Landing Home

Homeland, Showtime's new series, didn't sound like it'd be my cup of tea, but some friends recommended it so I've watched the first few episodes. It's not bad, if not quite as good as the critics are saying.  And it turns out while it is set in the modern-day war on terror (which it takes quite seriously), it's closer to a Manchurian Candidate sort of plot.

Claire Danes plays a CIA operative who worked in Iraq and is now suspicious of a marine officer (Damian Lewis), once thought dead, who's just returned home after years in captivity. She believes he's linked to high-level Al Qaeda member Abu Nazir, but since the Marine is a national hero she has to go rogue within the Agency to investigate.

Her mentor is played by Mandy Patinkin. and their relationship seems to be the central one in the series.  But there's another axis, which is the Marine's homelife, with his wife (Morena Baccarin), son and daughter, not to mention an old friend and Marine captain who was ready to marry his wife before he was found.

Though we've seen this kind of stuff before--a protagonist who can't play by the book and has to fight the politics of the situation to do what's right--it still plays pretty well.  When Homeland sticks to that, it's well worth watching.  I'm less enamored of the domestic drama, though perhaps if it can be incorporated into the intrigue it'll play better. Also tiresome are the many flashbacks the Marine has. I don't care if they show us how he's motivated--we accept he's back and on a new path, no matter how he got that way.

I like Danes and Patinkin, and it's always nice to see Morena Baccarin (especially in a show that allows nudity), but I don't think much of Damian Lewis.  Maybe it's the role, but he's a bit of a downer.

Will uncovering the Marine and getting his connections be the main action of the season, or is it the entire series?  It would seem once Danes gets serious evidence that he's turned, the CIA would have to back her and a lot of the suspense would be lost.