Fans of Television Series

[sam9s]

HOMELANE - Season 3 .... [HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD ....................]

Well finally completed season 3 and well if you ask me it was as good and interesting as SE02. Maybe, a tad less but nonetheless still very gripping and interesting. I must say HOMELAND is one of the most serious TV shows I have seen with tension at its highest point (BB is the only TV show that comes close or competes), the plot ups and down are there to believe..... writing is top notch and of course technically it surpasses every single show out there.

Coming to the controversial ending, by the time Brody entered Tehran I had guessed,,,, what it would be that most of the viewers would not have liked and that was Brody's demises. Its the same feeling what most of the viewers got with Matrix trilogy ending, where main character dies.

For me this is exactly how it should have ended. It makes the premises more believable. NOt that if it had gone the other way round I would have been disappointed. WOuld have loved to see Brody back to his country and accepted by his family, but that is more of a moviesh/fantasy story line and not exactly how things happen in real life, which is why I loved HOMELAND right from the beginning, writing is very grounded and believable. Personally I was ok with how it ended. THere are still lot of ways the show can go even without Brody and still be as interesting as it was. Check out this article on an interview directly with the writers ..
Homeland Creator: Why Brody *******, and Whats Next in Season 4 - The Daily Beast

For me HOMELAND still remains my top show along with BB now.

 

[technobhatt]

HOMELANE - Season 3 .... [HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD ....................]

Well finally completed season 3 and well if you ask me it was as good and interesting as SE02. Maybe, a tad less but nonetheless still very gripping and interesting. I must say HOMELAND is one of the most serious TV shows I have seen with tension at its highest point (BB is the only TV show that comes close or competes), the plot ups and down are there to believe..... writing is top notch and of course technically it surpasses every single show out there.

Coming to the controversial ending, by the time Brody entered Tehran I had guessed,,,, what it would be that most of the viewers would not have liked and that was Brody's demises. Its the same feeling what most of the viewers got with Matrix trilogy ending, where main character dies.

For me this is exactly how it should have ended. It makes the premises more believable. NOt that if it had gone the other way round I would have been disappointed. WOuld have loved to see Brody back to his country and accepted by his family, but that is more of a moviesh/fantasy story line and not exactly how things happen in real life, which is why I loved HOMELAND right from the beginning, writing is very grounded and believable. Personally I was ok with how it ended. THere are still lot of ways the show can go even without Brody and still be as interesting as it was. Check out this article on an interview directly with the writers ..
Homeland Creator: Why Brody Had to Die for the Show to Live, and Whats Next in Season 4 - The Daily Beast

For me HOMELAND still remains my top show along with BB now.

Cool review again..
I think there was never a problem with the plot in season 3.. but for me, they just couldn't make it interesting and as tense as its first 2 seasons till 8-9 episodes... No doubt it made me sleepy in few episodes, as it seemed to move very slow. Hope it improves that part in season 4 to keep its pace.
Can't say if there was a last time change in script due to US-Iran deal, else I thought there would have been a different story.
Had read few such articles..see this for example
How Obama's Iran deal screwed up Homeland's third season - The Week

 

[shibashis]

Run...Run as fast as you can away from this page. Sam is hell bent on spoiling my Homeland-fun. lol.

I stayed away from your post the second my eyes could make out "....spoilers ahead....'' !
Now it is time close this particular tab.

 

[sam9s]

^^ Hehe I think we should have a spoilers tag as well which would hide the post and only can be seen by clicking on it .......

 

[esanthosh]

HERE BE SPOILERS


by Team NEED SPOILER TAG

Coming to the controversial ending, by the time Brody entered Tehran I had guessed,,,, what it would be that most of the viewers would not have liked and that was Brody's demises. Its the same feeling what most of the viewers got with Matrix trilogy ending, where main character dies

It was exactly where it should have gone. I was actually praying that sense prevails and they do not use some miracle intervention to let Brody escape. That would have made me furious. That is why I mentioned earlier that I got the closure I wanted from the series.

Just like Ned Stark made you get off GoT (in contrast, not having read the books, that is the point I started investing more in GoT), I am using Brody as an excuse to get away from Homeland. HL has slight similarities with '24' - another series which drummed up American patriotism by portraying anyone with middle eastern accent as a terrorist. Thankfully, HL has a few 'good' people who help the American cause to balance it out. I am getting a little Jack Bauer-ish about such plots (or should I say Arnab-ish ).

While I am glad that one does not have to burden themselves with more of Dana from this point on, I already have plenty of troubles in life to think about. Watching Carrie Mathison's neurotics is an additional burden I can do without.

IMO, Boyd Crowders' Hair >>>>> Carrie Mathison's cries (I may have intentionally left out some greater than symbols for want of space)

 

[cooltoad]

Will consider watching homeland only after end of season 4 , only if it gets much better. I think there is no need for season 4.

 

[musicbee]

Hated Season 3 of Homeland myself. Too much of Dana/Carrie and too less of Brody.

 

[srikarkav]

Hi!

Watched the 1st season of Endeavour.It is a prequel to the famous Inspector Morse series featuring an young detective constable Morse.Great watch.

cheers,
sri

 

[haisaikat]

Cool review again..
I think there was never a problem with the plot in season 3.. but for me, they just couldn't make it interesting and as tense as its first 2 seasons till 8-9 episodes... No doubt it made me sleepy in few episodes, as it seemed to move very slow. Hope it improves that part in season 4 to keep its pace.
Can't say if there was a last time change in script due to US-Iran deal, else I thought there would have been a different story.
Had read few such articles..see this for example
How Obama's Iran deal screwed up Homeland's third season - The Week

I agree, without brodie I do not think I will enjoy S04. I am sure HL will lose viewership in S04. Not everyone watches series with practical sense of mind

 

[srikarkav]

From where u guys watch Homeland?

 

[sam9s]

I agree, without brodie I do not think I will enjoy S04. I am sure HL will lose viewership in S04. Not everyone watches series with practical sense of mind

From where u guys watch Homeland?

I would have agreed, had it been some other TV series, not with HOMELAND or BB for that matter, why coz what made these TV series the best and the best for me was, that they were/are grounded with reality, writes have hardly taken any liberty. All situation, emotions, dialogues are so bloody close to actual real life. Specially dialogues and emotions with BB they are just so believable.

In that sense I think you should have probably not even be happy with SE05 of BB, coz at the end of 4 they could have just added an episode to show Walter, leaving everything and returning back to his family. But seriously that would not have looked, or sounded real, If you study how and in what way walters character was developed so intriguingly over the slow course of gruesome 4 seasons he cannot/or I should say could NOT just quite,leave the business just like that and go back. That is the reason I was so so satisfied by the way SE5 was shaped.... it was THE PERFECT ending

Loved BB for that. ......

 

[musicbee]

I would have agreed, had it been some other TV series, not with HOMELAND or BB for that matter, why coz what made these TV series the best and the best for me was, that they were/are grounded with reality, writes have hardly taken any liberty. All situation, emotions, dialogues are so bloody close to actual real life.

Would not agree with regards to Homeland (and I have not seen BB yet). Carrie's refusal to follow orders/insubordination would not be taken lightly/tolerated in real life, aiding and abetting a terrorist like Brody escape... even Saul knew where/what she was doing the 14 hours post the explosion at CIA, jumping on the fencing and screaming like a Brody supporter at his execution... all serious lapses or should I say taking liberties cause its just entertainment and a serial.

 

[sam9s]

[spoilers ahead]...

Well how come you know what goes around internally say in CIA, lot of things like these do happen, give a shot to a movie called death of a president which shows without fear what actually goes in political scenarios (though the events are totally fictitious).........how the politicians and the investigation is hyped and lead in a very stereotypical manner .... resulting in an inaccurate events of the suspect fitting the evidence rather than the evidence fitting the suspect.......

BTW carrie refusal to order ...... well she was shot what more do you expect. And Brody escape ...well saul knew(and ONLY saul knew) and used it to his/firms own benefit, as he knew he could not do much about the plan she hatched ..... I see absolutely no liberty in it .....
Politically I would say that was pretty darn accurate decision ...

 

[haisaikat]

To me in HL everything else is okay had this been the end of it. I am not saying brodie's death was not the right move but the way this series grew around brodie and carrie in the last two seasons (Saul was broughty forward in S03 I think and in previous seasons his character was not doing as much as in S03) I do not think the viewing will be as enjoyable.

I lost interest in watching cricket partly after Sourav Ganguly left and now almost completely after Sachin left. Just general "fan" mentality.

 

[hydra]

To me in HL everything else is okay had this been the end of it. I am not saying brodie's death was not the right move but the way this series grew around brodie and carrie in the last two seasons (Saul was broughty forward in S03 I think and in previous seasons his character was not doing as much as in S03) I do not think the viewing will be as enjoyable.

I agree completely. Carrie and Brody were the two pillars that held up the series. The entire plot had to do with the interplay between these characters. With Brody gone (as much as I despised that character), Homeland will not be the same series. It may become a very good spy thriller, but it will still be like an entirely new series, with characters based on those introduced in 'Homeland'. They should have ended it here.

 

[esanthosh]

Spoilers ahead....

Sammy,

The only 'realistic' series I have watched thus far is "The Wire". It is close to real life in that there are hardly any fairy tale endings. It shows how frustrating it can be to be good, how morally ambiguous things can be. Every other series I have seen is just scripted and takes liberties including Breaking Bad.

Breaking Bad has believable characters in a scripted story. It is one series where the writing kept it's quality through out and the cast backed it up brilliantly to make it seem plausible. But in the end, the success of that series was down to which alternative story line made it to the final script. I think most will agree that if Jesse and Walt Jr were killed by end of Season 1, the series would have been a whole lot different. As Vince Gilligan puts it, it's just "seven people of at least average intelligence working many, many hours, many, many weeks straight" to get themselves out of a corner they put themselves in. The only time BB felt 'real' to me is in Season 1 Ep 5 in the 'Talking Pillow' scene. I would have said exactly the same thing as Walter White (I have cared for a Cancer patient, so I know the pain from a personal standpoint).

But, Homeland? It's a fairy tale. It was brilliant in Season 1 because of the moral ambiguity. It showed both sides of the story and asked us which side you are on. Brody struggled with his conscience. Carrie was an obsessed agent with a bipolar disorder. How more interesting can things get? Great characters and the slow reveal of Brody's past few years kept us guessing. Even the depiction of bipolar was 'realistic' (I have briefly seen one in real life). Remember the scene where Carrie was in the hospital asking for green pen? That is the Homeland I cared for and liked. One also ought to remember that it was based on an Israeli series. So, the 'reality' aspect of showing both sides could have spilled from there (or just inspired by 'Battle of Algiers').

The second season, though good in it's own right, fell a little short of my expectations (based on the first season). But the ending was unexpected and it rekindled some interest yet again.

Now we come to the third season. The moral ambiguities about the American operation vanished due to the bombing of CIA. The Iranians have become 'bad' and evil, the Americans the 'good' and tactically omnipotent. That is where it begins to lose my interest. With the exception of Fara and her family, it started to resemble 24's stereotyping more and more. I will always remember Bill Hick's quote about CNN. You just need to watch "Argo" and then go watch Majid Majidi's "Color of Paradise" back to back to get the same effect. You then start to wonder where on earth this unanimously American hating Iranians in Argo come from!

The season's flaws go deeper. Not many liked the focus on Dana (and this is where I appreciate 'Justified'. It throws light on background of supporting characters, but that helps move the plot in some manner). Not many liked the constant cry face of Carrie, which becomes very tiring after a while. I didn't want to know anything about Saul's personal life. After watching the first two seasons, I had a fair idea of the expressions Claire Danes is going to produce, which are only exaggerated and too 'hyper' next to well... everybody else in the cast. Yes! The last four episodes were indeed a return to form. But in a Brody-less Homeland universe, I have no one left to root for. If the series folded up here, I am sure I may not be the only one left satisfied with the ending.

Is it realistic? Let's go by real expert's opinions then

From How real is Homeland? | New York Post

First, running down a possible terrorist here in the US is really a job for domestic law enforcement agencies, such as the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security not the CIA.

Simply put: The CIA generally fights terrorism overseas, while the FBI and others handle it here, especially when it involves a US citizen like Nick Brody (Damien Lewis), an Iraq prisoner of war, who some believe is a Marine turned Muslim Manchurian Candidate.

Homeland Season 3 Interview Is The Showtime Show Realistic | OK! Magazine

Homeland: Showtimes Thriller Gets Fact Checked by an Intelligence Expert - The Daily Beast

 

[sam9s]

OK I think we are missing the point, atleast my point ....... the argument is not if HOMELAND is the .. THE best accurate TV series ..... my perspective is that HOMELAND for me in all the TV series I have seen is one of the best when it comes to how close to reality they portray, both emotionally and technically.

The articles presented here are really good and infact I presume are a virtue to what my belief is for the show.

I have not seen THE WIRE, but the way you have presented it, I got to give it a try and I will sooner or later.

See you have to have some suspension of belief and some addition of hollywoodish fiction to make things interesting, else how on mother earth would the output be entertaining. Its a media show and for the masses and in that aspect it has to have certain amount of entertainment quotient, else who is interested to see a plain documentary of how things might actually work in the closed doors and offices of these institutions.

How so ever real and accurate a show might be, its end objective after all is to entertain, and its humanly not possible to be entertained without all those "elements" we see in all these movies and tv services. It just the matter of where you actually draw the line between these....... and most imp how you actually draw the line. The perfect balance is what matters and for some if the scale dips a bit more towards realism it becomes boring, slow and dump, for others if it dips towards more entertaining becomes, foolish, unrealistic and stupid.

Its that balance that differs for each of us, so the factor of how well or with how much ease you accept the show depends on what simulates you more.

HOMELAND for me was able to touch that perfect balance between the two and hence so much of praise. BB as well, BB was a unique show in itself as it was somehow able to maintain that realism while inducing all that entertainment that one looks for, without loosing the credibility of the written material, scenarios or human emotions portrayed. That is the reason I guess it was such a huge success. SO no matter where your level of balance might be, you still would love to see a show like BB.

 

[Rupam]

OK I think we are missing the point, atleast my point ....... the argument is not if HOMELAND is the .. THE best accurate TV series ..... my perspective is that HOMELAND for me in all the TV series I have seen is one of the best when it comes to how close to reality they portray, both emotionally and technically.

The articles presented here are really good and infact I presume are a virtue to what my belief is for the show.

I have not seen THE WIRE, but the way you have presented it, I got to give it a try and I will sooner or later.
HOMELAND for me was able to touch that perfect balance between the two and hence so much of praise. BB as well, BB was a unique show in itself as it was somehow able to maintain that realism while inducing all that entertainment that one looks for, without loosing the credibility of the written material, scenarios or human emotions portrayed. That is the reason I guess it was such a huge success. SO no matter where your level of balance might be, you still would love to see a show like BB.

:thumbsup: I agree 101% with you. Homeland wins any Day. Its almost accurate.

 

[esanthosh]

@Sam9s

We are talking about 'reality' similar to how Nolan describes the Batman trilogy.

But it's about what I suppose you might term a cinematic reality. It's about giving the world of the films and the characters as much weight and validity as they would if your source material were not a comic book if he was a character in another genre of film you were having to introduce to the audience for the first time and get them to believe it. That's what my use of the reality is about. It's not about a literal reality.

We always suspend disbelief when it comes to watching TV series. We are all there to be entertained. No doubt about that.

Even 'The Wire' is not "real". It is still a drama about characters, but it respects the audience and never dumbs down anything including the street slang. The style of narration is called as 'Visual Novel' with each episode forming a Chapter - and that is closer to how I saw it too. It definitely requires subtitles and sometimes patience to sit through, but I found it to be worth the effort. Why I like The Wire most is because it analyzes the whole system and how each contribute towards the problem, a perspective not often found on TV. If you want to understand why politicians promise the moon, but never work towards that, watch Season 3. You want to know why kids end up on the street selling drugs? You'll find it in the fourth season of "The Wire". Media? Fifth season.

I don't know, but I'd count BB among my favorite series of all-time, but certainly not Homeland. BB started slow in the first season as a Dark Comedy, but got better and better as seasons went by. The writers seemed to have a knack for maintaining that interest without losing consistency. HL peaked in the first season and had to live with high expectations. In hindsight, if Homeland had packed the first eight episodes into four (Brody episode could have been one and the rest in three), it may not have been criticized as much as now.

PS: Speaking of 'entertainment', set aside everything else and watch Banshee. I am curious to know how you'd rate it

 

[sam9s]

^^ Nice insight as always ....... Banshee is next on my list ... I am also very much interested in Almost Human ...... did anyone give it a chance ....