It’s not unusual for a freshman drama series that thrills critics and audiences alike to suffer an egregious sophomore slump. It’s a rich tradition that began with “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives” ten years ago and continues to this day, with Fox’s “Empire” and ABC’s aforementioned “Murder” each currently failing in its second season to match the magic of its first.
Showtime’s “Homeland” is another memorable example of a drama that in its first season was just about everything a blue-chip television drama should be -- earning its place right up there with “The Sopranos,” “The West Wing,” “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” – but in its second year began to fall apart almost immediately, barely holding it together by season’s end. And it became clear only a few episodes in that its third season would best be forgotten altogether.
But then something wonderful happened. “Homeland” was largely transformed into an entirely new show in its fourth year, with poor beleaguered Nicholas Brody dead and wired Carrie Mathison became the total focus of the show. Rather than seem half empty, as might be expected, “Homeland” was so full again it was literally overflowing with powerful drama.
It remained a first-rate political and psychological thriller in season five, having reinvented itself yet again, with Carrie having extracted herself from the CIA in favor of a new life in the private sector in Berlin, only to be pulled back into the madness of her past, this time (for at least part of the season) as the target of her former colleagues.