Homeland (season 1)

The first season of the American television drama series Homeland premiered on October 2, 2011 on Showtime and concluded on December 18, 2011, consisting of 12 episodes. The series is loosely based on the Israeli television series Hatufim (English: Prisoners of War) created by Gideon Raff and is developed for American television by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa.^[1] The first season follows Carrie Mathison, a CIA operations officer who has come to believe that Nicholas Brody, a U.S. Marine Sergeant, who was held captive by al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war, was turned by the enemy and now poses a significant risk to national security.^[2]

The season received universal acclaim, scoring a Metacritic rating of 91 out of 100 from 28 critics.^[3] TV Guide named it the best TV show of 2011^[4] and highly applauded the performances by Damian Lewis and Claire Danes.^[5] Metacritic determined Homeland to be the second best TV show of 2011 according to major TV critics, by aggregating the critics' year-end top ten lists.^[6] The series won both the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for this season.

The original broadcast of the pilot episode on October 2, 2011 received 1.08 million viewers, becoming Showtime's highest-rated drama premiere in eight years. The episode received a total of 2.78 million viewers with additional broadcasts and on demand views.^[7] The finale episode of season one received 1.7 million viewers, making it the most-watched season finale of any first-year Showtime series.^[8] The series also performed well in the UK, where it aired on Channel 4, with the pilot episode drawing 3.10 million viewers, and the finale drawing 4.01 million viewers.^[9]

Plot

Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) is a CIA officer recently recalled from Baghdad after angering the Iraqi government. Carrie is liked and trusted by her mentor Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin) and tolerated by her boss David Estes (David Harewood) with whom she had previously had an extramarital affair. Neither of them, nor anyone else at the agency, knows that Carrie suffers from bipolar disorder, which she is secretly treating with the help of her sister, a physician.

Ten months after hearing a rumor from one of her contacts in Iraq that an American prisoner of war (POW) has been "turned", Carrie learns that a U.S. Army Delta Force team in Afghanistan has found United States Marine Corps sergeant Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) who had been believed killed in Iraq eight years earlier during 2003. While the rest of the CIA and the political establishment believe Brody to be a war hero, Carrie is worried that he has been recruited and brainwashed by al-Qaeda chief Abu Nazir (Navid Negahban) to act as a sleeper agent. She begins an illegal audio and video surveillance of Brody's home hoping to catch him at something to prove her suspicions correct.

The surveillance reveals the difficulties Brody has upon his return home. Believing him dead, his wife Jessica (Morena Baccarin) had developed a relationship with Brody's best friend Captain Mike Faber (Diego Klattenhoff) that beyond the affair, was moving towards Mike moving in with the family. Brody must now adjust to life at home with his wife and two children, 12-year-old Chris and the troubled and self-destructive 16-year-old Dana (Morgan Saylor). His readjustment is complicated by his erratic behavior, including shooting a deer and beating up a reporter, as well as his difficulty being physically intimate with his wife. Unbeknownst to his family or Carrie, Brody converted to Islam during his captivity, and prays daily in his garage in private. Flashbacks also show that he has not been entirely truthful about his captivity. However, the surveillance by Carrie uncovers no incriminating evidence and is eventually shut down.

Frustrated, Carrie decides to continue the surveillance all by herself and arranges to bump into Brody at a support group for Iraq War veterans. Brody confides in her about the difficulty of talking to people about the war. At a subsequent meeting the two of them get drunk and then have sex in a parking lot. They meet again when one of Brody's former jailers is captured and Brody is brought in to observe the interrogation. Brody convinces David Estes to allow him to have a moment to confront his former jailer, but the meeting ends violently when the man spits in Brody's face. Later, the prisoner is found to have committed suicide with a razor blade. Carrie believes Brody passed him the razor. She arranges for polygraphs for all those who had access to the prisoner. Brody passes, but Carrie suspects he is lying when he is able to deny that he has been unfaithful to his wife.

Meanwhile, Lynn Reed, an asset of Carrie's who works as a courtesan for a Saudi prince, contacts Carrie with video of Abu Nazir meeting with the Prince. Shortly afterwards, Lynn Reed is murdered and an expensive necklace given to her by the prince is stolen. Suspecting that the necklace is being used to fund a terrorist operation, the CIA tracks the funds to a local couple, Aileen Morgan and Raquim Faisel, who have purchased a home near the airport where Marine One is based. After being tipped off by an anonymous contact, Aileen and Raquim go on the run where Raquim is killed by an unseen assassin while Aileen tries to escape to Mexico where she is captured by Saul.

Brody, having discovered that his wife was having an affair with his friend Mike, meets Carrie and they go to her family's lakefront cabin. They have sex, but Brody becomes suspicious after Carrie inadvertently says the name of a tea he usually drinks. Brody finds a loaded gun in the house and confronts Carrie, who admits her suspicions. Brody admits to having been converted to Islam by Abu Nazir, whom he met while being held captive. He explains that Nazir was kind to him and that he came to "love" the terrorist leader, but denies working for al-Qaeda. Carrie receives a call from Saul, indicating that Aileen Morgan has identified the terrorist as Tom Walker, Brody's Scout Sniper partner, who even Brody had believed to be dead. Carrie profusely apologizes to Brody, claiming that she has real feelings for him, but he angrily returns to his family.

As the CIA begins tracking Tom Walker, Brody has a surprise meeting with the Vice President, who recruits Brody to run for the seat of a local Congressman, who is resigning due to a sex scandal. Brody then makes contact with Abu Nazir, revealing that he really is, in fact, a terrorist and spy for al-Qaeda. Flashbacks show that Brody had been taken out of captivity by Nazir in order to teach English to his son, Issa. Brody came to love the boy and when Issa was killed in a U.S. drone attack, Brody vowed revenge on his own country. On a family trip to Gettysburg, Brody meets with a local tailor who gives him a suicide vest. All seems to be going according to plan, but his odd behavior begins to worry his daughter.

Meanwhile, Carrie becomes increasingly unstable and calls Brody. Brody subsequently reveals to the CIA that Carrie spied on him illegally. As a result, David Estes has her removed from duty and ignores her warning that Abu Nazir is planning something much worse than the sniper attack that they expect. Brody is asked to attend an event where the Vice President will announce his intention to run for president. At the event, Tom Walker assassinates one of the Vice President's aides, forcing all the dignitaries, including Brody, to flee into a secure bunker. Realizing that Brody is likely working with Walker, Carrie attempts to contact the CIA and then Brody's family, which leads to her being arrested, but not before encouraging Dana to call her father and "talk him down". Brody attempts to detonate his suicide vest but it malfunctions. He repairs it and is about to try again when he receives a phone call from his daughter Dana, who begs him to come home. Holding back tears, he is unable to go through with his mission.

Afterwards, Brody confronts Abu Nazir. He claims that his vest malfunctioned, but argues that he will be better able to advance Nazir's cause as a U.S. Congressman. To prove his loyalty, Nazir has Brody kill Tom Walker. Brody then meets with Carrie, who apologizes for suspecting him of terrorism (not realizing that she was right about Brody all along). He declines to press criminal charges against her but warns her to stay away from him and his family from now on.

Having lost everything and tired of her bipolar disorder, Carrie decides to seek treatment by checking herself into a mental hospital and receiving electroshock therapy. Succumbing to anesthesia just before she is subjected to the treatment, which can cause memory loss, she realizes that Brody had met Issa, Abu Nazir's son. But the electroshock therapy proceeds, possibly eliminating this important clue from Carrie's memory.

Cast

Main cast

• Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a CIA operations officer assigned to the Counterterrorism Center.
• Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody, a U.S. Marine sergeant who was rescued by Delta Force after being held by al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war for eight years.
• Morena Baccarin as Jessica Brody, Nicholas Brody's wife.
• David Harewood as David Estes, the Director of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center. He is Carrie's boss.
• Diego Klattenhoff as Mike Faber, a U.S. Marine Captain. He was Nicholas' best friend who, assuming he was dead, started having an affair with Jessica Brody.
• Jackson Pace as Chris Brody, Nicholas Brody's son.
• Morgan Saylor as Dana Brody, Nicholas Brody's daughter.
• Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson, the CIA's Middle-East Division Chief. He is Carrie's old boss and mentor.

Episodes

Reception

The first season received universal acclaim, scoring a Metacritic rating of 91 out of 100 from 28 critics.^[22] TV Guide named it the best TV show of 2011^[4] and highly applauded the performances by Damian Lewis and Claire Danes.^[5] Metacritic determined Homeland to be the second-best TV show of 2011 according to major TV critics, by aggregating the critics' year-end top-ten lists.^[23]

Hank Stuever of The Washington Post gave the pilot episode an A−, saying "What makes Homeland rise above other post-9/11 dramas is Danes' stellar performance as Carrie—easily this season's strongest female character," and that "The latter half of the first episode is exhilarating. I'm hooked."^[24] Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe said it was his favorite drama pilot of the season, giving it an A.^[25] Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker gave it an A−, stating "It's the fall season's most intriguing, tense puzzler."^[26] IGN TV gave it a positive review, saying that it was an "ace thriller" that also managed to have something to say about the "War on Terror".^[27] The seventh episode, "The Weekend", received overwhelming critical acclaim and was described by both the creators of the show and Damian Lewis as a "watershed" episode.^[28][29]

U.S. President Barack Obama has praised the show.^[30][31][32]

Home media release

Homeland: The Complete First Season was released as a widescreen region 1 four-disc DVD and three-disc Blu-ray box set in the United States and Canada on August 28, 2012.^[33] In addition to all 12 episodes that had aired, it includes audio commentary on the pilot episode, deleted scenes, "Homeland Season One: Under Surveillance" featurette, and "Week Ten: A Prologue to Season 2" featurette. The same set was also released on September 10, 2012 in region 2.^[34]

References

External links

• Official website
• List of Homeland episodes at the Internet Movie Database
• List of Homeland episodes at TV.com