Homeland:
Couch potatoes familiar with Homeland know this Golden Globe and Emmy award winning TV series developed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa is based on the Israeli series created by Gideon Raff, called Prisoners of War (Original title Hebrew: Hatufim, which means "Abductees")
Season seven closed with CIA agent Carrie ( Claire Danes) Mathison's release in really bad shape by her Russian captors. Post recovery, Carrie is back in Afghanistan where she helps Saul ( Mandy Patinkin) to negotiate peace with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
In episode 5 of the eighth and alas, fina season,she is commended for her efforts by American president Ralph Warner (Beau Bridges) who visits the region."You're going home"he tells the Marines.
Then, the unthinkable happens.
The helicopter carrying President Warner and Afghan president Daoud (Christopher Maleki) disappears in a thickly forested region. A second helicopter, sent in search of the first one, is shot down by militants.
Whodunnit? Which group? Which faction? Taliban?
The obvious suspects are Afghan VEEP G’ulom ( Israeli Arab actor Mohammed Bakei) and ISI agent Tasneem Qureshi (our very own Nimrat Kaur, of Lunchbox fame), both of whom were against peace talks from the very beginning.Bi-polar victim
Carrie who makes a diversion to rescue an asset, and her mentor Saul ( Mandy Patinkin) Berenson are shocked beyond belief. So is the viewer. Presumably,the next episode wiill explode with mayhem. Expect vengeance, retribution, war.
Damien Lewis who played Nicholas Brody, the heroic Marine who turned, isn't around but you can watch him in Billions.
Simon Cowell's Trinity:
"Come back",impresario and reality series ( Britain's Got Talent,America's Got Talent & American Idol ) founder/judge Simon Cowell tells participants who don't make the cut.
V unbeatable, an acrobatic dance group from Mumbai, did. Only thing is they HAD made it to the semifinals. They were in fourth place. That was last year.They went back this year and were adjudged CHAMPS of AGT Season 15 by judges Heidi Klum Alesha Dixon,Howie Mandel and Simon Cowell,but of course.In the finals, their act featured punk rock group Blink 182's drummer Travis Barker.
"We were ecstatic. That moment was unreal," Om Prakash, the leader of the group, told BBC after winning the title, and a million dollars.
Cowell's shows have spawned many imitators worldwide with hopefuls showcasing their talents.Watch them on AGT, Britain's Got Talent and on American Idol hosted by Ryan Seacrest every Monday-Friday where participants battle it out in front of Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan and of course, Simon Cowell.
Better Call Saul:
This is an American television crime drama series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. It is a spin-off of Gilligan's prior award winning series Breaking Bad about unassuming high school science teacher named Walter White ( Bryan Cranston) who...well, acts in accordance with the title.
Better Call Saul is the prequel to Breaking Bad and depicts how con-man turned small-time attorney Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), mutated into his alter ego, the criminal lawyer for hire Saul Goodman.
The origins tale features several characters like Breaking Bad ex police officer Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), who joins the underworld in Albuquerque, New Mexico after a personal tragedy and the Crime cartel kingpin Gus Fring ( Giancarlo Esposito.)
Episode five ahowed Jimmy double-crossing his legal partner and girlfriend Kim. Episode six will see Kim trying to foil Jimmy's plans - I guess.
Prodigal Son:
The Sherlock Holmes series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller in the title role (inspired by Arthur Cinan Doyle's beloved detective) are a hard act to follow.
"Prodigal Son", like many crime procedurals, revolves around serial killers and gory murders. Hallucinations are par for the course.
But I'm rooting for this mystery/crime drama series for its ensemble cast which does actors proud. Of particular interest ccharacter-wise are the psychotic father, (Michael Sheen) the beautiful mother ( Bellamy Young) who we can last saw in Scandal) and the traumatised lead cop character Malcolm Bright played byTom Payne.
AU NATURAL:
Now that home sapiens has been caged by a pandemic for better or worse, while avians and animals roam free as well they should, it might be sobering to watch some stunning documentaries about the natural world luminously shot across the globe from the torrid savannahs of Africa to the frozen vistas of Antarctica.
BBC has made some great natural history series like The Living Planet,The Life of Mammals and Life on Earth: A Natural History by David Attenborough, brother of acclaimed filmmaker Sir Richard of "Gandhi" fame.
Look up the new kid on the block,Bear Grylls who was in India very recently hobnobbing with our PM and superstar Rajinikanth who shot for the "Into The Wild with Bear Grylls" episode in Mysore.That was for Discovery Channel, but do check out
Animal Planet and National Geographic among others,as well.
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