Best new show

Since I am retired and don't have money for shopping or traveling, my two favored passtimes, I appreciate really good well written TV shows that make me think and question.  My favorite show right now is Homeland, on Showtime. I only subscribe to Showtime when Dexter is on. Dexter is also very good. But the big surprise was Homeland, about a CIA agent named Carrie, played by Claire Danes, who will surely win an emmy for her portrayal.

Damien Lewis stars as a marine, returned from Iraq after 8 years in captivity. He was believed dead and his wife has taken up with his best friend, both believing he is dead.  But he comes home. He is, however, very messed up.  And Carrie has received first hand info a detainee in I think Afghanistan that "an American POW has been turned."   Carrie thinks it is the newly returned marine and puts surveillance in his home for a while. She also takes medication for a mood disorder. So she is a bit on the edge all the time. So is the marine, understandably.

We watch the returned marine and his wife and kids, who hardly know him, try to pick up their lives. We watch his behavior, his every nuanced look and move, trying to figure out if he is indeed the terrorist. This guy has done some very bad things while in captivity, things he was forced to do by horrific torture.  He does not of course want any of those things known. But is he really a terrorist?

He portrays the war hero for the camera. We see him praying to Allah on a prayer mat in secret. But is he really the POW who was turned?

Then there is the CIA man of thirty years who is Carrie's mentor Saul, played by Mandy Patinken (remember the Princess Bride?). He tries to talk Carrie down from her very intense way of seeing everything. 

The last episode left us wondering WHO is the traitor? Or was this latest act done by a traitor at all? Why was this done? Who did it? It stays in your head.

This show hooks you and won't let go.  I can't wait to see what happens.

My second favorite show is about Zombies, on AMC, called The Walking Dead and was presented last year with only 5 episodes. It was so popular that it is doing 12 episodes this year I think and was the most popular Halloween costume.  It is one that makes you think. What if the whole world went to hell in a handbasket?  What if there were people who were turning into zombies either from a virus or whatever, and they needed to feed on live humans and if they bite you you will also turn into a zombie? You have to stay away from them or kill them. You also have to find food, water and medical care for yourself and the group you are with. It is the ultimate survival show. How would you behave in similar circumstances?

I love shows that make me think, ask questions that maybe have different answers. Or none.

So this is what I have been doing and I had to tell anyone who may read this: If you aren't watching Homeland, the best show on TV, you are missing some high drama.  Same with Walking Dead.  If you have time, and I realize I do and most don't, get with it!