How Homeland Recaptured Its Season 1 Thrills for One Final Mission

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out This review contains spoilers for Homeland Season 8, episode 1, titled "Deception Indicated." [poilib element="accentDivider"] When Homeland started in the fall of 2011, it flipped the script on the conflicts in the Middle East by making an American the villain. It was the dawn of a new time. SEAL Team Six had just successfully eliminated Osama bin Laden. It felt like a chapter had closed. And yet, here we are again at the possible start of something new, with President Trump rocking the US’s already flimsy relationship with Iran. Just a few weeks ago, #WorldWar3 was trending on Twitter, proof that hysteria is never really gone. Of course, over the last decade, some things have changed, and Homeland has followed. Season 7 involved the Russians going after the US president, and now, the Season 8 premiere ties those same Russian enemies to the Taliban. Homeland got pretty propulsive about midway through Season 2, and each season after was basically a flip of a coin as to whether it would be good or not. But as Showtime heads into the final season of what could arguably still be considered its flagship series, Homeland, like the real world, doesn’t look too different from when this story was initially conceived. Covert military operations? Check. Deals with diplomats falling through, wrecking relationships between nations? Check. Despite itself, and its many narrative stumbles over the years, Homeland looks set to stay relevant for this last outing. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/01/25/new-to-netflix-for-february-2019"] Carrie ended Season 7 being held captive by the Russians for months, without her meds. We learn early on in “Deception Indicated” that she’s lost 180 days' worth of memory from that time, and that her polygraph results were less than encouraging, keeping her out of the field. The big question Season 8 raises right off the bat is whether Carrie is now the traitor; is she the next Brody? Amazingly, for a series with a plot that has tangled itself up almost as thoroughly as Carrie’s evidence wall, it’s actually a very satisfying turn for the character. That’s mostly because, unlike Brody, Carrie herself isn’t totally sure what information she may or may not have given up over that period. It feels like an atonement. Carrie has an incredible ability to make the worst choice at the worst time at least twice a season, and she was once nicknamed “the Drone Queen.” To have the final season employ Carrie’s mental illness, and her enemies’ despicable manipulation of it, to investigate everything that makes Carrie redeemable (or otherwise) points to a riveting journey ahead. That’s thanks in no small part to Claire Danes, whose accolades came to an abrupt halt as the series’ overall reputation slipped. No matter what Homeland was doing any given year, Danes’ portrayal of Carrie Mathison has been the one true constant of this former awards darling, and that’s no less true as Season 8 kicks off and we feel her yearning for the field. It’s where she belongs, even if not right now. Of course, Saul sees to it she gets her way, as it means he also gets his.

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It takes a bit of suspension of disbelief after all they’ve been through that Saul would ignore the doctor’s recommendations for Carrie and reward her with fieldwork. He’s been on this slippery slope many times before, and it almost never goes well. What’s easier to buy is Saul’s shaky moral judgment after his last few promotions in the past few seasons. But in Homeland’s early days, Saul was a voice of reason, even comfort. Is he actually so far gone from that point? Or is Carrie’s inevitable breakdown intended to set in motion his own atonement? Either way, the writing here is strong. Carrie’s status quo as we enter Season 8 is highly complex. We as the audience are bringing in the history of everything that’s happened to her over the course of the series. It remains difficult not to audibly encourage Carrie to go against Saul’s wishes and just stay out of it (“Just sit down, Carrie,” I found myself saying to my TV), but then her current accommodations feel hostile, too. Carrie’s best option out of what she’s presented in the premiere remains murky. In some ways she’s drowning at this recovery facility, especially as accusations of being a Russian agent start coming in. But being back in the action isn’t the answer, either. The tension of what’s right for our CIA heroine flows through this first episode, escalating especially when Carrie goes out on her own to meet an asset without telling anyone. Homeland veteran director Lesli Linka Glatter does a terrific job as always of turning small set pieces into heart-racing moments. A simple foot chase at night in the premiere where Carrie’s ride fails to pick her up spawns the sort of anxiety that made Homeland so addicting back in 2011. Even as those cravings have waned, this series is still a compelling spy drama despite losing much of its down-to-Earth punch. Even a subplot involving Max setting up spy equipment near the Pakistani border gets its entertaining licks in, despite having little relevance to the main Carrie and Saul plot. But something Homeland never stopped nailing is the art of the cliffhanger. “Deception Indicated” ends with Carrie preparing for a meeting after her close calls with the Taliban the night before. Just before, she sees Yevgeny (her most vicious captor at the end of last season) walking around the same facility. He merely winks at Carrie, and it stops her in her tracks. Again comes the question of what she may have said while captive. But what’s truly scary, if it’s true that she has been compromised, is what harm Carrie may do to herself when she finds out.

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