True confession time: I have tried intermittently to get into “Homeland” since its debut, but never could. Too political or too something. In any case, not for me.

Until now. The first two episodes of Season 4, both airing tonight, had me on the edge of my seat. It was like a much better version of “Zero Dark Thirty” from an early episode bombing strike onward.

And Claire Danes, who will always have a place in my heart as Angela in “My So Called Life,” is riveting as Carrie Mathison. Maternity has not softened the CIA operative; she is as complex and devoted to her work as ever.

When her boss (playwright Tracy Letts!) inquires about the mental well being of another operative (Rupert Friend’s Quinn) fresh from the field, Danes’ Carrie urges understanding.

“Give him some time – he was right in the middle of it,” she responds.

“Yeah,” her boss says, “so were you.”

But Carrie isn’t like everyone else, as surely everyone knows by now. People keep asking the Drone Queen whether she’s ever troubled when tactics go wrong, and she deflects.

“I try to see the big picture – the mission,” she responds after one such inquiry.

“Homeland” took some knocks last season, which saw the death of Damian Lewis’ turncoat officer Nick Brody, the father of Carrie’s child. Whether or not disappointed fans will be ready to see the larger creative picture is up to them.

I just know I’m completely on board.

“Homeland” Season 4 debuts on Showtime at 8 p.m. ET/PT