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

Have persevered and enjoying this a lot more now!

this shit is cray

its really killing me that that roomful of infidels didnt get blowed up tho

there really wasn't any chance they would, though? like when they kept teasing that scene in the promos i was like yeah yeah how 'suspenseful'

claire danes is way more than tolerable!

I dunno, i found the "manic" scenes borderline unwatchable

morelike claire panes in my ass

I had some post-holiday downtime last week, during which sped through the first seasons of this & Game of Thrones (both of which, along w/ Enlightened, I'd flagged as the new serial dramas of '11 I should investigate). Both made for excellent marathon viewing, actually!

I'm mixed on the show, overall, though. The over-reliance on cliffhangers and twists was gimmicky & pulpy in a way that didn't really jive w/ the overall tone of the show. The performances of Damian Lewis & Mandy Patinkin were exceptional, though. I'd say the same for CD, but

I dunno, i found the "manic" scenes borderline unwatchable

is kinda otm

bonus points for having a 'sullen teenager' character that I didn't just want to sock in the jaw.

The over-reliance on cliffhangers and twists was gimmicky & pulpy in a way that didn't really jive w/ the overall tone of the show.

This. For all of its outer trappings of realism, its dependence on typical tv narrative conventions made the show feel kind of hollow in the end from a philosophical standpoint. Maybe that's the squishy librul in me talking. Still, couldn't stop watching.

man this fucking show. i enjoyed quite a bit even though yeah, over-reliance on cliffhangers and twists. but that last episode was just a huge shitshow. that entire scene with brody not exploding that bomb was just painfully terrible: first false alarm, smth's broken in my supercool exploding vest. imma repair it. and just when i'm about to do it for realz, secret service tells me my daughter's on the phone and it's an emergency. you know what else is an emergency fuckheads, an assassination attempt. i almost switched it off then but i thought i'd already watched 12 hours of this so the remaining 30 minutes couldn't be that bad. and yet. it ends with that fucking shock therapy and claire danes connecting the last dots bcz she remembers her good times with brody. fucking hell that was lame as shit.

also, there's one thng that's been bothering me during the entire series. why the fuck does everyone call brody by his last name, including his wife?

that's his name, don't were it out

haha nice

Just found out Isa is Arabic for Jesus.

I'm watching this - halfway through. Decent enough. Kinda ham-handed, heavily skewed toward melodrama (backstory of the affair w/ the boss; flashbacks to idyllic times), don't know why but I expected a little more nuance.

Danes' kinda icy - you can see her not so much acting as pushing the "manic/edgy" button from a deep interior; the scene where she showed up at her sister's house, ready to collapse under the weight of the world, really carried weight though.

Just found out Isa is Arabic for Jesus.

― Où sont le Lord Custos d'antan? (Leee), Sunday, April 8, 2012 4:18 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes it is but JUST FYI it's pronounced "ee-sa" not the crazy annoying way damian lewis pronounces on this damn show.

season 2 trailer

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh_TPjZJCRc

awful music ... looks intense though. will watch.

take 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh_TPjZJCRc

pumped

Wonder what convolutions they'll go through to keep the same roster of characters/actors. After the disappointing end of last season I'm sceptical, but sure I'll watch it.

awful music

lol Downton Abbey used a Scala/Kolacny Brothers rendition in their upcoming season trailer too.

I like this show fine but after they crushed the Emmys last night I think it's officially v v overrated

all the comments upthread about ham-handed, melodramatic, over-reliance on twists are otm but they won the award for writing

and Damian Lewis beat Cranston and Jon Hamm

I know over-calibrating like this and being all "it's a good show, but" is sort of boring commentary but elevating this up over Breaking Bad and Mad Men is kinda nuts imo.

I really like the show, but I agree.

Almost suited up for "Mad Men is about more than you're making it out to be" in response to this article but...ugh.

http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2012/09/24/895061/homeland-emmys/

i'm kinda holding my breath for the second season, i feel like what they do with that will either validate the first season's virtues or further expose its flaws

yeah despite really liking the first season the kind of flaws that were throwing themselves up there puts me in the strange position of having absolutely no faith that the creators can come through on a second season. will be happy to be proven wrong though.

yeah it always felt like the odds were high that it could be a one season wonder -- in which case i'm fine with that season getting every possible reward, so long as diminishing returns don't get the same kind of accolades

melodrama and plot twists are central elements of the shows style, rather than something that detracts from it, also the emmys are dumb who cares

I like twists, they just went overboard w/ it in places (mainly the bunker episode) and I have a feeling it will only go farther in that direction as they try to top themselves

yeah exactly, they've painted themselves into a corner where they'll have to be very careful and continuing to raise the stakes without it getting ridiculous

the bunker ep was so crucial WHY DONT U SEE

it was what it was, i'm just saying it's hard to follow, is the kind of thing that is usually saved for a series finale rather than a first season finale. but that's really what i liked best about Homeland, i expected this slow moving plot of small revelations and instead every episode just sprinted right ahead of how far i expected it to go in advancing the action.

i am finding myself p excited for this, i think it is more a reflection of my susceptibility to trending topics on blogs than it is my affinity for homeland, though.

i expected this slow moving plot of small revelations and instead every episode just sprinted right ahead of how far i expected it to go in advancing the action.

I think the employment of hyper-escalating stakes is the method this show has used to pull the wool over people's eyes wrt its Greatness. It's a fine show on its own terms, but it's fairly pedestrian on a narrative level. Kinda like the Oz of espionage thrillers.

After sitting with the season premiere for a bit, I'm a little more "ehhh" than I was even after the letdown of last season's finale:

"Duh, accidentally revealed my dad's a Muslim!"
Reporter was concerned about a Congressman's office being bugged, but said Congressman didn't think twice before ransacking a CIA director's office (not to mention getting fingerprints everywhere?).
"Duh, almost forgot my notebook!"
Attempts at high dramatic tension when the events depicted are low-stakes on a narrative level (Claire Danes ain't gonna get caught and sent home, Damian Lewis ain't gonna get caught bustin' a CIA safe).

ehhh i thought claire danes on a mission was p good, at least the pay off.

"Duh, accidentally revealed my dad's a Muslim!"

yeah i think i was saying something like "come the fuck on" out loud at the screen during this scene

but yeah the CD scene at the end of the episode was good and not at all about the 'suspense' of whether she'd get away but about her taking stupid chances and getting a giddy thrill out of getting away

even though i ended kinda disappointed with the first season, still went ahead and watched the first episode. and i'm just gonna repeat what i said last time but ffs why does everyone call him by his last name, including his wife? this annoys me so much

you have a point about the wife but it's not at all uncommon for military personnel

at least damian lewis doesn't have to be "jonesy" again like in dreamcatcher

this show is better than mad men i don't care what any of y'all say

the brody searches in estes's safe scene was lame, but i liked the premiere otherwise

the "tolerable" in this title makes me so mad

FWIW, I'm pretty okay with the actors winning Emmys (and I think it's kind of a shame that Mandy Patinkin wasn't even nominated). The acting is definitely this show's strong suit.

yeah patinkin is definitely the best

mandy patinkin holla!

I think she was doing a plug for Mandy Patinkin brand challah.

Never watched an episode but approve of Mandy's facial hair.

this show is better than mad men i don't care what any of y'all say

― horseshoe, Tuesday, 2 October 2012 18:32 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the brody searches in estes's safe scene was lame, but i liked the premiere otherwise

― horseshoe, Tuesday, 2 October 2012 18:32 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the "tolerable" in this title makes me so mad

― horseshoe, Tuesday, 2 October 2012 18:33 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

horseshoe otm x3
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).

i feel like any drift towards a kind of grizzly toby zeigler david axelrod hesh in the sopranos shaggy dog guy archetype is desirable in tv drama, & patinkin is just a super satisfying frowny guy (awesome hat) who you want to see burrowing his chin droopily into his weary hand all the time. just imagine an accompanying web extra, produced w/youtube, of patinkin at home, wearily sighing, looking overwhelmed but resigned to having to sort through a pile of laundered clothes. his character's single (/alone), now, right? maybe we will get some of this.

yes sarita choudhury left him! ;_; poor saul.

After her debut film Mississippi Masala became an art house hit, Sarita Choudhury acted as a Pakistani country-western singer in Wild West

waht i need to see this movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXEh93ZzUHU

i just googled this & was disappointed that it wasn't what i had expected, which is the rece movie w/queen latifah & dolly parton as singers in the south who are bridging whatever divides are beat-you-over-the-head-with-it meant to separate them.

Ooft, season 4 really goes for it! I'm about two-thirds of the way and have been blind-sided at least twice already.

Ha... and again! That episode 4.11 twist was maybe a step too far for me - I actually laughed more than anything.

need mod to remove ‘tolerable’ from thread title

also the ‘that girl naked’ part probably

it was great when they hired some graffiti artists to add visual authenticity to a Euro set and they wrote loads of derogatory stuff about them like "Homeland is watermelon" in Arabic. Although I'd have used much stronger terms of abuse than that tbh.

I didn't understand Dar Adal's explanations in the season 4 finale at all, but I guess this whole strand continues through season 5.

Didn't they write that Homeland was racist? https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/oct/15/homeland-is-racist-artists-subversive-graffiti-tv-show

"The graffiti on the left says: ‘Freedom … now in 3D’. The one on the right says: ‘Homeland is watermelon’ (which is slang for not to be taken seriously)."

from yr link under the pic.

Ah, sorry, I only skim re-read the link before posting. Calling it racist is at least clear and direct criticism, if lacking in swear words.

I wonder if they though that writing 'Homeland =[a tolerable claire danes, mandy patinkin & that girl from firefly naked]' in Arabic was both two seasons too late and rather denigrating to Morena Baccarin.

I'm sure it's not a original idea, but I would very much watch a Peter Quinn offshoot series or origin film.

Finished season 6.

I preferred 4 & 5, but it was still passable and Rupert Friend was absolutely fantastic.

Finished season 7, which I wasn't keen on.

Assuming spoilers are ok at this point...

I really missed Quinn.

In season 8 they could mirror how things began with Brody by having Saul begin to suspect that Carrie has been turned by the Russians during the months she was held there apparently going crazy through lack of medication.

Apparently Yevgeney is going to back in S8, so Russia will still feature somehow.

Season 8? Fucking hell.

*going to be back

xpost Ha, had the exact same thought before I saw your post. This thing was sputtering halfway through the first season, what the shit.

Season 7 was no season 4 but I watched it.

Oleg from The Americans showing up probably the highlight. The episode with the hacker possibly the worst Homeland episode ever.

Glad I'm not the only one who persevered. I'm under no illusions as to its worth/quality, but it's been entertaining enough nonsense overall.

Yeah, that diversion with the hacker was particularly rubbish and annoyingly throwaway - I kept expecting for some twist to bring him back in later in the season, because it seemed utterly pointless otherwise.

Anyone watching this final series?

Not yet, but I will do at some point soon.

same here

Just finished it tonight. What a superb finale to one of the greatest TV shows ever. I'll miss it.

3 episodes in.

Wouldn't dream of posting spoilers here but hold onto your hat, you're in for a ride.

wow that was good

I bet I'm the last person to find out that Zabel is Claire Danes' real life husband!

Season 8 is now on UK Netflix. I'm going in...