Homeland - A Series that will never be Forgotten

The tears I shed after Peter Quinn died, they were as real as could get. The gaiety I felt when Abu Nazir was shot, the bitter disappointment when Carrie supposedly betrayed her country, and the nostalgic contentment I cherished when Saul Berenson read the message from inside the book, one final time, these feelings felt like they were here to stay. Forever. It has just been an hour after I have finished watching the series and yet I can do nothing but hope that there will be ninth season.

For the journey ‘Homeland’ took me on was one I’d never forget. One about friendship and patriotism. Trust and loyalty. Sorrow and loss. Sacrifice and commitment. And the show forged in the zeitgeist never failed to live up to expectations. Not once did it seem like a cliché. Not once did it feel rushed or made up. Because it was the sheer bloodshed, the utter sacrifice and the longevity of the series that kept us hooked constantly, even after the last episode.

It is indeed a shame that this magnificent show had to end so quickly because nowhere else could we witness the blatant blunders and fallacies of American foreign policy in the Middle East and South Asia, carried out by President after President, some power hungry, some after money, all of whom were a bunch of know-nothing ignoramuses. No other show portrayed what was happening between the United States and the rest of the world in such excruciating detail but ‘Homeland’, making the eight eye-catching seasons an absolute must-watch.

Being probably one of the most adaptable and evolved shows on television today, a story about an experienced veteran, Saul Berenson, mentoring his protégé Carrie Mathison, through the prickly branches of the CIA, the series has been one where you almost fall off your seat, with a brim-full of romance, agony and disappointment, while nourishing one of the best cat and mouse chases you will see, absorbing one of the best political dramas, all amidst this enticing thriller of a series called ‘Homeland’.

Through the illicit yet intimate relationship between Carrie and Brody, through the backstabbing nature of Nicholas Brody and through Roya Hamad and Abu Nazir’s wretched plans for the United States, the first season earned “universal acclaim” from critics, according to the review-aggregation site Metacritic, and went on to win thoroughly deserved Emmys for drama series, lead actress, lead actor and writing for a drama series.

Throughout the series, be it drone strikes, ISIS interventions in the Taliban’s work, Russians sabotaging and toiling the Americans’ hard work or terrorist sympathizers in Berlin, the series managed to perfectly fit in presidency issues back home in the United States, and of course, Carrie’s personal life, through characters like Franny, Maggie, Brody and Yevgeny. The bi-polar disorder was placed strategically, and non-stereotypically, be it in Pakistan or Moscow, to steer the series to a magnificent ending in each season, ensuring that not a moment felt rushed, imaginary, or even too good to be true.

The show always posed many more questions than it answered, and mirrored into a post 9/11 United States struggling with an identity crisis whilst defining the lost art of listening. The ambiguity of the plot was definitely one of the series’ strengths, with no plot ever being finished off neatly, favorite characters often being killed in dire situations, and even Carrie refusing to buckle under certain tough situations.

It most certainly makes us introspect as global citizens and brings to light the crazy world we live in today. Giving people more perspective and helping them understand the world differently, the show touches upon aspects that would otherwise be untouched and unheard of. It shows us how truth and facts are mere casualties in front of power, how quick things can happen in places of war, and how one bad decision can lead to the death of many.

Homeland talks about, not one, but two lands. The lands Americans call home, the United States, and the home of the Taliban, the home of the Afghans and the Pakistanis, the Middle East and South Asia. Homeland wanted us to cherish the lives of martyrs, to remember forever those veterans and soldiers who fought for a cause, who fought for their country, and gave their lives in due process.

It makes us reflect on our every move, conscious that every action has a resultant consequence, and that cataclysmic moments from our past never take us where we want them to. I will, for a long while, not have anything to watch while I munch on my popcorn late at night, but I am glad I watched ‘Homeland’ while I did. For I lived through all the characters, and they were real to me in flesh and blood. The characters are unique but at the same time universal, they are there in every society, in each nation, and most certainly, in all our hearts.

Every man or woman would look for a superior like Saul, every superior a protégé like Cathy, every Homeland for patriots like Brody, Carry, Peter and Max and the hundreds of nameless others who have given their lives today so that we are able to live a better tomorrow. From suffering to misery to loss to contentment, to the classic ending all the fans were awaiting, maybe this isn’t as glum a moment as I thought it was. Maybe, it is the perfect one.