that continues to makes us the enemy -- "turned" or otherwise. Have better things to watch.
Mar '11
Re: Best Things of the Year: Homeland
I got through two thirds of the season then stopped. I really stopped enjoying it after the first half. I can't put my finger on it but it was a combination of a lot of little things. Between being annoyed by the whole perverted portrait of the adultery to all the white terrorist. To a lot of little holes things breaking down the realism. I just found myself revolted by the series so stopped.
May '10
Re: Best Things of the Year: Homeland
On Ben's suggestion I watched the whole first season over the long weekend. What a powerful series it is. The writing as well as the acting in leading and supporting roles is superb. The series, like the HBO drama series, In Treatment, is an adaptation of an Israeli television series. Some of the best drama on American television has its roots in Israel. Thanks to Ben for a great recommendation.