"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History

Monday, October 5, 2015

Homeland 5.1: Moving into the Age of Snowden

Homeland was back last night for its fifth season with an excellent episode that both cleared the deck from last season but left enough of it to start the combustion in this season.

But first, to begin with, there's an error in a lot of what's being said in the press this season about Carrie being pulled back in, Godfather like, when she tried to get out.  If she'd really wanted out, she would have landed a job in a field other than security, and certainly not in Germany, a known hotbed of Islamic terrorism since 9/11.

But that said, it makes a powerful narrative for Carrie to go in a few minutes from being with her daughter - who still looks like the very image of her father Brody - to being tied up in the tunnel of a Hezbollah leader whose son was killed by Carrie in one of the attacks on the infamous Abu Nazir.  It was also good seeing an undamaged Saul back in the fight, and a sullen, deadly Quinn deployed in this, too.

The fifth season also has three powerful women:  the German CIA section head, an assistant to the German minister who is now no longer cooperating with the CIA, and a reporter/editor for a Wikileaks-like organization.  Those are strong, important positions indeed, and it will be fun to see how those gambits play out.

The reason the Germans no longer want to cooperate with us is the hacking of CIA documents which reveal our clandestine operations with the Germans.   This brings Homeland right into the age of Edward Snowden, whom I'm looking forward to seeing via Skype at Bard University a week from Friday.   Cyber until now has played a secondary role to hands-on agents in the field in Homeland, and it will good to see how this plays out, too.

So the complex pieces on the reset board are mostly in place, and I'll be back here next week with a review of where they go and how they do.




And see also  Homeland on Showtime ... Homeland 1.8: Surprises ... Homeland Concludes First Season: Exceptional

#SFWApro 


  different kind of espionage

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