10/1/13
View Logs: Homeland Season 3 Prologue
Homeland is a show that worried me when I first watched it. I loved Season 1. Seriously, one of the most intense espionage thrillers I've seen in a whole on TV (and no 24 doesn't count... it's not espionage it's just an action show :P) The premise of an American POW possibly turned to become a terrorist was a fascinating one and an apt update to The Manchurian Candidate.
That's exactly what Homeland is... The Manchurian Candidate (if I ever get around to making videos I'll explain that there). But, like The Manchurian Candidate, Homeland's original premise had a very short life. Very similar to Sleepy Hollow actually...
See, TV in the olden days (and by olden days I mean a decade ago when it was just starting to get good) were often stories that could go on for ages (although even the most highly episodic stories have a lifespan... I think CSI proved that...) That is why episodic procedural are so common with TV (in... any country's TV really). You can just slap a "plot of the week" structure while subtly developing character, but the episodic nature of the story would usually mean that character development moved at a snail's pace. Often times, characters don't even develop at all (HI FULL HOUSE!...) This was one of the reasons why TV was looked down upon heavily back in the 80s, 90s and very very early 2000s. Film just had better and more engaging characters that weren't standstills and was able to develop and address themes more efficiently.
That all changed... and changed pretty quickly. With the rising popularity of serial dramas, characters suddenly became much much more complex than those in film. Almost within a span of a few years films now seem like plot-driven shallow stories and TV was the place where you'd find "real" characters and "real" epic stories where all the seasons work together to form a massive epic saga. This even effected many current procedural that manages to incorporate some of this in dated highly episodic formats. Person of Interest, Longmire, Elementary (which isn't as bad as people make it out to be), Once Upon a Time (which IS bad... but still an example of what I'm talking about) are just a few examples. Really what started all this was the X-Files in the 90s. Probably one of the most important TV show to have ever been made. If there is a such thing as the "Citizen Kane" of TV, X-Files will be in the running for that title just purely on how it made such a procedural episodic format feel so much more.
I'm getting side tracked. I guess my point is, Homeland represents the modern problem of making a serial drama last. Because TV are now suddenly more efficient than film with developing characters and addressing themes when in the 80s and 90s it was the exact opposite. It's very easy to lose steam and run out of ideas. Two fantastic example of this in the late 2000s. Lost and Battlestar Galactica. Now I love Battlestar Galactica... but boy was the final season a giant mess with a finale that actually made no sense. Which is why shows like Breaking Bad or Mad Men are very impressive for lasting so long and maintaining it's dramatic impact.
Showtime's Homeland didn't last at all. In fact, the story went down the drain after a Season and a half when the writers started to run out of ideas on how to utilize Brody. In essence, Homeland is a premise better utilized as a film but was made into a TV show instead. I'm ok with that however, because that (usually) makes a show very unpredictable. As with Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Sopranos, and many other serial greats that have premises that seem better suited to TV.
Claire Danes is going to stare a hole into me... I'm scared...
Really short lifespan premises like that are either a hit or miss and Homeland, while being fantastic throughout Season 1, dived into camp and silliness just to keep it going through the second season. I was incredibly upset by how the story ended. Honestly, the last time I saw a show sink this quickly was Battlestar Galactica... and Homeland sunk even quicker. I knew there was going to be a Season 3. The trailers made it look a little like a spy soap opera now. Which would be one of the worst creative decisions for this show. I guess we'll see. I've heard rumors that Brody won't be featured as prominently in this season. That's good. While a fantastic character, his arc actually ended around early Season 2. He became a dead weight after that and I can't imagine how he wont be a dead weight if he's still one of the primary antagonists of Season 3.
I guess we'll see. Fingers crossed Season 3 can recapture the thunder of Season 1.
BTW... I love how the best supporting cast character in Homeland is named Saul... :D
