Continuing my slow-going series of all Brody Carrie scenes, we reach “The Weekend.” If you didn’t believe the love story with this episode, you were probably just meant to never believe it.
Author: JaniaJania
Billions Season 2: A Battle for the Times
A while back they promoted TV shows with the words “ripped from the headlines” as a draw. The phrase was often used for shows in the Law & Order franchise, when a crime featured on the show sort of mirrored something that had happened in real life. The link between fiction and reality was direct and overt. Seeing the promos for season 2 of Billions, I couldn’t help but to think of that phrase again. No, there isn’t a direct and overt link from the political discourse of the day to the plot lines and character development of Billions. The link is more metaphysical, it runs deeper, and, thus, may be even more telling and informative. Art, when it’s done right, can show us things about our world and ourselves that we wouldn’t be able to see otherwise. I have a sneaking suspicious that Billions is going to take us there in Season 2.
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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.
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Somebody That I Used to Know
The minute we learned that Homeland would be filming in New York City this year, an image immediately popped into my head. I tossed it around back channel a few times, and found the idea just wouldn’t go away. It persisted, demanding to be fleshed out in a bigger space than a chat window. Believe me, I realize full well that it’s soapy as heck. Nonetheless, still super (bittersweet) fun to visualize and a relief to get down in words. So, here you have it: a short fictional encounter, a one-shot if you will, between Bobby Axelrod and Carrie Mathison. Enjoy!
Standard disclaimer: I own nothing, neither of these characters, nor their history, real or imagined, not the coffee they share, nor New York City, their current home.
Queen of the Desert UPDATE: Coming to IFC Spring 2017
We’ve just learned that IFC films has acquired the U.S. rights to Queen of the Desert. We’ll finally be able to see it when IFC releases the film in Spring 2017! On the occasion of this great news, let’s revisit what I’ve written about the film so far.
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