The second season of

Based on the season premiere, it’s hard to tell. Certainly there is plenty of drama and intensity, as is expected of Homeland. And the repercussions of the second season finale continue to parse out, even if it seems odd to think that the CIA would ever be in a situation where the government would seriously consider shutting it down.

That said, Homeland struggled when it tried to stretch too far outside of the tight confines of the trinity of main characters: Carrie, Saul, and Brody. And in the wake of the bombing, the relationship between Carrie and Saul is the one that dominates. Saul is now in charge of the whole shebang, and that means he can’t protect Carrie to the degree he once had. And that means putting the interests of the agency, and the nation, above the interests of one fairly compromised agent.

And Carrie is pretty damn compromised, given that she has once again gone off her meds. It would seem like an unfortunate retread of events from the first season, if it wasn’t for the fact that this is a common trend among those suffering from severe bipolar disorders. The impact on Carrie is going to be hard to watch, because she was a convenient enough scapegoat as it was, given her history. Being off her meds and clearly riding one of her manic waves is just icing on the cake.

For better or worse, Carrie’s decisions in the second season had consequences, and Saul was left to clean up the mess. And Saul put it bluntly: the CIA, under Congressional pressure, cannot afford another mistake. That’s why he’s willing to go for the quick win vs. the long-term prize. Even so, he doesn’t name Carrie outright, though it’s unlikely to matter in the long run. And the Drama is going to be epic, especially if it drives Carrie into a depressive episode, made worse by her choice to abandon her meds.

Perhaps less successful is the exploration of the fallout within Brody’s family, which is largely centered on Dana’s suicide attempt. I’ll give the writers credit for interesting me in her mental state, but the forbidden romance is cringe-inducing in a much less positive sense. More worrisome is the implication that Brody’s family will continue to be important to the story, because that means Brody’s return will be far more substantial than the post-second season interviews suggested.

After all, I can’t be the only one who recalled that the third season was supposed to be something of a new direction, pulling back the scale to something more targeted and Brody-lite, right? Because that was the response from the writers and producers when the second season was soundly criticized. Of course, that’s the problem: Howard Gordon and friends praised for going more and more over the top with 24, and Homeland has gotten even greater praise. It remains to be seen ifHomeland will suffer a slow but steady decline, just as 24 did.

John Keegan is Editor-in-Chief for Critical Myth, a partner site of SciFi Vision.