Hook, Line & Awesome: 5 Thoughts About Homeland

I get it now. 

Homeland, now in it's second season on Showtime, is amazing. Everyone was right. Yes, everyone. Why everyone? Because literally no one has said this show isn't amazing. If you were to mention Homeland in a crowded room, you would get one of two responses:

Response 1: Oh yeah, that show is awesome.

Response 2: I've heard of it, but I haven't seen it. I've heard it's awesome, though.

Kimalicious & I just plowed through season one and the first two episodes of season 2 in a little over a week. It temporarily sidelined Kim's Revenge addiction, superseded the baseball playoffs up to this point and prompted an internal debate as to whether or not I should watch last week's Presidential debate or more episodes of Homeland. I watched the debate, but was totally thinking about Homeland the entire time.

I haven't been this manically gripped by a show since I got into The Wire. 

Five thoughts about Homeland…

1.) Carrie Mathison : Nicholas Brody :: Jimmy McNulty : Stringer Bell. If this doesn’t make sense to you, then you either A) can’t remember taking the SAT’s or B) never watched the Wire.

2.) The show needs a theme song. I’m not sold on the opening credits- too much information. I want a catchy song that reminds me of the show every time I hear it- you know, like “Down in the Hole” reminds me of the Wire and that woke up this morning song reminds me of the Sopranos. You can still be a high brow show and have a theme song. It’s the least the producers can do, seeing as how I don’t breathe once during an entire episode.

3.) How does no one know when Brody is up to something? Dude sweats like a pig wearing a parka in a sauna when he’s nervous. Yeah, in the season 1 finale, the Vice President commented that he looked like shit, but really- no one noticed before that. Oh wait, a secret service agent did before that. Well either way, the same thing in episode 2 of this season, in the Situation Room. Everyone seems to notice when I’m tapping my foot during a meeting, but no seemed to notice Brody playing Alex Van Halen bass drum patterns. Part of me feels that Brody would be a terrible poker player. But another part of me feels he’d be a world champ. The third part of me wonders if Islam allows poker playing.

4.) Dana Brody is on the fast track to the Sally Draper School for Girls Gone Crazy by a Dysfunctional Home Life. Maybe she can bunk with Sansa Stark. No, at this point, Sansa probably has earned a room by herself.

5.) How old was Carrie when she started at the C.I.A.? Was it right after college? I mean come on, she looks like she’s maybe thirty years old but already has had quite the decorated, globe-spanning career in the C.I.A. Was she a Dougie Howser-like whiz kid when she was younger? I feel this needs to be explained.

Bonus Thought.) I don’t want much more of Virgil, because he’s best in small doses and it makes me appreciate him that much more- but I would like to see him a little bit more. After last season’s finale, there was a part of me that dreamed of a scenario where Carrie & Virgil team up as some kind of free-lancing spy group and they’d call it Pasta. Why Pasta? Exactly.