Homeland – Season 1 – 6

Homeland is described by Showtime as “an edge-of-your-seat sensation. CIA officer Carrie Mathison is tops in her field despite being bipolar, which makes her volatile and unpredictable. With the help of her long-time mentor Saul Berenson, Carrie fearlessly risks everything, including her personal well-being and even sanity, at every turn.”

Homeland kicks off season one with Carrie Mathison discovering unique intel detailing an American prisoner that had been turned by Al-Qaeda. Introduction into the Homeland world immediately reveals the lengths Carrie is willing to go when following a lead as she risks sneaking into a foreign prison as a CIA operative. (Avoiding Spoilers) Carrie then continues to delve into the powers behind the information, consequently, a Marine is revealed to have been rescued from a terrorist cell shortly after.

The characterization of Carrie develops as the audience learns what makes Carrie tick and the motivation behind her work. Soon it’s revealed that Carrie is quick to question her superiors on matters of national security to the highest level. Even the director of the CIA feels the wrath of Carrie Mathison as she develops a reputation around the office, turning her own agency against her. Homeland consistently engaged with me as an audience member because the plot provides real consequences for its characters across the board.

Peter Quinn

I was rapidly consuming Homeland’s many episodes and wondered which character would primarily be developed throughout the series, providing character development into a world in which I thought I knew everything about. This is where Peter Quinn was introduced to the audience as a “team leader” in the search for Brody. The audience goes on to find out a plethora of information detailing Peter Quinn, developing him into an integral part of the show.

In my opinion, he is the show. Peter provides needed action into the series and true consequences for both the enemies and the CIA. Quinn’s character has many ups and downs throughout Homeland that the audience begins to change their perspective of him and the organization that employs him. The radical changes that happen to Peter Quinn’s character add another level of development and intrigue as he drastically changes from one season to the next.

To avoid spoilers I will leave it at that but I’d keep my eye on Peter Quinn if you decide to invest your time into Homeland.

Mild Spoilers (duh) Leave before it’s too late.

The Homeland series eventually wore me down with the consistent formula it followed throughout each season.

—->Opens with Carrie in a new setting, she is doing well with one particular aspect of her life which has changed from the past season.

—-> Introduces ominous threat, attempts to deceive the audience into believing one particular group is the threat while the true threat remains hidden.

—-> Threat implements an attack for their cause, normally away from Carrie.

—-> Carrie is somehow thrown into the exact middle of the situation and witnesses gruesome carnage.

—-> Carrie begins to figure out her opposition and their antics but soon spirals out of control due to her condition, taking her a step back from actually solving the problem due to the opposition tricking her friends and coworkers.

—-> Bad things develop while she figures out her life and eventually gets herself under control to save the day.

—-> Saul always comes back.

—-> Saul and Carrie figure out how to counteract the threat.

Ranking Homeland’s Seasons 1-6 From Best to Worst

Season 4 – Kabul, Afghanistan.

Season four ended up being my favorite season because of the intricate story lines woven in between the main plot around Carrie. The show continues to keep the audience guessing as numerous scenes include tense moments that could not be predicted even by the most savvy Homeland fan. Homeland dives deep into controversial and very real situations that are relevant to today’s political landscape.

Season 2 – U.S.A continuing Brody’s escapade with him leaving the country after a devastating attack on U.S. soil.

Season two stepped up in a big way after I was mostly let down by the first season as it provided the stepping stones for the remainder of the show. Developing the characters was integral to season one and finally season two put things in motion for the unique characters found in Homeland.

Season 5 – Carrie finds herself the head of security for a foundation in Berlin and lands in trouble after her boss insists they must show face at a charitable act in the Middle East.

Season five allows audience members to witness Carrie working outside of a government entity, illuminating her inherent issues with leaving the CIA. Once again the plot takes audience members on a ride as the audience is deceived into thinking one thing while another is happening. I enjoyed the variety included in this season as a different set of motifs were introduced to the show while remaining similar to past seasons in other ways.

Season 6 – Carrie moves back to D.C. and finds herself a changed woman, now working towards helping people instead of manipulating them as she did in the CIA.

The beginning of season six  was a bit slow for my liking but eventually grew into a highlight of the series. Cloak and dagger is once again a heavy element of this season to devastating effect. The link this season has with real events and/or groups is interesting as it immerses the audience in further.

Season 3 – Senator Lockhart is introduced and creates problems for the agency while a looming threat grows outside of the United States.

The tense plot found in season three will keep audience members of the edge of their seat as lines are crossed in the spy world to create convoluted scenarios that have enormous inherent risk for all characters involved.

Season 1 – Our first introduction to the Homeland world provides audience members with idea of what is to come throughout the show, diving deep into Carries character and what drives her forward.

Season one had the unfortunate duty of showing the audience what Homeland’s world will be depicted as and suffers from almost sudden change of heart Brody has throughout the season. Brody’s and Carrie’s antics bored me throughout the season but all together was a good introduction to the show while remaining a weak point of it in retrospect.

All in all I was provided with an incredible show to binge that took me through a range of emotions throughout while also providing a realistic tale. Peter Quinn was an incredible character and I think that without him I would not have enjoyed it was much as I did. The sudden happenings of the end of season 6 added another layer to his character when he continues to act selflessly for his country.

Homeland: 7.5/10