Homecoming (TV series)

*Homecoming*
Homecoming
	Title screen from the first episode
Genre	Drama; Psychological thriller;
Created by	Eli Horowitz; Micah Bloomberg;
Based on	Homecoming; by Gimlet Media
Directed by	Sam Esmail (season 1); Kyle Patrick Alvarez (season 2);
Starring	Julia Roberts; Bobby Cannavale; Stephan James; Shea Whigham; Alex Karpovsky; Sissy Spacek; Janelle Monáe; Hong Chau; Chris Cooper; Joan Cusack;
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	17
Production
Executive producers	Micah Bloomberg; Eli Horowitz; Sam Esmail; Chad Hamilton; Julia Roberts; Alex Blumberg; Matt Lieber; Chris Giliberti; Kyle Patrick Alvarez;
Producers	John G. Lenic; Marc Bienstock;
Cinematography	Tod Campbell; Jas Shelton;
Editors	Rosanne Tan; Justin Krohn; Franklin Peterson;
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	24–37 minutes
Production companies	Esmail Corp; Gimlet Pictures; Crocodile; We Here At; Red Om Films; Anonymous Content; Universal Content Productions; Amazon Studios;
Original release
Network	Amazon Prime Video
Release	November 2, 2018 –; May 22, 2020

Homecoming is an American psychological thriller television series based on the Gimlet Media podcast of the same name. Created by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, the series premiered November 2, 2018, on Amazon Prime Video. Horowitz and Bloomberg also serve as writers and executive producers alongside Sam Esmail, Chad Hamilton, Julia Roberts, Alex Blumberg, Matt Lieber, and Chris Giliberti. Esmail also directed every episode of the first season, which stars Roberts, Bobby Cannavale, Stephan James, Shea Whigham, Alex Karpovsky, and Sissy Spacek.

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Season	Episodes		Originally released
1	10		November 2, 2018 (2018-11-02)
2	7		May 22, 2020 (2020-05-22)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Teleplay by	Original release date
1	1	"Mandatory"	Sam Esmail	Eli Horowitz & Micah Bloomberg	November 2, 2018 (2018-11-02)
In 2018, Walter Cruz leaves the military after three tours of duty and is placed at the Homecoming Transitional Support Center, a new facility designed to help ex-servicemen reintegrate into civilian life. He meets his counselor, Heidi Bergman, one of the administrators at Homecoming. Colin, Heidi's demanding boss, pushes her to collect "data" as soon as possible. In 2022, Heidi is living with her mother and working as a waitress, when she is approached by Thomas Carrasco, an investigator from the Department of Defense, who tells her he is following up on a complaint that Cruz was held at Homecoming against his will. Heidi says she has no recollection of him.
2	2	"Pineapple"	Sam Esmail	Eli Horowitz	November 2, 2018 (2018-11-02)
Walter Cruz continues his sessions with Heidi Bergman at Homecoming and takes his daily medication as prescribed. His cynical roommate Shrier, with whom he served, doubts that they are there to receive help. Since they arrived at Homecoming via a military flight that landed at a base, Shrier believes they may not even be in Florida. He shares his suspicions with Walter and reveals that he hasn't been swallowing the daily pills. After an outburst during dinner, Shrier is moved to a different room. In 2022, Thomas tracks down Walter's mother, Gloria Morisseau, who is uncooperative but surprised to learn that Heidi Bergman does not remember Walter. Thomas reports his findings to his superior.
3	3	"Optics"	Sam Esmail	David Wiener	November 2, 2018 (2018-11-02)
In 2018, Shrier convinces Walter to wander outside the facility and then steals a van, in which they drive around for hours before encountering anyone else. They stumble across a seemingly empty downtown, but they are convinced when they are told it is a retirement community. Shrier is expelled from Homecoming. Colin wants Walter gone as well, but Heidi is able to convince him that it will look even better for the program if he is successful after initially experiencing disciplinary issues. In 2022, Heidi meets with her ex-boyfriend, Anthony, who reminds her how her devotion to her career — and her boss, who called her constantly — ended their relationship. Anthony is stunned when Heidi does not remember Colin. Despite being pressured to close the case, Thomas follows his hunch and continues to look into Homecoming. When reviewing records, he notices that Walter and Heidi left Homecoming on the same date, May 15, 2018, when Walter was expelled for violence and Heidi was hospitalized.
4	4	"Redwood"	Sam Esmail	Micah Bloomberg	November 2, 2018 (2018-11-02)
In 2018, Walter is upset that Shrier was expelled and his belongings thrown away, including the harmonica that belonged to Lesky, who was part of their unit. Heidi retrieves the harmonica for Walter, who tells her how Lesky was killed by an IED after Walter assigned him to another vehicle. Walter speaks to his mother, who is concerned about him and how vague he is acting. In 2022, Thomas goes to Geist Group, which ran Homecoming, and talks to Colin, who says he doesn't remember Homecoming or Heidi Bergman. Heidi is shocked to learn she was hospitalized and is having significant memory gaps. She finds her old phone and sees she called Colin constantly. She calls Colin, who hangs up on her.
5	5	"Helping"	Sam Esmail	Cami Delavigne	November 2, 2018 (2018-11-02)
In 2018, Heidi bonds with Walter through a series of mutual pranks. One involves Heidi's pens, stapler, and other items she obsessively neatly aligns parallel to each other on her desk; Walter moves them to random angles and leaves them for her to find that way. Another involves bringing into Heidi's office the loud pelican they hear outside, whose cries punctuate their sessions. Colin hears that Heidi returned the harmonica to Walter and forces her to review the purpose of Homecoming, which is to eradicate PTSD via medication "to delete the harmful responses to the traumatic memories." Colin lectures her for returning an object that will remind him of the memories they are trying to erase. In 2022, Thomas tracks down Shrier, who is exhibiting signs of mental decline. Shrier says he warned Walter about Heidi and that she knew everything. Colin goes to Tampa to try to intimidate Heidi at the diner, but is shocked and then relieved when she does not recognize him. He is alarmed when he sees Thomas' business card left in a jar on the counter.
6	6	"Toys"	Sam Esmail	Shannon Houston	November 2, 2018 (2018-11-02)
In 2018, after not hearing from Walter for two weeks, Gloria contacts the VA, who informs her Homecoming is run by a contractor, Geist Emergent Group. Gloria is sure that Geist, which manufactures household cleaners, has ulterior motives. She goes to Tampa and convinces him to leave. While packing, Walter confesses to Heidi he has feelings for her and decides to stay. As Gloria drives home, she calls the DOD hotline, pretending to be a Homecoming employee, and makes the anonymous complaint that Cruz is being held against his will. In 2022, Colin follows Heidi to the laundromat, where she still has no recollection of him, and flirts with her. He introduces himself as Hunter, a military contractor who just returned from Afghanistan and discovered his wife is leaving him. He takes her on a date and they sleep together. She confides that she thinks she did something wrong but doesn't know what it is.
7	7	"Test"	Sam Esmail	Eric Simonson	November 2, 2018 (2018-11-02)
In 2018, in the fifth week of treatment, Heidi is shocked when Walter suddenly has no recollection of one of his funnier memories from service, a prank that he, Shrier and Lesky played on another serviceman. He also does not remember Lesky's death, which he detailed the previous week. Colin dismisses Heidi's alarm and lets it slip that the "success" of the medications means these soldiers will be able to be redeployed. In 2022, Thomas approaches Gloria, from whom he gets audio tapes of Walter's sessions with Heidi. Heidi is shocked to hear she sent the tapes to Gloria. She tells "Hunter" that she needs to go to Homecoming to find Colin, and he insists on accompanying her.
8	8	"Protocol"	Sam Esmail	Eli Horowitz	November 2, 2018 (2018-11-02)
In 2022, Thomas' supervisor Pam chastises him for wasting time investigating Homecoming Protocol. Infuriated, he breaks into the Homecoming offices, which are closed for renovation. Meanwhile, Heidi and Colin explore an adjacent office building with the same layout, which she mistakes for her former place of business. Heidi realizes she has never been there before and feels even more lost. From the window of the other building, Thomas sees Heidi and Colin together. Just then, Heidi hears the loud cry of a pelican, bringing back her memory of Colin. She runs from him as Thomas chases them down. Colin insults and demeans Thomas, enraging Heidi, who pushes Colin into a fountain. Heidi leaves with Thomas.
9	9	"Work"	Sam Esmail	Micah Bloomberg	November 2, 2018 (2018-11-02)
In 2022, Heidi tries to make sense of her role at Homecoming. Thomas escalates the complaint to the DOD Inspector General based upon what he has learned, but Pam calls Geist. In 2018, in week six, Heidi is upset when Walter talks excitedly about his redeployment and his hope that he will be reunited with Shrier (who was sent to a psychiatric facility), and Lesky, whose death has been erased from his memory. She takes him for another lunch at the cafeteria and joins him in eating, even though the food is loaded with the week-six high dosage of memory-erasing drugs.
10	10	"Stop"	Sam Esmail	Eli Horowitz & Micah Bloomberg	November 2, 2018 (2018-11-02)
In 2018, Heidi takes her tapes of her sessions and leaves Homecoming after discharging Walter against Colin's wishes. Walter's extra dosage of Week 6 food leaves him incapacitated, and Heidi loses her memory. An employee at Homecoming falsifies records to claim that Walter was sent home for violent misconduct and that Heidi was hospitalized. In 2022, on being confronted about his altercation with Thomas at Homecoming and Thomas' escalation of the complaint, Colin panics, then suggests that Geist set Heidi up as a fall guy by claiming she was a rogue employee. His administrative assistant Audrey has now been appointed his new boss, and she informs Colin that he is the one who will be labeled the rogue employee. Heidi drives to Fish Camp, California, where Walter at age 17 had gone on a memorable road trip. In a diner, she sees Walter, and they speak for a few minutes. She sees he lives there happily and apparently doesn't remember her. However just after he leaves, Heidi looks down at her silverware and sees that Walter has moved her fork out of alignment with her knife and spoon, just as he used to in her office, and she looks out the window after him with a quizzical smile. A post-credits scene shows Colin signing papers to take the blame in any possible investigations. After Colin leaves the room, Audrey experiences anxiety and rubs the memory-deleting drug on her wrists.

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
11	1	"People"	Kyle Patrick Alvarez	Micah Bloomberg & Eli Horowitz	May 22, 2020 (2020-05-22)
A woman wakes up on a rowboat with no memory of how she got there. She sees a man onshore who leaves when she asks for help. She makes her way to shore in a catatonic state and is found by a park ranger, Donna. A VA card identifies her as Jackie, a veteran. The park ranger takes Jackie to a hospital. The doctor believes her to be a heroin user due to a bruise on her arm, but she leaves before they can confront her about it. A fellow patient whom Jackie met in the emergency room drives her to a bar and restaurant called Skins. Jackie had found a napkin in her coat from Skins. Hoping the visit there will help her understand her situation, Jackie is confronted by an employee who indicates she had indeed been at Skins. Uncovering a bit of her experience, she and her companion seek answers at an adjacent motel. In the vacant motel room, the pair find an empty medicine vial belonging to Geist as well as money, a credit card and a photo of Jackie in her military days. Jackie also discovers that her military tattoo can be washed off. She is knocked out by the stranger who has been helping her. On a farm, Leonard Geist cuts open a fruit, possibly the origin of the memory-erasing drug.
12	2	"Giant"	Kyle Patrick Alvarez	Zachary Wigon	May 22, 2020 (2020-05-22)
At the motel, Jackie silences a car alarm using the car key fob which was in her jacket. This reveals that she had left her car there. Investigating the car, she finds the name of Alex Eastern, which was also on the credit card in the room. She visits Alex's home in Oakland and sneaks in to find Audrey Temple from Geist. From overhearing a phone conversation, she finds out that Audrey and Alex may work together. She follows Audrey's car to the Geist facility where the company is holding a brand relaunch party. Jackie is led into a testing room with other patients where she is invited to test new products. She suspects something sinister is going on, so she flees from the group and tasers the group's leader, Craig. She proceeds to snoop around the facility. Sneaking into Audrey's office, she finds vials of memory-erasing drugs and a photo of her. Audrey attempts to stop Leonard from speaking at the Geist relaunch, but he does so anyway and speaks out against the company. Jackie and Audrey meet, and Audrey calls her "Alex" before asking about Walter Cruz.
13	3	"Previously"	Kyle Patrick Alvarez	Sarah Carbiener & Erica Rosbe	May 22, 2020 (2020-05-22)
Flashbacks reveal Alex/Jackie's role in persuading clients to drop complaints; in this case, persuading a woman to drop her sexual harassment complaint against her company. She is revealed to be in a relationship with Audrey who, under Colin's control, begins to feel not very valued in her work for Geist. She uses the memory-erasing drug to soothe her anxiety. Alex is revealed to have helped Audrey in coercing Colin to take the fall for the Homecoming program when the Department of Defense launched an investigation in the first season. Audrey heard of the investigation and, with Alex's help, managed to force him to take the blame. However, she tells Leonard Geist about Homecoming, which he had not heard of before. He fires Colin for having the veterans ingest the memory-erasing drugs. In Fish Camp, after leaving Heidi, Walter has painful flashbacks. He suspects that his memory actually may not have been altered through brain surgery.
14	4	"Soap"	Kyle Patrick Alvarez	Casallina Kisakye	May 22, 2020 (2020-05-22)
Audrey attends the Department of Defense investigation meeting and confesses to having broke protocol. The meeting is witnessed by Francine Bunda, who later calls Audrey and asks if she and Leonard could give her a tour of the facility. Leonard stops using the memory-erasing drug roller while Walter soon discovers that he received treatment from Geist but no surgery. He becomes aggressive when he discovers that getting a response from Geist about his treatment will take 8–12 weeks. Leonard and Audrey both give Bunda a tour, but when he reveals he is going to stop using the berries, she becomes worried since she wanted to partner with Geist. She feels the program worked since no veteran came forward with issues and the only problem was with the protocols. She wants to revive the program. Leonard refuses but Bunda informs Audrey that the idea is moving forward regardless. Alex and Audrey celebrate, but the conversation moves to having children. Audrey receives Walter's information request, and Alex helps by pretending to be "Jackie" the veteran. She goes to bail Walter out of jail and persuade him to drop his concerns.
15	5	"Meters"	Kyle Patrick Alvarez	Evan Wright	May 22, 2020 (2020-05-22)
Alex, now as "Jackie", bails Walter out of jail. As part of the bail relief, she supposedly needs to do an evaluation but manipulates him with her own war experiences. Audrey discovers Leonard has hired people to rip out the berries and gives him an injunction that cites the berries as crucial military technology and that they belong to the DoD. Leonard refuses to cooperate and begins digging on his own, even with the threat of arrest. Alex and Walter go to Skins for drinks where she opens up about her experience returning home from Syria. Soon the discussion turns to Homecoming. She suggests to him that he probably hit his head and never had surgery. She calls Audrey to tell her that Walter does not remember anything about the program. Audrey, with Bunda's help, soon takes control of Geist and orders her staff to throw a party. Alex and Walter get into an argument when she uses a story of her colleague who killed himself searching for answers. Walter storms off. Alex buys a syringe and a melon, setting her plan into place.
16	6	"Needle"	Kyle Patrick Alvarez	Patrick Macmanus	May 22, 2020 (2020-05-22)
Alex, having purchased the syringe, fills it up with the drug from Audrey's roller and plans on wiping Walter's memory, practicing on the melon. After breaking inside Walter's house, she rings Geist and informs them that Walter is intending on visiting Geist to investigate, and wants Security put on alert for him as an intruder. However when she returns to her motel, she is surprised when finds him waiting outside her door. He apologises and takes her out fishing but the walk there soon leaves Walter questioning Alex's intentions especially when she slips up on her friend's shooting range, saying metres not yards. This leads to Walter confronting Alex, revealing that he followed her after their fight to the supermarket and the pharmacy where she got the syringes in her own car, having said she took the bus. Alex runs away, her cover blown and reveals that Geist is nervous about what he will do to the company. Alex tries stabbing Walter with the syringe but he turns it back on her and injects the drug into Alex who flees on the canoe.
17	7	"Again"	Kyle Patrick Alvarez	Micah Bloomberg & Eli Horowitz	May 22, 2020 (2020-05-22)
Walter witnesses Alex out on the water, she loses her memory and he flees when she tries asking for help. Walter soon drives to Geist and meets Leonard and the two open up about Geist and how much Walter's life has been kept in the dark especially his arrival from the war and he persuades Leonard to finish off what he started. Picking up from the second episode, Audrey soon leads a confused and irritated Alex into a separate room where she informs her of everything that's happened; that she was going to persuade Walter to drop the case against Geist but that she was attacked by him. Leonard soon gives his fiery speech where he berates Bunda and the DOD. During the party, Bunda gives a speech and confirms her involvement in the project while celebrating Audrey who is there with Alex. However, Alex sees Walter as the server and soon everyone drinks a red liquid, revealed to be the memory erasing drug. Alex doesn't stop Audrey from drinking it, and a horrified Audrey looks up to Leonard saluting her, confirming his involvement in the process. Audrey soon collapses not long afterwards. Alex and Walter talk, he tells her to leave the party but she reveals that she is going to stay, because she knows what it feels like waking up alone. Walter drives off with a list of the other Homecoming patients.

Season	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic
1	98% (99 reviews)^[31]	83 (35 reviews)^[32]
2	60% (48 reviews)^[33]	61 (21 reviews)^[34]

Award	Year^[a]	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
American Society of Cinematographers Awards	2021	Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in an Episode of a Half-Hour Television Series	Jas Shelton (for "Giant")	Nominated	^[37]
Art Directors Guild Awards	2019	Excellence in Production Design for a Half Hour Single-Camera Series	Anastasia White (for "Mandatory")	Nominated	^[38]
Black Reel TV Awards	2020	Outstanding Actress, Drama Series	Janelle Monáe	Nominated	^[39]
Critics' Choice Television Awards	2019	Best Drama Series	Homecoming	Nominated	^[40]
		Best Actress in a Drama Series	Julia Roberts	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Shea Whigham	Nominated
Dorian Awards	2019	TV Drama of the Year	Homecoming	Nominated	^[41] ^[42]
Dorian Awards	2019	TV Performance of the Year — Actress	Julia Roberts	Nominated	^[41] ^[42]
Eddie Awards	2019	Best Edited Drama Series for Non-Commercial Television	Rosanne Tan (for "Redwood")	Nominated	^[43]
Golden Globe Awards	2019	Best Television Series – Drama	Homecoming	Nominated	^[44]
		Best Actor – Television Series Drama	Stephan James	Nominated
		Best Actress – Television Series Drama	Julia Roberts	Nominated
Golden Reel Awards	2019	Broadcast Media: Short Form Music / Musical	Ben Zales (for "Stop")	Nominated	^[45]
	2019	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Live Action Under 35 Minutes	Tim Terusa & Kevin Meltcher (for "Protocol")	Nominated	^[45]
	2021		Kevin Buchholz, Brett Hinton, Ben Zales, Dan Kremer, Daniel Colman, Polly McKinnon, Helen Luttrell, Randy Guth, Dominique Decaudain, Pam Kahn, Nancy Parker and Mike Marino (for "Giant")	Nominated	^[46]
Golden Trailer Awards	2019	Best Horror/Thriller TV Spot/Trailer/Teaser for a Series	Homecoming "Forget", Amazon & Buddha Jones	Nominated	^[47]
Golden Trailer Awards	2019	Best Sound Editing in a TV Spot / Trailer / Teaser for a series	Homecoming "Forget", Amazon & Buddha Jones	Nominated	^[47]
Hollywood Professional Association Awards	2019	Outstanding Editing – Episodic or Non-theatrical Feature (30 Minutes and Under)	Rosanne Tan (for "Redwood")	Nominated	^[48]
Hollywood Professional Association Awards	2019	Outstanding Sound – Episodic or Non-theatrical Feature	John W. Cook II, Bill Freesh, Kevin Buchholz, Jeff A. Pitts, Ben Zales, Polly McKinnon & NBC Universal (for "Protocol")	Nominated	^[48]
International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage	2019	First Look - TV Pilots Competition	Tod Campbell	Nominated	^[49] ^[50]
Peabody Awards	2019	Entertainment	Homecoming	Nominated	^[51] ^[52]
Primetime Emmy Awards	2019	Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour)	Tod Campbell (for "Optics")	Nominated	^[53]
Primetime Emmy Awards	2020		Jas Shelton (for "Giant")	Nominated	^[54]
Satellite Awards	2019	Best Television Series – Drama	Homecoming	Won	^[55] ^[56]
		Best Actress – Television Series Drama	Julia Roberts	Won
		Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film	Julia Roberts	Nominated
TCA Awards	2019	Outstanding Achievement in Drama	Homecoming	Nominated	^[57]
Writers Guild of America Awards	2019	Television: New Series	Micah Bloomberg, Cami Delavigne, Eli Horowitz, Shannon Houston, Eric Simonson & David Wiener	Nominated	^[58]

Homecoming (TV series)

Premise

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Guests

Episodes

Season 1 (2018)

Season 2 (2020)

Production

Development

Casting

Filming

Release

Marketing

Premiere

Reception

Season 1

Season 2

Awards and nominations

See also

Note

References

External links

Wikiwand - on