Warning: Spoilers ahead!
Right up front, the majority of viewers seems to be happy "Homeland," the Showtime drama that earned Golden Globe nominations for Best Drama Series and Best Actor and Actress, will return for a second season.
And it's equally good, storyline-wise, that Damian Lewis' Brody did not succeed in blowing up a roomful of high-ranking U.S. officials, as he'd planned to, in the finale.
But the self-elected shock therapy for Claire Danes' Carrie? And her last-second remembrance that one-time lover Brody was connected to terrorist Nazir?
Viewers had mixed reactions to the plot points, via Twitter, TV critics and Web comments.
"Memory loss? Really? Is not being disgraced, jobless, untrusted, and kicked out of the CIA enough?" Vulture.com writers wondered. "The idea of having to watch Carrie piece together the things we already know she knows seems likely to be really frustrating, and make it seem as though the show is just dragging its feet."
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Hitfix.com critic Alan Speinwall said producers "stuck the landing, ended this season satisfyingly, while plausibly setting things in motion for season 2," but a Hitfix commenter wrote, "I can't believe such a great show went so horribly bad in the final 2 episodes."
New York Times Magazine culture editor Adam Sternbergh tweeted, "So 'Homeland' ended with a deus ex loose-wire and a major character getting a memory wipe? And people are cool with this?"
Former Salon TV critic and New York Times Magazine contributor Heather Havrilesky isn't sold on the show in general, tweeting of "Homeland," "We imagine it might be soulful, but it's actually just ludicrous. Artfully crafted, but ludicrous."
EW.com's Ken Tucker, on the other hand, particularly liked Carrie's shock therapy decision. "It was a brave decision … the treatment was entirely in keeping with Carrie’s extreme, all or nothing approach to life, and allowed for the poignant moment in which she struggled against the anesthesia to grab at the realization that Brody knew Nazir’s killed son."
The AV Club tweeted, "#Homeland concludes a fantastic first season with a fantastic finale," and New Yorker TV critic Emily Nussbaum tweeted that she agreed with the recap 100 percent.
Meanwhile, "Lost" producer and "Homeland" fan Damon Lindelof tweeted that he loved the finale and was surprised not everyone felt the same way. "Awoke to learn that while most of us found HOMELAND finale spectacular, a disgruntled minority vowed never to watch again. Shocker."
