Matt Vaghi
Graphic Design Editor
Warning: This article contains spoilers from season one and season two of the show Homeland.
After mopping up the drama awards categories at the most recent Emmys after just its first season, Showtime’s Homeland proved that it was a top-notch series. The show won Best Actor in Damian Lewis, Best Actress in Claire Danes and most importantly, Best Drama Series.
With the hardware from the Emmys already nestled under the cast and crew’s arms, Homeland’s second season kicked off on Sunday, Sept. 30. The last time we saw the show, Carrie (Claire Danes) was finally convinced that Brody (Damian Lewis) was not working undercover as a sleeper cell agent for terrorist Abu Nazir of al-Qaeda. As a result, she committed herself to receive electroconvulsive therapy in hopes of treating her severe bipolar disorder. Just before the treatment began, however, she remembered Brody yelling out the name “Isa” in his sleep, a connection between Brody and Abu Nazir. As the credits rolled after the season one finale, fans asked the essential question: How much will Carrie remember after her treatments?
In the beginning of season two, we find Brody is a U.S. Congressman who, as we know, is still working for Nazir. Meanwhile, Brody’s wife, Jess (Morena Baccarin), becomes suspicious of her husband’s actions as they become more and more peculiar.
Not surprisingly, Carrie becomes a player once again with the CIA. Despite a new life where she teaches English to foreign students, she is approached by Estes (David Harewood) regarding a contact that she had worked with previously in Lebanon. According to sources, this contact knows of a future threat to America from Abu Nazir, and Carrie is the only one who she will talk with.
At first reluctant to work again for the CIA, the same organization that fired her, Carrie decides to comply and this frames much of the second season. Eventually, Carrie becomes reconnected with Brody, and there is much intrigue and excitement that come from this unsurprising reunion between the two characters.
According to an interview of Damian Lewis by the Huffington Post, this season will be at a high pace.
“It will surprise people how accelerated it is,” Lewis said. “But that’s the thing: We’ve just got to keep a jump ahead of the audience, and I think they’re brilliant at doing that. So far, they’ve managed to do it without it becoming cartoonish or crazy. They’ve managed to still ground it in reality. It’s still a character-driven show. What’s brilliant about the plot and the incident and the storyline in this show is it’s generated by character, rather than the other way around. It’s always believable, so as long as they can keep doing that, then I think we’re in good shape.”
With season two underway, expect Homeland to make more noise in next year’s Emmys.