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Homeland: Season 3 - |Pledge Allegiance|

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Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
I really don't see why Saul would come back into the CIA in any type of lesser position, the only thing that made somewhat sense in the finale was that Saul did not stay in the CIA. Lockhart simply could not keep him on, you can never keep on a guy who once sat in the big chair. Now, why Saul had to be forced into retirement rather than being promoted up to an even senior position like Director of National Intelligence or National Security Advisor beats me, but if he comes back working under Carrie then things will just be beyond stupid.

Second, how are they gonna have a show where Carrie is the Station Chief? Do they know what a Station Chief does? Carrie would be responsible for all intelligence operations and the operatives in that country, she'd essentially be what Saul was. You know what that means? It means she can't be running off in the field doing shit, she has to sit behind a desk and order other people to do stuff. Also, can you imagine a worse boss that the mentally unstable Carrie, jeez I feel sorry for her subordinates already.

The writers probably thought of a really great Istanbul unstable pun and decided to go for it.
 

KaoticBlaze

Member
So I just want to put my 2 cents in on this.

The two main reasons i started watching this series was 1. Damian Lewis. Despite what many may think about him, I personally think hes an amazing actor. Loved him in Band of Brothers. 2. The story that was advertised so much prior to the beginning of the series starting. Is Brody a terrorist or not?.

From that you can guess that season 1 was the best one for me then went downhill from there. (this is just my opinion)
I never liked Claire Danes' character. Found her extremely annoying most times.

With Brody now out of the picture
and the series revolving around an extremely unstable Carrie, I will sadly not be following Homeland anymore.

I am not upset that Brody was killed off because lets face it, with the events of season 3, there was really no future for this character. It was better to do that than to drag him on for who knows how much longer. They did the right thing, but, damn it still sucks.
Homeland was one of my favorite series'.
 
I really don't see why Saul would come back into the CIA in any type of lesser position, the only thing that made somewhat sense in the finale was that Saul did not stay in the CIA. Lockhart simply could not keep him on, you can never keep on a guy who once sat in the big chair. Now, why Saul had to be forced into retirement rather than being promoted up to an even senior position like Director of National Intelligence or National Security Advisor beats me, but if he comes back working under Carrie then things will just be beyond stupid.

Second, how are they gonna have a show where Carrie is the Station Chief? Do they know what a Station Chief does? Carrie would be responsible for all intelligence operations and the operatives in that country, she'd essentially be what Saul was. You know what that means? It means she can't be running off in the field doing shit, she has to sit behind a desk and order other people to do stuff. Also, can you imagine a worse boss that the mentally unstable Carrie, jeez I feel sorry for her subordinates already.


They made her pregnant so its a good call to give her a promotion in the series were she cant run around in various countries.

however it does not make any sense that they gave her that title, knowing how unstable and unreliable she is...

Good thing they killed of brody and that we dont get to see him anymore, hopefully Saul gets a great position in the future of this series. we need more awesome espionage plots!
 

Norua

Banned
Because he betrayed his country? It's not a matter of perspective, t
he US government in MGS3 is corrupt and evil run by a secret cabal of power crazed individuals. The Boss still carried out the mission assigned to her by them, no matter what she refused to betray her country even if it meant sacrificing her own life, she was a true patriot.
Nicholas Brody killed the VP because he felt personally inclined to do so after being tortured and brainwashed by Nazir into feeling that the coverup of the drone strike meant that he and all top US officials needed to die.

He is not a Patriot, he was a weak person who ended becoming the pawn of whoever was in control over him.

Why are you even comparing this to MGS? I'm not talking about patriotism at all. Brody's story isn't about loyalty to his country.

A "weak person"? Maybe torture and captivity ain't shit for an armchair soldier like yourself, but it was enough to break Bordy and that doesn't make him weak.

He killed the VP because the VP was a murderer. It's just like a character in any fiction that would avenge the death of his children. Not saying it's the RIGHT thing to do, but he didn't kill him to "betray" the mighty US of A.. He killed him because he's responsible for the death of a child he loved like his own son.
Avenging Issa was his only goal. As soon as he realized Nazir wanted to use him for more than that, he backed off and turned his coat on Nazir. It's as simple as that.
It was personal and justified.
 

Badgerst3

Member
Still about 9 episodes behind. Don't care that I see a grip of spoilers here. My choice.

Did I read correctly Carrie is preggers with Brody's kid. Done if so.

My tv time is limited. Would go back to the killing or just wait on True Detective, Justified and Game of Thrones.
 

Alpende

Member
I wonder what season 4 is going to be like. Every episode this season had Carrie and her annoying as shit cryface. I hope she's done next season, which I doubt to be honest.
 
They [CIA, Saul, Carrie] never spent the time to connect the dots between the VP's "malfunctioning pacemaker" and the fact Brody was right there when it happened, did they?
 

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
They [CIA, Saul, Carrie] never spent the time to connect the dots between the VP's "malfunctioning pacemaker" and the fact Brody was right there when it happened, did they?

I think Carrie knew, right? Gansa was asked if anyone other than Carrie knew, and he said he thought Saul did too. I'm not big into authorial intent, so not sure if that's been supported by what's on screen. The show has largely tried to forget that that ever happened.
 

Blader

Member
I think Carrie knew, right? Gansa was asked if anyone other than Carrie knew, and he said he thought Saul did too. I'm not big into authorial intent, so not sure if that's been supported by what's on screen. The show has largely tried to forget that that ever happened.

Carrie should know since she was there with Nazir when that whole deal happened.
 

Polari

Member
How the fuck was Carrie even let back into Langley let al made a fucking Station Chief? That was the most implausible thing of many the writers had concocted the last two seasons.

.

So much this.

Anyway, the finale was pretty sweet. I didn't really mind this season on the whole - the promise of the first was always going to be impossible to live up to so people should probably get over that and take the show for what it is now. I'll watch next season, if only for Quinn and Saul.
 

sangreal

Member
Still about 9 episodes behind. Don't care that I see a grip of spoilers here. My choice.

Did I read correctly Carrie is preggers with Brody's kid. Done if so.

My tv time is limited. Would go back to the killing or just wait on True Detective, Justified and Game of Thrones.

it is true, but it is barely brought up and will probably (hopefully) be more forgotten than Chris by season 4
 

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
Carrie should know since she was there with Nazir when that whole deal happened.

Yeah, I can't remember how explicit that was made in what Nazir said over the phone in front of her, or if she somehow opted for willful ignorance.
 

foxtrot3d

Banned
Why are you even comparing this to MGS? I'm not talking about patriotism at all. Brody's story isn't about loyalty to his country.

A "weak person"? Maybe torture and captivity ain't shit for an armchair soldier like yourself, but it was enough to break Bordy and that doesn't make him weak.

He killed the VP because the VP was a murderer. It's just like a character in any fiction that would avenge the death of his children. Not saying it's the RIGHT thing to do, but he didn't kill him to "betray" the mighty US of A.. He killed him because he's responsible for the death of a child he loved like his own son.
Avenging Issa was his only goal. As soon as he realized Nazir wanted to use him for more than that, he backed off and turned his coat on Nazir. It's as simple as that.
It was personal and justified.

He turned his back on Nazir when he was caught and had no choice, it wasn't thorough loyalty to his country or new found morals. And yes, Brody is "weak" the show has consistently shown he is a broken man and easily manipulated at this point. Also, it's one thing to break under torture, that is expected, it's another to be brainwashed into betraying your country and killing its leaders. It doesn't matter if Brody never thought of it as betrayal, few ever do, that's the whole definition of being brainwashed. Also, Brody is a fictional character.

Second, I brought up MGS because other people were comparing his actions to The Boss which is wrong. You can feel sympathy for what Brody went through and understand why he did them but that doesn't excuse his actions or somehow make him to be a hero. In the end, he got to have a bit of personal redemption by completing a mission for his country and ending the man that was part of the scheme that brought him to where he was, but again that doesn't turn him into some glorified saint that deserves a star on the fucking CIA wall. Sorry, people who kill VP's of the US don't deserve stars on the wall.
 

Sean

Banned
Still about 9 episodes behind. Don't care that I see a grip of spoilers here. My choice.

Did I read correctly Carrie is preggers with Brody's kid. Done if so.

My tv time is limited. Would go back to the killing or just wait on True Detective, Justified and Game of Thrones.

It's true, but this isn't a good reason to dump the show imo.

Carrie's pregnancy barely factored into this season at all aside from a handful of lines of dialogue. Then they did a time jump and pretty much wrote the baby out of the storyline.
She doesn't want the baby, she's accepting a new job right after giving birth, her father offered to take care of it.
 
All aboard the Carrie/Quinn Ship:

Question: Watching the Carrie and Quinn scene at the end of Homeland‘s Season 3 finale has me wondering — are they going to be a thing next season? —Fyeah

Ausiello: I put that exact question to showrunner Alex Gansa on Monday and he didn’t rule it out. “I think if there is romantic energy between them it’s at a very nascent state,” he said. “Carrie’s emotions have been engaged elsewhere, so it’s unclear how she feels about him. I think it’s pretty clear how he feels about her. But whether Carrie Mathison is going to be emotionally available for a romantic entanglement is another question entirely.”
 

Dany

Banned
I hope they add a bunch more characters to the show because watching carrie cry like a maniac for a full hour gets tiresome.
 

Dysun

Member
I'm pretty excited for Carrie/Quinn/Saul/Dar Adal adventures. Finally free from the Brody family and Abu Nazir story-line is making me anticipate next year more than I thought.
 
Watched the season over the course of a week. I was hesitant to start, hence my lateness, due to how bad S2 was. But I gotta say this was a very good season, and in some ways better than S1.

The lack of Brody for most of the first half of the season really made it great for me. I just feel like he's a wasted opportunity who should have died in S1, and made S2 unbearable ("hey, let's use our asset in the US government to run errands and potentially get caught!").

This season certainly had moments that just felt like idiotic stretches, like Carrie somehow driving off a spec ops base to take Brody to see his daughter (who could have easily freaked out and called the police, thus jeopardizing the mission). And speaking of Dana, her arc felt very 24-esque in terms of distraction, but I'm glad it was resolved somewhat quickly. Given none of Brody's family was in the finale, I hope to god that means we won't see them anymore.

The focus on Saul, Carrie, and Adal was effective to me, I enjoyed the shadow games. And while it seems ridiculous that Javadi could influence Iran enough to change its nuclear program in 4 months, ultimately I can't complain much about it.

Thank god Brody is gone for good.
 

n64coder

Member
Carrie was so fucking irritating, much more than usual- especially when Brodie was trying to make peace with the fact that he was going to die,

I guess i'm normally ok with Carrie doing crazy shit, since it's well established she's crazy. I do think the show suffers though when it tries to stretch to cover up her craziness and allow it without blowing operations.

I definitely found Carrie's shtick to be annoying. I wished she was a stronger person without these psychotic episodes or outpouring of emotion but then again, I'm a guy. I wonder if they have her like this in order to make the show more appealing to women. I know my wife really liked the show unlike some of the other shows (Boardwalk Empire, Games of Throne).

The other annoying thing about Showtime is there insistence on putting their logo in the lower right corner. That drives me nuts. Now that Homeland is done (for now), I can go cancel my subscription.
 

Randomizer

Member
Just marathoned the whole season in two days. It was better than the atrocious season 2 but that ending was fucking terrible. I said I was done with the show after last season but decided to give it another chance. I'll not make that mistake again.

Some insight into why I didn't like it. First off I was fine with Brody's death as it was the logical conclusion. It was the reactions of both Saul and especially Carrie afterward that bothered me. So completely out of character for her to continue on with life as if nothing happened. Working and joking around with the pieces of shit responsible for Brody's death. Realistically she would have a breakdown and whistle blow the whole thing and fuck them all over.
 

sangreal

Member
Just marathoned the whole season in two days. It was better than the atrocious season 2 but that ending was fucking terrible. I said I was done with the show after last season but decided to give it another chance. I'll not make that mistake again.

Some insight into why I didn't like it. First off I was fine with Brody's death as it was the logical conclusion. It was the reactions of both Saul and especially Carrie afterward that bothered me. So completely out of character for her to continue on with life as if nothing happened. Working and joking around with the pieces of shit responsible for Brody's death. Realistically she would have a breakdown and whistle blow the whole thing and fuck them all over.

eh, I think Javati got through to her. He was right, after all
 

Sanjay

Member
Homeland: Showrunner said:
What would you say to fans who are upset by Brody’s death and swearing off the show?

[Sighs] You know, I would say this: We’re sad too. Brody’s demise, it felt like the right time to us..

No you fuckers, the right time was end of season 1, not fucking now, you make us go though all of season 2 and 3 to end up to the same fucking conclusion.

Also why are people using spoiler tags?
 
No you fuckers, the right time was end of season 1, not fucking now, you make us go though all of season 2 and 3 to end up to the same fucking conclusion.

Also why are people using spoiler tags?
Agreed. They should have gone through with him blowing everyone up in that bunker in s1.
 

jtb

Banned
Enjoyed the finale—a flawed end to a very flawed arc, but it could have been done much worse (see: S2) and I'm glad to be done with Brody. It's time. It's been time for a while now.

Of all the plot holes, there's only one that bugs me and it's a big one. What the FUCK happened to the Vice President? Why is this not a huge fucking deal? Brody may not have bombed Langley but he still killed the VP! I get that Carrie probably was not in the loop (or, I guess, nobody was), but really, to have that huge action take place and have zero repercussions for it just speaks to the writers very misguided attempts in dealing with the Brody character and the Brody-Carrie relationship.
 
Enjoyed the finale—a flawed end to a very flawed arc, but it could have been done much worse (see: S2) and I'm glad to be done with Brody. It's time. It's been time for a while now.

Of all the plot holes, there's only one that bugs me and it's a big one. What the FUCK happened to the Vice President? Why is this not a huge fucking deal? Brody may not have bombed Langley but he still killed the VP! I get that Carrie probably was not in the loop (or, I guess, nobody was), but really, to have that huge action take place and have zero repercussions for it just speaks to the writers very misguided attempts in dealing with the Brody character and the Brody-Carrie relationship.

Didn't she know he killed the VP? Her insistence that he only did one bad thing was just ridiculous to me. In fact there was no discussion of the assassination at all...just didn't make sense.
 

sangreal

Member
Brody also saved Nasir by warning him, leading to the bombing. And took care of the other preparation errands like killing that guy

Btw did they ever answer the question of who gave the bomber the keys? Or go anywhere on the investigation of the lawyers?
 

yodandy

Member
I just caught up on this entire show over the past few weeks. Do we still not know who gave that dude the razor blade in season one? The mole?
 
Brody also saved Nasir by warning him, leading to the bombing. And took care of the other preparation errands like killing that guy

Btw did they ever answer the question of who gave the bomber the keys? Or go anywhere on the investigation of the lawyers?

I think as far as we know, it only goes back as far as the lawyers, who killed the guy that moved the car to cover their tracks.

I thought the lawyers were working for the Iranians, but my memory is fuzzy already.

I just caught up on this entire show over the past few weeks. Do we still not know who gave that dude the razor blade in season one? The mole?

I forgot all about the CIA mole sub-plot. Has it just been quietly dropped?
 

sangreal

Member
I think as far as we know, it only goes back as far as the lawyers, who killed the guy that moved the car to cover their tracks.

I thought the lawyers were working for the Iranians, but my memory is fuzzy already.

Javati told them to go after the lawyers to find the bomber, which they did, but he explicitly made a point that the bigger question is "who gave the bombers the keys to Brody's car?"

and yeah, the lawyers worked the Iranians which opens up a whole host of other plot holes as far as Brody's trip to Iran but that's neither here nor there. I thought the reason they let the lawyer kill the bomber was to not endanger the investigation into the lawyer's ties
 
it was chris brody. he also gave some to dana to kill herself. that's why Brody disowned him

Chris Brody is part of a NSA black ops program under the control of Lockhart, who has been quietly trying to counter Saul's influence ever since Nick returned from Afghanistan.

Season 4's big reveal is that Chris is the real father. He's also been screwing Saul's wife.
 

Vashetti

Banned
Just finished the finale and I feel a little empty.

I didn't truly believe they'd kill Brody off and I was waiting during that hanging scene for a bullet to come flying and sever the rope holding him up.

Guess I'm glad that we can move on from the Brody arc.
 

MBison

Member
Did it ever bother anyone else that everyone called him Brody when it was just a nickname (albeit his last name). It's like everyone just knew somehow. Just kinda bugged me.

:/
 

amnesiac

Member
I just watched the whole series these past couple weeks. Not nearly as bad as people were making it out to be, but it was a mess in the middle part of the show. The Brody story was the only thing that made me keep watching, and now that that's over, I don't see a point in keeping on with it anymore. It seems like it's going to be a baby-drama fest with Carrie and a job crisis with Saul. Can't see them doing anything as interesting as the Brody story. Seemed like a proper series ending though, so I'm content with that. I enjoyed the ride.
 
What if Carrie is overwhelmed by everything. The job, the baby, no Saul, etc. She doesn't like Lockhart. She misses Brody.

What if she's the new Homeland. Not so much out to betray her country but out to screw over Lockhart which might be the same thing.

The one thing that made this show great in S1 was Carrie being the only one who thought Brody had been turned, to the point where she ran her own off the books mission.

I could see a time jump. Carrie coming home with a 5 year old after a "successful" stint in Istanbul... but what is she really up to?
 
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