Homeland (not the grocery store)

[Mizzougrad96]

I've read things where they describe the actress who plays the daughter as the most hatred character on TV. I'm not sure she's that bad, but when you have actors who are as gifted as Danes and Patinkin and Damian Lewis, I want more of them, not side stories that I don't give a shirt about regarding his daughter.

I don't think anyone is criticizing the actress. Most seem to go out of their way to praise Morgan Saylor. And I agree, I think she's very good. Her storyline is just trite and her character (not her) is unlikeable without being particularly interesting.

The Kim Bauer comparisons are not uncommon. But I think that was a case where it was the character and the actress who were completely annoying.

 

[heyabbott]

SPOILER (stop reading if you haven't seen last Sunday's episode)














What nonsense. Carrie and Saul were in it together all along? Then why was Carrie expressing outrage toward Saul the dozen or so times she was alone? (think of her reaction when she watched Saul on TV, yet she was alone. Why? Because the Iranians might have already had her under surveillance? Weak). The easiest thing for a show to do is fool the audience by not revealing certain things. There is just nothing clever about this in and of itself. It can be done in a way that is clever (Usual Suspects) but only if it is clear that the character(s) had a motivation to be fooling those around him/her every step of the way.
And the Dana stuff is just on the wrong show. I think Morgan Saylor is a terrific actress. But the character is just a brat. And there is nothing interesting or entertaining about watching someone be a brat.
The show did bring Diego Klattenhoff (Mike) back this episode. Since he is currently on The Blacklist he may be the only person in America who read this script and said, "Wow, this is really believable. I totally buy this."
p.s. The plot where the terrorist mastermind is using the name of a famous soccer player to skim money was only like the 4th dumbest thing on this episode, which kinda says it all.

It does require a suspension of disbelief, BUT, I'm hoping the twist that Carrie and Saul are working deep, deep undercover is a way to get the show back to intrigue and espionage. We can get bad marriages, rebellious kids and funky affairs on many other shows. To bad the Dana storyline is beyond superfluous. I really like the actress.

I think may Dal Adar has turned and that will be part of why Saul and Carrie are so deep undercover.

it is so obvious that Dal Adar has turned that it's too simple to be true. Saul will betray Carrie. Carrie and Brody are set up to come back and be the heroes

 

[printit]

I've read things where they describe the actress who plays the daughter as the most hatred character on TV. I'm not sure she's that bad, but when you have actors who are as gifted as Danes and Patinkin and Damian Lewis, I want more of them, not side stories that I don't give a shirt about regarding his daughter.

I don't think anyone is criticizing the actress. Most seem to go out of their way to praise Morgan Saylor. And I agree, I think she's very good. Her storyline is just trite and her character (not her) is unlikeable without being particularly interesting.

The Kim Bauer comparisons are not uncommon. But I think that was a case where it was the character and the actress who were completely annoying.

I agree. My recollection is that, with Kim Bauer, everyone was ripping on the actress as well as the story/character. (although she was good on Happy Endings, so there's that). With Dana, people seem to be going out of their way to distinguish.

 

[printit]

SPOILER (stop reading if you haven't seen last Sunday's episode)














What nonsense. Carrie and Saul were in it together all along? Then why was Carrie expressing outrage toward Saul the dozen or so times she was alone? (think of her reaction when she watched Saul on TV, yet she was alone. Why? Because the Iranians might have already had her under surveillance? Weak). The easiest thing for a show to do is fool the audience by not revealing certain things. There is just nothing clever about this in and of itself. It can be done in a way that is clever (Usual Suspects) but only if it is clear that the character(s) had a motivation to be fooling those around him/her every step of the way.
And the Dana stuff is just on the wrong show. I think Morgan Saylor is a terrific actress. But the character is just a brat. And there is nothing interesting or entertaining about watching someone be a brat.
The show did bring Diego Klattenhoff (Mike) back this episode. Since he is currently on The Blacklist he may be the only person in America who read this script and said, "Wow, this is really believable. I totally buy this."
p.s. The plot where the terrorist mastermind is using the name of a famous soccer player to skim money was only like the 4th dumbest thing on this episode, which kinda says it all.

It does require a suspension of disbelief, BUT, I'm hoping the twist that Carrie and Saul are working deep, deep undercover is a way to get the show back to intrigue and espionage. We can get bad marriages, rebellious kids and funky affairs on many other shows. To bad the Dana storyline is beyond superfluous. I really like the actress.

I think may Dal Adar has turned and that will be part of why Saul and Carrie are so deep undercover.

The problem I have is that the suspicion of disbelief it requires doesn't even make sense in the world they created. Look, I know in real life Walt, Jesse, Mike, etc. couldn't rob a train. Yet within the confines of Breaking Bad, with the building up of each characters strengths and weaknesses, asking and answering the obvious questions about the heist, etc. I found that whole sequence completely believable. Homeland no longer works in the Homeland universe. Carrie acts(?) freaked out when she sees Saul on TV throwing her under the bus. But she's alone. So, she was performing for.....Oh well, hope it turns around, I still think the acting is great.

 

[Guybehindtheguy]

In the scene where Carrie is with the lawyer and agrees to be a consultant with a terrorist I was like "Come the fork on" but it's a testament to CD that I halfway bought it.
As far as the twist, are we sure when Saul approached her with it? I'm thinking it might have been when he visited her in the hospital and she gave him the mush mouth FU. It's plausible in the way that the implausible things on this show are plausible.
As far as the daughter, I think the writers are just buying time. And I'm spitballing here but it might also be a cost cutting move. I'm guessing the daughter makes less than Damian Lewis per episode.

 

[Joe Williams]

I suppose I could be persuaded that Carrie's reaction to Saul's testimony, even though she was alone, was driven by her actually having that sort of stuff put out there publicly, with her feeling the impact of that even if -- deep down -- she knew why Saul was doing it. You can know that bad news is coming but when it finally does come, and it comes in the context of a public forum, it can hit in a way you never anticipated. Maybe her reaction was just her being aghast.

That said, let's get on with it. And plug any plot holes if you're going to pull off this deep-deep cover storyline.

 

[CHETtheJET]

The Brody daughter physco boyfriend has to be part of a cell and is trying to find Brody. Why else the character? Or the storyline?

 

[Mizzougrad96]

The Brody daughter physco boyfriend has to be part of a cell and is trying to find Brody. Why else the character? Or the storyline?

Stranger things have happened, but I kind of doubt it.

 

[printit]

In the scene where Carrie is with the lawyer and agrees to be a consultant with a terrorist I was like "Come the fork on" but it's a testament to CD that I halfway bought it.
As far as the twist, are we sure when Saul approached her with it? I'm thinking it might have been when he visited her in the hospital and she gave him the mush mouth FU. It's plausible in the way that the implausible things on this show are plausible.
As far as the daughter, I think the writers are just buying time. And I'm spitballing here but it might also be a cost cutting move. I'm guessing the daughter makes less than Damian Lewis per episode.

Final scene sure played like they were working together from the start. And showrunner was quoted in interview saying just that.
http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/10/21/homeland-season-3-interview/

 

[Joe Williams]

Nothing from last night? Thought it at least turned up some tension and tied up an annoying Dana subplot. Though -- stupid as the two kids were in their joy ride nonsense -- I felt the guy made a semi-plausible explanation to her.

How many people have had a day that felt as bad as the one Saul had? Oy.

Guess this might be a spoiler, so ...





... that one phone Carrie has tucked away in her kitchen but actually rings, how absurd is that? What if it had started to ring when she had the late-night visitors? Game over.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Nothing from last night? Thought it at least turned up some tension and tied up an annoying Dana subplot. Though -- stupid as the two kids were in their joy ride nonsense -- I felt the guy made a semi-plausible explanation to her.

How many people have had a day that felt as bad as the one Saul had? Oy.

Guess this might be a spoiler, so ...





... that one phone Carrie has tucked away in her kitchen but actually rings, how absurd is that? What if it had started to ring when she had the late-night visitors? Game over.

I thought it was the best episode of the season by far... Whenever Quinn is there, the tension seems to turn up several levels... That dude is intense...

 

[LongTimeListener]

I am caught up now, through last night's episode, and I'm glad I stuck with it. When it was slow going in the early season, I was hoping they had a reason for making us slog through all that, and now it's paying off. Actually gives me hope that the episode with Brody down in South America is going to lead somewhere too.