By Jamie Kelleher
Staff Writer
Even with national security waning in “Homeland’s” third season, the show has been able to find security in concluding last seasons plot lines and in doing so lead writer has smoothly tied together the second and third seasons.
The first seasons of Homeland displayed conflict upon conflict which very successfully set the stage for a multitude of plot lines. There were many investigations which remain only moderately connected as of now. Considering this, in addition to the second season’s surprise ending (referring to the terrorist attack in the final episode that killed around 300 CIA officers), the lack of unrelated CIA investigations present in the episodes that have aired is refreshing.
“Homeland” is an emmy-winning HBO drama revolving around a bipolar Central Intelligence Agency officer, Carrie (Clara Dances), and her vigilante-like ways of trying to prove the disallegiance of a recently-returned prisoner of war. She believes the POW, Nicholas Brody, to have been turned while in captivity to help Abu Nazir, the fictional mastermind of Al Qaeda, gather American Intelligence. As the show continues, Claire Danes’s character, Carrie, becomes increasingly bipolar and forms a more illegal and personal relationship with Brody. All the while the audience is deciding whether they believe Brody is linked to Al Qaeda right along with her.
In these action-pact premier seasons we were informed of many unrelated cases and new Brody evidence every episode in order to be able to form our own theories. However, if that style continued the show would be plain confusing for viewers. The first episode of seasons three stayed away from these familiar plotlines and began to focus more on the emotional effects of the show. With Brody missing, formerly likeable characters (including Carrie’s mentor Sal and Brody’s wife Jessica) are beginning to take more antagonistic roles. Conversely, some characters seem to be on the path to becoming more helpless. These victims are Brody’s teenaged daughter, Dana and the aforementioned Carrie Mathison. In this way, the first episode was slightly more character-based than usual but it was still able to capture the crazy plot-twists that frequent the show.
So far season three has given the viewers a chance to digest the ever-changing plot of seasons one and two while still maintaining its suspense.
Homeland is on Showtime every Sunday at 9 p.m.
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