Espionage thriller Homeland returns to US screens on September 30th, and to mark the occasion, Showtime has put out a ‘Look Again’ trailer, which we’ve included above.
They’re not giving a lot away – the 30 second clip consists of troubled CIA officer Carrie superimposed in front of a series of flashing images that echo parts of the first season – a bit like a holodeck of regret.
Interestingly, Showtime have used the trailer to kick off what appears to be an ‘alternate reality game’ – which is a type of game ‘played’ on the internet, often by decoding messages and puzzles. They’ve been used to great effect for marketing purposes before, A.I: Artificial Intelligence’s‘s “The Beast” campaign was the first mainstream promotional ARG, and since then they’ve been used to promote Halo 2 Lost, Cloverfield, and even a Nine Inch Nails album.
You can take our word for it, or with some careful clicking you should be able to spot them yourself. If you pause the video at the three second mark, the web address ithitshome.com is displayed, and at five seconds in you can see the web address sho.com/dnalemon.
ithitshome is the hashtag displayed at the end of the video, (which coincidentally ends with the message “Look again”…) and currently shows a longer video – comprised of clips from the first season that ends with a message imploring viewers to help Carrie; “Can you put the pieces together and neutralize the threat before everything she believes in is gone?”
The second web address – sho.com/dnalemon appears to be either incorrect, or the page hasn’t been created yet. A quick google for “DNA Lemon” reveals that it happens to be a strain of cannabis, but it’s fair to say that this is unrelated to Homeland, unless it’s an obscure reference to Carrie’s paranoia…
Homeland enjoyed critical success – with many suggesting that it’s the best programme of 2011. With season one ending on Channel 4 not so long ago, we’re pleased to see it’s back for a second season. And if you find any more clues, why not pop them in the comment box below?
