After eight seasons, the perfect ending the characters deserved. It is surprising how this tv show has managed to go beyond its original concept to build one of the best reflections on how conflicts in the Middle East are handled from the West.
There are so, so many disappointing literary adaptations. The reasons for this are legion, shifting imperceptibly according to one’s own tastes, opinions and prejudices. It will in part have to do with the mental image the reader creates in her head of the characters, of course, and this effect will be magnified considerably by the affection in which these characters are held. This is the dilemma I found myself in before beginning Normal People—the book and its two principals made such a deep impression on me, the plot and setting intertwining with my own life and history, that I felt absolutely sure that any attempt to adapt it would surely fall well short of what it deserved. Rooney’s style, too, relies so heavily on the inner voices of her characters, thoughts that wrap themselves around and through the spoken word, that I wasn’t even sure what an adaptation would look and sound like. Would the BBC’s house style take over attempts to innovate?
Thankfully, mercifully, most of my concerns dissipated after watching this first episode. Mescal is bigger, brawnier, more angular than I’d pictured Connell, but the two visions quickly reconciled. Edgar-Jones is equally strong in embodying Marianne, although her Mayo accent tends to slip from time-to-time. The characters’ inner monologues are left to the actors’ mannerisms, glances, body language, and remarkably it feels as if not a great deal is lost from page to screen. I was curious, too, to see how a relatively short novel could stretch to twelve episodes but it makes sense, giving the characters time to breathe. The chemistry between Connell and Marianne is evident in the halting, subdued way you’d expect from two teenagers who don’t talk. We reach, here, the start of things between them, the shift from a glance in a corridor to something more concrete. We get a sense, too, of who these characters are and what they are capable of.
I know a lot of people love this ending, and I did at first when I learned Carrie didn't betray Saul the way we thought. But then I thought about it more and more and came to the conclusion that the ending is just too hard to believe no matter how much it tied up all the loose ends. Why would the Russian dude ever trust her? They both know how great of a spy each other was and how loyal they were to their countries. And one of them just forgot because they ended up in a romantic relationship?
If this were real, he would have suspected that she was doing what she did from the beginning and never let that escape his mind. He would have fed her false information twenty times to see if she and Saul would use it. There is no way in hell that he'd ever let his guard down around her or ever assume that she was doing anything but spying. Because he is also a great spy.
It's not Game of Thrones, Dexter or Lost bad, but c'mon writers. Think through this a little more. In all, it's in my top 10 of all time and this last season was almost as good as the first two. But the ending could have been more believable.
And Jennifer Lover Hewitt’s name is not in the credits! What’s happening
First off, many thanks to the cast, and production teams of Homeland. It's been a great ride! I will miss being put on the roller coaster you guys call "episodes" every week. Saul: I'm gonna miss watching you act, and hopefully you will be in your next project, I can't wait to watch. - Carrie: You are brilliant! I hate you for making me worry so much about you week to week! Great job. Thanks for doing your thing so well to stay in the game, and keeping Saul alive. You're a fabulous actress and I wish the series could've continued so you could show off how well you could do things from the other side. Thank you again the whole team and Showtime for giving us viewers one of the great shows to watch!!
There were certain things that felt unsatisfying about the way things went in this finale. Like, I would have loved for Carrie to have come up with this super smart solution, maybe even with Saul involved, but what happened certainly is a realistic scenario. I'm glad they chose to include that final scene though, because it felt appropriate, and leaves the episode feeling much better as a result. Going to miss this show.
A weird and a strange ending! All in all, I enjoyed the entire show!!!
I came here bcuz I know this show to be cynical. I was counting on Jimmy and Gretchen to be self-destructive and instead I find they're happy and it's all corny. Whatever happened to this show!
Everyone seems happy with this finale but I'm not.. Actaully the whole season tbh..
This was the finale, we've been with these characters for close to a decade so we know them pretty well by now of we're tuning in..
That said what I wanted for Carrie this season was a Carrie on top of her game, we know she has mental issues or whatever.. We know she's struggled being a mum.. What I wanted to see was a concisously flawed female James bond going after the bad guys.. She might occasionally stumble but bounce back and get into "oh oh" carrie is coming for you mode.. But nope, she's duped like always, since the 1st season.. Gets a kiss and her brain is wiped.. Drugged and manipulated.. The same things we've seen before but after 8 seasons she hasn't managed to learn from..
I really wanted a BA Carrie this season, kick ass, take names. Then go home to franny..to end knowing she conquered her demons.. But it seems they in the end got the better of her
...and they even explained the 20 minute long "joke" at the end.
