The creative team behind the award-winning series Homeland has reunited for a new psychological thriller. Howard Gordon, who co-developed and served as showrunner on Homeland, now leads the new Netflix limited series The Beast in Me, starring his former lead Claire Danes. The series premiered globally on November 13, 2025, marking Gordon’s streaming debut after decades in network and cable television.
Story of Grief and Suspicion
The Beast in Me follows Aggie Wiggs, an acclaimed author played by Claire Danes. Since the tragic death of her young son, Aggie has lived as a recluse, unable to write and haunted by grief. Her isolation is broken when Nile Jarvis, a formidable real estate mogul, moves in next door. Jarvis, portrayed by Matthew Rhys, was previously the prime suspect in his wife’s mysterious disappearance. Both horrified and fascinated by her new neighbor, Aggie becomes compulsively drawn into hunting for the truth about him, chasing his demons while fleeing her own in a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
The series explores themes of obsession, self-deception, and the stories people tell themselves to cope with tragedy. Aggie sees in Nile the same “bloodlust” that drives her own anger, creating a complex bond between the two damaged characters.
Creative Homeland Reunion
The series represents a significant reunion for the Homeland team. Howard Gordon, who won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for Homeland’s pilot episode, serves as showrunner and executive producer. In a recent interview, Gordon discussed the natural transition to this new project after finishing the espionage thriller.
While Homeland existed in the world of international espionage and terrorism, The Beast in Me focuses on domestic drama and psychological tension. Gordon described his approach to storytelling as remaining consistent despite the change in platform and genre. The series also reunites Gordon with Claire Danes, who earned widespread acclaim for her portrayal of CIA officer Carrie Mathison in Homeland.
The creative team extends beyond the Homeland reunion, with Jodie Foster and Conan O’Brien also serving as executive producers through their production companies.
Cast and Characters
The series features an ensemble cast led by Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys. Danes plays Aggie Wiggs, a Pulitzer-winning writer paralyzed by grief and writer’s block. Rhys portrays the enigmatic Nile Jarvis, a real estate developer who can shift between charming and monstrous.
The supporting cast includes Brittany Snow as Nina Jarvis, Nile’s current wife; Natalie Morales as Shelley, Aggie’s ex-wife; and Jonathan Banks as Martin Jarvis, Nile’s intimidating father. The cast also features David Lyons as an FBI agent personally pursuing Nile and Deirdre O’Connell as Aggie’s literary agent.
Early reviews have highlighted the compelling dynamic between Danes and Rhys, with particular praise for Rhys’s ability to portray a character who remains unreadable at crucial moments.
Production and Global Release
The Beast in Me is an eight-episode limited series produced by 20th Television. filming took place in late 2024 in locations including Red Bank, New Jersey. The series represents Howard Gordon’s first project for a streaming platform after his extensive work in broadcast and cable television.
In an interview about moving to streaming, Gordon noted being “blown away now that I’m in that machine, or under that umbrella, I can’t believe the kind of instant global access that this show will have.” Unlike his previous series that had regional broadcasting limitations, The Beast in Me became immediately available to Netflix’s worldwide audience upon its November 13 release.
All eight episodes of the series were released simultaneously, allowing viewers to binge the entire mystery in one sitting. The show features directors including Antonio Campos, known for his work on The Staircase, who brings a cinematic visual style to the psychological thriller.
Different Thriller Territory
While The Beast in Me shares creative DNA with Homeland through Gordon and Danes, the series ventures into different thematic territory. Rather than international spycraft, the new show focuses on a personal, psychological mystery that plays out in domestic spaces. Early reviews have described it as blending elements of Homeland with the twisted domestic dynamics of Gone Girl.
The series creator Gabe Rotter initially wrote the script six to seven years before production began. The show explores timely themes including true crime obsession, public perception versus private truth, and the psychological cost of unresolved grief.
As Gordon explained about his approach to this different type of thriller, the fundamental connection to character-driven storytelling remains, even as the backdrop shifts from CIA operations to a secluded neighborhood and the mysterious man next door.
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