‘Homeland’ season 3 reaction: Damian Lewis reacts to Brody’s new ‘home,’ his suffering

When we wondered what in the world would become of Nicholas Brody for “Homeland” season 3, there was still no way that we could have predicted just the sort of dire circumstances that he was in. For some reason, we long assumed that his personal greed and sense of entitlement would carry him all the way back to the Middle East. Where did he end up instead? It was in Caracas at the Tower of David, a ruined establishment that was once designed to be a proud skyscraper. He now makes his home there with a mixture of loneliness and heroin, and anything to take the sting away from what life has become.

So why finally give in to the realization that he can never leave this building at the end of this episode? Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter after the episode aired (which was beyond brilliant and the best of season 3), Damian Lewis explained just how his character has fallen to the point where fighting for him now seems completely useless:

“I think Brody is tired of running. He has been running for years — running from home, running from terrorists, running from himself. It must be exhausting being Brody. He doesn’t really know who he is. He tried to ground himself in his Islamic faith, but I think he’s a tumbleweed. He’s blown from pillar to post. He’s a pawn for both sides — at least he was for all of season two. And here he is now just on the run being shot in the gut. He spent the whole episode just peering through the fog of painkillers and pain. He’s a prisoner again. That moment when he just picks up the needle at the end he just thinks, ‘God, just give me something to take away the pain and to take away my memory of the last two years and the mess I’m in.”

The other fascinating part of all of this is merely the sense of mystery that we are now left with. You know that Brody is not going to stay in this prison-of-sorts forever (given that it would make for a boring show), but who is going to be the one to set him free? Not only that, but how are they going to set him free and more or less put the paddles on his life?

We’ll find out some answers moving forward to the rest of the season, but there is some demanding stuff to come for Lewis. Don’t doubt for even a second that there will be an Emmy field this coming season that does not include him.

Photo: Showtime