'Homeland' Season 2: 4 ways to prepare

The countdown to "Homeland's" Season 2 premiere this Sunday (Sept. 30) is in full gear. Not prepared? Here are four ways you can spend the weekend catching up on TV's best drama.

1. Marathon Season 1: If you're one of the five people that hasn't watched Season 1 yet, cancel your plans to go outside and sit back and watch the "Homeland" marathon on Showtime, starting at Noon ET on Sunday.

2. Check out the original "Homeland": Gideon Raff, who last week took home an Emmy for Outstanding Writing along with Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, is also the creator of "Prisoners of War," the Israeli show "Homeland" is based on. Hulu's  first exclusive non-English series, all 10 episodes of the original are available for viewing.

"Prisoners" deals with the mental rehabilitation of Uri Zach and Yoram Toledano, two soldiers that returned from 17 years of captivity. "It's an emotional journey," Raff explains. "It explores very harsh topics -- PTSD, coming back from such a long time ... in Israel it was the highest rated drama of all time, it brought up many issues that were taboo."

3. Stalk the cast on Twitter: If you're not already following each cast member who's on Twitter, check out Showtime's official list. Star Claire Danes isn't tweeting but @FakeCIACarrie is, in addition to her nemesis, and lover, @FakeSgtBrody.

4. Make some educated guesses: Can't wait any longer? Check out these "spoiler stills" from Season 2 and start predicting what's going to happen when "Homeland" returns.