Hot Off The Press - Homeland season 3, episode 1

*Season 2 spoilers and minor spoilers to this episode*

It's back! After the cliffhanger ending to season two that left half the CIA blown to pieces, with David Estes among the dead, and Brody looking more suspicious than ever as he goes on the run, poor Carrie and Saul are left to pick up the pieces.

Picking up with Carrie now under intense investigating as to the secret task force she was previously involved in that allowed them to cooperate with Brody to prevent future attacks, and with the unaccounted hours where she left to get Brody away to safety, Homeland takes a turn for drama after some of the more 24ish moments of the previous season.

While Carrie is faced with a barrage of questions that are clearly hitting their target as she starts to break, Saul, working with his old friend Dar Adal, is now charge of the CIA and is also feeling the pressure with the government demanding results that restore the faith of the people. In other words 'let's kill some bad guys to make us look good' and Saul doesn't look happy about the matter at hand.

Now in the field, Peter Quinn makes a welcome return, now operating under Saul's command. While I avoided mentioning him in my review of season one and two to avoid spoilers, Rupert Friend gave a really good performance as the cocky black-ops agent who showed signs of depth after a near-death experience, but is still one you can't quite trust. While his appearance was smaller in comparison to the others, I look forward to seeing how his role will differ now Estes is dead.

With Brady gone AWOL, his family's life now seems quieter but far from pleasant after Dana's suicide attempt. While these scenes felt miles away from those of Saul or Quinn, Homeland continues to impress with very natural performances, successfully combining the domestic and military elements of the show, creating well-rounded characters. Particularly with Mandy Patinkin's fantastic gentle performance as Saul, subtly capturing a very seasoned veteran of his work without ever becoming over-the-top. It goes without mentioning that Clare Danes and the rest of the cast continue to impress.

Homeland makes a very solid return that opts to put the spotlight on Saul, making for a more quieter, but by no means less engaging episode. While my interests were not exactly with the domestic life of the Brody family, their scenes delivered some great drama and managed to ground the show in reality after the events of season two. All together though, this is certainly one of my favourite programmes and am onboard to see what happens next.