By Mark HadleyFriday 2 Mar 2012TV and StreamingReading Time: 3 minutes
Homeland
Rating: M
Distributor: Network TEN
Release Date: Sundays, 8:30 PM
Homeland is the natural successor to 24 and Lost – a combination of espionage thriller and unravelling mystery. But unlike its predecessors its plot reflects real concerns raised by today’s ‘war on terror’, and relevant moral questions raised by September 11.
The opening episodes of Homeland have introduced us to Sergeant Nicholas Brody played by Damian Lewis of Band of Brothers fame. He is a marine who everyone thought had died in Afghanistan eight years ago. However soldiers searching an enemy bunker discover he has been held prisoner all this time by a terrorist cell. He returns to the US a hero and an object of much interest for powerbrokers who see a poster boy for their international policies. But not everyone is sure of Brody’s bonifides. Three-time Golden Globe winner Claire Danes plays CIA operative Carrie Mathison, a high functioning agent with a bi-polar disorder. Mathison has unearthed intelligence that claims a US POW has been ‘turned’, which makes her wonder if Brody is as golden as he seems. She launches a covert intelligence operation to uncover the truth just as terrorists lay their plans for another strike on American soil.
Homeland is a puzzle plot that’s certain to get its hooks into Australian viewers. The heroine’s mentor tells her, “The dots are there Carrie, but you haven’t connected them yet.” We know he’s right. The audience knows information that would only serve to increase the CIA’s suspicions. Chief among the facts revealed is that Brody is lying about his relationship with a known terrorist and he offers Islamic prayers in the privacy of his garage. Whether or not these things amount to guilt, though, is Homeland’s key moral question.
The events that took place in America on September 11 not only destroyed large buildings, they demolished the post modern argument that right and wrong are just matters of perspective. No-one but an increasingly isolated group of radicals was prepared to claim that killing thousands of innocents was a glorious act of retribution. Homeland asks if there is a higher authority to be obeyed then which one is it? Brody will have to choose between competing loyalties before the series plays out. Who should hold the greatest sway over his life – country, family or creed?
I suspect that in the shadow of 9/11 Homeland will suggest the only people to answer creed will be that ‘isolated group of radicals’ – but it also happens to be Jesus’ belief. When he was asked to name the highest principle that could guide a person’s life he certainly mentioned loving those closest to us. However he deliberately placed that love in second place:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.”
This sort of ‘radicalism’ might have earned him surveillance from the CIA in this day and age, but acknowledging God’s authority first is the only standard that ensures we will honour every other principle He has taught us.