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[Peff]

Can someone refresh my mind on what happened in S2? I really can't recall.

Brody, now a congress-man, does trainee-level tasks for the terrorists while also trying to become running mate of the current Vice President. Carrie ends up working for the CIA again pretty much just because and manages to find Brody's confession memory card, which leads to his arrest and a bunch of double agent shenanigans. Eventually Abu Nazir enters the US and sort of stays there until he is caught and killed, a bomb goes off at Langley killing Estes and Carrie promises to love Brody forever and clear his name because someone leaked the confession video. Mandy Patinkin sighs and silently wonders where it all went wrong.

Also a bunch of Dana bullshit.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Still waiting on an explanation for why Nazir spent YEARS on a plot to install a mole in the US government, only to use him for small ball shit that could easily get him caught (going to the bomb guy in the store, for instance). Sure the plot managed to ultimately kill the VP and many CIA people, but even that seems kind of small compared to having an active mole moving his way up the US government.

 

[kirblar]

The show was pretty much doomed when Showtime told the showrunners they couldn't kill Brody in the Season 1 finale.

The Season 1 Carrie/Brody eps are great because she's doing it just to get to him, not because she wuuuuuuuubs him like in Season 2.

They defanged him, just like they did to Dexter.

Had they had the bomb not go off, and left out the phone call from the daughter? Sets up an interesting S2 where we know he pulled the trigger, but no one else does. Keeps him ambiguous.

 

[THRILLH0]

Can we get a roll-call of everyone who bitched their way through the last thread and claimed they were out at the end of the season?

 

[ConfusingJazz]

Still waiting on an explanation for why Nazir spent YEARS on a plot to install a mole in the US government, only to use him for small ball shit that could easily get him caught (going to the bomb guy in the store, for instance). Sure the plot managed to ultimately kill the VP and many CIA people, but even that seems kind of small compared to having an active mole moving his way up the US government.

Even more useless when you find out they had a Islamic Terrorist Assassination Squad that wiped out an investigation team later in the season.

What, were they too busy with their own shit, so they had to put their most prized asset in danger?

 

[AuthenticM]

I'll be watching.

 

[Goldenroad]

I thought the whole point of the show from the S1E1 was that Carrie is really mentally unstable and that's how she could end up falling for a terrorist like Brody. It's that whole duality-of-man thing that good writers are able to tackle.

 

[Judderman]

#Team

Spoiler

Die

Dana

Spoiler

Die

Will watch in hopes that it gets back on track, which I know it won't because it veered off the road at the end of S1. So I'll watch for Mandy Patinkin.

 

[Cornballer]

Showtime is running a marathon this weekend for those of you that want to rewatch S2:

NEW YORK, NY – (Sept 26, 2013) –In advance of the highly- anticipated Season 3 premiere of its Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award-winning series HOMELAND, SHOWTIME will be offering a catch-up marathon of Season 2 on Saturday and Sunday, September 28th and 29th, starting at 12 p.m. ET/PT airing all twelve episodes back-to- back. HOMELAND stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Claire Danes, Emmy winner Damian Lewis, and Emmy and Tony® Award winner Mandy Patinkin, and premieres this Sunday, September 29 at 9 p.m. ET/PT only on SHOWTIME.

 

[Cornballer]

- Deadline: TV Teaser: Showtime’s ‘Homeland’ Gets Promo Help…From Fox’s ‘The Simpsons’

 

[Cornballer]

- Poniewozik: Can You Trust Homeland Again?

At moments, it’s like Homeland blew up not just CIA headquarters but season 2 itself. That is, it’s a version of what it might have been like if–as was apparently the original plan–Brody’s explosive vest did go off in that government shelter at the end of season 1. And it works, mostly, at least for the two hours of the season’s beginning. A series like Homeland can’t keep sprinting from crisis to crisis without devaluing the idea of crisis in general. If its big moments are to matter, then they have to be given time to land.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

Will watch! The first season was amazing and the second season while shaky at times was still great T.V.

Hopefully the haters will keep away and just stop watching it like they said they would in the season 2 OT.

 

[Meier]

I can't wait.

 

[xenist]

The greatest love story of our time is back!

I'll pass. I stopped watching this after Dana literally started crying over spilled milk. I couldn't stop laughing and I realized the show was over for me. And since hate-watching is a weird concept for me I'll stick to recaps and reading the comments here.

 

[Cornballer]

- Newsday: 'Homeland' season 3 premiere review: Strong

Turns out Carrie didn't lose her mind last season, but her show did. "Homeland" needed to take a deep breath, count its blessings, and figure out how many blessings were left. Sunday night indicates that plenty are. Strong start. (Here's hoping it stays that way.) Grade: A-

- Slant Magazine: Homeland: Season Three

The show's third season, however, seems to offer an unequivocal rebuke to those skeptics: The first two episodes are, perhaps, the most riveting of the series to date, both when it comes to the tautly constructed plot and, more importantly, the constantly developing and consistently unpredictable characters. 3.5 out of 4 stars

 

[UrbanRats]

Will wait for some GAF opinions.

S2 was bad, but still had a bunch of good moments, however it's the general direction (set in S1's finale) that is flawed, imo.

 

[AuthenticM]

Christ. This show is incredibly Islamophobic, but I'm going to watch it anyway. Shame on me, I guess.

It's not incredibly islamaphobic at all. The only moment of racism in the show is in season 2 when they briefly think that one of their colleagues is helping Abu Nazir escape from the factory; that is, when Carrie says "well, he is a muslim." Apart from that, I think the show (season one at least) handles its subject as well as a show dealing with jihadists can. This is not Never Without My Daughter, in which every muslim is a wife beater or The Kingdom, which has crazy muslims as cannon fodder.

 

[Dany]

Aren't they still looking for the Mole? Isn't it Saul?

 

[Cornballer]

- Alyssa Rosenberg: Five Things ‘Homeland’ Needs To Do In Its Third Season *some spoilers*

 

[BertramCooper]

- Newsday: 'Homeland' season 3 premiere review: Strong
- Slant Magazine: Homeland: Season Three

This is certainly good to hear.

However, I'm terrified it will all go to shit

Spoiler

once Brody returns.

 

[BertramCooper]

- Alyssa Rosenberg: Five Things ‘Homeland’ Needs To Do In Its Third Season *some spoilers*

I want to play this game.

1) Kill Brody
2) Kill Brody
3) Kill Brody
4) Kill Brody
5) Kill Dana

 

[Fry]

- Newsday: 'Homeland' season 3 premiere review: Strong
- Slant Magazine: Homeland: Season Three

Excellent!!!!!!!!

 

[Ventilaator]

Hopefully the haters will keep away and just stop watching it like they said they would in the season 2 OT.

Having just read through this thread, it seems you'd be the only poster here if the haters stayed out.

 

[AuthenticM]

Aren't they still looking for the Mole? Isn't it Saul?

If there's a mole, it couldn't be Saul, not with how much we've seen of him. It wouldn't make a lick of sense.

 

[Maxxan]

Also a bunch of Dana bullshit.

That's hillarious. Now, am i crazy or is that the one and only Kyle Bosman at 00:45?

 

[Tugatrix]

Aren't they still looking for the Mole? Isn't it Saul?

No but the mole is there, and i still have my suspicions about Saul...

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Steve Billings no longer a series regular? Fuck this show.

 

[ThisWreckage]

Showtime interfering and keeping Brody alive is ironic because it very likely would have salvaged season two.

 

[zeroeffect]

- Newsday: 'Homeland' season 3 premiere review: Strong
- Slant Magazine: Homeland: Season Three

Nice. I hope it's indeed moving back to season 1 quality. I had this show as my #1 on TV after season 1 but it fell quite a few notches after the second season. I currently have Game of Thrones as my favorite and it would take a lot to dethrone that but if Homeland can clean up their mess...it's possible.

I share the same sentiment as some other posters in this thread: Brody needs to be dealt with this season and be done with it.

 

[AuthenticM]

That's hillarious. Now, am i crazy or is that the one and only Kyle Bosman at 00:45?

I think so, yes !

 

[jtb]

also, to temper the non-existent hype a little... s3 premiere spoiler:

Spoiler

Zach, Dexter's whiny kid sidekick for two episodes this season, is now in this season too.

 

[Tugatrix]

Steve Billings no longer a series regular? Fuck this show.

it depends whether he was on the ceremony and killed by the bomb

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Apart from that, I think the show (season one at least) handles its subject as well as a show dealing with jihadists can.

I actually thought the Showtime series 'Sleeper Cell' handled the subject with a lot more grace.

 

[Cornballer]

- Matt Zoller Seitz: Time to Get Back to the Good Stuff

There's a lot to like in these first two episodes: Dana and Jessica's scenes have greater psychological weight than before, thanks to Brody's absent presence, though they do raise the uncomfortable question of how interested we need to be now that the family isn't directly connected to the show's central institution anymore (the Betty Draper problem on Mad Men). The episodes also give us a clear, at times unnerving sense of how hard it must be for somebody as gifted but volatile as Carrie to work in such a button-down environment, and how easy it must be to write her off as merely unstable or merely crazy.

 

[UrbanRats]

That's hillarious. Now, am i crazy or is that the one and only Kyle Bosman at 00:45?

Holy shit, you're right.

Also they got Dana 100% right.

She was a decent character in S1, though.

 

[BertramCooper]

Holy shit, you're right.

Also they got Dana 100% right.

She was a decent character in S1, though.

Dana was fine in Season 1.

Then she got Kim Bauer'd in Season 2.

 

[Dysun]

Dana was fine in Season 1.

Then she got Kim Bauer'd in Season 2.

Kim Bauer was good eye candy tho

 

[xenist]

Dana was fine in Season 1.

Then she got Kim Bauer'd in Season 2.

Dana was more than fine in Season 1. She was one of the better teen characters in all the shows I watch. I still have no damn idea what the hell happened in the second one. Did another writer take over her character? Was the actress a bitch and the writing staff took revenge? Seriously, I'd love to know.

 

[Dennis]

Kim Bauer was good eye candy tho

So is Dana.

 

[neohwa]

more action less "romance" please

also why do they avoid talking about the president like he doesn't exist? it's always the vice president and stuff.

 

[Joni]

more action less "romance" please

also why do they avoid talking about the president like he doesn't exist? it's always the vice president and stuff.

The president only talks to the CIA, the FBI and the NSA so they're resentful. It is a bit more risky to talk about the president because it is an easy way to date your show, he is a lot more famous than the vice-president so he can't be evil; and the actual president is watching the show so they need to do a lot of not to offend him.

 

[squidyj]

season 2 started pretty good.

 

[AuthenticM]

he is a lot more famous than the vice-president so he can't be evil

This is the real reason. In Hollywood, the president is a saintly figure that cannot be touched or slandered. Every time the President appears in a movie or tv show, he's always someone who has never done anything reprehensible. The only exception I can think of is John Carpenter's Escape movies, but that's it.

 

[i_am_ben]

Agree with people's comments regarding Dana in season 1.

 

[JDSN]

I see one of the S3 trailers, and whats with the naked selfies thing? Is it gonna be a subplot in a story about how societies react to terrorism?

 

[Emerson]

I never even finished season 2 (two more episodes or so) and I may just not and ditch this show. Showtime may just have to join AMC in my "don't watch anymore new shows" club.

People act like Season 2 was what sent this show downhill. From my recollection, season 1 started going downhill as soon as they introduced a love story that didn't belong in the show at all. The season 1 finale was god awful as well and worse than anything season 2 put out.

Insanity. The cabin weekend episode was probably the best one of season 1. But you're right that the downturn started at the end of season 1.

 

[Amir0x]

I am mainly just curious to see if anything can top the sheer skin curdling absurdity of a scene in which Carrie fucks the shit out of Brody's rock hard cock shrieking in pleasure as Saul impishly listens in on the other end whilst finding a way somehow to defend her actions as if he trusts her implicitly

*radio Carrie* "OH FUCK ME BRODY, YES YES SLIDE IT IN MY TIGHT PUSSY" */radioCarrie*

Saul: "ha ha I know carrie she, uh, knows....um... she has a plan...ummm"

*radio Carrie* "FUCK. FUCK. YES, BRING THE SPIKED PORCUPINE DILDO. OH FUCK. OHHHHH" */radioCarrie*

Saul: "Well you know...*cough* Later I will trust her again for no good reason and within two minutes she will immediately disobey the command! But then I will still defend her and say I trust her implicitly as I try once more to save her position in the CIA!"

 

[Portugeezer]

She always looks like she's going to cry.

Normal face, happy face, sad face, crying face, etc.

Also, how about those tremendously loud exhales? That is half his dialogue.

 

[Cornballer]

Season premiere tonight:

Tin Man is Down

Spoiler

Nick Brody remains at large; Saul plots a counterstrike on the terrorists connected to the bombing; Carrie becomes the focus of a Senate investigation; the Brody family copes with Dana's behavior.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

I doubt they can ever rebound from fucking up the S1 finale.