Introduction

The first season of the American television drama series Homeland premiered on 02 October 2011 on Showtime and concluded on 18 December 2011, consisting of 12 episodes.

The series is loosely based on the Israeli television series Hatufim (English: Prisoners of War) created by Gideon Raff and is developed for American television by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa.

The first season follows Carrie Mathison, a CIA operations officer who has come to believe that Nicholas Brody, a US Marine Sergeant, who was held captive by al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war, was turned by the enemy and now poses a significant risk to national security.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Outline

Carrie (Claire Danes) arrives at Langley, seemingly rejuvenated. Everyone there is in disbelief that Afsal Hamid was able to kill himself. Carrie proposes that a polygraph test be administered to everyone who came into contact with Hamid. Carrie is excited because Brody (Damian Lewis) will be on the list; she is confident he will not be able to pass the polygraph. The testing process begins that day. Carrie is the first to take the polygraph. She passes every question, except for when she is asked if she has taken illegal drugs while employed by the CIA. Meanwhile, Saul (Mandy Patinkin) interviews a neighbour at the abandoned house that Raqim Faisel (Omid Abtahi) had bought, and he learns that Raqim was living with a woman there.

Raqim and Aileen (Marin Ireland), now on the run, arrive at a safehouse. They are about to enter but Aileen spots a booby trap on the door. Now under threat from al-Qaeda as well as the authorities, Raqim thinks they should turn themselves in, but Aileen refuses. At Langley, they have managed to identify Aileen Morgan as Raqim’s girlfriend. They check into Aileen’s background, and it is discovered she lived in Saudi Arabia for five years as a child. Saul is called on to take the polygraph. He is agitated from the beginning, and the polygraph indicates he is lying when he denies giving the razor blade to Hamid. He stands up and aborts the test, saying he is too busy and will finish it tomorrow.

A memorial service is held for Tom Walker. Brody delivers the eulogy while fighting back memories of beating Walker to death. Afterwards, Carrie finds Brody and tells him about the polygraph test he has to take; they schedule it for the following day. At the reception, Brody and Mike (Diego Klattenhoff) are chatting with some other Marines who attended the service. One of the Marines, Wakefield (Marc Menchaca), is drunk and turns belligerent. He angrily asks Brody why he came home alive, while Walker was killed. Brody says he was lucky. Wakefield then says all the men there wanted to have sex with Jessica while Brody was gone, but only one of them did. At that point, Mike attacks Wakefield. Brody then pulls Mike off Wakefield and, immediately sensing Mike is being defensive about his affair with Brody’s wife, starts punching him without hesitation, saying, “you were my friend!” After bloodying Mike, Brody gets in his car and leaves.

That night, Carrie gets a call from Brody, who is at a bar and wants someone to talk to after his tumultuous day. Carrie arrives and they once again hit it off, having several rounds of drinks and enjoying getting to know each other. Both drunk, they walk out to the parking lot. Carrie admits to Brody that Hamid killed himself, and that the purpose of Brody’s polygraph test will be to determine if he gave Hamid the razor blade. They start kissing, and end up having sex in Carrie’s car.

Raqim and Aileen are staying in a motel. Their room is suddenly sprayed with machine gun fire. Raqim is killed, while Aileen escapes.

Saul takes the polygraph again and passes this time. He enters the observation room with Carrie, as Brody’s test is next. Brody takes the test and easily passes on every question, including the one asking whether he gave Afsal Hamid the razor blade. Carrie is flustered, but has one more gambit – she tells the interviewer Larry (James Urbaniak) to ask Brody if he has ever been unfaithful to his wife. Brody looks right into the camera which Carrie is observing, and says “no.” The polygraph reading does not budge. Saul wraps up the test, and Brody is excused. Carrie is now in the difficult position of knowing Brody is able to beat the polygraph, but unable to reveal to Saul how she knows this. Saul tells her to accept that Brody passed the polygraph and that it is time to forget him as a suspect.

Carrie goes outside. Brody drives up to her and tells her to get in his car. She does, and they drive off.

Homeland Series

You can find a full index of Homeland Series 01 here.

You can find a full index and overview of Homeland here.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): Brad Turner.
• Writer(s): Henry Bromell.
• Original Network: Showtime.
• Release Date: 06 November 2011.
• Running Time: 46-48 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.