HOMESTEAD: THE SERIES: Episodes 1.1 and 1.2: “The Wolves Circle” and “The Serpent Strikes”
A faith-filled post-apocalypse drama that earns its four stars — and its caution.
Should You See It?
This is about as good as faith-based television gets right now. The first two episodes of Homestead deliver phenomenal acting, complex characters, and a war-torn America you can feel in the lighting, the handheld camera work, and the landscape shots. It's the rare "faith-based" production that also happens to be genuinely well-made television.
It earns its caution honestly, too. There's moderate realistic violence throughout — gunfights, a corpse shown in full blood, a father shot and falling, a poisoned river, a poisoned IV bag. None of it is gratuitous, and it serves a story that takes grief, PTSD, and forgiveness seriously rather than glossing over them.
If you're an adult or have teenagers who can handle intense peril without nightmares, this series rewards the investment — its faith is sincere, not decorative. If you're choosing for younger kids, wait until they're older.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESAfter the collapse of the United States, a small Los Angeles militia has carved out a self-sustaining sanctuary called the Homestead. When a group of scavengers invades looking for supplies, Jeff Eriksson — the community's battle-hardened sheriff — declares war on the intruders. But the threat from outside isn't the only danger. Inside the walls, Jeff's community is beginning to fray under the weight of fear, grief, and division. Can they hold together?
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is genuinely excellent craft, not just well-intentioned. The acting is phenomenal, the characters are complex rather than simple archetypes, and the worldbuilding of a shattered America feels lived-in and real. The lighting, the handheld camera footage, and the mountainous California landscapes give the series a strong sense of place that many bigger-budget shows never achieve.
This is a production that takes its genre seriously — the post-apocalyptic setting isn't wallpaper for a message, it's rendered with real craft. Between the technical polish and the performances, Homestead plays as a home run out of the gate.
The Worldview
Homestead exalts what Scripture exalts: family, sacrificial leadership, and prayer in crisis. Jeff and his wife lead their community with perseverance and compassion rather than mere force. Characters openly pray to God for guidance, hold a solemn funeral for their fallen, and wrestle honestly with whether God is present in their suffering — including one character who admits she "doesn't believe in God" but still urges her friends to seek Him for hope.
The series is also unusually candid about mental health. It doesn't sugarcoat PTSD or despair, and it treats forgiveness of one's enemies as a real, costly practice rather than a slogan. A subplot in which a teenage boy tries to pressure his girlfriend into eloping — and she chooses chastity instead — models restraint being honored rather than mocked, and the boy's later prayer for maturity gives the arc a redemptive shape.
Where the show is honest about darkness — mutiny, poison, betrayal — it doesn't pretend faith erases hardship. It insists faith holds through it. That's a truer and more biblical picture than easy comfort would be: "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good" (Romans 8:28).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Strong Christian, moral worldview with strong patriotic values is tested in a post-apocalyptic setting where the main character is motivated by a sense of justice and love for his community, his allies pray openly to God for advice, the cast vows to protect their loved ones from outside scavengers, a pregnant therapist is married to a loving husband, the community holds a holy funeral for their fallen soldiers, a mentally unstable girl shares her “visions of God” with her parents, and a teenage boy vows to become a “better version” of himself for his love interest
No foul language
Moderate realistic violence throughout, two men rescue a girl from a trafficking operation, a teenage girl is chased by a scavenger, a man “imagines” shooting scavengers from a distance (his friend orders him not to attack), a father is shot in the shoulder and falls down, and a sheriff takes in an injured scavenger for questioning
No sex
An older man takes off his shirt while shaving his beard
Two teenagers take a brief sip of wine
Two scenes of soldiers smoking cigars but no drugs;
A man uses a dead racoon’s body to poison a river, a teenage boy sneaks away from his father, a man injects a poison into dying man’s hospital IV bag, a soldier incites a mutiny against his sheriff, and a man shuts down a surgery operation on a soldier bleeding to death.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Jeff and his wife lead their community with perseverance and compassion even in disaster. What does godly leadership look like when everything is falling apart?
1 Peter 5:2–3 · Joshua 1:9The show doesn't sugarcoat PTSD, grief, or declining mental health. Why does Scripture make room for honest lament instead of forced positivity?
Psalm 13 · Psalm 34:18Claire chooses chastity over Abe's pressure to elope, and Abe later prays for maturity instead of resentment. What does that scene teach about patience and self-control in relationships?
1 Corinthians 6:18–20 · Galatians 5:22–23The pregnant therapist says she "doesn't believe in God" but still points her friends to Him for hope. Have you ever encouraged someone toward faith you weren't sure you shared — and what happened?
Mark 9:24 · Romans 10:17The Final Word
Homestead earns its four stars the honest way — with real craft, real faith, and real honesty about hardship. It also earns its caution, with intense peril and gun violence that isn't for younger viewers. Our answer: worth watching — teens and up, with caution. If you've got littler ones in the room, save this one for later.
