10 TV Shows Never Better Than Their First Season

Rarely has a show set up such a devastatingly perfect premise as Homeland, which follows CIA analyst Carrie Matheson as she races to figure out whether rescued POW Nicolas Brody has been compromised by a nefarious terror cell, or if he's still one of the good guys.

The first season finds the show's central mystery at its most exhilarating and fresh, as Carrie fights personal heartache whilst becoming increasingly entangled in Brody's post-conflict life. It proposes numerous mysteries, and offers up shock reveals worthy of the build-up.

Though the show was never bad during its eight-season run, the subtly of its first season's character development and gripping thrills proved to be too good to best going forward. Seasons two and three come close at times, but never quite match it as the series becomes slightly too bloated by its own melodrama.

Homeland, thanks in large part to stars Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin, and Damian Lewis, is a show well worth checking out, but don't expect it all to blow you away like its first 12 episodes.