Category Archives: Homeland

Channel 10, Drama, FRONT, Homeland, Showtime

Homeland S04xE10 ’13 Hours in Islamabad’ Explosive Episode

Mark Moses as Denis Boyd
Mark Moses as Denis Boyd

Dana Brody, it’s time to take off your crown as Homeland’s most hated character and give it to the sniveling and meek and rage inspiring Dennis Boyd. Thanks to Dennis’s fine work stealing secrets and trading information with I.S.I double agent Tasneem (Nimrat Kaur), Homeland’s ninth episode of series four left us all wondering who survived the R.P.G attack on the convoy bringing Saul back to the C.I.A headquarters.

Carrie (Claire Danes), Redmond (Michael O’Keefe) and Saul (Mandy Patinkin) were all in the convoy attacked by the blasts while Quinn (Rupert Friend), Ambassador Martha Boyd (Laila Robins) and secret trading husband Denis were all inside the C.I.A – which had just been breached by Haqqini (Numan Acar) and his men….All thanks to Denis.

So, are Carrie, Saul and Redmond alive?  Did they survive the attack?  The New York Daily News published some photos from the filming showing a bloodied Carrie and Saul surrounded by bomb damaged black vans.

In both pictures (published Nov 3rd) Carrie and Saul are wounded though there is no sign of Redmond who was travelling with the two at the time of the attack.

The official synopsis for the episode: “The security breach at the Embassy has far reaching consequences.”

Homeland continues Sunday December 7th on Showtime (USA) and Monday Dec 8th on Network 10 (AUS)

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Emmy Awards 2014

Host Seth Meyers
Host Seth Meyers

Well I don’t know about you, but by the time the final awards were announced, my Emmy’s 2014 score card was looking pretty dire.  Of the main categories this year, Breaking Bad and Modern Family went home winners claiming 9 trophies between the two shows. Breaking Bad deservedly with it’s incredible final season while a few were surprised with Modern Family’s continued award show strength even after 5 seasons…

While Breaking Bad, Modern Family, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jim Parsons have become expected winners, there were a few surprise names called out with BBC series Sherlock and it’s stars Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch taking out the top awards for mini-series and 5 time previous winner Alison Janney winning best supporting actress for the very horrible comedy Mom 

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Check out the list of winners below along with my disastrous score card!

Comedy | Supporting Actor |  My Pick: Tony Hale (VEEP)  /  Winner: Ty Burrel (Modern Family)

Comedy | Supporting Actress | My Pick: Kate Mulgrew (Orange is the New Black)  /  Winner: Alison Janney (Mom)

Comedy | Lead Actor | My Pick: Matt Le Blanc (Episodes)  /  Winner: Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)

Comedy | Lead Actress | My Pick: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (VEEP)  / Winner: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (VEEP)

Comedy Series | My Pick | Orange is the New Black  /  Winner: Modern Family

Drama | Supporting Actor | My Pick: Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) / Winner: Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad)

Drama | Supporting Actress | My Pick: Lena Headley (Game of Thrones)  /  Winner: Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad)

Drama | Lead Actor | My Pick: Brian Cranston (Breaking Bad) / Winner: Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)

Drama | Lead Actress | My Pick: Claire Danes (Homeland) / Winner: Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife)

Drama Series | My Pick: Breaking Bad / Winner: Breaking Bad

As you can see, I hang my head low claiming only four correct picks!  Will be interesting to see how the drama category stacks up with this being Breaking Bad’s final year.

For a full list of winners, click here

 

Drama, FRONT, Homeland, TV

Homeland: Where To Go From Here

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Didier Baverel/Showtime

Feeling more like a series end rather than a season end, espionage thriller Homeland closed out it’s season three with a rather emotional and sometimes difficult to watch finale that is diving viewers right down the middle.

In an often frustrating to watch season three, Homeland saw Carrie (Claire Danes) pretending to be on bad grounds with the CIA while actually on a secret covert operation under the very watchful eye of Saul (Mandy Patinkin).  Saul, meanwhile, had hatched a plan of grandeur that involved inserting a high-level asset (Javadi) into the Iranian government and to bring Body (Damien Lewis) back into the United States.  Brody himself, was under suspicion as being the CIA bomber that killed over 100 CIA agents and after his innocence was proven, was tasked to return to the marines in order to assassinate the current Iranian high ranking officer, allowing Javadi to take over.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, there is Quinn (Rupert Friend) dealing with his demons after the accidental shooting of an innocent child and Brody’s family – Jessica (Morena Baccarin) and Dana (Morgan Saylor) dealing with the aftermath of Dana’s suicide attempt.

IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE FINALE THEN STOP READING!

I’m pretty sure, even as it was starting to begin, I was hoping that something would happen to stop Brody’s death.  A bomb, a military attack, the crane used to hang Brody breaks down, but in the end, we, the viewers, actually felt as hopeless as Carrie did, watching Brody being executed for his assassination on General Akbari.  All their work together, hers with Saul and with Brody, was all in vain as it ultimately led to Brody’s death.  Did Javadi need Brody to ensure his election into the Iranian Government?  Yes.  Was Dar Adal (F.Murray Abraham) right to go against Saul’s original command to extract Brody and Carrie and inform Javadi of their whereabouts?  Yes.

So where does Homeland go from here?  Saul has moved from the CIA to the public sector and he and Mira (Sarita Choudhury) have moved to New York while a heavily pregnant Carrie has been offered station chief in Istanbul and wants to give the baby up for adoption.  It’s already been confirmed that both Morena Baccarin (Jessica Brody) and Morgan Saylor (Dana Brody) are not returning for the new season (though their contracts remain open for guest appearances) as the show moves away from the Brody story line and should focus more on Carrie’s new position as station chief in Istanbul and I’d also expect her to bring Quinn along with her.  As for Saul, Dar Adal did hint that Saul may return to the CIA if Senator Lockwood (Tracy Letts) came begging and I would be surprised if that situation did not reveal itself in season 4.

Homeland returns for season 4 in mid 2014.

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Top OMG TV Moments of 2013

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There’s no denying that there has been some shocking and incredible “OMG” moments this year on television.  From Game of Thrones to The Walking Dead and Pretty Little Liars, these moments immediatley incur bouts of crying, laughing, anger, yelling and everything in between.  Check out my list of my top OMG moments from 2013!

RICK SENDS CAROL PACKING: The Walking Dead

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After admitting to Rick (Andrew Lincoln) that she was the one who killed Karen and Dave, Rick takes it upon himself to tell Carol (Melissa McBride), while out on a supply run, that she is no longer welcome to stay with the survivors within the camp grounds.   We’ve seen Carol, who has been a member of the group from the beginning, emerge as a strong player this season and Rick’s decision and her subsequent absence split fans right down the line.

TRAVIS AND LAURIE KISS: Cougar Town

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Travis (Dan Byrd) and Laurie (Busy Phillips) have always had a fun and flirty kind of relationship, but it’s always been that one where the guy likes the girl more than vice versa but when Laurie decides to explore her growing feelings for the teenage son of her best friend, it results in a rather awkward feeling kiss between the two.  We’d all been hanging for Travis to finally get his, but now it’s happened, most of us were wishing it didn’t.

THE BIG TWIST: Homeland

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Well were we all not played for fools!  Here we all are bitching and moaning about how bad Homeland had become.  We couldn’t figure out why or where such a great show had gone wrong.  Brody (Damien Lewis) was MIA and Saul (Mandy Patinkin) had Carrie (Claire Danes) committed to an asylum and we were getting too much focus on Dana only to have it all turn around and be revealed that Saul and Carrie were in fact working together all along in a bid to draw out a foe that could become an ally.

ASHLEY MARIN HITS DETECTIVE WILDEN WITH HER CAR: Pretty Little Liars

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Poor Ashley Marin (Laura Leighton) found herself on the receiving end of some unwanted harassment from an overly inquisitive Detective Wilden (Bryce Johnson) who demands that her daughter Hannah (Ashley Benson) keeps quiet about an indiscretion she witnessed involving him and a young lady.  never one to listen to demands, Ashley finds herself in a screaming match with Wilden before suddenly putting her foot to the pedal and throwing him over the bonnet of her car before speeding off!

THAT TAMPON SANDWICH: Orange Is The New Black

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New inmate Piper learnt the tough way not to piss off the lady who rules the prison kitchen!  When word get’s back to prison chef Red (Kate Mulgrew) that Piper (Taylor Schilling) has been less than impressed with the food on offer, Red takes it upon herself to ensure that Piper will never make comments like that again by serving her up a bloody tampon sandwich!  The scene itself was highly unsettling and intentionally confronting.

DEBRA MORGAN DIES: Dexter

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In the series finale, we knew someone was going to die.  Most of us expected it to be Dexter, or even Hannah, perhaps Quinn…it was never meant to be Dexter’s sister Deb.  After being involved in a shoot out with Oliver Saxon, Deb is wounded and is rushed to hospital.  The doctors all seems to think all should be ok but complications following the surgery lead Deb to have suffer a massive stroke leaving her in a permanent vegetative state.  It’s here Dexter lands the final blow, removing Deb off her life support effectively killing her.

RAYMOND DENIES BEING LIZ’S FATHER: The Blacklist

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It’s the theory that everyone seems to have – Raymond Reddington (James Spader) is actually Elizabeth Keen’s (Megan Boone’s) birth father.  It’s been hinted at right from the get go…his selecting her to be the only one he deals with, his wanting to know more about her life, his knowing certain things about her husband, but in the closing scenes of the final episode of the first series, Liz flat out asks Red over the phone “Are you my father?” to which Red replies “No.”

THE BOMB: Home and Away

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Known for it’s annual end of year shake-up, Home and Away offered up one heck of an explosion involving fan favourites and unexpected faces and leaving us not knowing who has survived.  After continuously butting heads with her boss Bianca (Lisa Gormley) and Bianca’s husband Heath (Dan Ewing) Jade (Tasma Walton) decides to get her revenge in the form of a bomb placed inside Bianca’s laptop bag.  We then spent the whole episode wondering when the bomb will go off as the bag changes hands numerous times before going off inside the hospital in which pregnant Ricky (Bonnie Sveen) is being treated.  Irene (Lynne Mcgranger), Bianca, Heath and Doctor Nate Cooper (Kyle Pryor) are also there when the bomb goes off.

HELENA CUTS OFF OLIVER’S TAIL: Orphan Black

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Things got a bit weird when it was revealed Neolution club owner and believer in self-directed evolution Oliver (David Richmond-Peck) was actually sporting a real life tail.  After coming to Sarah’s (Tatiana Maslany) aid while in a fight with Oliver, psychotic clone Helena wins the upper hand and swiftly chops Oliver’s tail off…then makes her way back to the dancefloor to partake in a rather ghastly dance with said tail still in her hands.

TULLY CHEATS ON HER GIRLFRIEND: Big Brother

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Fun and funky social media expert and lesbian Tully quickly turned into a sullen and sobbing mess after entering the Big Brother house.  She missed her girlfriend Tahlia but thankfully she had housemate Drew to lean on and talk to.  Quickly though that talking turned into sleeping in the same bed and sharing sneaky kisses when suddenly the two swapped secret “I love you” bombs leading to Tahlia to make a very public break-up via twitter.

MATT AND KIM’S FIRST ROOM REVEAL: The Block

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Not ones to be left hidden among the pack, West Australian couple Matt and Kim had planned to something controversial when it came to styling their first room – the guest bedroom.  Their inspiration?  Artist Jackson Pollock, he of the abstract expressionist movement (or paint splash era).  While the final result was clearly shocking, it was more ‘kids gone wild’ than Pollock admiration.

THE RED WEDDING: Game Of Thrones

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I don’t watch Game of Thrones, but even I found myself on YouTube watching the events that led to THAT video going viral showing fans reactions to the wedding as it aired.  While I may have no idea who was who or why everyone was being killed, but the red wedding sure stuck to it’s name after half the people in the room celebrating were slaughtered, including a very heavily pregnant woman!  “May the rivers run red with the blood of the non-believers.”

Comedy, Drama, Foxtel, FRONT, Homeland, Local TV, NBC, Pretty Little Liars, Reality Television, TV

TV News Roundup: Body of Proof, Homeland and More.

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Rebecca Gibney is Moving on From Rafters

Check out the bits and pieces of interesting news from the world of television below in my TV Roundup!

Renewed: USA network Showtime have renewed thriller Homeland (airing Monday nights on Channel 10) for a fourth season! It’s no surprise with the show creating some of the biggest character and story line talk this year (I’m talking about you Dana Brody) but will be interesting to see who comes back if the rumors that Damien Lewis has been attached to a new show are true or not.  Showtime also gave it’s newest drama Masters Of Sex (airing on SBS) an early second season pick-up.

I’m Back!: Jane Hall is coming back to Neighbors!  It may only be in a short guest stint and won’t be seen until next year, but we can only imagine why her character Rebecca is returning to Ramsay Street!  You’ll remember, she tried to kill her husband Paul Robinson when we saw her last! 

Actress Nadia Dajani confirmed with TVNOW this afternoon that she will be back for the second season of FOX8’s The Carrie Diaries as Tom Bradshaw’s girlfriend Deb and will be appearing in three episodes.

Also possibly back – Body Of Proof starring Dana Delaney.  The ABC network in America cancelled the medical/police drama earlier this year but may already be regretting it’s decision.  New shows Betrayal (which is god awful) and Once Upon a Time – two shows filling the old time-slot, have been rating extremely poorly (making up about half the audience Body Of Proof used to bring to the network).  There’s still no official word, or who will actually make the return.

New Aussie Drama: Channel 7 announced it’s 2014 line-up announcing that TV favorite Rebecca Gibney will be making her return to series television after the end of Packed to the Rafters.  In a show which feels very similar to that of UK drama The Fall and starring Gillian Anderson, Gibney will be seen in The Killing Field as the head of a special police task force sent to a small country town to investigate a shocking crime. The team must delve into the closed lives of a seemingly quaint hamlet in order to find and outwit a killer.

Channel 7 also announced it has picked up one of my favorite new comedies – The Goldberg’s set for airing next year!

Ratings Hit: It was a massive night for the ABC last night with The Gruen Planet nabbing over one million viewers while Ja’mie: Private School Girl grabbed 925k viewers.  Overall, last night showed lower than normal viewing numbers with only three shows hitting that all important one million viewer mark.

On the opposite scale, in America, Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D continues to drop in ratings with the latest episode hitting an all time low of 8.6 million viewers.

On Hold: NBC have put comedy Parks and Recreation on hiatus.  The show will still air four remaining episodes (in two lots of back-to-back runnings) in November and then returning in Jan 2014.  Season six will also see regulars Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe both depart the show.  Word has it, the hiatus was put in place to try and help bolster ratings for sinking comedy Sean Saves the World.

Spin-Off Mixed Results: ABC Family drama Pretty Little Liars’ annual Halloween episode once again drew remarkable ratings and topped as the number one viewed program in key demographics.  The episode also made way for the new spin-off Ravenswood which drew mixed reviews from fans.  While it rated well, fans took to social media giving mixed opinions of the new show.

Drama, FRONT, Homeland, TV

Homeland’s Big Twist Shocks

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Homeland’s Claire Danes

Originally, I was going to title this post as “Oh Crap It’s Dana” but decided against it as the actual plot twist thrown at us at the end of 3×04 was so much OMG that it’s all I could really think of, I mean, did anyone, ANYONE see that coming?

I don’t claim to be all foreseeing and knowing of plot twists coming our way, and some are so blatant it hurts, but this, this totally side swiped me and that, to me, makes for great TV.  I mean sitting there, at the end of the episode, seeing Carrie and Saul walk inside together, I just…i just…I’m pretty sure I looked like I had lost a chromosome sitting there mouth agape.

Funny though, after last weeks Brody themed episode, everyone threw their hands up and went “How can we fix Homeland?” now it seems (me included obviously) we’re all applauding the show.  So among all the long and unpronounceable names involved with money laundering, Dana finally running away (and never coming back?), Saul throwing Carrie under the bus to save face, Carrie’s complete and utter melt-down and subsequent meeting with someone who wants her to reveal confidential CIA information, it turns out Carrie and Saul were working together all along.  Talk about perfect timing for a show that had everyone worried.

That said, with this season pointing out Javadi as the big bad guy (worse than Abu Nazir) it’s hard to actually feel excited for Carrie and Saul’s plan if the only time we have seen Javadi is via a photo.  We have no connection to him, no feelings, we are working with what is being conveyed to us via conversations between Saul and Fara.

Oh, Dana was in this episode, but as noted, she ran away.  She wasn’t really that annoying this episode.  I think we actually got to see some real depth behind her character, especially when she noted that when standing outside the army base, she pointed out that this was where her father had said the very last truth to her, which was “goodbye” and that everything after that was a lie.

Hopefully Homeland shines a little more light on Javadi and the plan Saul and Carrie have set in place to keep us going on this roller coaster of a ride that is Season three!

Drama, FRONT, Homeland, TV

Homeland – We Need To Talk About Dana

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Morgan Saylor as Dana Brody

I’m just going to put it out there…When you have a show focused on terrorism, counter intelligence and the C.I.A and the one character that seems to annoy almost every viewer is the teenage daughter of one of the main characters, you know, as a writer, you must be doing something wrong.

Homeland had it’s third season episode two last night on channel 10, and just a heads up, for all the Dana Brody haters out there, there’s a lot more of her coming, and you’re not going to like it.  We’re beginning to wonder why a side character such as Dana Brody is being given so much screen time and literally her own feature story-line (a suicide attempt between seasons two and three) compared to other characters like Brody’s wife Jessica (Morena Baccarin) or even lead character Nicholas Brody (Damien Lewis) himself, who is still rather absent even in this second episode.

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Between Carrie Mathison’s (Claire Danes) constant tears and Dana’s moody and angsty attitude, there’s not much left in between to counter the two and suddenly Homeland is beginning to feel like a teenage drama that no one wants to watch.

Apparently the decision to focus more on the Brody family more prominently- while leaving viewers in the dark about the whereabouts of Damien Brody was a conscious one for the creators.

‘There are all these families that are the victims of somebody in the family doing an act of violence. Whether it’s Sandy Hook, whether it’s Columbine, the Boston Marathon bombers, these people all have families who suffer the consequences of these psychopathic actions,’ show-runner Alex Ganza told New York Magazine. ‘It was interesting to think about what would happen to the Brody family.’

Homeland airs Monday nights, 8:30pm on Channel 10.