Homeland: Twist and Shout

As previously stated, Homeland has a few problems. One of which, The Brody Problem, I briefly explored in a previous post. Below I'm going to detail yet another issue I have with the current season of Homeland. For the record, this all comes out of a place of love and admiration. SPOILERS to follow.

Season three's big reveal may have been the cheapest thrill this side of a drawer full of positive pregnancy tests. In real time, here's how I felt about the "twist" that Saul and Carrie intentionally had Carrie committed to a mental institution: relief that Saul wasn't actually throwing Carrie under the bus, annoyed that my emotions for the past three episodes were so blatantly manipulated, critical of the moments we saw Carrie alone, skeptical of the actual timeline, and confused as to why that twist was even necessary. It was clearly a twist for the sake of a twist and it was a poor one at that. It cheapened nearly everything that happened before. The main problem is that Homeland has never used Carrie like this. The only time we knew something Carrie didn't know was in regards to Brody and that reveal was a slow burn that drove the entire first season. Its very nature was entirely different. From the get go, we went into the first season wondering about Brody as we studied his circumstances and tried making sense of his behavior. With Carrie in the mental institution, there was no inherent suspicion that what we were seeing was anything but genuine. It wasn't a fun speculation game in which moments were picked apart and theories formulated. We took this season at face value because we had no reason not to. When the twist happened it actually felt more like a betrayal than a thrill. In the moment my reaction went something like, "Oh, interesting! ...wait, what?" And honestly, thats a disappointing anti-climactic reaction to a show that used to have me holding my breath in suspenseful anticipation.

I simply don't understand why any of Carrie and Saul's plot had to be kept secret from the audience. I actually think if we were in on it the whole time, it would have been a fantastic storyline. We didn't necessarily need every detail, but just enough to keep us aware that something was afoot. Imagine seeing Carrie allow herself to be committed and drugged and subdued and terrified in that hospital knowing all along that she willingly put herself there. Imagine how much richer Claire Danes' acting would have read as she watched Saul's committee hearing on national television. Imagine seeing her break down alone in a hospital bathroom, and not because she's personally struggling with mental illness, but because she's sacrificed every single part of herself to the CIA including her mental illness. We could have had three fantastic episodes rather than one anticlimactic moment of a cheap twist being revealed.

I just keep thinking back to Carrie's slurred, pathetic, heartbreaking, "Fuck you, Saul" and how sorry I felt for her in that moment. And then how angry I felt about that very same moment after the twist set in. That could have been such an incredible scene if the writers simply chose to let the audience in on the plan. Carrie's "fuck you" would have been sad but for entirely different reasons. We would be worried she'd gotten in over her head. Knowing she willingly put herself in that situation--that she's drugged and slurring her words, that she's pissed at Saul for even asking this of her all while looking so pathetic that Saul is compelled to embrace her--is such an incredible moment that we were essentially robbed of for the sake of a twisty plot. Because the show was busy playing a trick on its audience rather than telling a layered story with nuanced character work. Yes you can go back and rewatch the scene and still feel some sense of that, but really the whole moment has been cheapened. It's not going to be nearly as strong as if we knew all this the first time around. You don't get a second chance at making a first impression. And just because you call something a "twist"--and imply that if you go back and rewatch the episodes, your experience will be enriched--simply doesn't make it so. Thats not how a successful twist works.

That being said, all of this was only a third of the current season. We've quickly moved past it and entered into some very interesting storytelling on Homeland. (So quickly that I suspect the writers realize they made a dumb decision). I'm enjoying where we are at this moment and what the show is trying to say about clandestine strategy, national security, and the sacrifices agents make for intelligence. Obviously there are other problems I'm trying not to get into at the moment*, but compared to the cheap twist a few weeks ago, these drawbacks pale in comparison.

Through all this mess, the remainder of this season is still compelling. The acting is superb, the characters are interesting, and this show was at one time pretty awesome. I believe it has some awesome left in it. But perhaps I'm in just as much denial as Carrie. Maybe I have a drawer filling up with evidence to the contrary. And maybe I'm refusing to accept the truth just yet. But I can't help but think if I give it some time, if I check back in again tomorrow, I'll finally get the results I want.


*Like the pregnancy...which...seriously? We're supposed to believe that Carrie was committed to a HOSPITAL without them discovering she's pregnant?! And if it's Brody's she would be showing by now. If not, then why would Carrie even hesitate to do something about it? This bitch is on lithium! That can't be good for a fetus!
*And Senator Lockhart? More like Senator Blowhardt.

Homeland: The Brody Problem

[My apologies for the four month hiatus. I'm not exactly sure how updating got away from me as I was definitely still watching plenty of television and forming all sorts of opinions. I actually drafted a few posts, but never got around to finalizing them. I felt like they weren't good enough and the longer I hesitated the less timely the posts became. And it ultimately kept me from writing. So in the future I'm going to have to let perfectionism slide just a tad. Otherwise I'll never get around to posting anything.

But until then, I have here for you Part I of a post concerning the current season of Homeland. Beware, SPOILERS abound.]

Homeland has a Brody problem. Actually, Homeland has a few problems, but I'm going to start with the Brody problem. Because for some reason the show can't get away from him. The first season of Homeland is amazing television. One of the best seasons of anything I've ever seen. Watching it live week-to-week and having no idea where it was headed or who Nicholas Brody really was elevated the show to an incredibly suspenseful level that it will likely never achieve again. At the time I believed--and still believe--that the first season of Homeland should have been its only season. Clearly that didn't happen. Either way I still can't help but think that the first season should have ended with Brody successfully detonating a bomb. Because not only would it have been an explosive ending of an incredible season of television, but Homeland wouldn't be tempted to constantly bring everything back to Sergeant Nicholas Brody.

Yes keeping Brody alive led to some pretty great episodes in the second season. The Emmy award winning episode "Q&A" in particular was a GREAT episode (all caps, which is greater than great). But was that episode, and the few quality ones before it, worth keeping Brody alive for? Perhaps. I still think the potential strength of an alternate season one finale far outweighs the actual suspense of the early second season. Regardless, the second season, as implausible as it was, exists and played out as it did. And while I took issue with many things, I didn't hate the season by any means. Mostly because the first half was so strong. But when quality notably took a turn midway through I quickly realized what the problem was: Brody had overstayed his welcome. Don't get me wrong, I think Brody is a fantastic character, but the show was doing cartwheels trying to top itself while keep him involved with the story and involved with Carrie. So when the second season ended with Brody sneaking out of the country, I was ready to say goodbye to the character. And I was left hoping the show would refocus and re-inject some much needed Washington intrigue into its next season. To get back to basics. To reign it in and tone it down a little. To pace itself...

But nope. Brody still looms large. We are getting plotlines involving the family he left behind. Which, for the record, I don't hate. They're just given way too much importance and story time. I actually think there's something intriguing about the Brody family in the wake of last season (minus Dana's stupid and completely pointless boyfriend, of course), but spending too much time with them has led to some wheel-spinning and really pointless plot points (unless Leo turns out to be Majid Javadi's gay lover or something). The only Brody family story that really worked for me this season was Dana changing her name and Jessica's tearful goodbye. Other than that this was all some over the top orchestration to get Jessica and Carrie face-to-face for the flashest of flashes which led to The Yoga Play which led to Saul accusing Carrie of putting the whole operation in jeopardy which we ultimately find out she didn't (by "ultimately" I mean we found out five minutes later), so really the whole thing was cheap and completely pointless.

The Brody family aside we also got an entire episode checking in on Brody himself. It opens when he arrives in Caracas riddled with bullets and ends with him strung out on heroin. Which was not only overkill but one of the most ridiculous things on a show chock full of ridiculous things. So the writers expect us to accept that in the stretch of this series (AKA within 27 episodes AKA a little over one season of network television) Brody goes from returned POW with PTSD, to a Muslim terrorist, to a Congressman, to a viable candidate for Vice President, to a double agent, to an assassin, to a framed terrorist, to a fugitive, to an imprisoned heroin addict in Venezuela?!!? Are you fucking kidding me. I'm not asking. Because seriously, you have got to be fucking kidding me. It's in these moments of realization that I can't help but think back to what this show was in its first season. To how GOOD it was (all caps, which is gooder than good) mostly because Brody was such a compelling enigma. Now he's a parody, an almost fan-fictionlized version of himself. Remember when all it took to get an intense moment was Carrie offering Brody his favorite tea? Now the guy is shooting himself up with heroin. How did we get here? Why did we get here? It's so unnecessary and over the top I'm getting steamed just thinking about it.

Caracas aside, we're still getting some decent storytelling out of the Brody well, but nothing that warrants physically keeping him around or hijacking the plot for. This season has its own story going on that only vaguely involves Brody's name being mentioned. But of course the latest episode, which made great strides in moving this season's plot forward, couldn't help but bring Brody back into the picture. I appreciate the show for trying to tie everything together. And I have to admit I leaned in a little closer to the television when Carrie and Javadi were discussing the bomb in Brody's car. Admittedly there's some intrigue there, but that has less to do with Brody and more to do with the terrorist attack driving this current season (and Carrie's emotional stake in it all). But come on. We all know where this is headed. It's as if the writers are strong-arming the story and steering it back towards Brody. Everything on this show seems to orbit around him. We were on the dark side of the moon there for a second, but never fear, I see Brody's freshly shaved melon looming over the horizon. It's as if the show doesn't know how to exist without Brody. As if Brody is the bottom of the pool and the writers are toeing it, terrified of wandering too far into the deep end. As if this show has no other identity or capability to be anything different. If Brody can be a half-dozen things in a dozen episodes, I think Homeland can be a show without Brody looming so large. But maybe I'm expecting too much from this show. I would half expect the writers to stow Brody away, keep him off-screen and keep his name unmentioned for as long as possible before letting a figurative (or literal) bomb drop. But thats assuming Homeland knows how a successful twist works. Which, for the record, it doesn't.