A couple weeks back, I lamented Homeland's slide down the ambition spectrum from a subtle, nuanced examination of the psychological price America has paid for the war on terror to a wacky, twist-a-minute, "who's-gonna-die-next?" pulp thriller. I said in that post that I'd be willing to overlook some of season 2's post-"Q&A" goofiness if the season finale delivered something a bit more along the lines of season 1, and holy fucking shit, did they go exactly the opposite direction. And I'mma be straight with you guys: I kinda loved it.
Don't get me wrong – this is not the show I fell in love with last year. It's not the show anyone fell in love with last year, despite a humorous number of TV critics I've read desperately trying to convince themselves otherwise. Homeland used to be I show I loved in the way I love Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation. Now it's a show I love in the way I love a Tony Scott movie – motherfucking explosions and terrorist attacks and characters dying and escapes and chases and tough guys making threats and operatic emotion with a capital fucking E! Holy shit!
Sure, big, dumb, bombastic goofiness really isn't what I thought I had signed up for after seeing the series' pilot fourteen months ago. Not even close. But that don't mean it ain't damn entertaining television.
Don't get me wrong – this is not the show I fell in love with last year. It's not the show anyone fell in love with last year, despite a humorous number of TV critics I've read desperately trying to convince themselves otherwise. Homeland used to be I show I loved in the way I love Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation. Now it's a show I love in the way I love a Tony Scott movie – motherfucking explosions and terrorist attacks and characters dying and escapes and chases and tough guys making threats and operatic emotion with a capital fucking E! Holy shit!
Sure, big, dumb, bombastic goofiness really isn't what I thought I had signed up for after seeing the series' pilot fourteen months ago. Not even close. But that don't mean it ain't damn entertaining television.
Explosive spoilers ahead.
So let's just cut to the chase: Forty minutes into this episode, Abu Nazir posthumously sets off the bomb at Vice President Walden's funeral, blowing up David Estes, the late vice president's wife Cynthia and son Finn, and half the goddamned CIA (but not this universe's president, who wasn't there for reasons that the Homeland producers can kind of explain but still, if you're being honest with yourself, don't really make sense).
Now, once the episode ended and I caught my breath, there was definitely a part of me that thought, hey, Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, you're totally just transplanting stories you already told in 24. The good guys' home base being directly attacked by the terrorists? Happened in 24 seasons 2, 5, 6, and 7. The protagonist's boss being killed off? Happened in 24 seasons 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7. And beyond that, there was a part of me that was critical of the show hedging its bets by killing off three of the most morally expendable characters – Finn killed a lady in a hit-and-run, Cynthia paid off said lady's daughter for her silence, and of course Estes had him a hard-on for drone strikes. The show carefully, cowardly set us up to shed no tears when these people died.
But that these thoughts slowly percolated in the back of my mind frankly didn't matter in the slightest at the moment – after that bomb went off, I spent the last 25 minutes of the episode with my heart pounding and my head swimming in that singular delight that only a great twist in a serialized TV drama can grant (give or take a crappy roadside goodbye scene between less-than-compelling star-crossed lovers Carrie and Brody).
The scenes of utter destruction as Saul tours the aftermath? Perfect! The Brody tape being released, framing him for the attack? Again, it has nothing in common with the Homeland I loved in season 1, but as part of a twisty pulp thriller – fucking genius! (And yes, Brody then went on the run, partially framed for the day's events and at least for now presumed dead, just like Jack Bauer in the 24 season 4 finale.)
Then Carrie sends the world's most famous ginger, whose incredibly recognizable face is plastered on every news show on the planet and will be for months, if not years, north to live in secret in Newfoundland, where apparently there is no TV or internet, but not before hilariously telling him she thinks they can make it work someday.
Now, I'm of two minds about this. If Gansa and Gordon want me to be heartbroken and bawling over Carrie and Brody'stragicomic tragic love story, they've failed utterly. I don't care about this couple. Their dialogue early on in the forest was incredibly trite; their scenes in the cabin had all the comforting domesticity of a dog and a cat who kind of tensely tolerate each other's presence. As character drama, much less as epic romance, this is pretty poor stuff. But! If Brody's going to be back to filling the role of a plot objective for Carrie next season as she secretly works to clear his name, that actually has real story potential, potential like last season and the first five episodes of this season had.
Speaking of those unfortunate woods and cabin scenes, everything non-Saul and pre-explosion in this episode ranged from boring to dumb, right? I mean, Quinn's tough guy monologue to Estes in Estes' bedroom (where he's been waiting in the corner in the dark to make a dramatic entrance when Estes turns on the light) was fucking stupid. That wasn't just me, was it?
But no, there was one exception. Brody and Dana's conversation about Brody's true intentions in last season's finale wasn't only the best non-Saul, pre-explosion scene in the episode, it was almost certainly Dana's best scene on this show since at least before the hit-and-run, possibly since she helped Brody bury his Quran. It reminded me of how uncommonly good a kid actress Morgan Saylor actually is when she isn't being shoved into insanely dumb Kim Bauer-esque storylines and being asked to literally cry over spilt milk.
By the way, speaking of Dana, hey, TV critics who defended the Dana/Finn hit-and-run story: You're now free to apologize, because no, that fucking story wasn't anything except filler. In fact, in retrospect, I'd say it made Dana's journey actively less interesting.
Turn back the clock and imagine for a minute that the showrunners didn't decide to reveal Finn's true douchey evil nature via vehicular manslaughter, and just let he and Dana's romance simmer in the background for the second half of this season, maybe even let them fall in love. Can you imagine how much more interesting Dana would be right now and moving forward if she had been in love with a decent guy, and he died in a terrorist attack, and she thought her dad did it? That would be a meaty, fascinating story, and the writers nixed it just so we wouldn't feel bad when the little douche bought the farm.
In fact, while we're rewriting Homeland history, can you imagine how much more tremendously impactful this episode's terrorist attack would have been if we hadn't been prepped for it by months of escalating absurdity? Imagine, if you'll bear with me, an alternate version of this season, one which has Carrie finding Brody's confession tape in a less silly way, no Brody goofily killing a guy in the woods, no hit-and-run, no terrorist ninja SWAT team shooting up the tailor's shop, no Galvez magically surviving a hail of gunfire to the chest, no Nazir kidnapping Carrie, no fucking emailing a heart attack (instead, Walden dying in a non-stupid way), no horror movie villain Nazir stalking Carrie through dark industrial hallways (instead, Nazir dying in a non-stupid way), no Quinn going "I kill bad guys."
Now imagine that season ending with a sudden terrorist bomb that destroys the CIA and kills three major characters and Brody getting framed for it. Instead of me laughing and going "Oh shit!", having been totally prepared for the fact that this is just a 24ian universe where that kind of thing happens, it would have been fucking mind blowing. Like, TV twist of the year. Instead, it's just an often entertaining but mostly silly season of television being capped off with its most entertaining but silliest set piece yet.
The main thing I'd say is still anchoring this show to the trappings of "quality" television is Saul Berenson and Mandy Patinkin's warm, humane, wonderful performance, one that is frankly more deserving of Emmy gold for this season than either Danes or Lewis. He can play the big, juicy moment – raging at Estes, telling Carrie she's the smartest and dumbest fuckin' person he's ever known – but he knows exactly when to underplay it, too. His "Yes. Please." when his wife says she's coming home; so small, so perfect. And his smile at the end? A masterclass in giving a full, rich, complex performance sans a word of dialogue. Saul isn't my favorite prestige drama TV character, but Patinkin has made him hands down the most utterly likable prestige drama character right now.
(I know Mandy Patinkin being great shouldn't surprise me, as I've been continuously quoting Inigo Montoya for twenty-plus years, but as it turns out, looking over his IMDb page, I haven't seen anything Patinkin's been in between The Princess Bride and Homeland. Literally not one single thing. Isn't that fucked up? My bad, Mandy. My bad.)
So do I still love Homeland? Probably not. That's not really an insult – there's only a handful of shows on television that I can truly say I love. Even my top ten of 2012 I post next week will contain shows I don't love. But do I like Homeland? Hell yeah. It just took a realignment of expectations, a little dash of Saul, and the show holding its breath and plunging headfirst into its new dopey direction for me to comfortably recommit, even if it feels a little dirty, like marrying your spouse's dumber identical twin after his or her accidental death. Bring on season 3, you crazy sons of bitches.
So let's just cut to the chase: Forty minutes into this episode, Abu Nazir posthumously sets off the bomb at Vice President Walden's funeral, blowing up David Estes, the late vice president's wife Cynthia and son Finn, and half the goddamned CIA (but not this universe's president, who wasn't there for reasons that the Homeland producers can kind of explain but still, if you're being honest with yourself, don't really make sense).
Now, once the episode ended and I caught my breath, there was definitely a part of me that thought, hey, Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, you're totally just transplanting stories you already told in 24. The good guys' home base being directly attacked by the terrorists? Happened in 24 seasons 2, 5, 6, and 7. The protagonist's boss being killed off? Happened in 24 seasons 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7. And beyond that, there was a part of me that was critical of the show hedging its bets by killing off three of the most morally expendable characters – Finn killed a lady in a hit-and-run, Cynthia paid off said lady's daughter for her silence, and of course Estes had him a hard-on for drone strikes. The show carefully, cowardly set us up to shed no tears when these people died.
But that these thoughts slowly percolated in the back of my mind frankly didn't matter in the slightest at the moment – after that bomb went off, I spent the last 25 minutes of the episode with my heart pounding and my head swimming in that singular delight that only a great twist in a serialized TV drama can grant (give or take a crappy roadside goodbye scene between less-than-compelling star-crossed lovers Carrie and Brody).
The scenes of utter destruction as Saul tours the aftermath? Perfect! The Brody tape being released, framing him for the attack? Again, it has nothing in common with the Homeland I loved in season 1, but as part of a twisty pulp thriller – fucking genius! (And yes, Brody then went on the run, partially framed for the day's events and at least for now presumed dead, just like Jack Bauer in the 24 season 4 finale.)
Then Carrie sends the world's most famous ginger, whose incredibly recognizable face is plastered on every news show on the planet and will be for months, if not years, north to live in secret in Newfoundland, where apparently there is no TV or internet, but not before hilariously telling him she thinks they can make it work someday.
Now, I'm of two minds about this. If Gansa and Gordon want me to be heartbroken and bawling over Carrie and Brody's
Speaking of those unfortunate woods and cabin scenes, everything non-Saul and pre-explosion in this episode ranged from boring to dumb, right? I mean, Quinn's tough guy monologue to Estes in Estes' bedroom (where he's been waiting in the corner in the dark to make a dramatic entrance when Estes turns on the light) was fucking stupid. That wasn't just me, was it?
But no, there was one exception. Brody and Dana's conversation about Brody's true intentions in last season's finale wasn't only the best non-Saul, pre-explosion scene in the episode, it was almost certainly Dana's best scene on this show since at least before the hit-and-run, possibly since she helped Brody bury his Quran. It reminded me of how uncommonly good a kid actress Morgan Saylor actually is when she isn't being shoved into insanely dumb Kim Bauer-esque storylines and being asked to literally cry over spilt milk.
By the way, speaking of Dana, hey, TV critics who defended the Dana/Finn hit-and-run story: You're now free to apologize, because no, that fucking story wasn't anything except filler. In fact, in retrospect, I'd say it made Dana's journey actively less interesting.
Turn back the clock and imagine for a minute that the showrunners didn't decide to reveal Finn's true douchey evil nature via vehicular manslaughter, and just let he and Dana's romance simmer in the background for the second half of this season, maybe even let them fall in love. Can you imagine how much more interesting Dana would be right now and moving forward if she had been in love with a decent guy, and he died in a terrorist attack, and she thought her dad did it? That would be a meaty, fascinating story, and the writers nixed it just so we wouldn't feel bad when the little douche bought the farm.
In fact, while we're rewriting Homeland history, can you imagine how much more tremendously impactful this episode's terrorist attack would have been if we hadn't been prepped for it by months of escalating absurdity? Imagine, if you'll bear with me, an alternate version of this season, one which has Carrie finding Brody's confession tape in a less silly way, no Brody goofily killing a guy in the woods, no hit-and-run, no terrorist ninja SWAT team shooting up the tailor's shop, no Galvez magically surviving a hail of gunfire to the chest, no Nazir kidnapping Carrie, no fucking emailing a heart attack (instead, Walden dying in a non-stupid way), no horror movie villain Nazir stalking Carrie through dark industrial hallways (instead, Nazir dying in a non-stupid way), no Quinn going "I kill bad guys."
Now imagine that season ending with a sudden terrorist bomb that destroys the CIA and kills three major characters and Brody getting framed for it. Instead of me laughing and going "Oh shit!", having been totally prepared for the fact that this is just a 24ian universe where that kind of thing happens, it would have been fucking mind blowing. Like, TV twist of the year. Instead, it's just an often entertaining but mostly silly season of television being capped off with its most entertaining but silliest set piece yet.
The main thing I'd say is still anchoring this show to the trappings of "quality" television is Saul Berenson and Mandy Patinkin's warm, humane, wonderful performance, one that is frankly more deserving of Emmy gold for this season than either Danes or Lewis. He can play the big, juicy moment – raging at Estes, telling Carrie she's the smartest and dumbest fuckin' person he's ever known – but he knows exactly when to underplay it, too. His "Yes. Please." when his wife says she's coming home; so small, so perfect. And his smile at the end? A masterclass in giving a full, rich, complex performance sans a word of dialogue. Saul isn't my favorite prestige drama TV character, but Patinkin has made him hands down the most utterly likable prestige drama character right now.
(I know Mandy Patinkin being great shouldn't surprise me, as I've been continuously quoting Inigo Montoya for twenty-plus years, but as it turns out, looking over his IMDb page, I haven't seen anything Patinkin's been in between The Princess Bride and Homeland. Literally not one single thing. Isn't that fucked up? My bad, Mandy. My bad.)
So do I still love Homeland? Probably not. That's not really an insult – there's only a handful of shows on television that I can truly say I love. Even my top ten of 2012 I post next week will contain shows I don't love. But do I like Homeland? Hell yeah. It just took a realignment of expectations, a little dash of Saul, and the show holding its breath and plunging headfirst into its new dopey direction for me to comfortably recommit, even if it feels a little dirty, like marrying your spouse's dumber identical twin after his or her accidental death. Bring on season 3, you crazy sons of bitches.
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