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

The main problem with this show is that there is zero onscreen chemistry between Danes and the Brody dude, any scene where they're together is like watching two different breeds of fish staring at each other in a tank.

Last episode was super lame but I can't deny I was happy when something finally blew up and I realised what they were doing. But they've long been in danger of doing a Lost and over-relying on bullshit wau moments that go nowhere, like the hit and run storyline.

they had chem when they were fucking in the parking lot early on, all gone by this year imo.

Was season 2 of this show also based on the Israeli series, or was it only season 1? Such a drop off in quality.

First half or so of S1 AFAIU

any scene where they're together is like watching two different breeds of fish staring at each other in a tank.

lol, a+

Last episode was super lame but I can't deny I was happy when something finally blew up and I realised what they were doing

idk. in between reading that NYer article about chemical warfare & obscurely remembering the end of some season of 24 where they ended the dramatic arc but provided some rollover suspense by having the president work a ropeline & then look at his hand to see it was burning, that he'd been a victim of some surreptitious chemical attack -- i feel like given that homeland is sort of lauded for & focused on the issues & machinations of security & contemporary conflict & is meant to be about the weird personal spheres that govern those things, reducing it all to HUGE_EXPLOSION.MOV was pretty weak. like do something thoughtful. do something that it's actually interesting to think about, that reflects the less dramatic grim nuance of policy (which is why i liked estes' motivation!, that it sorta vaguely maps onto actual issues of targeted killing & juristiction & authority, albeit fantasically/weirdly). it was the end of the season & you assume they're going to have to manufacture some rollover conflict because that's how tv works & they did it in the laziest i guess terrorists should blow something up? way possible

http://wayne.s.world.free.fr/Wayne/Images/wg_end.jpg

martin donovan!!!

all is forgiven

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| |/ |/ _ \
| | || `/,|
| | (\\`_.'
| | .-`--'.
| | /Y . . Y\
| | // | | \\
| | // | . | \\
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| | ||'||
| | || ||
| | || ||
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| | / | | \
""""""""""|_`-' `-' |"""|
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: : \ \ : : sk
. . `' . .

blahhhhhhhhhhhhh rip

So I stopped watching a little ways into season 2 (and I only very warily proceded that far after the bet hedging of the season 1 finale). Is it worth continuing?

i think s2 had very strong points but also moments of 24-esque overreach, and then s3 seemed to be repeating all the mistakes that 24 used to make so i bailed after a couple episodes. i feel think most critics have panned s3 but the show's ratings have never been higher, so.

there's a "big reveal" in s3 that worked well i thought. but it was otherwise hit or miss

I thought it was alright. And it had to end the way it did.

Don't really get the critical panning of season 3. First few episodes were dull/silly but it's been a massive improvement over the second season since then. I mean, it's still daft, but it always has been.

First half of the season = a slog, but since the mid-point reveal it's been good. Not fully invested in it, though, emotionally.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/homeland-is-the-most-bigoted-show-on-television/?hpid=z4

good first episodes. so glad they are done with Brody

Blimey this is still going.

it feels like a greatest hits of prior seasons so far

liked it on facebook just so i know who to avoid on tinder ;)

Series 4 is shaping up very nicely indeed. Danes in the latest episode was fantastic.

omg that last episode

so tense, so thrilling

WTF is going on

Binge-watching this right now. 3 eps to go. It's gotten good now they've done away with the Carrie & Brody rubbish and made it a classy 24.

lol

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/oct/15/homeland-is-racist-artists-subversive-graffiti-tv-show

What a stupid thing to do.

Seems pretty awesome to me. I dunno. I only have basic cable.

Seems impressive to me as well based on the allegations I have read re the program. But I have always avoided the show

The fact that producers didn't bother to translate anything is way more damning than the graffiti itself

Ha, yeah, the fact that they could get away with it is kind of a validation in itself.

The story that they originally wanted pro-Assad graffiti is quite damning as well.

first episode of the new series was abysmal from quinn laying down his Hard Truths to carrie's petulant greenwaldian colleague

simon otm

reminds me of this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX5OyGlLS-g

i signed up for 30 days of free streaming showtime to watch that documentary where they interview a bunch of former CIA bigwigs. it was pretty good and then i was like huh what else is on showtime. then i decided to watch this show. now i am on ep 10. it's still good and now i don't want to get rid of showtime :-/

it's also a pretty serious mindbender to listen to season 2 of serial and watch season 1 of this show at the same time. i am dreading the campaign for congress but i think i'll keep watching bc it's winter and there's nothing else to do.

does this show definitively start to suck at some point?

i have not read this thread btw

(in the event that the answer to my question is contained within)

this show becomes really really frustrating but I don't think it's ever actually sucked

i'm really enjoying it! i just saw the one where brody goes to carrie's home and asks her to keep her mouth shut about the weekend in the cabin. after he leaves and she starts crying, but she puts her arm over her eyes even though there's no one there to see her crying? classic. she does go pretty berserk sometimes but i like her character.

For some reason I stuck with this show. Seasons 4-5 are pretty consistent quality-wise imo, if you're still watching at this stage you know what you're getting .

I just watched whatever the latest season is. Season 5.
S3 was the low point, then they stopped dragging out and spoiling what made it good in the first place and just made it a solid 24/Spooks type affair. S4 was pretty gripping I seem to remember.

Oh in one of the episodes I just watched, Claire Danes says 'go. go now' yay!!

i'm in season 3 now and i understand what you mean by frustrating. constant in-n-out of 'nuthouse' + venezuelan highrise slum-squat + boring story about depressed teen/her troubled bf and her BORING BORING BORING mother she doesn't get along with

i'm kind of surprised by how extremely boring the mom character is (and mike too tbh, they are both so bland!)

i will also admit to being invested in the romantic storyline for a while

the depressed teen storyline reminded me of the Michael Douglas' daughter storyline from Traffic

Seasons 4 & 5, post Brody, were the best of the lot imo

Agreed!

Also, has anyone else seen Prisoners of War -- the Israeli show Homeland was based on?

Michael Douglas' daughter storyline from Traffic
totally, down to "severely bershon actress"although i think she wears it well
it's just not an interesting story to me

are they intentionally turning jessica into more of a bitch? are we just seeing a different side of her now that her high school boyfriend/husband/terrorist roommate is on the lam/dead? they made her so matronly once he started running for office. oh! and i noticed that claire danes has stopped using that weird product that makes your eyelashes grow. i kept wondering what was different about her face and i think it's the eyelashes going back to normal.

i am still watching it but i also find the new analyst pretty dull which basically makes everyone on the show dull except for carrie. i still have enjoyed watching it so far but if it stays like this eehh maybe not

thank you for introducing me to the word bershon

whatever

haha

idgi?