Homeland

*Warning! The following post contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.*

Homeland is one of my favorite programmes at the moment on telly. If you have been living in a hole since it was first aired in October 2011, the series follows the return of US Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody played by English actor Damian Lewis who was held as a prisoner of war for eight years by al-Qaeda terrorists. We see in the first episode him being found in a rescue operation by the US Army looking like crap after his long stint in captivity, sporting a terrible bushy beard. Brody is taken home to his long suffering wife and family who barely recognise him and paraded around like every bit of the hero he is. However, it becomes clear over time that this traumatised man is not the same and he starts to do things that are all a bit shifty, earning him the attention of CIA Agent Carrie Mathison played by the brilliantly talented Claire Danes. She figures that the hero is hiding something and she is right. It soon becomes clear that Brody has been turned in captivity *cue dramatic music* but in the early episodes of season one we are not sure why or by who.

So fast forward a little bit and not only is Brody hiding something big, Carrie is determined at any cost to figure out what it is. She's the best the CIA has apparently and yet she's always getting reprimanded and disregarding orders - not quite the best just really lucky she hasn't been killed yet. The stress of the chase for Brody gets to Carrie and we learn she has Bi-polar Disorder, something she has kept from her colleagues and boss in all the years she has worked for the CIA. Her fixation with Brody and obvious hatred for a suspected terrorist who by this point has done all kinds of crazy stuff for the people who kept him hostage, classic Stockholm Syndrome, then half way through series two turns to lust. She falls in love with him. This bit for me, although brilliantly acted and full of grit was just what? She suspected him of trying to kill people and then hops in to bed with him? See this is the problem I have at the moment with the programme the long game it turning out to be a little too long. They've spent the first four episodes of season three getting Carrie committed to a psychiatric hospital, saying she's a threat to national security but now it turns out this was all an act. A brilliant one at that but all a little too good. It had me really going and I know that that is what is supposed to happen, we are supposed to be lead down one dark alley only to make a u-turn into another so that we as the viewer are thoroughly confused in order for the programme to remain exciting. There is however, a difference between exciting and just so far fetched that people will lose interest. I haven't. I don't think I ever will but I worry that it's becoming a little to gritty for the viewing public who are just trying to enjoy their time relaxing with the TV not wanting their heads mashed with what may or may not be real.

That being said, I love the programme and the obvious budding affection between Carrie and fellow surveillance officer Quinn who has been given the job of protecting her against this risky mission, is one story line that I can't wait for. I enjoy the reality of the programme and all of the different angles the the CIA have to pursue. They don't just follow one man and it's over, he did it. He's usually working for another, much more important player who has a grudge against another business man that has an offshore account which is funding some sort of criminal activity that no financial analyst can figure out yet. So many avenues need exploring and I hope they are explored in many more wonderfully juicy CIA action, hard hitting, always keeping us guessing seasons to come.

Overall 9/10.