Critical Condition: Homeland (S7)

Homeland | SoHo, 9.30 Monday

➢ “On a narrative level the Homeland premiere is decidedly small. Although Homeland has fundamentally been a character-driven drama, the threat of the world on the brink of cataclysm has always lingered on the surface. Assassinations. Terrorist actions. Upheavals of power. The seventh season premiere keeps the implied stakes high, but the literal stakes middling … Through most of the premiere, nothing explodes and there’s no talk of high-level catastrophes and instead we watch Carrie engage in rudimentary spycraft. She’s setting up a meeting. She’s covering her tracks and watching for tails. She’s observing. It’s more muted John Le Carre-esque spook-work than the show’s usual melodrama. Spoiler alert: Carrie doesn’t even sob.” — The Hollywood Reporter.

➢ “Having prevented the assassination of the winning presidential candidate Elizabeth Keane (Elizabeth Marvel) by right-wing radicals in Season 6, only to be blindsided when Keane trampled on civil rights by ordering mass arrests (including that of Saul), Carrie is now secretly working to expose Keane’s lies. Fans will be happy that this involves the resurfacing of Carrie’s spycraft, and it’s a pleasure in the season premiere to watch her pulling her gear out of hiding, or duck into a hotel room and put on a disguise — it’s like she’s getting back into her own skin.” — New York Times.

➢ “Creating a compelling narrative from real-world parallels has always been a specialty of the Showtime drama, but this year feels particularly aggressive. Everyone is on edge. Politics have invaded every sphere of society, including the home life, and what really resonates after the first hour is a personal question: Homeland asks if Claire Danes’ hero of the past six seasons has been driven irreversibly mad — that even when she’s at her most objectively sane self, she’s still become part of the problem — or if she’s the only person who can save the world.” — IndieWire.

➢ “Homeland returns for Season 7. It will end forever after the conclusion of Season 8. It’s very good, this one. Relentlessly paranoid, action-filled and perpetually aware of what Republicans in the United States like to call ‘the Deep State’ … It’s a superbly crafted spy drama at the opening as we watch Carrie set up clandestine meetings, avoid no-goodniks and be distrustful of almost everyone around her … This season’s Homeland fiction is extremely and gleefully connected to real events. Right down to the ominous mention of a special prosecutor.” — Globe and Mail.