Homeland: Razor Blades and Parking Lots

It taking more of an effort than normal to shed the news of the day and get back to writing good escapist musings, allow me to revisit where we left off on my retelling of the great love story of Carrie and Brody many months ago. I’ll pick up where this left off, next week, I promise.

Last we left our star-crossed duo, Brody and Carrie were standing outside a church and there was rain. Now, we’re continuing trying to get an answer for the question: Was it love?

Till this point in Homeland, we already know enough about Carrie Mathison to know that she uses sex, the same way she uses wine and music, as an escape from the restlessness, the constant spinning in her head. She wears a wedding ring when she goes out so there’s no confusion by either party about what the sex is about. Just sex, nothing more. We know she’s had a life full of risk-taking. We know she dated Estes and broke up his marriage. All of these tidbits of her back story are meant to establish the fact that Carrie believes in her soul that a life of coupledom, marriage, and children is not in her future. She can’t even dream about it, because of her illness, because of her job, or because she finds herself incapable of doing the work a real relationship would require, or withstanding the inevitable boredom of it. So she uses men for sex. And she uses sex for control. And then she gets back to work. It’s an arithmetic that’s worked brilliantly for her.

With Brody, it’s different. She’s working. But she’s also attracted to him. And it’s all very confusing and also quite intoxicating.

Is it obsession? Yes, okay. The magnet pull of a self-destructive force? Sure. But it’s real. Palpable, relentless, and necessary.
Continue reading “Homeland: Razor Blades and Parking Lots”

The Many Faces of Damian Lewis, Part I

Our favorite guy.

GQstyleoftheweek1

OK, maybe he’s not your favorite guy. But he’s the favorite guy here at the blog that bears his name. Continue reading “The Many Faces of Damian Lewis, Part I”

Bobby Axelrod: The Boy Whose Dad Never Came Back, Part II

If you missed Part I, it is here.

So… After a lot of discussion about Bobby Axelrod potentially growing up in a single parent household among ourselves for weeks, it was NO surprise for us when Axe revealed his dad “never came back” in Episode 11 Magical Thinking. We still don’t know if his dad went to Vietnam and never came back or if he just left home and never came back… Even though each scenario is brutal in its own way, dad is a hero in the former scenario and he is certainly not one in the latter.

source: Showtime
source: Showtime

In an intimate conversation with Wendy, Bobby reveals he cries at You Tube videos in which soldiers come back home and surprise their kids. Probably because his dad never came back and surprised him. And you know what? I uncontrollably cry at weddings and graduations! Probably because my dad was not able to see me graduate or get married (it’s amazing that even writing this brings tears…). The difference between Bobby and me is my husband knows all that about me where as Lara does not have much clue until Bobby tells her at the end of Episode 11 Magical Thinking: “I cry sometimes. At sentimental things. Commercials. And I don’t tell you.” This should be a precious moment in their relationship.

source: Showtime
source: Showtime

Continue reading “Bobby Axelrod: The Boy Whose Dad Never Came Back, Part II”

Trivia Tuesday: Damian Lewis goes from RSC to Jay Z :)

brodyandjayz

Did you know that the Jay Z album Magna Carta… Holy Grail, had a track “F.U.T.W. (F… Up The World)” with the lyrics going on like this?

Feeling like a stranger in my own land

Got me feeling like Brody in Homeland”

source: tv.com
source: tv.com

Ha, ha, of course, you know… especially if you saw Damian Lewis’ appearance on Jonathan Ross Show last year. Continue reading “Trivia Tuesday: Damian Lewis goes from RSC to Jay Z :)”

Bobby Axelrod: The Boy Whose Dad Never Came Back, Part I

source: Showtime
source: Showtime

I have a hunch Billions Writers’ Room has someone that grew up with a single parent. It may even be likely s/he grew up as a single child with a single parent. Because, otherwise… how do they know so well, exactly like I know it, how that playbook goes? Well, maybe they just know…

I obviously did not know, but knew — because I just FELT it — Bobby Axelrod grew up with a single parent way before it was revealed in Episode 11 Magical Thinking that Bobby’s dad “never came back.” How come I knew? I think it was little bits and pieces provided over the course of the season… but it may well be that those bits and pieces got my attention a little bit more because I know it when I see it.

Anyhow, this is the story of how, little by little, I studied the Bobby Axelrod family puzzle 😀 And I guess this makes this post about me as much as about Bobby.  Continue reading “Bobby Axelrod: The Boy Whose Dad Never Came Back, Part I”