1. HOMELAND
The best new series of the year is Showtime's twisty nail-biter of a psychological thriller, an emotionally intense cat-and-mouse game between two damaged souls: Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody, a Marine POW who may have been turned by terrorists during eight years in Iraqi captivity, and Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, the unstable CIA analyst who breaks all the rules to get under his skin — and at times under the sheets. (Bringing new meaning to undercover agent). The actors are as electrifying as the storytelling in this taut tale of homeland insecurity, which also features a marvelously restrained Mandy Patinkin as Carrie's melancholy mentor and a revelatory Morena Baccarin as Brody's understandably conflicted wife. Homeland comes from the veteran producers of 24, who have lost none of their knack for sustained suspense, but within this more realistic framework have been able to concoct a thoughtful and gripping meditation on the human toll of the war on terror.
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Question: So thrilled that Homeland has been picked up for Season Two! I'm absolutely riveted week after week. I've seen some premature discussion here and there about whether or not Damian Lewis will still be on the show next season given his storyline, and I sincerely hope he is. Granted, I'm a big fan and would watch him in Reading the Phone Book: The Series, but I think Brody and his clan are integral to the show's success. If it became just about Carrie hunting a new threat each season, I'm not sure I would be as invested. Don't get me wrong, Claire Danes is doing excellent work and Carrie is a great character, but the Brody family's interactions have me on the edge of my seat just as much as the terrorism plot, if not more so. (How lovely to see Morena Baccarin shine with ...
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In Homeland, terrorist plots aren't dismantled in 24 hours and the hero doesn't save the day by slaughtering suspects. Ten years after the horror of 9/11, good and evil are sometimes far from black-and-white.
"This is not 24, which had a muscular response to what happened on 9/11," says British actor Damian Lewis, who plays Sgt. Nicholas Brody, the Marine who's become a hero after eight years of imprisonment by Al Qaeda, on the set near Charlotte. "It was a show for its time. Now we live in a world where people are divided about the best way to wage war on terror."
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Cheers to Morena Baccarin for proving she's flesh and blood on Homeland.
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The Brazilian-born actress is best known for her role as alien queen Anna on ABC's short-lived sci-fi remake V. That makes her down-to-earth work as Jessica, the morally conflicted wife of tortured ex-POW Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) on Showtime's anti-terrorism drama all the more refreshing. As Jessica deals with her husband's PTSD — and grapples with the affair she had with his best friend after she assumed he was dead — Baccarin gives an ...
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We sure are gonna miss Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Only a handful of episodes remain of the exuberant Cartoon Network series, and clearly there's no been no slacking off in the writers' room. This week's installment, "Triumvirate of Terror" (airing Friday, October 7 at 6/5c), is a charming and lighthearted tribute to the "Big 3" of DC Comics, with Superman and Wonder Woman teaming up with the Dark Knight. The trio meets at a diner for a meal of bacon cheeseburgers, fries and shakes while discussing what items to leave in a superhero time capsule. The fun doesn't last for long when their archenemies — the Joker, Lex Luthor and Cheetah — plan a team-up of their own. After years of futility they decide to switch ...
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