The legacy of Homeland will always remain in the good graces of the television landscape. The Showtime series had it’s rocky moments, but there’s no denying that Homeland was at its best when Sargeant Nicholas Brody was on screen. The political spy thriller is about a bipolar CIA operative who is convinced that a returning veteran has been turned by al-Qaeda and is planning to carry out another terrorist attack. Now, when we first see Brody, he’s found alive after being imprisoned in Afghanistan for eight years. The show does an excellent job detailing what happened in Afghanistan and the mental scarring that has damaged the United States Marine Corps Reconnaissance Scout Sniper.
However, Homeland, there are still layers of Brody’s story that could be told from his perspective. Perhaps starting from the beginning, before Brody was shipped off to Afghanistan. What was his mental state prior to going over to the war zone? Was he happy to serve his country? Or was he scared out of his mind? Oftentimes, television shows tend to hype up men and women who serve our country as heroes who are ready to go into battle. However, that’s not always the case. Anyone who serves our country is a hero, but it doesn’t mean that they aren’t scared out of their minds. They’re going into a dangerous territory where death is likely certain. It would be fascinating to see Brody’s reaction from leaving his family and friends behind to the moment he steps onto the battlefield.
What Homeland does so brilliantly is tackle the mental damage that war can have on a man or woman, and showcasing Brody’s mindset, along with his fellow officers brings a necessary human element that’s often glanced over. This guy was trained to take punishment and torture yet he turned on his own country when it came down to it. Perhaps Brody wasn’t happy with the operations taking place during the Iraq War? Or he wasn’t thrilled with the way things were going in his own country? There are so many intriguing layers surrounding the mental state of Nicholas Brody that being in the midst of battle isn’t what should sell the show. Going through the war should document the scenes of these men and women being in a terrifying hellscape and trying to keep their sanity intact.
A spin-off would also help give us more insight on the people surrounding Brody, that includes Abu Nazir, and how he managed to turn not only Brody, but Thomas Walker. Obviously, he wants to get revenge on the U.S. after a drone attack killed his brother Issa, but surely the reasoning for the fellow scout sniper’s betrayal isn’t due to the threat of death? Maybe Nazir threaten to hurt their families? Or all families in the United States? This coincides with the political message and themes about the mental state of Brody during the war. Abu Nazir is a terrorist, there’s no denying that; however, he’s a man with emotions and feels just like the rest of world. Seeing the world through his lenses outside of the battlefield can introduce a different side that rarely shown when it comes to villains of this nature.
Now, we could go back further in Brody’s past that doesn’t even see him going to war. The money is documenting his time in Afghanistan, but that doesn’t mean that showcasing Brody’s life before his world as a marine isn’t interesting. Of course, there’s no necessary need to see Brody, Jessica, and the family. One of the reasons the series stumbled is due to the fact that they focused on the family after Brody’s death and it wasn’t particularly a good aspect entirely. There’s just nothing too interesting about the focus of the Brody family that should be given exploration. Another direction is focusing on the final hours before Brody’s death. The scout sniper went out in honorable fashion, but to get an intimate look at the final minutes of his mindset could be a compelling watch. We know that Brody pretty much accepts his death, but surely, the thought process of knowing that you’re going to die isn’t something that’s easy to come to terms with. Either way, there’s enough juicy layers to the Brody story to warrant a mini series or spin-off. There’s no gaps that need to be filled as Homeland does an excellent job of examining the world of Nicholas Brody, but that doesn’t mean that a deep insight into the scout sniper’s world isn’t compelling.Homeland
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