How did Carrie and Brody’s Love
Story Take Off in Homeland?

source: showtime
source: showtime

I don’t know what it was that had you hooked on Homeland, but I know that, for me, it was not the CIA story… Not at all… It was Carrie & Brody love story that made me a die-hard Homeland fan and kept me at the edge of my seat for three seasons. Carrie and Brody made me, and a lot of other fans, believe in their impossible love with the off the charts chemistry Claire Danes and Damian Lewis had on screen! And, I just turned a deaf ear even when they gave us hints this may not end up well — think about Carrie’s “Imagine that!” to Brody’s “But we could be happy, couldn’t we?” or Brody’s “Maybe this will all end in tears….” and rooted for my favorite star-crossed lovers to live happily ever after against all odds!

Yes, yes, I know, I know, as my mom loves to regularly remind me “it’s not a romance, it’s a CIA show” I just couldn’t help it, I loved the possibility of the impossible love story.  And that is probably why, even though I still watched Homeland… well, you have no other option but behave when a certain ginger gentleman tells you to watch… I feel it missed something… well, someone… Yet the show was still good at keeping you at the edge of your seat for eight seasons which I think is quite an accomplishment on its own! Continue reading “How did Carrie and Brody’s Love Story Take Off in Homeland?”

TonyaJ’s Dream Role for Damian Lewis

Hi everyone! Damianista here. Today’s dream role for Damian Lewis comes from TonyaJ, a wonderful admirer of our favorite actor. I am not calling her a fan for reasons you will find out in her brilliant essay.

TonyaJ commented on the dream roles Gingersnap and I had in mind for Damian on Twitter and we started a conversation. When she mentioned her dream role for Damian, I kindly asked her whether she would like to contribute to our dream role series, and here we are! Huge thanks go to TonyaJ for taking the time to write for the blog. And with this, I am leaving you with her dream role for Damian Lewis. Enjoy! Continue reading “TonyaJ’s Dream Role for Damian Lewis”

Desert Island Discs with Damianista

I identify a lot of things in my life with music. Almost every piece of music I love reminds me of some sweet moment, and sometimes a bittersweet one from a particular time in my life. I associate my memories with music so much so that I believe we all should have a life soundtrack. And I know my husband would tell you mine should be the soundtrack of the movie Amelie! 😀

Damian playing the piano after Game for Grenfell, September 2, 2017

It has been pretty easy to identify the pieces of music that reminds me of Damian, who is a very musical man, or several characters that he brings to life. The only challenge has been to limit the list to eight. I have done my best to choose the eight I feel most strongly about and I hope you enjoy them! Continue reading “Desert Island Discs with Damianista”

Countdown to Homeland: Another Turn

The final season of Homeland is premiering February 9 and, I for one, am ready to watch. Think what we will about the story of Carrie Mathison post-Brody, we can all agree that Homeland was the show that had the most impact on Damian’s fame around the world and his career going forward. The show certainly had not a minor impact on us either, your friendly bloggers of all things Damian! So even if Brody is long dead and is not likely to return even as hallucination, Homeland remains one of the big topics of conversation and writing on this blog.

The first teaser for Homeland has been released, and the show had its TCA panel, where we learned a bit about the upcoming season from friendly intrepid reporter Diane Gordon. You can read all her live tweets from the Homeland event here: Showtime #TCA20: Homeland.

Recall at the end of last season we left Carrie Mathison newly released from being held captive in Russia for several months. In the teaser, we get a taste of what happened to her in those months. She was holed up with Yevgeny Gromov and he did some things: refused her medication, played with her mind, and other nefarious deeds we have yet to learn. Color me intrigued as heck that the character of Yevgeny Gromov lives on this season and will be a part of it till the end. The scenes between Claire Danes and Costa Ronin are going to be electric, I’ll bet my blogger’s salary on it. 🙂

Furthermore, from the panel discussion at TCA, we hear the tantalizing news that Carrie may or may not have been “turned.” Diane Gordon tweets:

Alex Gansa says the really big idea of the season is that Carrie Mathison steps into Brody’s shoes – she’s the one under suspicion & her memory is fragmented from her time in captivity.

See, Brody fans: As I’ve said before and always, Brody NEVER dies. At least to those of us who have imaginations. He remains alive in the show’s imagination till the very end. It all comes full circle, with Carrie now in Brody’s position, an American patriot possibly working for the enemy. Gordon tells us:

Claire Danes says the story this season fuses Carrie psychically, with Brody which felt right.

Psychic fusion? Yes, please, and thank you.

Sounds like it will be a hell of a story and bring the perfect closure to this tremendous feat of a series. And I’m not at all offended that they didn’t go with my fanfic idea for this season. 🙂 Now about a revisit to that fanfic? Here it is linked all in one place with excerpts for your reading enjoyment.

Another Turn: A Homeland Fanfic

Chapter One
The counselors would periodically share small details about where he was and who they were just for the purpose of maintaining his trust, keeping him open and talking. Eventually, Brody realized that all he learned from them had come from a script they had been given to follow. It didn’t matter, because he was free. A new man: cured.

Chapter Two
Great leap of faith they took in training a man to wrangle the information highway knowing he had been holed up in a cave through most of the internet revolution. A leap of faith for which he was now indebted to them.

Chapter Three
“Yevgeny Gromov!” Alex exclaimed, still whispering.

Brody looked to where Alex had gestured. A group of people were walking so rapidly that he didn’t see any of their faces, just arms and legs swinging down the hallway. Were they the same men he had seen in the office earlier? Hard to tell, but it was clear that most of them appeared to be men. Except for one: a petite woman with messy tangled hair, the color of corn silk, hunched over and being led by the elbow.

Chapter Four
He’d seen the same thing on the field in Iraq and Afghanistan, this knack he had for getting the guys to listen to him like he was some god. He had no idea where it came from or what to do with that kind of power. Nothing, that is, but give his guys the best of himself. In this job too, he was here to give the best of himself, the ethics of the thing never really occurring to him. Maybe those questions would come up later, but right now it was the job, that’s it. It was a mystery to Brody that most people didn’t operate the same way. Well, one person did. A firecracker wisp of a woman with corn silk hair.

Chapter Five
Brody found his way to the area designated on the map. Gromov had an entire barrack all to himself, it seemed, with hallways all around his central lair. Brody entered the northern hallway and confirmed that it was clear. He walked along the wall of the central room until he got to a window and waited there, listening. Was that music? Aretha Franklin’s Respect, at low volume at first but then turned all the way up. Brody glanced in to the window to see a tall bearded man, his back turned, dancing and singing along to the song.

Chapter Six
All the unknowns. All the things he could have known about her if only his story hadn’t taken precedence. The Turned Marine tattooed across every second of the little time they spent together. She never got to show him all of herself. The craziness surrounding him was enough to keep them both busy. She never had the chance to just be. Yet, she still managed to be so totally herself, the inside of her soul worn on the outside. Despite the subterfuge her job required, she never held any of herself back. She was trained to not show everything she was thinking, but she always let you know what she was feeling.

Chapter Seven
“I’ve missed you too,” Brody breathed. The words just barely came out. He had a hard time wrapping his head around this entire thing. Being gone for so long, and, now, finding Carrie here, of all places. He’d said goodbye so many times to so many lives. Once when he was stuck in a hole for 8 years, then when he was back but not as himself, and now after ending it all again after Iran. How many incarnations was one man allowed? Insane the way time and space just rolled up to nothing with her touch, as if the years hadn’t passed, as if they’d never said goodbye at all. “Help me. Tell me how to get you out of this place.”

Chapter Eight
“Now here,” Gromov gestured widely. “Here is where soldiers across the world can come to learn state of the art warfare. Much more sophisticated, much less messy. Why worry about taking out bodies when you can control minds? Win over the enemy from the inside out. Don’t you agree Sergeant?”

Thank you for reading! I’ll meet you all in front of your TVs and monitors for Homeland, the Final Season, starting February 9 on Showtime.

Brody Countdown 2: Lamenting Nicholas Brody

source: imdb.com
source: imdb.com

Advance Warning: This is a LONG, RAW, and EMOTIONAL piece that I had written on December 21, 2013, almost a week after Nicholas Brody died on Homeland. Just because it is long, raw and emotional, I thought I would not share it on Fan Fun with Damian Lewis. On the other hand, this is the first ever piece that I wrote on Nicholas Brody — so, in some way, this is the piece that started it all! So, why not share it with fans that love that amazing character as much as I do? Just so you know, I am at a much better place now 🙂 Having said that, I still cannot let him go…

brodycar

Almost a full week has passed since the season finale, and I cannot believe that I am still heartbroken. But I am.

Do not underestimate the power of TV. Good TV shows are like good books. Each episode is a chapter and you just look forward to the next chapter, and form bonds with characters as you go and you have thoughts and sometimes hopes for them. OK, I admit it, everyone doesn’t, but I have 🙂 I love fiction, I cannot think of a life without fiction, I believe that fiction enriches life in so many different ways that good readers/viewers live many more lives than the non-readers/non-viewers. Continue reading “Brody Countdown 2: Lamenting Nicholas Brody”