Homeland may have lost its sleeper terrorist anti-hero Nicholas Brody, but the hit American television show will continue to thrill, its creator says.
Howard Gordon described surviving cast members, led by the gutsy yet emotionally troubled CIA analyst Carrie Mathison, as having plenty of dramatic mileage in the fourth season, due to debut in the autumn.
"Fortunately, Carrie is still a very robust character, [as are fellow CIA spies] Saul and Quinn. And there are tertiary characters who are now stepping more to the fore," Gordon told reporters. Shot in Cape Town, South Africa, the fourth season of Homeland finds Carrie "on assignment, doing what she does".
“She is a person who is trying to stop terrorists doing bad things,” says Gordon, without divulging further details of the plot.
She is still tackling Islamic militants, he said, "but it is more complicated than that. I would say that the bugaboos in Homeland this year have to do as much with the American bureaucracy as with the ostensible enemy."
Homeland won sweeping acclaim for its portrayal of the anguished relationship between Mathison and Brody, a US Marine ex-prisoner of war and secret Al Qaeda recruit, played by Damian Lewis. After their love affair, Brody carries out an assassination for the CIA in Iran, where he was executed at the end of season three. That season was able to regain its standing with critics after many derided the improbable plot twists of the second. Last week, the show received two acting nominations from the Emmys: Best Actress for Claire Danes and Best Supporting Actor for Mandy Patinkin.
Further fuelling the suspense of past Homeland seasons was how the CIA handled the discovery of psychiatric problems that Carrie had tried to conceal, as well as her surprise pregnancy.
In the next season, Gordon said: “Carrie has Brody’s baby and her illness informs her maternity.”
artslife@thenational.ae
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
On Instagram: @WithHopeUAE
Although social media can be harmful to our mental health, paradoxically, one of the antidotes comes with the many social-media accounts devoted to normalising mental-health struggles. With Hope UAE is one of them.
The group, which has about 3,600 followers, was started three years ago by five Emirati women to address the stigma surrounding the subject. Via Instagram, the group recently began featuring personal accounts by Emiratis. The posts are written under the hashtag #mymindmatters, along with a black-and-white photo of the subject holding the group’s signature red balloon.
“Depression is ugly,” says one of the users, Amani. “It paints everything around me and everything in me.”
Saaed, meanwhile, faces the daunting task of caring for four family members with psychological disorders. “I’ve had no support and no resources here to help me,” he says. “It has been, and still is, a one-man battle against the demons of fractured minds.”
In addition to With Hope UAE’s frank social-media presence, the group holds talks and workshops in Dubai. “Change takes time,” Reem Al Ali, vice chairman and a founding member of With Hope UAE, told The National earlier this year. “It won’t happen overnight, and it will take persistent and passionate people to bring about this change.”
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2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets
Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs
Table
1 UAE 5 5 0 10
2 Qatar 5 4 1 8
3 Saudi 5 3 2 6
4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4
5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2
6 Maldives 5 0 5 0
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
