Between Julian Assange’s Wikileaks story, the present media hyper-focus on the Middle East, and questions of allegiances, terrorism, politics and diplomacy, there’s never been a better time to seek a fictional account of the inside workings of American intelligence and how it is flawed but fascinating.
However, amongst the many, many reasons viewers ought to revel in eight seasons of acclaimed US series Homelandthe ultimate drawcard is Carrie Mathison. As CIA operations officer Mathison, actress Claire Danes has arguably never been more vulnerable, complex, unpredictable and provocative.
She was introduced to viewers in 2011, when US producers first debuted Homelandtheir version of the Israeli series Prisoners of War. The concept was superficially simple – a clear-cut case of good and bad characters and having to ascertain which was which – but in reality, the vast grey zone between loyalty and betrayal provided fertile ground for juicy narratives about morally ambiguous characters. Between 2011 and 2020, eight seasons of Homeland shamelessly transfused real-life politics and world events into its scripts.
Claire Danes as Carrie Anderson in season 1 of ‘Homeland’. Credit: Ronen Akerman / Showtime
In 2002, US President George W. Bush labelled Iran, Iraq and North Korea the “Axis of Evil”, and the US subsequently invaded Iraq in 2003. By 2011, the US public had been convinced by non-stop news headlines of an almost holy war between the US and large sections of the Middle East by subsequent US Presidents, politicians and sensationalist media headlines.
When Mathison appeared on screen as a chic, blonde, highly intelligent CIA expert charged with identifying an American member of al-Qaeda, audiences were primed for an insight into the fraught, high-stakes world of secret intelligent officers, spies, diplomats and counterintelligence. A juicy dose of lust, sex, workplace power-games, and mental health crises added to the addictive drama and intrigue.
The first season is explosive and fast-paced. Mathison suspects that US Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) has been recruited by al-Qaeda during the eight years he spent as a prisoner of war. Brody has recently returned to the US as a media hero, but Mathison is determined to win Brody’s trust in an effort to prove he has plans to betray the US, sabotaging national security.
Damian Lewis and Claire Danes in season 1. Credit: Kent Smith / Showtime
What makes this season one of the best TV experiences of the last century is the cleverly layered personal and political storylines. As fascinating as the CIA workings are, it is the complicated relationships between the characters, including leading and support cast, that keep viewers entranced. Brody has returned to his wife, who has been having an affair with Brody’s best friend. His children have grown up in his absence, and his neighbours, former colleagues and friends eye him suspiciously. Mathison has her own private battles: she’s struggling to manage the symptoms of bipolar disorder, which requires medication she routinely stops taking to avoid side effects, while supervised by an overly protective sister. Her sounding board is the wise, fatherly figure of Saul Berenson (a flawless performance by Mandy Patinkin), her former boss and mentor.
Mandy Patinkin in 'Homeland'. Credit: David Bloomer / Showtime
While Brody and Mathison share equal spotlight in the first season, Mathison becomes the dominating focus over the following seasons. Her emotional stability, loyalty to the US, the CIA, and her colleagues are all drawn into question and the answers are never neatly wrapped up. She is both relatable and extraordinary, since her job has enormously high stakes. If she’s wrong, or misses a sign, it’s a question of whether major attacks on US landmarks take place, or US operatives are killed abroad, or her own government acts in conflict with international law or any reasonable expectation of ethical conduct. The US government is not presented with gloss and glory, with good reason – real-life, highly publicised revelations about war crimes and intelligence failings have exposed US government flaws.
Another high-stakes part of Mathison’s job is the requisite close proximity to the men she suspects of being enemies, and it is almost inevitable that in convincing those men that she is someone they can trust and confide in, the boundaries between professional and personal will be blurred. Or, as is the case on numerous occasions, those boundaries will be crushed and stampeded over in sweaty, naked, fantastic enthusiasm. These aspects of Homeland stand up to the test of time. Carrie Mathison remains eminently watchable as a fiercely determined intelligence expert in a male-dominated, macho industry.
Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison in ‘Homeland’ Season 5. Credit: Stephan Rabold / Showtime
Especially through the lens of our current global circumstances, it is more important than ever to emphasise that Homeland was created by US screenwriters who were using an Israeli series created by a former Israeli paratrooper as their source material. The depiction of Arab countries and people has been fairly criticised for its one-dimensional view of Palestinians, Saudis, Iraqis and Afghans as one homogenous people, and feeding into an “us and them” mentality. This criticism holds weight, but it is also evident that by season six, there is a significantly more balanced attitude towards representation. Perhaps the increasingly dangerous environment for Muslim Americans in real life was a strong influence on the screenwriters. Certainly, from season five onwards, the altered landscape is tangible in the plotlines, character nuances and dialogue.
As with any drama, viewers ought to watch Homeland with awareness of the geopolitical context within which it was made, and the source material that inspired it. It remains an incredibly clever, confronting series that deservedly won Claire Danes two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Drama Series. She made Carrie Mathison a woman we could relate to, aspire to, love and sometimes loathe – and in so doing, made Homeland an unforgettable experience.
All seasons of Homeland are streaming at SBS On Demand.
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