The second season ended with a massive bomb attack which not only wiped out a lot of supporting characters but also threw Brody back into the "did he, didn't he" world of doubt that the first season drew on particularly well. At the time it gave me hope that this element would be a key driver in the third season so it is a little disappointing to see that it wasn't. Instead what we get is a two part season which starts out feeling weak and a little dull, but ends up almost reaching too far in search of a plot that involves Carrie, Brody and the CIA. The result is a season that is very much up and down – not unlike Carrie herself.
It is nearly impossible to talk about the season as a whole rather than two halves, even though in retrospect it is all one flow. The first half seems to be playing for time; it throws Carrie back into her off-her-meds loop, albeit with Saul appearing to throw her to the wolves at the same time, meanwhile Brody is washed up in some godforsaken slum and, after a little bit of plot, is basically put on ice until we need him again. This leaves a hole in the second thread so, while we have the CIA/Carrie plot, we also get a lot of melodrama – in particularly involving the Brody family. Not only does this aspect feel distracting but it is also very poorly done – I liked where it ended up (the scene between Dana and her father is great) but it is a very long walk to get there and it is hard to imagine that there are many people who watch this show to follow Dana's story. There is other melodrama and distractions along the way and none of them are particularly good (outside of the main thread) but the Dana one is probably the hardest to stick with.
By contrast the second half of the season steps up so much that it is often hard to believe that any of it could be happening. The twist of Saul's plan, the scale of his plan and the sheer unlikely nature of it all really stretches the viewer's willingness to accept the plot. At least it brings Brody back into it and gives the show the chance to close out his story in a memorable fashion – I still think the show would have been best as an one-season deal with a shock finale, but perhaps this dignified and sacrificial exit is just as good. The delivery of this is done with a certain amount of dramatic force although looking back it is clear that so much of it really doesn't go anywhere and again seems to be filler. While the side characters are given these distractions to deliver, the main characters are thrown into a plot so audacious that it never feels like it belongs in Homeland but rather in a season of 24 (and a later season at that). It does engage as it plays and it does produce some good moments, but it doesn't have the focus and tightness that it needed to make it grip the viewer.
The performances remain good but it is undeniable that they have less to work with than in other seasons. Danes is convincing in her suffering although the season asks her to do that wobbly chin horror thing too many times in just one season. Patinkin is strong and it is his presence that keeps a lot of the CIA politics stuff interesting (and his relationship sub-plot). Lewis spends too long out of the picture but when asked to, he does good work and is rewarded by getting out of the show in a memorable way. For all my dislike of many of her scenes, Saylor is actually very good throughout her half of the season – okay her material is contrived and uninvolving, but her delivery of the character is not. Supporting characters are fine but they do all feel like part of the time-filling.
The third season doesn't really deliver as it should. It has its highs but it also has its lows, and it has too many of the latter and not enough of the former. It has a reasonable clean slate to move forward from here and it will be interesting to see what it does, because for sure it will need to shake off this season and move to reclaim those viewers who see the end of Brody and the final points for Saul/Carrie as being a good place to bring it to an end – it will need to prove that view wrong but also do it with a lot more certainty and sense of purpose than this season did.
It is nearly impossible to talk about the season as a whole rather than two halves, even though in retrospect it is all one flow. The first half seems to be playing for time; it throws Carrie back into her off-her-meds loop, albeit with Saul appearing to throw her to the wolves at the same time, meanwhile Brody is washed up in some godforsaken slum and, after a little bit of plot, is basically put on ice until we need him again. This leaves a hole in the second thread so, while we have the CIA/Carrie plot, we also get a lot of melodrama – in particularly involving the Brody family. Not only does this aspect feel distracting but it is also very poorly done – I liked where it ended up (the scene between Dana and her father is great) but it is a very long walk to get there and it is hard to imagine that there are many people who watch this show to follow Dana's story. There is other melodrama and distractions along the way and none of them are particularly good (outside of the main thread) but the Dana one is probably the hardest to stick with.
By contrast the second half of the season steps up so much that it is often hard to believe that any of it could be happening. The twist of Saul's plan, the scale of his plan and the sheer unlikely nature of it all really stretches the viewer's willingness to accept the plot. At least it brings Brody back into it and gives the show the chance to close out his story in a memorable fashion – I still think the show would have been best as an one-season deal with a shock finale, but perhaps this dignified and sacrificial exit is just as good. The delivery of this is done with a certain amount of dramatic force although looking back it is clear that so much of it really doesn't go anywhere and again seems to be filler. While the side characters are given these distractions to deliver, the main characters are thrown into a plot so audacious that it never feels like it belongs in Homeland but rather in a season of 24 (and a later season at that). It does engage as it plays and it does produce some good moments, but it doesn't have the focus and tightness that it needed to make it grip the viewer.
The performances remain good but it is undeniable that they have less to work with than in other seasons. Danes is convincing in her suffering although the season asks her to do that wobbly chin horror thing too many times in just one season. Patinkin is strong and it is his presence that keeps a lot of the CIA politics stuff interesting (and his relationship sub-plot). Lewis spends too long out of the picture but when asked to, he does good work and is rewarded by getting out of the show in a memorable way. For all my dislike of many of her scenes, Saylor is actually very good throughout her half of the season – okay her material is contrived and uninvolving, but her delivery of the character is not. Supporting characters are fine but they do all feel like part of the time-filling.
The third season doesn't really deliver as it should. It has its highs but it also has its lows, and it has too many of the latter and not enough of the former. It has a reasonable clean slate to move forward from here and it will be interesting to see what it does, because for sure it will need to shake off this season and move to reclaim those viewers who see the end of Brody and the final points for Saul/Carrie as being a good place to bring it to an end – it will need to prove that view wrong but also do it with a lot more certainty and sense of purpose than this season did.