Homeland (2011)
Homeland is a 2011 drama series created by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon. It stars Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin and Rupert Friend.
Carrie Mathison works the agency's counterterrorism desk with a brilliance nobody questions and a bipolar disorder she hides at real cost. A decorated Marine sniper comes home after years as a prisoner of war, hailed as a hero, and Carrie becomes convinced he was turned. Her mentor Saul Berenson covers for her, though the surveillance she runs is illegal and personal. Developed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa from an Israeli series, the show trades in paranoia, divided loyalty, and the wreckage intelligence work leaves in private lives. Claire Danes and Damian Lewis anchor the standoff.
Quick answers
What is Homeland about?
Carrie Mathison works the agency's counterterrorism desk with a brilliance nobody questions and a bipolar disorder she hides at real cost. A decorated Marine sniper comes home after years as a prisoner of war, hailed as a hero, and Carrie becomes convinced he was turned. Her mentor Saul Berenson covers for her, though the surveillance she runs is illegal and personal. Developed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa from an Israeli series, the show trades in paranoia, divided loyalty, and the wreckage intelligence work leaves in private lives. Claire Danes and Damian Lewis anchor the standoff.
When was Homeland released?
Homeland was released on 2 October 2011.
How many episodes does Homeland have?
Homeland has 96 episodes across 8 seasons.
Who made Homeland?
Homeland was created by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon.
Where can I watch Homeland?
Homeland is available on Hulu, Netflix, Google Play, Amazon, AppleTV and Fandango at Home.
Where to watch Homeland
Rent: Google Play
Buy: Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango at Home, Google Play
Official site
Cast
- Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison
- Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson
- Rupert Friend as Peter Quinn
- Maury Sterling as Max Piotrowski
- F. Murray Abraham as Dar Adal
- Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody
- Morena Baccarin as Jessica Brody
- Jackson Pace as Chris Brody
- Morgan Saylor as Dana Brody
- Sarita Choudhury as Mira Berenson
- Diego Klattenhoff as Mike Faber
- Linus Roache as David Wellington
Similar series
Explore Homeland guides
Homeland in our writing
- Companion guide: Conspiracy Thrillers
- Companion guide: Spies & Espionage
- Companion guide: Undercover & Deep Cover
A few thoughts on Homeland
The FX series The Americans runs the same divided-loyalty paranoia through a marriage of deep-cover Soviet agents. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the 2011 film, is the coldest mole hunt on screen. For surveillance you control rather than watch, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell hands you the wire and the long lens.
Espionage dramas about what the job costs the people inside it
Homeland spends as much time on Carrie's unraveling as on the mission itself, and these prestige thrillers share that instinct. The Looming Tower traces the real intelligence failures and turf wars before 9/11, A Spy Among Friends and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy sit inside the slow paranoia of hunting a mole in British intelligence, and The Night Manager and Condor follow operatives who lose their footing staying undercover.
Women running the mission when nobody above them believes them
Carrie spends much of the show fighting to be taken seriously while everyone above prefers a simpler explanation, and these dramas hand their leads the same fight. Lioness and Citadel put women in charge of operations too classified to explain to people who doubt them, The Veil follows an MI6 handler running her asset on instinct alone, and The Capture's detective keeps chasing evidence the system would rather she dropped.
Spy stories for a Homeland-shaped itch, one era back or one console over
Homeland's tradecraft, handlers and dead drops translate easily across formats and eras. TURN: Washington's Spies takes the same cat-and-mouse deception back to the Revolutionary War's Culper Ring, XIII: The Series chases a conspiracy across a similarly fractured chain of command, The Recruit follows a green CIA lawyer in over his head, and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Jack Ryan: Ghost War hand you the stealth missions Carrie only reads about.