Top 30 TV Shows of 2012 : No 05 Homeland

By lou On 29 December 2012 In End of Year Lists

If Homeland had kept up the pace and quality of the first five episodes of this season then it probably would have been my top show of 2012. So much crazy shit happened in these episodes, the kind of revelations that most shows would leave to finale that it made the entire first half of S2 so intense and overall brilliant.

Of course such pacing couldn’t last forever otherwise everyone would probably have been dead by episode 9. Things slowed down after Brody was turned back to the good side and whilst I continued to love the show I do think it suffered a little bit.

Carrie and Brody as a couple is a concept that worked well in S1 when Carrie was still unsure about Brody and even as an audience we didn’t know the full story. In S2 though I think it didn’t work as well, as unstable and impulsive as Carrie is I am not entirely convinced she would choose to get back together with Brody and attempt a real life.

I understand though why the writers went in that direction because the chemistry between the actors is undeniable and it is compulsive viewing. I just wish they had made it a little less clear cut about Brody’s true intentions. I think it would have been more interesting if there was a possibility that Brody hadn’t really been turned by the CIA and was still under the control of Abu Nazir.

Overall though a great season of TV and the finale has made me very intrigued by what could happen in S3. I hope they decide to focus more on the Carrie and Saul relationship and whilst I would like to see Brody again I don’t think he needs to be central to the story for it to work.