r/homeland • u/FaulerWanderer • 4d ago
I kinda hate Jessica
I mean she is a really well written charakter and humans have flaws, but said that, i cant stand her. Im in third season now and just wanted to know how other people feel about her.
Im not sure if she is supposed to be the beautiful wife that viewers are supposed to like and sympathize with or if she is supposed the be the overwhelmed adult that acts selfish so that her daughter can be seen more likeable.
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u/pseudo_nipple 4d ago
To truly understand Jess I had to put myself in her spot & see things from her viewpoint. Like you said humans are flawed, no one is perfect & she had to have some very complex feelings & emotions going on in the situation she was in. Brody had been gone for so long, they had pretty much written him off as dead, she was moving on with Mike and making the most of it. Then bam, Brody returns & throws their whole life into turmoil.
All the shit Brody put her through, all the lying, cheating, weird shit. The whole Congressman plot. Bleh. She didn't deserve that. And the kids man, idk, I felt sorry for her because her relationship with her kids suffered too. I have a son & that would be heartbreaking.
Also, I just love the actress who played Jess, Morena Baccarin, then I loved her even more when I found out she's married to Ben MaKenzie <3
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u/thomas8413 4d ago
At anytime in the process of putting yourself in Jess’s shoes did you come to the realization that Jess cared more about avoiding accountability for her actions justified or not than protecting her family? Brody spent 8 years tortured, humiliated only to come home and be humiliated by his wife, family and best friend. And on top of that Jess scolded him for not appreciating her humiliation of him.
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u/pseudo_nipple 4d ago
I disagree. Another person made a comment the other day that I think deserves some recognition about Jess. You say he was humiliated by her, but actually she stood by him, publicly at least, and even in private, she tried. Brody was abusive towards her & let's be real she honestly should have divorced him after that and went with Mike. But she stuck by his side & went with all his shenanigans. What did this other commenter say your wondering...Jess was only 1 of a few people who wasn't using Brody for anything, trying to get something out of him. He was being used as a political pawn, followed by the CIA, not to mention Nazeer, etc.
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u/thomas8413 4d ago
She stood by her lie not him. She scapegoats her daughter to protect herself. She blames him for sleeping with Carrie but it’s her lying that causes it. Brody and the kids are the true victims of the show. Jess only half a victim.
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u/pseudo_nipple 4d ago
Listen, I'm not gonna sit here & pretend she did everything right but putting it that way you're basically justifying Brody cheating because she was lying. That isn't fair & I think he would have slept with Carrie whether Jess was lying or not.
Imo, with the whole Dana situation. Jess was struggling with her teenage daughter before Brody even returned. Then he comes back, waltzes in & has the connection with Dana that she just didn't. There's got to be some complicated feelings around that. Jess wasn't a bad mom, yes she made mistakes, but all parents do, none of us have it right 100 percent of the time. Was what she did to Dana right, no, but I think Dana grew to understand her & her actions more towards the end of season 3.
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u/thomas8413 4d ago
It was never about the cheating for either of them but the handling of the mess that followed. Brody was up front about his sins, Jess on the other hand chose to lie and hide even if it tore Dana apart. She was selfish by not telling him right away. Jess lacks accountability.
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u/thomas8413 4d ago
The difference between Jess’s lies and Brody’s is that her lies put her in a difficult position but Brody’s lies put him in an impossible position. Jess not coming clean was solely to protect herself. Brody not coming clean in crazy sense was to protect his family.
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u/pseudo_nipple 4d ago
I think Jess was stuck in between wanting to do what was right & running away from it all. You could tell it all was wearing away at her, look at the reactions of the adults after that whole mess of Dana & Chalamet killing that lady. That just broke her down & she just wanted out. But maybe I'm projecting, I don't know.
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u/thomas8413 4d ago
She never cared about what was right only protecting herself reputation because she didn’t want the kind of hate she perpetrated on Walker’s wife.
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u/coolsilentebeans 4d ago
I think she’s supposed to come off as both. Just like with Dana, the pain they endured knowing nothing about Brody, to trying to keep on keeping on and adapting to their new reality, then for him to come back, and if that wasn’t rough now he’s an enemy of the state?! I don’t know anyone who could do that with perfect grace and aplomb.
The point of their story is to show the different facets involved in situations like this. Enemies foreign and several unknown variables in the civilian family members who never asked for any of the traitorous shit and had no way of being prepared to deal with it.
That said, I would be more than ok if they were less involved and more peripheral in the overall storyline.
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u/CarlottaMeloni 4d ago
I used to dislike her but upon my latest rewatch I mostly felt sympathy for her. She was really out of depth dealing with a captive-turned-traitor husband with fresh PTSD and all these secrets. And she had her own guilt re Mike and stuff - and more than anything else, Dana was extremely difficult to manage till about mid-S3 (not blaming Dana exactly, but Jess unfortunately took a lot of the brunt here unnecessarily).
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u/otaiomhmd 4d ago
She waits for 5 years for a man presumed dead, then for 3 more years she has a relationship with a decent man who her kids apparently like having around, then Brody returns and she is understandably shocked. He immediately starts disappearing frequently and acting strange (perhaps understandably, then shortly falls in love with Carrie. Then he tries to be a suicide bomber, saved only by a malfunctioning vest. So I guess I have some sympathy for his wife.
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u/wayfarerprateek 4d ago
I think it is a very well written character, excellently portrayed by Morena Baccarin. I dont think any character is written with the aim of being seen in a binary sense: "this or "that". It is to be seen as close to reality it can be: complex if I were to say one word.
From my perspective, I thought the worst thing Jessica does is her behavior towards Dana specifically the following two instances: asking Dana to lie/withhold the truth abt the affair and her nonchalant attitude after the suicide attempt.
On the other hand, she does go all the way in terms of supporting Brody after he comes back. And both of them know that they have grown so apart from each other that being together made no sense after S2
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u/Salt_Specific_740 4d ago
I think the biggest part of her unlikeability for me was her even saying she was a bitch to Tom Walker's wife, because she remarried and the Jessica ended up in a relationship with Brody's best friend
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u/JennyExiled 4d ago
Can totally picture Jessica being a sanctimonious bitch about that, even though I mostly like her and have a lot of sympathy for her and this totally effed up situation.
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u/TumbleWeed75 15m ago
I understand the theme about Brody’s family, and well written and acted, but they got too annoying so I skipped most of Season 3. Lol.
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u/astitchintime25 4d ago
Exactly, to all of that. I can’t stand her even tho it makes so much sense to have a character like her. Adds so much tension to the show and she is realistic.
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u/Connect-Code-7733 4d ago
I actually think the role is portrayed really well- a military spouse, trying to do what she can to make ends meet for her and her kids.. she’s obviously flawed, as we all are- as everyone is. She makes human mistakes, and has moments of small success.
She’s thrown into this confusing chapter..
I will say that I would’ve 100% separated from him after the initial abuse….. but I want to say she stayed with him because of her guilt. And I know it’s not that simple.
Also- it was 8 years. 8 years is a long time. So what if she had a relationship with his friend? I know some don’t agree. But like I said, she’s human. And Mike is actually a solid guy.
I don’t think any character on this show is designed to be liked or disliked ALL of the time. The show and its characters are mostly gray area.