Homeland

Starring: Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, Mandy Patinkin, Morena Baccarin, David Harewood, Diego Kattenhoff, Jamey Sheridan, David Marciano, Navid Negahban, Jacskson Pace, Timothee Chalamet, & Morgant Saylor

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

From the creators of 24, comes the thriller Homeland, a show that is much edgier than 24, but lacks the action we've come to expect from this team of writers. What this show lacks in action, it more than makes up for with an intriguing look inside the mysterious CIA.

It's no secret that the CIA is the spy agency in America, that seems to have a hand in everything, but what exactly do they do and how do they do it? Can they arrest people? Do they carry guns? Are they really spies? These are all questions answered by the show Homeland, an edge of your seat thriller, that takes you deep inside the inner workings of the most mysterious government organization the world has ever known.

Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) is a CIA analyst, working in Iraq, when one of her contacts tells her that an American prisoner of war has been turned by Al-Qaeda. 6 months later, an American POW is discovered during a raid on an Al-Qaeda compound. The Marine discovered, Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Damien Lewis) comes home to his family, after 8 years, to a heroes welcome, and everyone sees him as such, everyone except for Carrie. 

Mathison is immediately suspicious of Brody and puts her career on the line by deciding to stick to the man like glue, she even goes so far as to start a sexual relationship with him, in order to stay close to him. Brody is suffering from a severe case of post traumatic stress disorder, which leads him to do some very strange things. The big question is, whether he's acting this way because he's a terrorist or because he's been damaged by his time in captivity.

I've never been a big Claire Danes fan, because she has a habit of being eccentric and way over the top, but quite ingeniously, the writers use her weaknesses as an actress as a strength for Carrie. Mathison is eccentric, over the top, and unconventional, it's what makes her a terrific agent and very entertaining to watch.

Danes is paired with Damien Lewis who is just out of this world, leading to multiple awards and nominations. I've only seen Lewis playing bit parts in movies, but similar to Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad, he's one of these guys, who comes out of nowhere to land the perfect role. Nicholas Brody is one of the most complicated and intriguing characters I've ever seen and it's his chemistry with Danes that really makes this show as good as it is.

It's rare for me to give a perfect rating, especially to a TV show, but the creators have taken the action and excitement of 24 and put it into a cable show, where they can get away with anything. It's edgier and extremely hard hitting, even though the action has been scaled back. 24 was about an impulsive man, who would do anything to stop terrorism, but Homeland, takes that same storyline and shows you what goes into discovering these acts of violence before they become a down to the second event, requiring the intervention of a Jack Bauer. It is smart, emotional, and will have you craving more. I literally watched the first two seasons in a week an a half, you'd think I'd have gotten sick of it by now, but all I want is for season three to be released, because this show really is that good.