Homeland: reviews

Do we have a winner? It looks like it. US critics are raving over Showtime’s new drama Homeland.

It stars Claire Danes as a CIA officer investigating the case of a Marine (Damian Lewis) returning home to the U.S. after being held captive for years by Al Qaeda.

Despite losing half of its Dexter lead-in, its 1.08 million viewers is still the highest Showtime drama premiere in eight years.

Already being dubbed as a 24 for the Obama-era, it’s due to air in Australia on TEN.

Variety says:
Another first-rate cable series adapted from an Israeli format (following HBO’s “In Treatment”), “Homeland” rather quickly gets beyond its formulaic set-up and captures the Cold War paranoia of “The Manchurian Candidate,” where even a returned military hero can be suspected of plotting terror. If the first hour struggles a bit with a surfeit of moving parts, by the end, the show has laid the groundwork for a serial leaps and bounds better than Showtime’s last pass at this subject matter, “Sleeper Cell.”

The Atlantic says:
Homeland—Showtime’s latest original series, which premiered last night—is a gripping, intelligent thriller with a lot to say. The plot hinges on Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), a long-lost POW in Iraq, who is recovered by American soldiers after a strike on an enemy base. His unexpected rescue is touted as a major success for the US government, and Brody is lauded as a national hero. But CIA analyst Carrie (played with taut, nervy energy by Claire Danes) believes that Brody eventually turned against the United States during his captivity, and that his rescue was deliberately engineered by terrorist leader Abu Nazir (Navid Negahban) so that Brody can carry out the next major attack on US soil. It’s a terrific, propulsive hook for a show, and Homeland’s twisty pilot is guaranteed to keep you guessing.

EW says:
In Homeland, Danes is an exceptionally committed agent who might qualify to be committed. Her Carrie us a brilliant, rebellious data analyst whose professional standing is compromised by the fact that she’s bipolar. Danes’ performance here is every bit as fully inhabited as her Angela Chase and her Temple Grandin. Lewis is equally good, rendering Brody guarded and shut-down in a manner that nonetheless is exciting to witness. Executive producers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, who used to help Jack Bauer avert national disasters on 24, now take a more measured, thoughtful look at terrorism. But that doesn’t make what they show us any less frightening, or less exciting as drama.

LA Times says:
Showtime’s “Homeland,” which premieres Sunday, is not just the best new drama of the season (and would be, no doubt, even if the bar had been set higher than it has been this year), it’s the first telling of a post-9/11 story that is all the things it should be: politically resonant, emotionally wrenching and plain old thrilling to watch. Perhaps not surprisingly, two of its creators, executive producers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, were forces behind Fox’s “24” (a third, Gideon Raff, created the Israeli series “Prisoners of War”). But whereas “24” embodied, and often exploited, the anxiety and paranoia of an America at war with terrorism, “Homeland” takes an approach that is both more direct and more universal. Although it is quite time-specific, this is a character-driven narrative that chronicles the splatter pattern of the physical, psychological and moral breakdowns created by war.

Hollywood Reporter says:
The series, easily one of the fall’s best, centers on Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), missing for eight years and presumed dead. He turns up in the rubble of an al-Qaida compound just lit up by U.S. bombs after a tip that one of the most wanted terrorists was going to be there. Brody is pulled out and returned home as a national hero. CIA agent Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), an expert in Middle East terrorism, has immediate suspicions, but she’s being marginalized at the agency because one of her recent missions in Iraq went sideways — and, besides, nobody wants to ruin the feel-good story that’s making the agency look so good. Carrie’s intel is that Brody had actually “been turned” and could be plotting an attack on America from the inside

TV Fanatic says:
Homeland is the best new show of the year, and its pilot was definitely one of the best season premieres of the fall. Anchored by stunning lead performances from Claire Danes and Damian Lewis, this CIA-based Showtime series has everything you could ask for and more in regards to interesting characters, intriguing story lines, and edge-of-your seat suspense. The most intriguing characters, of course, come courtesy of the performances from Danes and Lewis. The former plays Carrie Anderson, a fantastic CIA agent, who causes herself more trouble than anyone would like to admit. The latter is Sergeant Nicholas Brody, a former American Prisoner of War returning home, who seems to have been turned by terrorist leader Abu Nazir during his time abroad. Danes is so good in this first episode at revealing to the audience who Carrie is, without letting go all of the character’s secrets. She seems to be pretty brilliant. She is definitely a little crazy. But most of all, she sure is dedicated to her work, which will most likely be the driving force of the series as things move forward.

Hollywood Chicago says:
Very few programs of the last few years have been as instantly engaging as  Showtime’s “Homeland.” Complex characters, daring storytelling, some of the best  acting you’ll see on TV all year — this is a GREAT show from episode one and it’s remarkable to think  that it could even get better. I’ve seen so much mediocre-to-OK new television this year that the series premiere of “Homeland” was like a shot of adrenalin. Nothing comes close in the race for the  best new show of the Fall season.