When life comes a full circle

An English television series made based on the Israeli drama, 'Prisoner of War' was first telecast in 2011, and from the word go, it had hit it off with the audiences and went on to win many awards and accolades. Homeland Season 8 is currently airing in India on Star World every Friday 10PM!

The series begins with Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a Central Intelligence Agency officer with bipolar disorder, suspecting that Nicholas Brody (played by Damian Lewis), a US Marine Corps Scout Sniper, who is recovered from Al Qaeda's imprisonment, was turned by the enemy. And through the seasons, 'Homeland' engages with a gripping storyline, impressive performances and a whole lot of drama, by bringing in the middle eastern politics travelling through Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, which is where Season 8 is led into. Saul (Mandy Patinkin), the National Security Advisor wants Carrie to join him in Kabul for the peace efforts. It's like a Déjà vu moment, however, when her loyalty is in question, about an incident of which she has no memory at all, and she is at the hospital undergoing treatment. She shares her memories, experiences and her journey with the show, and throws light on the highlights of the final season.

Can you talk a little bit about taking on role of Brody a little bit this season?

Yeah. I thought that was very elegant storytelling. There's that perfect symmetry. And I think just psychically it fuses Carrie with Brody in a way that felt right. And she is so clear about her patriotism. That is, she can be challenged in every way, but if her patriotism is questioned, I think that is probably the most profound insult she could imagine. So that was also interesting to play and explore. So, yeah. It was a good entry point.

After all the seasons on "Homeland," do you find yourself in discussion with your friends about world news, about what's happening in the Middle East. Because of the experience of "Homeland," you feel you have a bit of knowledge of the situation over there?

I think all that knowledge that we had was through the incredible access which was really funnelled into our storytelling. I don't feel like an authority on politics in general at large. But, yeah. That's one of the things I will miss the most, was getting to have that direct interchange with actual policymakers and intelligence officers and people who are really building the world around us rather than merely reflecting on it.

Over these eight seasons, what were some of your favorite or most memorable episodes, and why do those stand out to you?

Well, the first one that comes to mind is "Q&A," I think. One, it's the first one where I met this lady. No. And it was kind of like a play. You know, it was just so unusual in its structure, and it was, just so beautifully written. And I'd just never done that before; having an hour-long conversation opposite another actor. So, that was very memorable. Any scene with Mandy, basically. I mean, I remember my first scene but I don't know what episode it was. It was in the first season when I was talking to Mandy about my frustrations with the job and about being lonely. That I would be alone all my life. It's like a mission statement. That was their crisis. That was going to be the sacrifice that they were going to have to make over and over and over again. So that was a meaningful exchange. There are many more.

It is kind of funny that through either attrition or design, the two people who have been there longest are obviously Saul and Carrie, but then it's Max (Maury Sterling as the surveillance expert), the guy who has been there the longest amount of time. What does that say about that character?

I think he's an incredible example of an actor who turned a part that could have been fairly easily dismissed into something really specific and substantial and indispensable. And he was playing somebody on the autistic spectrum, which was never overtly articulated, but he was so consistent with his choices. That was always so clear. And I think that's really interesting, actually, to see somebody who is an analyst and is working in the minutia of this technology. I think that's probably true for a lot of people. And I think it's kind of interesting that Carrie had this bipolar condition and he also had a brain that worked a little differently from most. So you kind of understood that it does take an exceptional person who often exists, sort of, in the margins to devote themselves to this line of work, which is pretty crazy, and I think that neither of them were able to have human relationships. Largely for that reason, which also made them eligible to do the work that was required. So, I think that was also something that just kind of happened naturally and nobody designed but was really valuable and very revealing of how that world works.

- Sunday Hans Desk