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At least Aaron Paul won, but I really can't see how anything could beat Breaking Bad's fourth season or Mad Men's fifth. But then again Modern Family won in nearly every category it was nominated, with Community and Parks and Recreation completely shafted, so whatever.

Anyway, Danes deserved her win more than anyone on that list so at least there's some justice.

Has anyone seen the Israeli original, Hatufim (aka Prisoners of War)?

And if anyone's seen both, which would they recommend watching first? Sky Arts has been running Hatufim recently, and my TiVo box has obligingly recorded it.

As with their other shows, Showtime has loaded a somewhat edited version on YouTube. It's an impressive return, not really as ground-shaking as the finale but it's working towards something in that direction.

MichaelB wrote:Has anyone seen the Israeli original, Hatufim (aka Prisoners of War)?

And if anyone's seen both, which would they recommend watching first? Sky Arts has been running Hatufim recently, and my TiVo box has obligingly recorded it.

Sight & Sound's TV critic Sergio Angelini answered my question: he reckons Hatufim first, but says that they have surprisingly little in common given that Homeland is supposedly a remake.

Professor Wagstaff wrote:

Spoiler

Much of episode 2.2 played like reheated excerpts from The Departed (the cell phone warning scene practically lifted wholesale from that film). It came with great relief that the end the episode showed Saul discovering the videotape, which will hopefully push the season towards more than just a Brody/Carrie cat and mouse game again.

I didn't mind the

Spoiler

text message warning,

as it seems almost too far-fetched for any government security agency(CIA/FBI/Homeland Security) to investigate as a possible option. Plus, the message itself and the recipient were at least a little less direct than in the film that (might have) served as inspiration (which, as I've stated before in that particular thread, never bothered me that much in the first place).

What bothered me more was the fact that Carrie was the one who

Spoiler

grabbed the exact article the show required for us to plunge back into last season's main plot and to relieve her of her doubt.

It would have been more believable if they even got the other agent to grab it. I'm also not sure exactly why it was located at that particular place, as I would have thought

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Nazir would keep it far closer to himself - since it proved unnecessary to use

- but hopefully they'll explain that.

Still, what a magnificent episode overall. Claire Danes has been amazing so far this season, to the point where I sometimes feel incredibly - almost painfully - uncomfortable while watching Carrie suffer through her condition. This continues to be the best contemplation of obsession since Zodiac.

A fantastic episode tonight, something that seemed inevitable once the director's name came up on the screen and it was Lodge Kerrigan! Seeing as Lewis won his role based on his work in Keane, I'm glad someone had the foresight to extend an invitation to more of that film's creative force, hopefully with more Kerrigan-directed episodes to come.

Yes, great episode. But I kept wondering how the show could continue after this.

Spoiler

These top intelligence officials would never keep this info about a member of congress secret. That would be a national security risk, etc, etc. So it seems totally unbelievable that the next episode has them keeping this under wraps somehow...

Professor Wagstaff wrote:A fantastic episode tonight, something that seemed inevitable once the director's name came up on the screen and it was Lodge Kerrigan! Seeing as Lewis won his role based on his work in Keane, I'm glad someone had the foresight to extend an invitation to more of that film's creative force, hopefully with more Kerrigan-directed episodes to come.

So glad to see Kerrigan getting work like this. If anyone deserves it, he does. I haven't watched this one - I have found the direction of this season absurd at best and laughably bad at worst, but we'll see how it goes. I might be ready to bail on this once fantastic show if they keep setting up impossible situations one after another in an effort to dig themselves out of the hole created by the events at the end of Season One. We've been sold a bill of goods about the confidentiality of the CIA that has been thrown completely out the window in both Carrie and Brody's storylines. It'd be like if suddenly the zombies in The Walking Dead could talk and fly and run really fast.

mfunk, sounds like you agree with me then. Though it does make for some exciting TV, I guess.

I haven't read your spoiler, actually, but it sucks to hear that this sort of thing continues in this week's episode.

We'll know soon enough next week, because...

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A clip shows the video being shown to Estes.

denti alligator wrote:Yes, great episode. But I kept wondering how the show could continue after this.

Spoiler

These top intelligence officials would never keep this info about a member of congress secret. That would be a national security risk, etc, etc. So it seems totally unbelievable that the next episode has them keeping this under wraps somehow...

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My fear is that this show will reenact the mistakes Alias made during its second season after the writers realized that the thin premise was milked for all its worth and had nowhere else to go. Will Homeland similarly turn Brody into a fugitive/double agent with uncertain allegiances as Alias did with most of their characters?

Professor Wagstaff wrote:

denti alligator wrote:Yes, great episode. But I kept wondering how the show could continue after this.

Spoiler

These top intelligence officials would never keep this info about a member of congress secret. That would be a national security risk, etc, etc. So it seems totally unbelievable that the next episode has them keeping this under wraps somehow...

Spoiler

My fear is that this show will reenact the mistakes Alias made during its second season after the writers realized that the thin premise was milked for all its worth and had nowhere else to go. Will Homeland similarly turn Brody into a fugitive/double agent with uncertain allegiances as Alias did with most of their characters?

What else can they do?

Thought for sure this one was on the chopping block

This is Showtime. Nothing is cancelled ever.

I was kidding.

flyonthewall2983 wrote:

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Great fucking ending and all...but now what?

I'm really glad they decided to throw in that curve-ball at the end, because after the past few episodes, particularly last week's, it just felt like the creators were doing everything they could to hit the re-set button and essentially just repeat last season. Thankfully, they've taken the entire plot in a new direction, which really feels far more logical and jumps us ahead to the events that really would have had to happen eventually.

Yep, this is really the only way to believably continue the show. Good move. I'm liking it.

The Israeli original Prisoners of War is now streaming on hulu.

Really good EP last night, left me scratching my head in a good way.

Any thoughts on where the show is headed now? Browsing through the AV Club comments, some seem to think it's going off the rails a bit. I don't think so, but it's not outside the realm of possibility.