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" (Spoilers for Homeland seasons one and two herein.) This weekend Homeland will limp into its third season. After a superb first season, the show struggled mightily with plausibility in its followup. While the first 12 episodes of Homeland grabbed viewers&amp;#039; attention with inspiring character-driven plot lines, the second season felt like a mildly drunk Jerry Bruckheimer hijacked it. The vice president was killed via a pacemaker. There was a massive shootout at a sleepy town&amp;#039;s tailor and no one noticed. Nicholas Brody (played by Damian Lewis) thought a great disguise was wearing a baseball hat. Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) was still \u2014 yes, still \u2014 crying. Then there&amp;#039;s Dana Brody (Morgan Saylor) and Chris Brody (Jackson Pace). If Homeland is going to go from a humbled limp to a triumphant gallop this season, it has to start with fixing the Brody kids, who are almost universally disliked by viewers. Dana Brody&amp;#039;s downfall is her unrelenting angst. To a certain extent this makes sense. Teenagers are, after all, completely insane. Dana also has to somehow deal with the mental anguish that comes as a result of her father&amp;#039;s actions. However, Homeland&amp;#039;s writers have taken Dana&amp;#039;s character to a place that makes her completely unlikeable. Dana rolls her eyes in seemingly every scene. She is either apathetic or just generally unhappy about everything. Dana is the type of person who would greet news of a cure for cancer with whining questions about deforestation. Then she&amp;#039;d stomp off to her room and blast The Smiths, whom she only enjoys ironically. Despite all of that, Dana can be fixed via an exploration of Islam, with unexpected results. In last season&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;The Smile,&amp;quot; we saw Dana helping her father bury his copy of the Quran after Jessica Brody (Morena Baccarin) desecrates the holy book by throwing it to the floor. Then in a trailer for season three, Dana is shown using a prayer rug. So viewers know she&amp;#039;s still intrigued by the religion her father has embraced. Homeland&amp;#039;s writers should spin her interest in Islam in a decidedly un-Dana direction: She should learn to appreciate it. This understanding of Islam, however, should only come after a dark turn. Dana is already reeling from Brody being accused of the terrorist attack that led to the death of her friend, the CIA director, the vice president&amp;#039;s wife, and others. She is more vulnerable than she has ever been. Perhaps Abu Nazir&amp;#039;s associates learn of her interest in Islam and attempt, in subtle ways, to recruit her. Nazir&amp;#039;s team has already framed Brody \u2014 they would love the chance to turn his daughter into a terrorist. But Dana should (knowingly or not) refuse these advances. Homeland fans would enjoy this multi-layered approach. It would also give Homeland a chance to shed its Islamophobic ways. If Islam can turn an annoying, bratty teen into an enjoyable, contemplative person, it has got to be good. Fortunately for Homeland&amp;#039;s writers, fixing Chris, Dana&amp;#039;s younger brother, will be much easier. That&amp;#039;s because the bar has been set so low. The Brodys&amp;#039; sofa is more riveting than Chris. It also gets more screen time. And when Chris does get the rare chance to speak, he&amp;#039;s not talking about the chaotic drama surrounding him, he&amp;#039;s mentioning the Washington Wizards beating the Miami Heat. Homeland can save Chris by giving him brain activity. That&amp;#039;s it. Make Dana expand her limited knowledge of Islam, dangerously flirt with terrorism and grow through that experience, and have Chris speak three consecutive, thoughtful (and relevant!) sentences. Once the people behind Homeland make this happen, anything else they do to correct the mistakes of season two will be a bonus. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/how-to/a24939/how-to-make-homeland-better/>