People keep tossing around the term "jump the shark" and it seems like they don't know the definition.
"Jumping the shark" basically means you tried to do some next level shyt which seemed cool at the time, but in hindsight it was a bad idea, and ultimately hurt your story.
If this show jumped the shark it was back in season 1 when Carrie had her nervous break down and was kicked out of the CIA. Which was
at the time, but retarded in hindsight because here we are in season 2 with Carrie chasing terrorists with pipes wondering "how is this crazy bytch still working with the CIA?".
Which brings me to my next point. No critic said it jumped the shark last season, they were too busy praising it. I told people after the Emmys a lot of people thought it shouldn't have won. That's why they're so eager to toss it under the bus now. Which is bullshyt because they're the ones that built the show up in the first place.
I don't know where they're going with the story lines they have laid out, so I'll reserve final judgement of this season until it's over. Having said that, anyone who doesn't see a massive difference in this season, and season 1....from virtually every angle: plotting, pacing, characterization, etc....is blind.
Fred.