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

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

the brass balls on this show

i like that it moves so quickly frankly. I was reading an article last night that pointed out that this show satisfies primarily by NOT stretching things out and immediately sating your brain's desire for plot fulfillment. It's the anti-Rubicon.

It's like the Vampire Diaries of prestigious cable programming

i also have started really feeling sorry for brody frankly. which is a testament to this show's strength. I mean when he was stealing shit from este's office I was like "hurry up before he comes back!" when he had to snap that guys neck I was like 'oh no!'. Go, terrorist, go!

also wanted him to blow the fuck out of the VP. but that's just because VP is such a douche. They should have cast douchey VP /president from 24.

yeah once again i have to admire the way they're not pussyfooting around one bit in terms of moving things forward. none of that "let's drop this gamechanger and then milk 4 episodes or a whole season out of it before moving on to the next major development" rhythm that most other shows get you accustomed to these days.

also, renewed.

if these guys had done Lost they would have answered what the smoke monster was by the end of the pilot

yea they don't pussyfoot but still, the way they introduce drama and accelerate change is hilarious. like last week: not only do abu nazir's gang send their most interesting asset (brdy) to tie up loose ends, his tire also gets punctured at really what could only be the worst moment. and to make matters worse, this happens exactly on the night where his wife, with whom things were going along a bit better, is counting on him.
tbh i keep watching this show but srsly sometimes i'm laughing real hard at what's happening on screen

haha yeah, compared to this actual terrorism is probably positively tedious.

oh there's definitely some hilarity in the choices they make but i'm along for the ride as long as it's such a ride

I like how Claire Danes basically blew the operation for an opportunity to call her ex on his shit. "And I faked it every time, you asshole!"

I couldn't decide if we were supposed to think Carrie blew the operation with good reason (that Brody was really onto her) or was just being paranoid

Like, Brody did end their meeting abruptly, but I don't think he was onto her necessarily

For one thing if I had shock treatment I think I would be kinda sensitive/defensive about people bringing it up, that did not seem like "suspicious behavior" in the way Carrie thought it was? I dunno.

so far I like the new character on the CIA side

No, I don't think Brody was on to her. I think she wanted an opportunity to do exactly what she did, so she made a lame half-excuse and did it.

kinda makes sense

omg this show

not being totally clear whether Carrie's right or wrong or what reason she's really doing something for is a pretty consistent and usually deliberate theme of the show imo

also remember she went in thinking he was on the hook, but in fact we know that he had already contacted his handler and was told to feel her out. so she probably had a sense that he was more cagey than she expected, at a minimum. and her whole thing was "we don't have enough time, we just need to go all in." so there was a sense maybe that it was better to move on him than to play mind games with no payoff for the next two episodes weeks.

just started season one...wow this show is good

tbh i keep watching this show but srsly sometimes i'm laughing real hard at what's happening on screen

Me and my housemate were in hysterics when he was strangling the tailor while talking to Jess on the phone. Don't know if that was the intended reaction.

I still think it's very overrated. It's decent but doesn't come near the top echelon of current TV drama.

A lot of folks are praising its audacity, but Breaking Bad far outstrips it on that count (as well as in acting, writing and direction...)

this > breaking bad imho, sorry

I don't think it's good in terms of ~realness~ but it's fucking excellent TV. Like, the tailor episode was absolutely dumb and the scene in the forest was hilarious, but at the same time, I was all like... NOOOO BROOOODY WTF ARE YOU DOINGGGGGGG? AND WHY AM I EVEN ROOTING FOR YOU, YOU TERRORIST?!

this > breaking bad imho, sorry

thats a good one do u know any more joeks y/n

i mean i like breaking bad a lot, i just find the plotting in homeland more compelling albeit frenetic, much more than the moody indulgences of breaking bad but that's just my taste

I think Homeland is more qualitatively comparable to, like, Big Love or L O S T. Hopefully it's able to avoid the late-period quagmire those shows sank into.

I think what makes Homeland impressive is that it's smart and inventive within the confines of a genre that's often formulaic, whereas Breaking Bad carved out its own space from the beginning.

Which is to say, it's hard for me to compare them. I find that Homeland, with its fast pace and constant intrigue, is more addictive (I've watched most of the series within the last two weeks), but that doesn't necessarily make it better.

as pointed out upthread, i just think they pick great moments for unexpected plot developments. I mean, I legitimately have no idea how the show is going to proceed from this episode onwards.

Is Brody going to be a triple-agent? Are the Brody family going to be phased out eventually, The Wire-style? I read somewhere that the original plan was to tie up the Brody storyline last season and have every season with Carrie facing a new enemy, but I guess they liked Damien Lewis too much or it was too similar structurally to Dexter or something. I could still see that happening though, with Abu Nazir's defeat being the ultimate goal.

I also sort of liked how they managed to fit in Dana's cute teenage emo romance in this, which somehow didn't seem awkward at all in the middle of all the CIA espionage stuff. Can't imagine that's going to end well though. "My dad tried to kill your dad", etc.