Every Fall TV season I get excited for returning shows like my favourite on Showtime, Dexter, as well as a choice couple of others on premium cable.
This year I was over-the-moon to be able to watch the first three episodes of Dexter before they aired and I looked forward to viewing the show that airs immediately after it, "Homeland", starring Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin and a new discovery for me, the British actor, Damian Lewis.
I'd seen promos for Homeland and it looked really good. I've loved Claire Danes forever and Mandy Patinkin can always be counted onto turn in a solid performance.
I wasn't prepared however, for the amount of emotional clout that the first episode would carry nor the level of anticipation for MORE that it would generate. I feel truly lucky that I can watch the next few episodes of Homeland ahead of time to better talk about it here. In the meantime, trust me, if you want a edge-of-you-seat, wonderfully executed, grounded in reality drama of our times, NOW is the time for you to stay put after viewing Dexter. I promise, you will be glad you did.
Here is a bit of background on Homeland followed by a few critical reactions from near and far from others who have started watching this new, after-Dexter offering from Showtime.
Damian Lewis, Claire Danes & Mandy Patinkin star in Showtime's "Homeland', Sundays at 10 ET/PT
Claire Danes stars as CIA agent Carrie Mathison who is haunted by what she considers her personal failure to recognize clues that might have prevented the Sept. 11 attacks. Even now, Carrie’s failures continue.
When the show opens, she is in Baghdad, rushing to a unauthorized meeting with a condemned Iraqi prisoner. Just before Carrie is discovered in hushed conversation with him, he whispers a spine-chilling secret: An American POW has been"turned' -- converted into a terrorist. Carrie's cover is blown and she's got no proof whatsoever so she is demoted to desk work back at Langley in D.C., under the skeptical eye of a deputy director, David Harewood (David Estes), who doesn’t think Carrie has any business being part of the Agency.
Then comes the news that a U.S. Marine sergeant captured at the beginning of the second Iraq war has been rescued. After a raid, the man is found hidden away in deplorable conditions, disoriented and filthy. It’s Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) who is brought home to a hero’s yellow-ribbon welcome.
Even before his debriefing, Carrie is convinced Brody is the terrorist her source warned her about.
“Homeland” comes to us from Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa and Chip Johansson, all longtime writer-producers on “24.” It stars Claire Danes (“Terminator 3,” “Temple Grandin”), Morena Baccarin (“Firefly,” “V”), Damian Lewis (“Band of Brothers,” “Life”) and Mandy Patinkin (“Chicago Hope,” “Dead Like Me,” “Criminal Minds”).
Official DEXTER Series Site: http://www.sho.com/dexter
After the jump - What the critics are saying:











