In Praise of Carrie Mathison

Claire Danes has created a woman of substance with her Homeland heroine

- Judith Newman

HERE’S MY TO-DO LIST FOR 2018: Order a drone strike against America’s enemies. Trade sex for vital information. Fall in love with a traitor and have his child. Doubt motherhood. Doubt my sanity. Look great even when I’m sobbing. Wait. Maybe I’m confusing myself with someone else. As we move through the seventh season of Homeland (a show that sometimes gets uncomfortably close to what we think is going on in the world), let’s take a moment to sing the praises of Carrie Mathison, the most unlikely—and perhaps the most necessary—heroine on TV.

Yes, Carrie can act a little alarming. She has a gift for creating drama that, let’s just say, might be avoidable. Remember when she and Saul cleverly contrive to have her institutionalized so that she can get the goods on the Iranian bank that financed the Langley bombing? Surely there had to be an easier way to get that financial information than three months of torture in a mental hospital. Where’s Bob Mueller when you need him?

And then there’s this: She’s not that great at disguising her issues. A man meeting her at a party could think: Hot Mess. What he did with that realization has been the subject of many a plotline.

So, yes, we know all this. Here’s what else we know. We love her anyway. For many reasons, but mostly for being what we are not.