Homeland

HOMELAND WAS MADE FOR TIMES LIKE THESE.YOU can easily imagine Claire Danes’ brilliant yet stability challenged CIA agent Carrie Mathison hunting election saboteurs or clashing with a headstrong commander in-chief who refuses to read intelligence reports.

- Jeff Jensen

Live-wire topics, for sure, but Homeland could use the zap. The perennial Emmy nominee has long since recovered from the early Nicholas Brody days that electrified the series, then crashed it. But entering season 6, Homeland faces the challenge of age. More than ever, it needs annual, rejuvenating shots of ripped from-the-headlines zeitgeist.

It’s ironic, then, that the new season’s first two episodes demonstrate the risky business of writing to the future. “A new paradigm” is a thematic buzz phrase, with characters and their society chasing or adjusting to new realities. But their flux doesn’t quite speak to our own. It’s a case of so close yet so far away in terms of relevancy, and the misses distract and frustrate investment.

Set right this very second, amid the run-up to Inauguration Day, the story brings