Is anyone else getting an uneasy feeling that ‘Homeland’ isn’t quite coming together as it should at this point in the season?
After ‘Crossfire,’ episode 9, for the first time since I began watching, I’m not entirely trusting where the meta-story is going. The question for me is whether or not after all that has been put into motion — all the different characters, plot threads and other details of the story — can the three remaining episodes successfully pull everything together to give us a satisfying conclusion for what has been an excellent and compelling first season?
The reveal in episode 9 of Brody’s motivation — the death of the terrorist Abu Nazir’s young son — was for me the first serious misstep of the series. It was a very pedestrian personal “revenge” explanation, the kind of “hero” motivation that has become “stock” in these kinds of stories. Based on everything I have come to learn and think I know about Brody so far, it just didn’t quite add up. It did, however, get me thinking about the season as a whole, and it suddenly struck me that the entire 12-episode run probably should to be thought of as a single story following a traditional three-act structure. The first three episodes were “Act I” or the “introduction.” The next six comprised “Act II” or “body,” and the last three episodes will (presumably) form “Act III,” the climax and conclusion of the season’s story-arc. (With, of course, dramatic “twists” and a “cliffhanger” to lead into the next season.)
If this paradigm is correct, then ‘Crossfire’ was the end of “Act II” where “all the cards” needed to be put into play so the overall story could flow towards the climax with the audience fully understanding what was at stake. To be fair, ‘Crossfire’ did do that. Whether or not Brody will actually follow through, we now understand what he was sent to do and why. We now have the overall framework of the “big picture” as well as a complete list of the key players on both sides of the conspiracy.
It was several days after watching ‘Crossfire’ before I realized that for all the excellent character work on display in ‘Homeland,’ and although there is a clear sense of overall direction, the episode-by-episode plotting and focus to date has been a somewhat disjointed affair. There has been too much attention spent on characters and situations that don’t seem to matter very much to the central question of whether or not Brody is a terrorist, or to raise the stakes for the main characters. For example, Saul’s relationship with his wife feels a little like unnecessary “filler.” I’m also a little disappointed that more hasn’t been made about Carrie’s need to take anti-psychotic medication, or of Brody’s efforts to re-integrate into his family.
More importantly, however, and this is what has come to bother me the most, the show spent too much time focused on characters who ultimately were just plot devices in an almost “too-convenient” linear sequence. It’s one thing when a show like “The Wire” peeked into the lives of minor characters, because that show was genuinely interested in exploring the rich tapestry of their daily existences. ‘Homeland,’ on the other hand, when it’s not using them as “filler” only seems to care about using its supporting characters to move the story forward.
Lynne, the courtesan to the Saudi prince, revealed the Abu Nazir-Saudi connection and then was killed off. Brody’s former jailer, captured in Pakistan (and conveniently taken to the U.S. for interrogation) reveals the domestic terrorist couple, and then conveniently killed himself while in custody. Mike, Brody’s best friend, has been sleeping with Jessica, Brody’s wife, and the only real function their relationship has served so far was to get Brody away so he could shack up with Carrie for a weekend. The domestic terrorist couple, the engineering professor and his “wife” (whatever she actually was), were used to reveal the existence of Tom Walker. And what happened to them? Yup. He’s killed off, and she’s arrested and not seen since.
There is definitely a pattern of convenient “use and remove” going on.
(My thoughts about the character of Tom Walker are probably best left to another article, but he does seem to fit this pattern as well. Given what has become the centrality of his role, couldn’t the writers have been more patient in introducing him and his task in a more drawn-out fashion?)
Regardless of the concerns I’ve raised, ‘Homeland’ remains one of the best shows on television. The questions I’m asking are a function of just how invested I am in it. Season 1 has been a great ride, and I hope down the home stretch ‘Homeland’ ends just as strongly as it began.