Homeland Returns — Should We Care?

"It's not all about you Carrie." — Quinn, "Homeland"

My wife and I have been watching a lot of new shows. One of those is the sitcom "Selfie," which is loosely based on "My Fair Lady." My wife liked the pilot quite a bit. I thought it was OK. When watching the second episode, it felt like the show was back to square one.

I looked at my wife and suggested it was the kind of story that might have been better as a 90-minute romantic comedy movie. She agreed. Sometimes shows get sold based on a great premise, but there is a limit to how long that can be stretched.

That same idea could be applied to "Homeland," which started with a flourish four seasons ago. But that's probably where it should have ended. It was about a brilliant, but flawed CIA analyst who had her suspicions about the intentions of a solider that spent eight years in captivity before returning home.

That first season was superb, but even in that it stretched credulity at times. But that's probably where it should have ended — as a 12 episode mini series dedicated to a specific story. But it didn't. And the last two seasons have only made that more clear. The series devolved from a gripping case of cat-and-mouse to a misguided love story.

But at the end of the third season, "Homeland" tried to shuffle the deck. Brody was excised and Carrie (Claire Danes) returned to her supposed good work as an expert for the CIA.

Beginning this new season, Carrie is back in the field and investigating a new case. But the scars of the last two seasons — including a wistful visit to the Brody house and a ginger baby — hang over it all, or at least they did in the two-hour season premier.

This is a show that has worn out its audience good will. But at the same time, I see some potential for a return to form here. The pilot was one step forward, two steps back, but maybe that was what needed to happen to really shuffle the deck.

"Homeland" may never be the show we thought it would be in that first season. And the show probably should have been a mini series, but I still think there's potential for this new season to be somewhat watchable. Only time will tell.