TV Review

I remember quite awhile ago now, doing a review on a little known, Canadian produced movie starring Joshua Jackson, and enjoying analyzing it. Not so much as what an actual critic would, or what an english major could, but just really how I felt about it. Ok, so maybe it would be more of an opinion column type deal. Anyways, since then I have not really come upon anything "lesser known" that was worth sharing to get some people in on it. But I have now!

Not that I really know if this show is lesser known, but the fact that it is carried by showcase and that wikipedia tells me the average audience view is around 2 million, I'm guessing it's not really heard of. Especially when me, the big TV fanatic that I am, hadn't heard about it until a week ago.

The show in question is Homeland. Starring Clare Danes. Yeah, you remember her, from Romeo + Juliet, the version with Leonardo Dicaprio. Well she has well since transformed and I absolutely loved her in this series. By far she is the best part of it. The next would be the plot, the reason for the show.

I'm definitely a fan of crime/thriller type shows, 24 being my fave, but now I see Homeland as possibly taking that #1 spot! Being based on a novel about Prisoners of War, it sees a soldier come home after 8 years of being presumed dead, at the hands of people close to Al Quaeda. Rumor has it that he has turned, and is plotting against the United States of America.

Maybe the plot in general doesn't pique your interest, it kind of sounds like same old, same old. But what really hooked me was the characters and their relationships. At the beginning they focused a bit too much on the soldier's family, but by maybe the 5th or 6th episode in, either they started to focus more on everyone else, or they just became so engrained, so important to the story that I didn't mind.

I already mentioned Clare Danes. She's already won quite a few awards for Homeland, and only 2 seasons in (the show itself has also already won numerous awards). She has a particularly interesting character. Sometimes I'm not a fan, but there are just so many other parts that make me go "Wow. This is crazy." or "That was awesome, way to go Carrie! [Her character's name]". Her character also spans so many different emotions, and she is SO convincing; it's really incredible. What really got me for good was the last episode or two of season one, and it's a critical part of the show so I won't spoil it, but it's a certain characteristic that she just absolutely nails.

I'm definitely a huge fan and I'm sad that I got through both seasons in under a week... With just 12 episodes per season, it's not that difficult, but now I have to wait for September 2013 for the next round.

So if ever you find yourself bored, with time to kill, and at least a little interest in the drama/thriller/politics/crime genre, give it a try!

Also a disclaimer: I didn't realize at first that it was on Showcase, and if you didn't know, shows are on Showcase for a reason.. aka basically some rated R sort of stuff, which kind of adds to the excitement though if you know what I mean ;p