Homeland: Season 2 (2012)

*CONTAINS SPOILERS*

What I liked:

• How religion was so important.
• Dana is certainly growing up – much of this is evidenced by how she stands by Brody when she learns that he is a Muslim. Also it shows when she first broke up with Xander before starting something up with Finn.
• The relationship between Dana and Finn. It started really nicely, it was all cute and cuddly, but soon went darkside when they were involved in a hit and run, and the differences in their upbringing was shown quite clearly. Finn, super cutie with the potential to be nice, comes from a totally different world, and his character undergoes some serious change.
• Peter Quinn. This guy – awesome. What a character. He has no shame, he has some heavy morals,
• Saul Berenson. Mandy Patinkin, again, just rocks this role. What an awesome character. He has such integrity, and  he is smart as hell.
• The politics were nothing short of edgy and precisely implemented in this season, yet again, and I had fun with it. You never really know what is going to happen.
• Finally people started wondering what happened to Tom Walker, and start looking into it (Mike and company).
• Jessica and Mike finally dealing with what went on between them.
• How the lines become blurred severely between right and wrong when peoples motivation comes into play.
• Mike’s character. He is always trying his best, and he cares so much about the Brody family, has a lot of honour and integrity. I like that.
• Nobody is free of suspicion in this show.
• That finale. It is about the doubling back again, bringing things full circle again that I enjoyed so much from the first season. It was well done.
  

What I didn’t like:

• How quickly Brody started spilling his guts to Carrie when  he was taken into custody. Eight years in captivity and severe torture, yet one knife and a bawling blonde broke him. Pffffff.
• How quickly Mike’s Tom Walker investigation got swept under the rug. I expected it to have some more bang, and some more blowback and all. Instead, nothing.
• This whole twisted thing between Carrie and Brody. It’s like the embodiment of a love/hate relationship. They keep on getting close then pushing each other away, then pulling one another back. Also, I mean I know we are supposed to buy into Carrie being this extremely messed up person and all that, it’s just that what does on between her and Brody just doesn’t always gel so well.
• Carrie Mathison. Again, we know she works on my last nerve, but I am so over how she has no personal boundaries, and no professional boundaries. She is so out of line. She does what she wants, when she wants. The fact that she still has a job is beyond me. Also, she is weak, so damn weak. She is always messing up, crying her eyes out, apologising and all, and then (and this is beyond me) these idiots humour her and make all the things she does okay. That is unacceptable. Also, way too emotional in interrogations.
• The sudden passion that came out of absolutely nowhere between Carrie and Brody.

Rating:
Well, Homeland certainly came back with a bang. I found that I enjoyed  this one more. Partially due to the fact that, as bad as Carrie is, she is still not as terrible as season one. But she is still the most annoying character on television for me at the moment. Plus two, she spent so much of this season crying. Gosh. I know I can moan about her… but really, people?! I was glad to see them addressing the whole Mike and Jessica thing this season, because it was sort of skimmed over in the last season, which for me wasn’t right, it was a serious issue. I really don’t like how Jessica treats Mike. There were a few subplots that came in in this season that were written out and closed off equally as quickly in this season, which was bizarre, almost like they were just there to fill things up. The introduction of Quinn was really cool though, he is a character that I particularly enjoy. He has so much attitude, a moral code that I can totally understand, and zero patience to deal with inept people and Carrie’s bullshit. His purpose was shrouded and later came to be understood some more, and I liked it. Great addition to the show. I wish that Saul had more screen time in this one – not that he didn’t have, but it is always a thing to behold when he is out and about and doing his thing. Watching Brody walk the tightrope between spying for both sides was interesting, but he had this little meltdown about halfway through the season that was particularly jarring because it was so out of character. I got a few laughs out of this season, and I think that it was shot really well – it did a good job of drawing me in to the whole thing. There were some incredibly tense moments, and nothing has changed since last season in respect of being suspicious of everyone. Max is also a really cool character – his frustration at always being overlooked as a mute was hilarious. Everyone is so messed up and dismissive of him, which really sucks for me. The pacing was pretty decent in here – I didn’t actually have any issues with it, so that was nice. I was happy to see Brody and Jessica finally call it quits on their marriage, the whole sneaking around behind each other’s back thing was just getting to me by the end. If you are both unhappy, go to those you want to be with, things can still be amicable and civil. I wanted to kick Carrie – the whole season she is lusting after Brody, asking him to leave his family and all that. Next thing she gets everything she wants and she balks at it. The finale for this season was just nerve wrecking, and comes together very well.