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TV show review: CONTINUUM season 4
PHOTOGRAPHY

HOMELAND The Complete Third Season

DVD Review by David Blackwell

 

DETAILS:  616 minutes (12 episodes on 4 discs), featurettes, audio commentary, deleted scenes

VIDEO:  1.78:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)

AUDIO:  English 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital Surround

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese

 

STUDIO:  20th Century Fox Home Entertainment/ Fox 21/ Showtime

RELEASE DATE:  9-9-2014

 

DISC ONE- TIN MAN IS DOWN/ UH…OH…AH/ TOWER OF DAVID

DISC TWO- GAME ON/ THE YOGA PLAY/ STILL POSITIVE

DISC THREE- GERONTION/ A RED WHEELBARROW/ ONE LAST THING

DISC FOUR- GOOD THING/ BIG MAN IN TEHRAN/ THE STAR

The third season of HOMELAND picks up weeks after the bombing at Langley at the end of season two.   Saul (Mandy Patinkin) and Carrie (Claire Danes) make a daring plan to turn one of the people responsible for the bombing while Brody (Damian Lewis) reaches new lows at the place where he is forced to stay (while Carrie tries to prove Brody’s innocence).  Meanwhile, Brody’s family tries to pick up the pieces as a consequence of Brody being labeled a terrorist and a traitor.  

 

The third season makes a logical follow through from season 2 and makes good use of Brody’s absence (since Brody was pretty much played out as a character by the end of season 2 and how they use him is the only play they logically have left when it comes to the story).   It is interesting to see how Saul handles the position of interm CIA director while those in political power can’t see the long game the CIA plays (and only the short term political gain). The writers know how to milk the characters and send characters out to pasture after some storylines don’t pan out.

 

What I find the best about this season are how politics and covert intelligence can be at odds with each other and the other question that is addressed is how far one will go for their beliefs or what they think is right (this is very much the case with how far Saul and Carrie will go to protect the USA).  HOMELAND deals with some very timely issues and puts Iran front and center in the storylines for the third season (along with portraying how it is in Iran as seen through the eyes of outsiders, those who left Iran, and the people who live in Iran).   I don’t want to give away too much about this wonderful season because I think it is best to discover each season and not know about the twists the writers have in store.   I can’t wait to see where season 4 takes the characters as HOMELAND continues to evolve as a show.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

HOMELAND SEASON THREE: RE-CREATING THE TOWER OF DAVID AND FILMING IN PUERTO RICO (Disc 1)-

 

THE LAST DAYS OF FILMING THE SEASON FINALE IN MOROCCO (Disc 3)- Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, and the crew talk about filming the last two episodes in Morocco (and the season finale) from the various challenges including Damian Lewis breaking character to make sure a pivotal scene wasn’t filmed by a camera phone).

 

Deleted scenes for various episodes cut for time and pacing with some of them even expanding on some of the characters.

 

Season finale audio commentary with Damian Lewis, Alex Gansa, and Joe Hobeck is quiet at times as they discuss the story and the making of the season finale.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  I think the third season is almost as strong as the first season while providing some good storylines for the characters that they work within the framework of the show.  They did have one misstep with the storyline of Brody’s daughter (which they manage to make-up at the end of her storyline for the season).   I can’t wait for season 4, but I wish they included a trailer or prequel short for season 4.

 

This review is ©9-16-2014 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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