SPY V MOTHER
Homeland is back
Working mothers walk a difficult path. It’s hard going from work mode to ‘‘Wheels on the Bus’’ mode. So, as Homeland (Monday, 8.30pm, SoHo) kicks off for Season 5, with Carrie Mathison playing the good mother in Berlin, you can’t help feeling her heart might be in it, but her mind isn’t, entirely.
This isn’t the Carrie we’re used to. There she is cycling along pleasant Berlin streets, her daughter in a seat on the back. Then when her ex-boss, Saul, is taking a call about a data breach in which a hacker has accessed a stack of CIA files, they cut immediately to Carrie sitting on a floor at a children’s party contemplating balloon animals. At that point I think we all know this domesticity isn’t going to last.
Carrie is still working, this time as head of security for some wealthy foundation. And, because her donning a head scarf at some point is obligatory in this show, she’s soon in an underground car park trying to negotiate a visit to a refugee camp in Lebanon for her new boss.
It’s an interesting starting point. Storywise it’s also a convincing way to introduce a host of new characters. I’m picking her new boss is going to be a whole heap of trouble, or dead, soon. That’s the great thing with Homeland, it’s rarely predictable.
Quinn and Saul, are also back still entrenched in the CIA. Quinn seems furious and detached after two years in Syria. Saul, passed over for the director role, appears to be towing the line.
It’s highly topical throwing around storylines that touch on Syria, ISIS and even an Edward Snowden-style data leak. But, that alone is not enough.
The strength of Homeland is in managing to mix intriguing and conflicted characters with thrilling action and complex plots. Quinn, Saul and Carrie aren’t entirely likeable and their deep patriotism has a dark side to it. The writers continue to steer clear of making this a dumbed down battle between good versus evil.
Homeland has had its peaks and troughs over the years. But I’ve remained a fan and season 5 looks promising.
Another quality show returns with the second series of Fargo (Tuesdays, 8.30pm from October 13, SoHo). This time we’re back in 1979 and, there are three people dead at the local Waffle Hut.
‘‘It’s a diner robbery in Minnesota Carl, not a presidential assassination…’’ says state trooper Lou when a conspiracy theorist friend gets carried away with possible explanations.
‘‘Oh sure, that’s how it starts, with something small, like a break-in at the Watergate Hotel, but watch, this thing is only going to get bigger,’’ responds Carl. And you know he’s right.
This one botched crime stretches out and touches people in ways you couldn’t predict. It connects uncollected meat chops, with a shoe in a tree and a car supposedly hit by a deer.
It’s weird and wonderful and elegantly done. Expect lots of snow, blood and great dark humour.
The strength of Homeland is in managing to mix intriguing and conflicted characters with thrilling action and complex plots.