We all missed something last night… A few notes on the “Homeland” finale (spoilers): http://nyr.kr/T44d3b

Image: Twentieth Century Fox.

I couldn’t help getting drawn in, because after some consideration, I found that I’d stumbled upon a solution—which is to say I developed a completely insane theory that explains everything. I am also prepared to defend my crazy theory at all costs, because this show is turning me into Carrie Mathison. Enough preamble. The theory is this: http://nyr.kr/QEpcK2

Ruth Margalit talks with Gideon Raff, who created the Israeli show that inspired “Homeland”: http://nyr.kr/Q0K62S

I Hate Top Ten Lists

At base, I object to any system that makes me feel like a store clerk in “High Fidelity.” Those guys are not my guys. I mean, I don’t follow basketball statistics. I watch the Oscars for the starlet meltdowns and I don’t expect the “best movie” to be the best movie. I black out when I try to calculate the tip. Please don’t make me tell you the best television show of the year.

Although the answer is obviously _______

- Click through to read TV Critic Emily Nussbaum’s answer, and more on why she hates top ten lists: http://nyr.kr/uXo7bC

“Homeland”: The Antidote for “24”

The politics of “Homeland“ aren’t anywhere near as explicit as those of “24“ (and the season isn’t over, so it could swerve in many directions). But what’s already clear is that, without being agitprop, the series provides a much-needed antidote to a show that was a propaganda arm for the Iraq war. On “Homeland,” we see the consequences of Jack Bauer’s ends-justifying policies: when the authorities lie on CNN about the death of children in Iraq, or frame innocent Muslims to conceal a botched police action, their duplicity—however well-motivated—radicalizes even more enemies.

- The New Yorker TV critic Emily Nussbaum on Showtime’s “Homeland”: http://nyr.kr/vazQcu