TRUE LIES! 'HOMELAND' SEASON THREE BECKONS...

Fugitive hearts and minds. The main troika of HOMELAND Season Three. Images: SHOWTIME.

Having been the surprise hit of the previous year, and becoming seriously addictive television for both critics and fans, it was a shame that the following Season Two of the SHOWTIME terrorist thriller HOMELAND didn't win quite as much acclaim or respect-perhaps because the original premiere run was so satisfying and could basically have been told in one compete story that it didn't really need an actual continuation- but, hey, if you're an American TV series and its a hit, then the show, and the advertising profits, have gotta go on! Fortunately, the series would be blessed with two of modern televisions best and enterprising creator producers- Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon- finding a clever way to do just that for their TV superiors, and delivering, by year two's last episode, a very satisfying and disturbing finale that lends itself to an overall much better and more organic linkage with the upcoming, highly anticipated new third season, beginning at the end of this month in the US.

▶ Homeland Season 3: Official Trailer - YouTube
▶ Homeland Season 3: Tease - Haunted - YouTube
Homeland Season 3: Behind the Scenes - YouTube
▶ Homeland Season 3: From The Beginning - YouTube

Caught in a maelstrom of press attention, and having to testify about her difficult prior actions and decision-making to a tense senate sub-committee, CIA agent Carrie Mathison (an impressive Claire Danes) had seemingly regained her purpose in life, along with her senses and sanity, despite the pain of frustrations of her mental illness, but now has to deal with the incredible fall-out from the horrific terrorist car-bomb explosion that has wiped out half of her friends and workmates-some of "The Company"s finest, including her former lover David Estes (David Harewood). With her former lover -ex-marine and former terrorist Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis, getting the chance to add more complex layers of tensions and fractured loyalty to the role) well and truly framed for the heinous act by the murderous bedfellows he once pledged allegiance to, he had no choice but to desert his wife (oh-so-sexy Morena Baccarin) and two children and go overseas where, as a fugitive with few options open to him, soon becomes inexorably linked to new troublesome scenarios, many not of his making. Trying to find and shield him where possible, Carrie is also immersed in another kind of warfare- internal politics and rising ambitions with her superiors at Langley - her only friend Saul Berenson (the always watchable Mandy Patinkin), now risen up the office ranks to the challenging and difficult role of Director-ship- most of whom don't share her views about the set-up of Brody, eventually realising that he didn't die in the car bomb after all, and soon dispatching their special forces teams (including assassin Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend- now a series regular), already out securing other targets linked to the deaths, to quickly find and eliminate the homegrown threat once and for all, the once patriot and friend of America, now world enemy number one and still causing a stink in the political corridors of power- the man who almost became their president!

The steps of power. The Brodys (Morena Baccarin and Damian Lewis), Carrie (Claire Danes) and Saul (Mandy Patinkin) return for more drama and intrigue.

As big in scope as the previous season (with filming in Puerto Rico and a return to Israel for some highly charged finale episode scenes) drawn from the tense times we now live in, there are also promises of some smaller scale, but hopefully no less riveting, character drama- with the Brody family fallout being a key spotlight, alongside the producers hints that they want a John le Carre-esque feel to the new series spy-dom machinations. Meanwhile, the simmeringly unconventional, in many ways tragic, love story between Carrie and Brody, the true underpinnings to the shows success, certainly isn't over, surely evolving and intensifying-with lots more physical and psychological pain along the way for our separated lovers to endure...

Seasons One and Two of HOMELAND on Blu-ray: Homeland - Season 1-2 [Blu-ray]: Amazon.co.uk: Damian Lewis, Claire Danes, Morena Baccarin, Mandy Patinkin, David Harewood: Film & TV

REAL-TIME BAUER! '24' RETURNS IN 'LIVE ANOTHER DAY'

America's modern-day TV hero, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), returns in 24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY. Image: FOX.

It looks like someone in the upper echelons of FOX USA thankfully read my opinion last month about the future of 24, and made some fast-paced executive decision-making which we all really wanted to hear. Pioneering action hero Jack Bauer is back, and hell's coming with him (again!), in the new limited series, 12 episode adventure coming May 2014- the intriguingly James Bond-esque 24: LIVE ANOTHER DAY. The lack of a 24 film may ultimately prove to be one of the biggest loses for the action genre and summer multiplexes, but at least we'll have Jack back on the small screen one more time, where he belongs, in what apparently is being touted by insiders as a re-start for the franchise.

There's no plot details yet apart from its being set several years after our hero became an exiled figure from his political and spy-dom superiors, but with two of the award-winning, pioneering series best creative talents back aboard, THE X-FILES and HOMELAND's Howard Gordon (also showrunner) and David Fury, we're sure icon Kiefer Sutherland will have lots to mentally and physically engage himself in, hopefully sparring anew with his tantrum computer genius best friend, the lovable Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub).

Let the mayhem begin all over again. Welcome home, Jack....

THE GAMES THEY PLAY... 'HOMELAND' SEASON TWO

Opposing forces: Claire Danes and Damian Lewis return for more dark drama in HOMELAND. Images: SHOWTIME.

At the end of its first stellar, critically acclaimed, award-winning season, the emotionally spiky but intuitively brilliant and determined heroine of HOMELAND, CIA agent Carrie Mathison (skillfully played by Claire Danes) was having a very bad time of things: her emotional/ sexual involvement and investigation into charismatic solider and former Iraqi prisoner of war Nicholas Brody (a powerfully complex Damian Lewis), a hot political figure on the rise within the upper echelons of American power, had now been revealed to her unhappy superiors, whilst her strong beliefs in his being a traitor to an America she's sworn her life to protect have now been deemed compromised, her once thought talents seemingly on the brink of self-destruction: her credibility as an agent blown ever wider after almost being killed in an unexpected terrorist explosion. As the walls of madness and frightening unpredictability were closing in around her, Carrie, in a closing tragic sequence never to be forgotten by viewers, had to face her personal, inner demons and a true edge of darkness as the frightening final moments of her former life seemingly disappeared with a shocking but necessary electro-convulsive shock therapy, so as to curb her aggressive and manic bipolar disorder.

A life not ordinary. Claire Danes as CIA agent Carrie Mathison.

Vote Brody! Soldier turned politician Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) has never been more dangerous.

Meanwhile, Brody, having critically removed Mathison from the picture, has no hang-ups and problems in his life now, despite his own failed attempt to detonate a bomb in Washington, as he continues his sworn pact of dedication to both Al-Qaeda and his extremist Muslim faith conversion, aided by equally dangerous helpers/conspirators behind the scenes in American society and inadvertently by the protective outer circle of his loving but often troubled family and friends, ready to forgive and forget any further quirky occasional character and emotional fallibility's that might show through his normally calm exterior (blaming such problems on the stresses and anxieties of his previous eight years of incarceration). Brody seems invincible now, with the luck of the devil on his side, as his hidden dark side agenda, against his once US military and political paymasters for the death of the young child to his terrorist cell leader/guru Abu Nazir (a chilling Navid Negahban), stays silently true to his personal convictions despite occasional doubts, whilst his terrorist brothers enjoy their key converts rise to power: his clean cut and heroic looks as the true all-American hero poster boy, whose path to the White House centre seat looks unstoppable...

In bed with power. Brody makes his presence felt in politics and with the CIA.

Fortunately, for us and the series (surely one of the best and most innovative American shows of recent years with its high quality, silently compulsive storytelling and fine acting), Carrie isn't a quitter and will surely be back in some shape or form to trail and discover Brody's plans. Recovering from her treatment, with the protection and support of her family around her, she may thinks she's lost her abilities and edge, feeling out of her depth in handling any job within the CIA, a place of which she was once so dedicated and loved being a part of, but a critical series of events emerging from Beirut will soon put her back on the right path, awakened for action and duty alongside her old friend and mentor Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin) and former lover turned antagonist superior, David Estes  (David Harewood). Whether an earlier and vital clue she discovered about Brody's conversion, which Carrie was on the brink of losing from her mind in last seasons finale, will return to her consciousness is an important plot element from series creators Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon that must surely and intriguingly be revealed soon, as the maelstrom drama of her emotionally charged, but also chilling, opposing forces reunion between her and Brody begins anew...

Trailer: Homeland - Homeland Season 2 Trailer - YouTube

Order and chaos. The brilliant sexual chemistry between the actors/characters continues...

HOMELAND Season Two airs in the US on the SHOWTIME channel. It begins its UK run exclusively on CHANNEL 4, weekly from tonight...

Previews: 'Homeland' Season 2 Spoilers: Executive Producer On Where Carrie And Brody Will Be, Plus Obama And More

Carrie Gets Her Mojo Back and 6 More Homeland Insights - Today's News: Our Take | TVGuide.com

Check out the official FACEBOOK page: Homeland