(All times below are Eastern, because we’re up earlier than all the rest of you!)

11:20AM – 3:20PM

• The Prisoner: The Complete Series ($17.99)
• The Prisoner: The Complete Series [Blu-ray] – $22.99
• The Pillars of the Earth – $13.99

3:20PM – 7:20PM

• The Hangover (Unrated Edition) [Blu-ray] – $3.96
• The Hangover (Rated Single-Disc Edition) – $1.96
• Get A Life: The Complete Series – $23.99
• Steve Martin: Television Stuff – $15.49

7:20PM – 11:20PM

• The IT Crowd: The Complete Season One – $9.99
• The IT Crowd: The Complete Season Two – $10.49
• The IT Crowd: The Complete Third Season – $9.99
• The IT Crowd: Complete Fourth Season – $10.99

Other deals and stuff:

• Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax – $3.99
• Planet of the Apes: 5 Film Collection [Blu-ray] – $22.99 (54% off)
• Homeland: The Complete First Season – $19.99 ($24.99 on Blu-ray)
• Once Upon A Time: The Complete First Season – $19.99 ($24.99 on Blu-ray)
• Revenge: The Complete First Season – $19.99

Check back here for more Black Friday deals and other discoveries we’re on the lookout for!

This thought didn’t come to mind until watching the “Q&A” episode. As the newcomer to the show, Peter, is grilling Brody, he notes that he’s able to keep Brody there because of the laws put in place by his department of government.

“I’m a United States Congressman. You can’t just kidnap me and shackle me to the fucking floor!” – Brody
“Actually, we can. Thanks to your colleagues in Congress, we have very broad powers to detain and interrogate.” – Peter

It’s ironic, but then it occurred to me that it could be the whole point of the show.

Another rather direct example has been the placement of video and audio surveillance placed on Brody, even before he had concrete evidence against him. There have been a few other instances on the show that weren’t so spelled out. There have been scenes in airports that have shown the usual TSA stuff going on, for example. That doesn’t seem so unusual, since anyone who’s air-traveled recently has gone through all of that. So why go through showing it off? The same came with Brody having to go through scanners to enter a government building — why bother pointing it out?

What’s more interesting than whether or not the show’s serving as a commentary on the power the CIA and other government agencies have in regards to homeland security: what point are they trying to make? Are they for or against them? So far it seems most likely that the show’s not picking sides. Instead, it’s presenting these things to the viewers for them to make up their own minds, and in a way that doesn’t lean in any direction; it is what it is. Though Homeland is about fictional events, it seems to be taking time to point out procedures for how homeland security is — and may very well be, behind the scenes — carried out in this country.

It will be interesting to see if Homeland continues to follow this rather subtle trend, growing to become more obvious as the series rolls on. How will Brody’s position with the CIA play into that?

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Late last year, after the first season of Homeland had drawn to a close, I talked about how much I hated the finale. I thought the episode itself was incredibly well done, but, to summarize, I thought the show copped out by not having Nicholas Brody go through the suicide plot. It was not the most popular of ideas — and I took a couple of body blows over it — but I still stand by my opinion.

The only equivocating I did at the time was whether or not I would come back for season two; fortunately, I pulled my head out of my … you know where, and have been watching. I’ve watched Damian Lewis continue to deliver as Brody and a supporting cast doing incredibly work. But mostly, I’ve been watching Claire Danes own the screen as Carrie Mathison.

I don’t think the audience ever really knows what’s going on inside of Carrie’s head. Considering how unbalanced the character is, I doubt we are supposed to – another testament to Dane’s work. If you ignore her mental state, it is much easier to like her actions. Her decision to follow Brody up to his room was a cowboy move, something you could see a gunslinger like Han Solo doing. Hell, she was outstanding at the bar; playing Brody like a piano. Sure, she wasn’t as successful as she’d like to be – thus following him to his room – but she did great work. But that good work is only going to last so long.

Carrie has proven herself to be the definition of self-destructive. David Estes and the rest of the senior leadership at the CIA will never completely trust her judgment completely again. That distrust will lead to a situation where she wants to do something and they do not; Carrie has a history – proven true once again when she went upstairs – of doing what setting her own course in those situations. If she can’t be a team player, they won’t let her on the team. But that’s not the only challenge to her continued stability.

Her mind isn’t her only problem: when it comes to Brody, she also has to overcome her heart. She talked a good game as Brody was tied up and hooded, her comment about “if the circumstances had been different.” But as he was dragged away, his head in a hood, she broke down. Her feelings for him obviously still persist; whether or not they will eventually compromise her is still an open question to be explored as the season continues.

It’s only a matter of time before something causes Carrie to go off the reservation. While I think her feelings for Brody will cause some trouble sooner rather than later, and she’ll continually test her superiors’ patience, it is safe to assume she won’t have another breakdown like she had last season any time soon. Personally, I think the writers are stretching the audience’s ability to suspend disbelief for the sake of seeing her working again after the first breakdown. Her getting a third chance would be difficult to swallow. But, even more so than in Brody’s case, Carrie Mathison is Homeland. The show is at its best when Danes is given a chance to shine (see: the smile in “The Smile”).

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I know there were some people (*cough*Ivey*cough*) who were somewhat disappointed with last season of Showtime’s Homeland. In particular, there were those who felt Brody should have gone through with the task of blowing himself up to bits in the name of all he now believes in. Though that didn’t happen, there’s no doubt the scene where he came VERY close to literally pulling the trigger was one of the most tense scenes to watch on television in recent memory. I’m sure that scene lent some hand in Damian Lewis’s recent Emmy win, in fact. Despite any of that disappointment in what Brody did (or, rather, didn’t) do, the jumping off point to the series’ second season so far has not left much to be wanted. In fact, it’s been pretty damned stellar.

Because the season’s started off on such a high point, I realized recently that there are a few unanswered things from the show’s first season that haven’t been touched upon or even hinted at yet. Does that merely mean we’re in for a shocking surprise later in the season — or series — or do the writers find these things unimportant enough to keep them danglimg forever?

First up, the mysterious slipping of the razor blade to Hamid in the interrogation room. Recall that last season an old guard from Brody’s stay in Afghanistan, Hamid, was in custody by the CIA, and Brody had the opportunity to confront his once captor. There was a scuffle in the interrogation room, and shortly after Hamid was able to use a razor blade someone slipped to him to do himself in. The unanswered question, of course: who slipped Hamid that blade? Many assume it was Brody, as he had the most direct contact with Hamid in that fight. After looking over the interrogation video more closely, though, my money would be on David Estes. There’s a point where his hand slips under the table, where he could have easily placed a blade. After watching the first two episodes of Homeland, though, it’s starting to make a lot less sense that Estes would be any sort of internal mole, so I’m completely stumped. However, there is another suspect, which birings us to the other big question. …

What’s Saul lying about? Recall that he underwent a polygraph test, only to fail it spectacularly when asked about some things that make one unable to help wondering where his loyalties lie. Seeing Saul’s actions up to this point make me believe this is more of a red herring than anything else, and Saul really has no involvement in the assistance of terrorist activity against the U.S.. Will we learn why he failed that test, or will it become unimportant enough that we’ll never really know the truth?

Regardless of whether or not we’ll ever have these questions answered, I’m happy with the progressing of the new season so far. I’d be disappointed if these things remain unanswered when the series makes inevitable end one day — I won’t deny that. I believe they are important enough ones to not let lie. For now, though, it’ll be fun to try to figure them out.

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To celebrate not only the imminent return of Showtime’s Homeland (September 30, 10 PM) but the recent release of the show on Blu-ray and DVD late last month, we’ve been given a couple of copies for giveaway to two luck, random commenters to this post. They even threw in some Homeland-branded keychain/USB keys to go along with them.

Oh, and if you Tweet that you entered, with the following:

I’m entering the #homeland Blu-ray giveaway via @CliqueClack https://clak.us/p5j

We’ll pick two recipients completely at random and alert them after the giveaway ends on Monday, September 24th at Midnight ET (make sure your spam filters aren’t blocking mail from @cliqueclack.com!). Only one entry per person per method and you must have a valid U.S.-based mailing address. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents of 18 years of age or older only. Not following these guidelines voids your entry. Good luck!

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B005LAJ16I” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HwoQlzsoL._SL160_.jpg” width=”120″][easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B005LAJ17M” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51L6Kk2ZnmL._SL160_.jpg” width=”130″]