The third season of HOMELAND picks up weeks
after the
bombing at Langley at the end of
season two. Saul (Mandy Patinkin) and
Carrie (Claire Danes) make a daring plan to turn one of the people responsible
for the bombing while Brody (Damian Lewis) reaches new lows at the place where
he is forced to stay (while Carrie tries to prove Brody’s innocence). Meanwhile,
Brody’s family tries to pick up
the pieces as a consequence of Brody being labeled a terrorist and a
traitor.
The third season makes a logical follow through
from season
2 and makes good use of Brody’s absence (since Brody was pretty much played out
as a character by the end of season 2 and how they use him is the only play
they logically have left when it comes to the story). It is interesting
to see how Saul handles
the position of interm CIA director while
those in political power can’t see the long game the CIA
plays (and only the short term political gain). The writers know how to milk
the characters and send characters out to pasture after some storylines don’t
pan out.
What I find the best about this season are how
politics and
covert intelligence can be at odds with each other and the other question that
is addressed is how far one will go for their beliefs or what they think is
right (this is very much the case with how far Saul and Carrie will go to
protect the USA). HOMELAND deals with
some very timely issues and puts Iran front and center in the storylines for
the third season (along with portraying how it is in Iran as seen through the
eyes of outsiders, those who left Iran, and the people who live in Iran). I
don’t want to give away too much about
this wonderful season because I think it is best to discover each season and
not know about the twists the writers have in store. I can’t wait
to see where season 4 takes the
characters as HOMELAND continues to evolve as a show.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
HOMELAND SEASON THREE: RE-CREATING THE TOWER
OF DAVID AND
FILMING IN PUERTO RICO (Disc 1)-
THE LAST DAYS OF FILMING THE SEASON FINALE IN
MOROCCO (Disc
3)- Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, and the crew talk about filming the last two
episodes in Morocco (and the season finale) from the various challenges
including Damian Lewis breaking character to make sure a pivotal scene wasn’t
filmed by a camera phone).
Deleted scenes for various episodes cut for time
and pacing
with some of them even expanding on some of the characters.
Season finale audio commentary with Damian Lewis,
Alex
Gansa, and Joe Hobeck is quiet at times as they discuss the story and the
making of the season finale.
FINAL ANALYSIS: I
think the third season is almost as strong as the first season while providing
some good storylines for the characters that they work within the framework of
the show. They did have one misstep with
the storyline of Brody’s daughter (which they manage to make-up at the end of
her storyline for the season). I can’t wait
for season 4, but I wish they included a trailer or prequel short for season 4.
This review is ©9-16-2014
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments
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