When I haven’t been sitting in my bed, staring longingly out my Copley window anticipating a much-needed snow day, I’ve been watching Showtime’s Homeland. Having just finished its fourth season, this drama encapsulates the action of a James Bond film, the suspense of Jaws, and the amount of sex in any Shonda Rhimes television show. I initially pigeonholed this show as just another “irrelevant-drama-with-too-much-crying-and-murder,” but, to my surprise, it has become one of my favorite shows to date.
Claire Danes plays Carrie Mathison, a bipolar, extremely efficient CIA Case Officer always on the search for a terrorist. I sincerely hope that the producers of Homeland are not trying to authentically replicate the life of a CIA agent, because there is no way in hell that the CIA would hire a psychotic woman on Lithium and god-knows-what-else. When Carrie isn’t crying or having a nervous breakdown, she’s stalking Nicholas Brody, an ex-USMC Sergeant played by Damian Lewis. Nick Brody was held as a prisoner of war by al-Qaeda for eight years, and after returning home to Washington, D.C., where the show is set, he is hailed as a hero by everyone except one person: Carrie. Carrie is convinced that he is “turned” and plotting a terrorist attack on his own nation, making for an extremely captivating, intense and occasionally awkward plot.
As the seasons progress, Carrie takes to extreme measures to prove that she has been right about Nick Brody all along, whilst taking a few trips to the insane asylum along the way. She tries convincing everyone, including Nick Brody’s family, that Brody is a threat to the nation’s safety, but nobody takes her seriously, calling her a “crazy woman.” The only people that are keeping her grounded in her life are her family and her boss/best friend Saul Berenson, a Middle East Division-Chief of the CIA, played by the renowned Mandy Patinkin. Saul is an advisor to Carrie and, more often than not, the only person that ever believes what she is saying.
As the each season unfolds, the plot takes a turn, venturing into many different settings. From Washington, D.C in seasons one and two, to Tehran, Iran in the third season, and most recently Islamabad, Pakistan in Season 4, Homeland travels through some of the most dangerous places in the Middle East. Despite the occasional acting flaw of any given character, the script is written with incredible fluidity and creativity. Each episode builds onto the next, leaving you waiting for the next to roll around, but in the exciting way, rather than the obnoxious “get on with it already” way that many dramas currently on television leave you thinking.
Conclusively, Homeland is arguably one of the best dramas left on television. Unlike many other shows, the plot is not spoon-fed to you. The viewers are expected to catch on to certain ambiguities and make many inferences as to what’s going on at any given moment, leaving a lot up for interpretation. Sure, Carrie Mathison makes me occasionally want to tear my hair out and throw my laptop off the LXR Rooftop, but the show would not be the same without her. So, SFSers, Government majors and anyone else who wants to join the State Department, join me in watching what crazy thing Claire Danes does next.
Photo: bruhousetrailers.com
