conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is a description for a book titled Homeland Revealed about Los, Angelesbased with the genre: Humor & Entertainment, Television?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: the author is a Los Angelesbased entertainment journalist.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is the first two paragraphs for this book?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Homeland Revealed
  Interestingly, that secret—Carrie's mental illness—was not originally part of her character. After the pilot had been picked up by Showtime, Gordon and Gansa were called in for a meeting. "They were tremendously excited about what we'd done," Gansa recalls, "but there was a sense that Carrie was not a cable-worthy character yet. She was always a pariah. She always had an unpopular view. But there was nothing that anchored it." The network had successful shows about a drug addict, a multiple personality, and a serial killer. "There were all these bigger-than-life pathologies. They wanted something to make her richer or deeper."
  On suggestion from Gansa's wife, the concept of a bipolar disorder was added. "We had gone through every possible pathology. But being bipolar excused her unbalanced and erratic behavior, in a strange way, because she had a condition that she was fighting. And there was an aspirational quality to her actually overcoming it at some point." Danes, who came onboard after that decision, also liked the way the writers made use of it. "I never wanted her condition to become a gimmick. And nobody on the show ever made it 'cheap,' which is why it's so special."
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Delete the last sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Homeland Revealed
  Interestingly, that secret—Carrie's mental illness—was not originally part of her character. After the pilot had been picked up by Showtime, Gordon and Gansa were called in for a meeting. "They were tremendously excited about what we'd done," Gansa recalls, "but there was a sense that Carrie was not a cable-worthy character yet. She was always a pariah. She always had an unpopular view. But there was nothing that anchored it." The network had successful shows about a drug addict, a multiple personality, and a serial killer. "There were all these bigger-than-life pathologies. They wanted something to make her richer or deeper."
  On suggestion from Gansa's wife, the concept of a bipolar disorder was added. "We had gone through every possible pathology. But being bipolar excused her unbalanced and erratic behavior, in a strange way, because she had a condition that she was fighting. And there was an aspirational quality to her actually overcoming it at some point." Danes, who came onboard after that decision, also liked the way the writers made use of it. "I never wanted her condition to become a gimmick. And nobody on the show ever made it 'cheap,' which is why it's so special.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is two more paragraphs?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The writers were baffled as to how to end "The Smile." Their original pass had Carrie, while being chased, making a harrowing escape by helicopter to a Zodiac boat out in the water. But, Johannessen recalls, "I said, 'She's back in it—let's do a thing where she just smiles.'" It was a welcome suggestion, Cuesta says. "You don't see Carrie smile a lot, so when she does, you just love it. And when you see it, it's like, 'I'm back. This is my bliss.' I got it in one take. And when we showed it at the New York premiere, everybody clapped when they saw her smile."
  The events of the previous season have nonetheless taken their toll on Carrie. While in Beirut, she overhears Saul and Estes expressing their doubts over her stability. "She's unmoored now, in some basic way," says Johannessen. Being able to trust her gut had always carried her, but now, having been "wrong" about Brody, Carrie doesn't know what to trust.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is the last five paragraphs?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The agency holds its annual ceremony to honor its fallen, unveiling stars that have been engraved on the wall of the entrance in their memory. "That was something Henry always wanted to put in," notes writer Chip Johannessen. "The writing on the wall had been around since the end of last year, so we thought it might be a cool way to end the season."
  Production designer John Kretschmer wished, as always, to represent military matters accurately. "Geoff Grimsman, our art director, realized that the stars in the real CIA lobby were engraved, so we had a contractor actually rout ours into the stone wall we built, to appear the way they do in the CIA's lobby."
  But Carrie is never afraid to go against the grain. Returning late at night, she takes a black marker and draws in an anonymous star for her beloved Brody, lest he be forgotten. "We were struggling with a title for a long time," Gansa notes. "The Star," a double reference to both Carrie's impromptu decoration of Brody and the loss of one of the series's leads, was perfectly apropos.
  ALEX GANSA is the showrunner, co-creator, and executive producer of the award-winning television series Homeland. He also created the critically acclaimed series Maximum Bob for ABC. Other credits include 24, The X-Files, Entourage, Numbers, and Dawson's Creek. He lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife and son.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Add another sentence about untitled, airing.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The agency holds its annual ceremony to honor its fallen, unveiling stars that have been engraved on the wall of the entrance in their memory. "That was something Henry always wanted to put in," notes writer Chip Johannessen. "The writing on the wall had been around since the end of last year, so we thought it might be a cool way to end the season. "
  Production designer John Kretschmer wished, as always, to represent military matters accurately. "Geoff Grimsman, our art director, realized that the stars in the real CIA lobby were engraved, so we had a contractor actually rout ours into the stone wall we built, to appear the way they do in the CIA's lobby. "
  But Carrie is never afraid to go against the grain. Returning late at night, she takes a black marker and draws in an anonymous star for her beloved Brody, lest he be forgotten. 
  The episode was untitled until just prior to airing. "We were struggling with a title for a long time," Gansa notes. "The Star," a double reference to both Carrie's impromptu decoration of Brody and the loss of one of the series's leads, was perfectly apropos. 
  ALEX GANSA is the showrunner, co-creator, and executive producer of the award-winning television series Homeland. He also created the critically acclaimed series Maximum Bob for ABC. Other credits include 24, The X-Files, Entourage, Numbers, and Dawson's Creek. He lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife and son.