Homeland: New show on Showtime

Wasn't a huge fan of that episode. That whole scenario was just terribly written and completely implausible. I have been enjoying this season so far and I'm perfectly fine with some implausible scenarios but that whole hostage situation was a bit of a stretch.

My only thought is perhaps the swat team was being led by the same party responsible for spying on Carrie in an attempt to get him out of the house (hence Quinn stating that they wouldn't let them walk out of the house).

 

Alan Dale has played more presidents than Martin Sheen. If he wasn't born in New Zealand he could get the job for real.

 

i tend to agree. knowing this show's history there just has to be something more going on, it has never been this easy or mundane in it's storytelling.

 

So how many revelations about how much of a rat Dar Adal is were there in one episode?

 

yes sir, a real mother f**ker adalis for sure.

but, i regress, kids ruin dramatic TV shows, and this one is no exception. how much time will be spent in the next few weeks with carrie trying to get her kid back?

kids have no place in dramatic TV, no place at all.

 

This show is going off the rails, again. The themes introduced early on had (have?) some real potential - the parallel nuclear program, political machinations at the POTUS level and perhaps the 'deep state' with Dar, the anti-Muslim hysteria and the terrorist bombing in New York and its investigation. These are all great threads that could have supplied endless material for the entire season.

But what do we get instead? Much time wasted on Quinn's sad existence, culminating in a police raid last episode that stretched all credulity and now we an episode on child services snatching Frannie away from Carrie, again based on credulity stretching circumstantial evidence.

Of course, the whole reason for this episode was to manufacture an excuse for Carrie to go 'mental', to go off her meds, get drunk, act recklessly. Watch for the next episode when Carrie goes charging around like a bull in a china shop!

Same old crap!

 

the show is still very watchable, all of the elements are tying in nicely. I don't see a problem with the Quinn character (?), he's integral to the story.

 

It’s very interesting to see where they’re going with this story as usually every season there is a real “bad guy” threat taking place. You haven’t seen any real threat this season at all. Everything that has happened to everyone seems to have been setup by Dar which as much of a rat he is, doesn’t make sense. Dar is clearly after someone or some terrorist group, but who? The guy trying to kill Quinn “seems” to be working for Dar as well because how else would he know where Quinn was. It’s all just a bit out of character for Dar. He will clearly go to any extreme to get his job done but he’s not a terrorist.

The guy trying to kill Quinn is obviously bad as he is responsible for the bomb and killed the FBI agent for investigating that strange company but as much as it looks like he’s working with Dar, I don’t believe it. I just can’t figure out how he knew where Quinn was without some kind of info from Dar.

 

Without going through a reading about this season (don't want any spoilers), how is it?
I watched all the seasons up to this one, but they kind of lost me last season, so I didn't bother with this season. Carrie can be a bit much for me sometimes. Kinda like Deb from "Dexter".

 

It's been kind of a slow-burner so far. Not a lot of action, but a decent amount of intrigue, and enough twists to keep it from becoming predictable.

 

Well, he's always been a shadowy character with gray motives, but he's clearly stepped over the line this season which makes him very much an irredeemably bad guy. His true character has been revealed IMO and he'll probably die by the end of this season.

It's so-so. There have been some good bits but also way too many melodramatic detours that lack focus and feel like filler. The last ep (8) was much better as they finally gave Saul something to do and to work with Carrie in a partnership - always an interesting pairing.

 

I have found this season to be much more plausible and interesting than the last couple of seasons. Reasonably plausible plot. Claire's best acting in a while. No spoilers though (other than the return of Brody (jk)).

 

Thanks guys, sounds like I got off at the right stop. I'm going to sit this one out I think.

 

He’s always played way past the gray area but it’s always been for the purpose of doing his job and to destroy the enemy. This season is playing out like he’s turning the entire system upside down for the sole purpose of disagreeing with the President Elect. It just doesn’t seem correct. He’s never been the enemy, he’s always been the extremely evil and terrible “good” guy. There has to be something else going on. This show would lose all credibility if Dar just all of a sudden turns into a terrorist of sorts.

 

There's a "good" reason to run a false-flag fake terrorist bombing on US soil?

 

That’s just it. Is he actually behind the bombing?

 

dar is very quickly becoming the prime antagonist in this show.

 

The "guilty conscience" guy from the right wing talk show will either expose how the film was altered, or get killed.

 

Following the Quinn character is the only one worthwhile on the whole show. Claire Daines can't do anything other than act paranoid, even if the situation doesn't call for it, but the show won't end until at least 2 years after Mandy Patinkin quits.

 

Seeing the great work Damien Lewis is doing in Billions, and remembering his terrific run in Band Of Brothers, has got me thinking. I've read where the show runners originally planned on Lewis only being in the 1st season, but that the chemistry between him and Danes was something special, and the show evolved. IMO the show could've ended with his last season. It was a very special show when he was on it. It's never been as good without him as it was with him. While there's always 'moments', generally the quality is nowhere near the same, to the point where I'm THIS close to bailing!

 

That was one of the hardest Homeland episodes to get through.

 

Didn't mind it. Carrie was almost MIA the whole episode. Quinn caught her paranoia. Taking the bullets out of that gun was always a bad idea.

 

Yes, Lewis was outstanding in the first season and the season as a whole was like catching lightning in a bottle - it was tense, nuanced, dramatic and well acted by one and all. It feels like the producers knew what story they wanted to tell and went about it in a tightly focused manner. But it also feels like they had no idea where to go in season two and beyond and it became more like a 24-type production.

I still watch mainly because of Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin and the fact that there is still some good stuff in there, if not at the level that would make this a top tier show.

 

It seems so obvious Dar is the big bad this year, sooo..it probably isn't him. He is pulling some strings (that stuff with little Brody was heartless), but something else is going on. Maybe we'll see Quinn go all John Wick after the events of the last episode.

 

So you think threatening Carrie while she was with her daughter in the street and then later orchestrating child services to take away her daughter through false testimony isn't that 'bad'?