showtime's Homeland =[a tolerable claire danes, mandy patinkin & that girl from firefly naked]

oh man i have never liked naveen andrews for some reason, but i am definitely going to have to see this

the more i think about this i can't work out what anyone could want out of it that it doesn't deliver. like some degree of ~spiralling narrative ridiculousness~ is inherent to its form (& to a degree i think deliberate? like i was just reading a CD interview where she was talking about researching CIA guys, hearing about the tactics actually employed, like manufacturing chance meetings by like crashing your car into a target's, &c).

this is true and a good way of putting it -- the show's strengths are often the things misdiagnosed as weaknesses. not to say it's without weaknesses though.

i have never really got much of anything out of the patinkin character tbh, i feel like if it wasn't played by a 'name' actor nobody would ever talk about him or even notice he was there.

i wonder if it's a kind of variation on how impressed we are with method acting (/famous-actor-weight-gain) - like we feel like a guy with a beard must be a great actor because he is clearly apart from the more hollywoodish everyone-else on a show/in a film. i think in this case it's more that he's good!, but like maybe we bring some expectations of gravitas to the outlying characters like this. i feel like toby zeigler's a good reference point?, maybe not.

toby ziegler is a really good comparison.

richard schiff is great! i mean there's a lot of psychological stuff involved in how you invariably look at character actors vs. more photogenic screen actors sure. i just mean more that patinkin's character hasn't really had a lot to do, relative to his stature as an actor (or, probably his capabilities as an actor), so i wonder where enthusiasm for that character is really coming from. maybe i'm forgetting some great moments he had in season 1 though. he DEFINITELY hasn't had remotely as prominent or memorable a role as toby ziegler, that's for usre.

I think the thing is kind of pointedly that he hasn't had any big moments. He's playing an understated character, a grounded counterpoint to Hurricane Claire. Personally, I really appreciate well-acted but super low-key performances. There's a level of generosity on display that a lot of other actors (particularly name actors) probably wouldn't bring to the role.

Actors seem to get attention for showy and histrionic performances much more often than they do for centered and understated performances. Which is a shame, imo.

This show is pretty overrated and has the worst opening credits sequence in the history of television. I'll still watch the second season, it's enjoyable enough.

yeah opening credits are awful awful awful

it's pretty wild how PRESIDENT OBAMA'S FAVORITE show centers on an American turning against his country because of drone strikes killing innocents

Man, this show really excels at getting straight to story beats you'd expect to happen much further down the line.

Yeah that scene was great. Pretty ridic that Brody would be invited into a secret room to watch that shit though. Lol @ the Departed-style text message espionage.

Man, this show really excels at getting straight to story beats you'd expect to happen much further down the line.

actually I assumed you meant the assassination attempt, but the final surprise before the credits would qualify as one too

Yeah, that's what I was referring to.

"yeah opening credits are awful awful awful"

No, lion mask is great!

yeah that's what i was saying itt a couple weeks ago, i love that they move the story forward so quickly when you expect this usual cable drama slow burn -- like i half expected the first season to end with Carrie and Brody coming face to face again in a big confrontation, instead they got there halfway through the season and set up so much more to happen. just kinda refreshing after Rubicon.

Rubicon was awes watch it

i...did? obviously? i liked it, too, i'm just saying i also like how this feels like a counterpoint to it.

or are you saying "watch it" like "you're on thin ice" i guess

that's the one.

the plot is total jingo pulp but both leads are great. lewis I always liked and danes was irritating at first but she's grown on me and the emaciated schizo panic makes for a fantastic action hero. like you never know what she's going to do, and neither does she.

this was a good ep. all the stuff w/the kid is really nicely done.

can i just

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mblaowBszN1qcax6bo1_r1_500.png

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mblaowBszN1qcax6bo1_r1_500.png

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mblaowBszN1qcax6bo1_r1_500.png

that face has been in my head all week, lol at them actually calling the episode "the smile"

also whyyyy can i not find a gif

zomg at the ending of this new one

obv there is no way the memory card does not get lost now, i am just worried something doesnt happen to saul tho

he might not even tell carrie about it!

http://i.imgur.com/LKHNw.gif

Still think there might be some big reveal around Saul - they left that whole thing about his lie detector test kind of dangling.

ahh many thanks

oh shit yeah i forgot about that

Breaking news: ex-cia operative found to be high on e while on a mission.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mblaowBszN1qcax6bo1_r1_500.png

Alllllright. I was halfway resolved to walk away from this show, but this episode finally showed that they're still willing to do some stakes raising so I'm happy. At least until they figure out some lame way to undo the wheels set in motion this week.

Also, Claire Danes has a really great smile that this show usually isn't the best showcase for. So yay for that moment.

she was also so clearly jazzed when she smacked the guy over the head with a brick, which was pretty awesome i'll grant.

o shit this episode.

ya that final reveal was great - totally end-of-season material for most shows but look, there it is in the second episode. And i had actual gut-wrenching fear that Saul might be killed off in that scene when their car was being attacked, which would have prob made me hate Carrie forever.

though it's super bs that they would actually a) let Brody watch a high-level operation like that and b) not confiscate every phone in the room beforehand.

manic smile at the end of the 1st ep was outstanding, so great

really curious for how they continue to develop danes' character this season, like i get that she had a major breakdown, i'm just curious at how she's to remain a central character now that she's so shaken & off her game. if her character arc is just "bipolar girl struggles for sanity" it's gonna be a pretty bad ride

b) not confiscate every phone in the room beforehand.

yeah i don't wanna be the person on the internet speculating about flaws in tv shows in relation to how i imagine national security operates BUT i feel like the pentagon probably catches communication going in & out, like airports do.

the ending of this was so dope. can someone remind me about the lie detector thing w/saul last season? he was about to do one & then didn't or something? i can't believe they'd flip him, & always assume if they're gonna do that it'll be with the guy in the suit who's the head of the cia or whatever.

i don't think it'll be that, because she's right! at some point this season she's going to find out that she was right, not crazy, and she's going to be so pissed. i can't wait.

xp to elmo

i love this fucking show

iirc saul flubbing the lie detector was about him being fucked up about mira leaving him during the hunt for tom walker, he later went back and aced the polygraph, right

something like that

this show goes for it.

can we have a sweepstakes, by the end of the season will brodie kill the grizzly beardo vet who says AWW MAAYNNNN, NOT BREWDIE everytime brodie pops up, y/n

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbya4oTSHn1qd1s6no2_250.gif

Think they are just trolling the animated gif community at this point.

Haaaaaa

The entire plot with the tailor was kinda ridiculous, and the scene with Brodie talking to his wife while he wrestled with the dude bordered on unintentional comedy, but the Brodie video plot made it worthwhile.

it was a pretty good ep. but there is always at least one scene that doesn't make any sense that they have to throw in to make the plot go

this time it was "no you can't go to the bathroom, we're only five minutes from the safe house, that's why I stopped for gas, because we are so close to our destination. now don't go anywhere while I leave you alone for a few minutes."

the rest of the show is good enough to look past that stuff though

the scene with Brodie talking to his wife while he wrestled with the dude bordered on unintentional comedy

otm

it was a baby, a baby.

Could I request that when you're talking about the next episode you could put e.g. 'Ep 3' before the first post about it?
The UK is one ep behind the US I think so I'd still like to keep up with the thread up until what I've seen, although I'll always be a week behind...

thread of missing brodie

great ep, great show

Sending Brody out for that task was beyond ridiculous.

yes it was. but that has never stopped the show's screenwriters