The Best And Worst Things About "Homeland" Season Two

You hate to admit it and we hate to have to acknowledge, but let's address the ugly truth: Homeland's second season was uneven. After a great pilot and a nearly flawless debut season that culminated in an instantly all-time great finale, all eyes were on year two of the Showtime drama to rise to the challenges set by season one's finale and maintain its reputation for terrific acting, layered character development, and thrilling plots.

It unquestionably did just that for a terrific five-episode run. But somewhere around the midway point the realistic espionage thriller suddenly became less than bulletproof thanks to one head-scratching decision after another. All of which, along with the positives, will be aired out via the following list of The Best and Worst Things About Homeland Season Two.

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Homeland's second season broke all of the rules regarding typical television narrative pacing. It wasn’t long ago that the cable drama came through and crushed broadcast’s plot development flow chart with a new set of expedited story advancement. The first five episodes of this season, however, blew those fairly new standards out of the water, cashing in every loose thread left dangling in last year's season finale, kick-starting the year with reveals, twists and discoveries that most series would’ve saved for the season climax.

Saul (Mandy Patinkin) found Brody’s (Damian Lewis) would-be confession at the end of episode two. He skirted around the Contrived Information Delay boulevard that most series would've detoured down, and Carrie (Claire Danes) was granted her vindicating screening by episode three. The following week, she threw espionage tip-toeing to the wind and put the figurative gat to Brody’s chest…and the week after that they broke and flipped him into a triple agent.

The general message conveyed by the Homeland team: Fuck your expectations.

Unlike story-servicing ciphers like Roya Hammad, Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend) proved to be a worthwhile new character from the moment he first appeared in the episode “New Car Smell.”

Even before the fantastic reveal of his true motives for being on the Nazir task force, viewers were already digging Quinn for his hilarious clashes with the equally blunt Carrie, as well as his shared penchant for doing whatever it takes to get the result, like going full bad cop during Brody’s interrogation by stabbing him through the hand.

If last night's finale was the last we see of Quinn, at least he went out like a boss, stepping up to Estes and sparing Brody for Carrie's sake.

Last year we called Dana Brody (Morgan Saylor) out for being one of the most annoying kids on TV. But we also admitted that the show salvaged her character late in the season by putting extra focus, through both character and plot, on her relationship with her father and her role as his anchor to the man he was before his capture.

As this season began, the writers continued on that track with great moments like Dana showing a mature sense of support and understanding regarding Brody’s secret religion that Jessica (Morena Baccarin) could not. They even gave her a not-so-distracting romantic subplot, with VP Walden’s (Jamey Sheridan) son, Finn (Timothee Chalamet), no less. All was well. And then they got into a hit-and-run.

Look, we’re all for testing, even breaking the Brody-Dana bond. That’s good drama. Just not with a subplot device this stupid. Dana’s desire to do the right thing was noble and all, but not when it led to frustratingly dumb moves like going to the hospital... just in time to watch the person die. The Waldens’ swift cover-up was a nice world-of-politics lesson learned, but all the aftermath of the hit-and-run really did was regress Dana back to her Atypical Annoying Teen ways, whether she’s literally crying over spilled milk or reacting to about Brody's secretive ways with wildly cruel outbursts.

Really, your dad stopped you from going to the police, possibly landing in the pen for manslaughter, and you yell that you wished he never came home? Hours later Brody’s family witnesses him break down upon hearing that, as far as they know, the terrorist that held him captive for eight years had been killed…. And they all just stand there and stare at him from an awkward distance like he’s got the chicken pox. It’s no wonder dude didn’t want to step one foot inside the crib when they were finally released from the safe-house.

During season one, it became clear that viewers were watching the next great cable drama after the standout episode “The Weekend” featured minimal action and towering performances from Claire Danes and Damian Lewis opposite each other in mostly one location. This season's answer to that, and new contender for best episode of the series, is undoubtedly the fifth hour, “Q & A,” which focuses almost exclusively on Nicholas Brody’s interrogation.

The meeting between the dogged analyst whom nobody believed and her lover/war hero/undercover terrorist, with all of their cards finally on the table, has been an anticipated showdown since the season finale. And it didn't disappoint, thanks, once again, to Danes and Lewis, as well as a wonderfully written, nuanced, and honest interrogation scene. Lewis especially all but secures his spot among next year’s Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama nominees with an effectively minimalist performance, as Brody practically crumbles under the weight of his many lies.

Last season, there was an understanding between the audience and young Chris Brody (Jackson Pace). An important scene between Jessica, Dana, and/or Brody would go down in the household, Chris would startle us with a random, pointless interjection to remind us he was also in the room, and all was well.

This year, though, he’s gone beyond pointless, unless the writers are teeing us up for the Chris-is-mentally-challenged arc in season three. His family will be reacting to some actually pertinent shit, only for the camera to cut to him for either a goofy remark (“Wow, this safe house has three TVs!”) or just stare blankly because he has nothing better to offer (see above photo).

We’ve gotten tired of him and his good pal Mike (Diego Klattenhoff), who seems to never go to work or keep a social life just so he can be ready to swoop in whenever Jessica needs him to make Brody look like an absentee dirtbag.

Hey, Chris and Mike: Next season, don’t bother coming home from karate practice.

Hands down, the worst, sloppiest hour the series has produced. Granted, on Homeland even the weakest episode still features a battle of the wits between renowned actors like Mandy Patinkin and F. Murray Abraham, and even the most contrived means feature an almost justifiable end, like the chilling final scene shared between Brody and VP Walden (Jamie Sheridan).

Nearly everything that preceded the scene, however, was filled with more plot holes, contrivances, and smart people suddenly behaving very idiotically than any season of 24. In fact, these hurt even more than 24’s, because Homeland exists in a much realer universe, but, more importantly, it's just not supposed to make these mistakes.

That brief shootout/raid in the season’s sixth episode that you all complained about? It wasn't that bad. However close to reality Homeland exists, it's still a fictional series designed to maximize dramatic effect. What was bad, though, was Abu Nazir (Navid Negabhan) abducting Carrie in broad daylight, through a perfectly timed car-crash that he’d have no actual way to time or rehearse. The same goes with the random, out-of-left-field plan B to give Walden a secret heart attack, even though viewers have been told time and again that Nazir is a theatrical terrorist who goes for maximum effect.

And speaking of mild character assassinations, sure, Carrie loves Brody, but she still pursued him doggedly when she was sure of his intentions. Covering his hand in the vice president’s murder? Not sure if the show adequately prepared us for such a morally compromising move on her part. And in regards to laying narrative track, it would've been nice to know Walden even had a pacemaker before using it as a device for his death (the actor, Jamey Sheridan, said himself, before this episode, that he always envisioned the character as a physically fit clean bell of health.)

Worst of all, the great Damian Lewis couldn’t even rise above the episode's many shortcomings. He completely overacts and Brody becomes a twitching, bug-eyed mess. Why the CIA safe house handler wouldn’t pick up on it, or why Walden’s staff would be so cool with him wandering around the crib when he’s clearly nervous or tweaked out of his mind, is beyond us. You’re better than this, Homeland.

Forget every other plot development that made you roll your eyes—this is easily the silliest thing Homeland has done in its entire 24-episode run. While “Broken Hearts” would later make painfully clear how struggle-staffed the Nazir terrorist operation is (stateside at least), the first glimpse came during episode three, "State of Independence."

Surely a severe lack in manpower is behind the boneheaded reason to enlist your undercover asset—a widely recognized war hero and congressman—to shirk his daily duties (thus putting him on shaky ground with the very man they need him close to) and transport a co-conspirator that the CIA may already know about. Of course, as soon as Brody was assigned the task with only few hours to spare before a scheduled appearance at Jessica’s benefit, you knew he wouldn’t make it in time.

What nobody could've know, though, is that they'd be subjected to one farcical delay after another, from car trouble (seriously?) to Brody’s suspicious demeanor which compels the cagey tailor to make a run for it (Nazir does have a knack for killing cell members when they’re no longer of use). Plus, get this: He tripped and fell on a random piece of shrapnel or branch or whatever that was jutting up from the forest floor.

But the wackiness isn’t done there! Jessica’s on the phone and the dying tailor is making too much noise, forcing Dexter, er, Brody to snap his neck just to shut him up. Maybe the writers thought we’d need a little levity in between Carrie planning to kill herself?

Flaws and all, Homeland's second run works best when contextualized as an in-depth Brody character study. For whatever reason (perhaps Claire Danes’ real-life pregnancy), Carrie’s screen time was scaled back slightly but noticeably in favor of more time devoted to showcasing Brody’s world incrementally crumbling around him.

The lies and double life continuously take a toll on his marriage, family, and his mind, as an existence spent as a pawn is only doubled by his CIA deal. Great episodes like “The Clearing” effectively depicted his secret shame over being far from the man people see and/or want him to be.

With Dana’s rejection as a final straw, it all builds to a beautifully portrayed breakdown in “I’ll Fly Away,” in which he briefly but genuinely doesn’t give a fuck what happens to him as long as he’s free of Nazir, Roya, Walden, the CIA, etc. It's truly powerful acting.

With a year full of fantastic moments countered by some of the series' first major missteps, the season two finale had a lot riding on it, regarding how we will come to view this season as a whole and how we'd view the series in the future, as well as validating some of the writers' stranger choices in the episodes that preceded it. And just as the fate of Nicholas Brody was the centerpiece of the season, it also became the deciding factor in whether the finale was a success.

"The Choice" pertains not only to Carrie's decisions in the episode, but to a choice the Homeland team had as well. With Brody's outing, his deal, and Nazir's death, many were of the opinion that he should die as David Estes (David Harewood) planned or at least be written out, freeing the series up to explore fresh material, and proving to viewers that its committed to faithful, honest story-telling. Any attempts to keep the Brody family in play would feel forced and spin the show further away from its once perfect orbit.

Well, last night the show got to have its cake and eat it too, and we mostly dug it, but thanks in large part to Carrie's major last minute decision. If she actually joined Brody on the run, then we would have found ourselves asking "What is this squishy bullshit" just like the late Director Estes. The tortured romance of Carrie and Brody was beginning to eclipse everything around it, worst of all, Carrie's rationality. A season that at least started with her and Brody on the run could've sent the series down a rabbit hole that it might never have recovered from.

As it stands, we're looking at a third season that finds Brody on the run, but hopefully with reduced screen time, far removed from the action and allowing new storylines to develop. His family remains, but thanks to the genius deicison to have Al Qaeda publicly frame Brody for Walden's memorial bombing at CIA HQ, Jessica, Dana and even, dare we say, Chris (!), may actually be more interesting than ever before.

The episode isn't without plotholes, namely, how running just makes Brody look guiltier or how Carrie will be able to explain her absence without ending up in a cell for aiding and abetting. And while the cross-cutting montage of Nazir and Walden's memorials was awesome, the reveal of his overall plan validated his random heart-attack plot against Walden in "Broken Hearts," but not the shittiness of the episode on the whole.

Still, great moments like that montage, Estes vs Quinn, Carrie and Saul's reunion at episode's end, and the Brody family's new domestic horror have us looking forward to season three and confident that the show can return triumphant. Or we'll be forced to watch vignettes of Brody on the run each week, coupled with family subplots like Dana turning to drugs or something equally predictable and boring to cope, and we'll have to come back and change this to Worst. The long wait until September 2013 begins.