8 TV Shows That Should've Stopped At Season One

There are a lot of “government agency works to stop terrorist plots” shows on television, but Homeland managed to set itself apart from the pack with a unique and intriguing premise.

After US marine Nicholas Brody is rescued from al-Qaeda, he returns to America and is heralded as a war hero. But unstable CIA officer Carrie Matheson suspects that he may have been turned by the terrorists and could be a danger to the whole country.

The first season plays out as a nail-biting thriller as Carrie tries to convince her bosses that Brody is a threat, while Brody himself waivers between his conditioning and his love for his home country. It received adoration from critics and the season finale was the most watched first-year finale in the American network Showtime’s history.

But after an exhilarating initial run of episodes, Homeland became exactly what it was trying to avoid. The initial conflict petered out as Carrie and Brody decided to work together to stop other terrorist attacks, until finally Brody was killed himself at the end of season three.

The show then became indistinguishable from all the clones of hit series 24 that it had been trying to set itself apart from. What a shame.