7 Ingenious Ways TV Shows Bounced Back From Awful Seasons

There’s case to argue that Homeland should have ended after season two, albeit with a modified ending that saw Nicholas Brody perish in its explosive finale.

The spy thriller had wrapped up all of its meaningful loose ends bar Brody’s fate by this point, leaving the third season with one job to do, and it failed miserably at it by denying Damian Lewis’ character any screen time in half of its episodes.

The Brody-free portion of the season was largely dedicated to filler storylines based around his teenage daughter and few things about it worked. The writing seemed to be on the wall for Homeland when the showrunners confirmed they were pressing ahead with plans for an all-new season sans Lewis.

Although some fans will always maintain Homeland should have died with Brody, the majority of those who gave season four a chance will admit it was a return to form. Hitting the soft reboot switch gave the show a renewed energy, focus and relevance. This time, the storytelling was more streamlined and many of the ideas it tabled about America and the war on terrorism rang true.

Claire Danes continued to shine in the role of Carrie, earning Screen Actors Guild Award and Golden Globe nominations for her performance in season four, and the writers plumbed the depths of her character arc and revealed the kind of substance the previous series only hinted at.