Showtime's hot new psychodrama, Homeland, stars Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a CIA agent investigating a returning US Marine named Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis). While held in captivity by al-Qaeda in Iraq, Brody has converted to Islam. The show's central tension revolves around whether he has "turned"--into someone capable of carrying out a terrorist act. Just five episodes in, Homeland is Showtime's biggest hit in recent memory; the channel has already announced plans to renew for a second season.
The series is the brainchild of Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, tight friends and co-writers on 24, Fox's post-9/11 adrenaline-fest--in which fictional agent Jack Bauer uses whatever means necessary to save America from the evil terrorists. Homeland employs a more nuanced touch, prompting viewers to consider troublesome aspects of the war on terror that 24 largely ignored... |