Homeland - Season 2

Homeland is a tv series with writing talent pedigrees from '24'. But the quality of writing is orders of magnitude better than 24.

The premise in Season 1 was pretty simple - Marine Nicholas Brody was taken PoW in Afghanistan and spent 8 long years in captivity. US had given him up for dead. His marine brothers had mostly forgotten. However, he was cleverly turned by Abu Nazir, a dreaded terrorist with puritanical Muslim principles who uses stockholm syndrome to turn Brody into a double agent (someone who works for Nazir). Brody bonds with Abu Nazir's son, educating him in English and then watches the son Issa die in a drone strike ordered illegally by the vice president of USA.

As this is going on, Carrie (Claire Danes in Emmy winning performance) is the CIA analyst hot on the trail of Brody. She is also neurotic leading many in the Agency to doubt her intuitive analysis of situations and leaps of faith connecting the dots. In a surprise special forces raid, Brody is discovered in a cave and brought home, feted and promptly becomes the hometown hero with angles on Congress and possibly election ticket. As he rises in the public eye, Carrie gets lesser and lesser attention and starts doubting herself and is prescribed anti psychotics.

Brody continues to receive messages from Abu Nazir and there is a plot to assassinate the vice president. Brody decks himself in a suicide vest and manages to get into the situation bunker with top generals and the vice president. At the last minute thanks to Carrie's intervention, he stops short of detonating the bomb and killing everyone. Thus ends season 1.

Season 2 sees the return of Carrie, fresh from her ECT sessions and medications, a redemption of sorts when the Agency discovers a suicide video that was prepared by Brody. It is now the Agency's turn and it looks like they will turn Brody into a triple agent (i lost count) and turn on Abu Nazir to "prevent an attack on the homeland".

The reason the series appeals to me:

- top notch acting
- realistic situations and Agency insider portrayal
- Brody's sexy wife
- Carrie's workaholism
- Saul who could well be anyone's mentor and his boss relationship to Carrie
- Brody's moral tightrope

Season 2 finale was last night and it lived up to its promise. Excellent set up for Season 3 - there were at least 5K Likes on the Homeland fb page so many of us will have withdrawal symptoms from next sunday.

Mira (Sarita Chowdhury) will probably return from Mumbai to reunite with Saul her CIA workaholic husband and I am hoping there are some Indian angles in Season 3.

Get your season 1 and 2 fix and catch up soon.