Homeland Season 1 was released in the UK on September 10, 2012

* 12 episodes
* 4-disc set (DVD), 3-disc set (Blu-ray)
* Language : English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround)
* Subtitles: English with removable subtitles


Homeland - the TV series that took the US & UK by storm with its first season over a year ago. The plot is seemingly simple but completely original and is based around real life events in the part of the world where part of the series is set ie. Terrorists and al-Qaeda. The fact that the series is based around real life events and that deadly organisation makes the series a lot more enjoyable for me to watch.

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The plot

The series kicks off when we meet Carrie -a CIA Counter-terrorism agent based in Iraq. The first scenes show her talking to a contact of hers who happens to be locked up in a prison there. The man then tells Carrie that an American prisoner of war is being held by al-Qaeda... and subsequently turned into a terrorist... unfortunately as Carrie tries to obtain more information from the man he is taken away and led to his death.

Back in America, at the Langley Counter-terrorism base, Carrie simply forgets the information because as far as anyone knows there are no prisoners of war in Iraq... then something out of the ordinary happens...

Carrie's boss, David, calls her and all of her colleagues in for an emergency meeting where a tape of an undercover operation by the Delta Force raiding a compound belonging to infamous terrorist, Abu Nazir. What is found gobsmacks everyone in the room... Locked away in a room in the compound they find a dirty man with a big overgrown beard who utters the words "I am an American" in their accent... It turns out the man is no other than Nicholas Brody - U.S. Marine Sergeant, who has been missing in action for some years and presumed dead.

Carrie discusses what she was told with her close friend and colleague, Saul. However the information she gives is played down by Saul because its unthinkable to comprehend an American solidier has been turned into a terrorist.

Nicolas Brody is flown back to the US - to his family... in particular his wife who had started dating Brody's best friend considering how everyone thought he was dead... and his son and daughter who were both very young when they last saw him. The start to live as a family unit again trying to adapt to having Brody back in their lives again after being away so long...

Brody, is now covered in physical scars and burns all over his body, which were done by his tormenters in Iraq. As well as this he is very angry with what happened to him... and also the fact that he was forced to help the terrorists kill fellow captured US marine Tom Walker. To everyone who comes across him thinks he is a hero and very brave for overcoming what he went through.

CIA agent Carrie however still believes something is not right about Brody and she believes this is the man who her contact refered to during their last conversation. However due to Carrie's mental condition which she also keeps secret from her employers sometimes her mind can be unreliable and she ends up getting too excited over things. But the question is, is Carrie right about him being a terrorist? Or is she really crazy... And what lengths will Carrie go to, to find out the truth about Brody and to connect him to Abu Nazir?

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My thoughts?

I have been terribly addicted to this series since it started. So much so that it came to a point where I just couldn't wait for Channel 4 to play the next episode that I started watching them online - they had already been on in America at this point and were very easy to find.

I love the series in the sense that unless you read episode guides and in-depth reviews you don't actually know from watching it if Brody is a terrorist or not. There was many times where I would watch and think he definetely is a terrorist and then something would happen in another episode and it would make you think twice. So in a sense the way the script is written is brilliant as its not easily guessed which in turn keeps you watching the next week.

All the charecters in the series are brilliant actors - in particular my favourite is Carrie. The fact the Carrie has a condition which makes her a bit unmentally stable has been written into the script with good cause as noted above it makes you unsure wheather Brody really is a terrorist or she is just loosing the plot. The actor playing Brody is also brilliant at his role in the sense that his mood is forever changing - happy one minute, shifty then angry... even with all the plausable explanations with everything that happens and his behavior.

The homeland soundtrack is played through the opening credit's at the beginning of each epiosde... the music type is Jazz and to me sounds a bit sad and haunting. The scenes that the music plays over shows many images including images of Carrie as a young girl watching terrorist events unfold on TV, Carrie as a young girl wearing a mask... Carrie as a young girl wearing a mask in a maze? Images of the aftermath of 9/11, a video of Barrack Obama talking about the war on terrorism... images of muslims... and then ends with the video of Brody looking up at the White House. The opening music and scenes are quite simple but give you a great idea about what the series is about if you didn't already know!

In terms of effects, you don't really see any special effects as such until towards the end of the first series. To me they are not spectacular where you are watching amazing stunts but that is not what the series is about - it is mentally mind bogging and doesn't need to use special effects to score points.

I would recommend watching this to everyone - I have even roped my family and some friends into watching it and everyone is very impressed with it. Last month the second season started on UK TV, and America are currently a week in front of us with the episodes... and its safe to say I am completely hooked on the second series too.

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Homeland Series 1 is still quite a new DVD and the full first season can be purchased from Amazon at £21.98 which is cheaper than I have seen in any shops.