Is The Beast in Me the new Homeland? Showrunner Howard Gordon breaks down the similarities

Netflix's The Beast in Me premieres on November 13, 2025, and narrates the story of Aggie Wiggs, an author played by Claire Danes, who begins writing her next book on real estate mogul Nile Jarvis. While interviewing him for her book, she also begins to investigate whether he really killed his first wife or not.

The theme of Danes's character becoming intrigued by a character and trying to find every information about him by digging through his life is something we have seen in her acclaimed espionage series, Homeland. While talking to Deadline, showrunner Howard Gordon also addressed the issue about the similarity between both of his shows due to Danes's character. He shared that some scenes might appear similar, as there are "structural similarities" between Homeland and The Beast in Me.

More on this in our story.

The Beast in Me showrunner comments on the similarity between the Netflix show and Homeland

In The Beast in Me, Claire Danes's Aggie has been living a difficult life after the accident of her son, five years ago, which killed him. With his son gone, her life changed drastically as her marriage to Shelley also ended. She is seen living a not-so-great life and trying to work on her book, which does not seem to have a good story idea.

Later, she meets Nile Jarvis, played by Matthew Rhys, a popular businessman, who states that he is a big fan of Claire's first book, which won her a Pulitzer, and also tries to convince her to approve the jogging path that he wants to build in the forest near his house, as they both live in the same neighborhood. For that, he takes her to lunch, and Aggie gets curious about his personality and decides to write her next book on him.

This requires her to interview him and also look into the murder case of Nile's first wife, whom many believe he is the culprit. This curiosity becomes an obsession for Aggie, just like it was in Carrie's case in Homeland. To address the similarity, Gordon shared with Deadline one scene from The Beast in Me, which would remind viewers of Homeland, and said:

"When we were doing the scene under the bridge with David Lyons when she’s pitching her crazy theory to this guy, it was a lot like [Homeland‘s] Mandy [Patinkin]. We referenced it, meaning, the writers, Daniel and I and Gabe, it’s just, what can you do? It’s Claire Danes, she is a hyper intelligent character who has a theory that nobody believes."

He further added that while the shows are different, the "energy" of the "structural similarity" of both the shows is the same, and added:

"That’s the premise for a lot of things, but I think the colors and the time of life and the circumstances around that basic energy of somebody quickly separated became something quite different. But I was totally aware of that energy, more of an energetic or a structural similarity."

Therefore, as per Gordon, both the thriller series share a slight similarity when it comes to the structure of the show, but are different in other aspects.

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The Beast in Me stars Brittany Snow, Natalie Morales, David Lyons, and Jonathan Banks, along with Danes, Rhys, and several others.

Also Read: “Stayed true to who I am”: As You Stood By star Lee You-mi opens up about handling intense emotions in the Netflix K-drama

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