3 Reasons To Get Your Spy On

 

This admission may fall in the “day late, dollar short” category, but here goes: my latest obsession is “Homeland” the Showtime series starring Claire Danes.

I know this is not a new series but it is new-to-me. Last week we happened upon a few episodes being broadcast for free and now me and my fella are hooked. We’re talking go-to-Best-Buy-and-buy-the-series hooked.

We are 5 episodes in, and it’s pretty much all we talked about this weekend. This makes me happy for a number of reasons:

1  – We’re hooked on a series that’s cool. This hasn’t happened since we got really into “24” many years ago. Generally, we’re the ones committed to the reality series that’s awful, including fan favorite from days of yore: “Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire”.

2—“Homeland” is something me and my fella are both really into, which almost counts as a couples hobby, something experts say you gotta do to keep that bond strong.

It is doubly good this is happening right now because our other “couples hobby” these days is purging and packing our house of everything we own as we get ready to move in 3 weeks. This is not a fun or relaxing hobby as it involves lots of trips to Goodwill and peevish discussions about whether a girl’s many hair products and a guy’s stuffed frog collection from childhood make the cut.

3      -  “Homeland” is really a boy show, and yet I’m into it, so I’m earning lots of credit that I’m sure will pay off next time I want to monopolize the t.v. for a “House Hunters International” marathon.

“Homeland” appeals to a masculine audience. It’s a spy show that asks the question: Is the war hero marine, recently returned home, really a bad guy?

Sergeant Brody was captured in Iraq and held hostage for 8 years. After a daring rescue, he’s now home and celebrated as a war hero. But government spy Carrie has her doubts. She thinks Brody was “turned” by the bad guys and is now the biggest, baddest guy of all, a Marine with security clearance and a plan to attack America with his fellow terrorists.

It’s up to Carrie to prove it, and she has all sorts of tricks up her sleeve, some ethical and some not. This show is all about moral quandaries. The kind that make the moral quandaries behind packing for a big move seem a bit less important.

Who cares if I accidentally donate my fella’s high school letterman’s jacket? It’s not like we’ve got the fate of the free world riding on my mistake now, is it? 

Now if only I could broker these tricky packing negotiations, looking stylish, yet bad a$$, with hair half as good as Carrie’s.

Now that I think about it, I’ve just stumbled on a reason to keep all the hair products my fella wants me to throw out. Hair that’s CIA-good doesn’t just happen.

I challenge my fella to come up with a reason to keep the stuffed frogs. In military parlance, it’s G-as-in-golf, O-as-in-Oscar time, Mr. Guru Guy.

Over. (Click this link to go to showtime.com to order the "Homeland" series and all kinds of cool, spy gear.)