2012 ENTERTAINMENT HIGHLIGHTS: NO. 1

(Each day in December, I’m going to be posting small tributes to my 2012 entertainment highlights. Not all of them will have been created exclusively in 2012, but they’ve all been special to me this year for one reason or another. I do this not for any particular reason, but just because, as a pop-culture junkie, I’m incredibly lucky to have been able to consume all of this entertainment this year, and it’s nice to have some positivity on the Internet every now and again.)

HOMELAND

There are plenty of TV shows that get by on the talents of their lead actors alone. Castle, for example, would probably be one of the worst shows on television if it didn’t have the effortlessly charming Nathan Fillion hauling it across the finish line with his irrepressibility. The best shows, though, have a perfect marriage of writing and acting (and to a lesser extent, direction) and psychological terrorist drama Homeland is firing on all of those cylinders.

Claire Danes and Damian Lewis are simply magnetic as the driven, deeply flawed leads and the fact so many people have become invested in the professional, personal and political relationship of two of the most unstable main characters in television history is testament to their charisma and chemistry. As Carrie Mathison and Nicholas Brody, they have catapulted their characters into the pantheon of all-time greats in less than two seasons of work; a perfect storm of writing and performance. The fact that they’re supported by performers like Mandy Patinkin and Morena Baccarin is almost embarrassing – most shows don’t get one actor as talented as the four leads on Homeland.

It’s even more of a bonus that Homeland is so refreshingly plotted. As much as some fans decried the first season finale as a cop-out (a little short-sightedly, in my opinion), they can’t deny how fascinating the second season has been as a result. The writers have been fearless in moving the plot a long at a pace no one expected, and the rewards have come thick and fast. Even when Homeland dips into implausibility, as it often threatens to do, it’s fantastic to see a show that throws caution to the wind and just goes for it. As long as the showrunners learn from their mistakes on 24 and don’t introduce any cougars into the mix, Homeland could run for a while yet, all the while maintaining the superb level of suspense and intrigue that's been present up to this point. Count me amongst those hoping it does.

Honourable Mention: Well done to Dexter on rising from the ashes of the Colin Hanks season and bringing the show back to something approaching its initial quality. Ray Stevenson, in particular, has been a tremendous asset playing one of the series’ most memorable and unique villains. Someone hire this guy as a James Bond villain, and quickly!