Report Card: Was ‘Homeland’ season 3 a dream, or a disappointment?

“Homeland” has long been the sort of show that you have to go into watching with pretty lofty expectations. That is just what happens when you go into a season thinking that it could win the Emmy for Drama Series based on what it’s done in the past.

So when the show fails to bring a certain level of that magic, it really should come as much of a shock that some fans decide that they are going to start some sort of enraged revolt. “Homeland” did a lot of things right in season 3, but its confusion and misuse of many key characters makes it more of a “good” show rather than a “great” one.

What worked – The entire Javadi story was powerful and interesting, and you of course also had wonderful performances from who we considered to be the core 3 cast members in Damian Lewis, Claire Danes, and Mandy Patinkin. If you want to go ahead and also throw in there Rupert Friend, you then have four people who all did a pretty darn brilliant job selling the story and making this show entertaining.

We really got emotional watching what happened to Brody to close things off, and the entire last six episodes were thrilling, action-packed, and a very intense story that “Homeland” is known for. It was also nice to see the epilogue set up season 4, that way we have some sort of idea as to where Carrie is going to be heading next.

What didn’t – We don’t blame Morgan Saylor or Morena Baccarin for this, but the way that they handled the Brody family was pretty terrible. You set up the characters like they were going to be important, and then you sort of left them hanging as though they didn’t matter after Brody’s death. We always felt like Dana cared more about her dad than the show let on, but they abandoned that. Had they not been a focus of the early part of the season, it would not have been a glaring omission in the second half. We also question really the whole way in which Brody ended up getting to Venezuela in the first place, since this entire story was somewhat glossed-over along with Carrie’s connections to it. It was just so bizarre to see someone be so meticulous much of the time, but this explanation be so haphazard during “Tower of David.”

Overall – “Homeland” is still a great show, but it’s just not the show that it could be. That is frustrating at times given that it does have its moments of greatness, but there is still much that could be improved on. Let’s just hope that the singular focus with season 4 is going to lead to it being the most exciting season in some time. Grade: B.

What did you think about “Homeland” as a whole this past season? Be sure to share below.