Homeland has been relying on a lot of melodrama lately, and while I always appreciate some high-stakes emoting, there have been moments when things start to spill over to the silly side; most notable, from last week, the entire shootout ordeal and the extended car accident subplot. This week’s episode takes a lot of those borderline outrageous moments and centers everything once again, ending in some of the most sure-footed plotting I’ve seen on television lately. I think I gasped out loud at the weirdly easy complexity of it all.
The episode starts with Roya hanging out on along Brody’s running path; Roya is wearing a slouchy morning cardigan and looking super upset, which I guess is code that she’s ready for a meeting. Carrie is listening in on the whole thing, as Carrie will do, while Roya and Brody fight over the aftermath of the Gettysburg shootout, seeing as six agents are dead and the attack is all over the news. Scary. Roya is trying to keep Brody on her path towards higher power, but Brody is getting antsy. Duh.
Saul is visiting your good old local maximum security prison, where he finds Eileen – Saul drove from Mexico to DC with Eileen last season (Homeland flashed briefly to the episode during the “previously on” segment, which is always so nice of them), as she was an important piece of the whole terrorist puzzle that we’re always dealing with. The guard at the prison calls Eileen a “spitter, hitter, sh*tter,” which is just really funny. However, Eileen looks absolutely awful; Saul gets the poor woman released from her chains, and the two enter an interrogation room with some nice sunlight. Saul needs Eileen’s help with the mission at hand – he wants to know if she can identify the mysterious man that led the Gettysburg attack, but Eileen wants a cell with a window before she agrees to anything. The direction of this episode is absolutely gorgeous; there are some really beautiful shots, especially the angles used in the interrogation room and some upcoming caravan drama…
Quinn is alive and well in the hospital, because as I said last week, you cannot kill your most attractive season two recurring character after a three-episode arc. I think that’s a legitimate rule of television. Unless you’re Game of Thrones, where I’m afraid that the entire cast will just be killed every single episode. Carrie and Quinn gather the intel that there is no nuclear residue in the Tailor’s shop from Gettysburg, but that crate probably contained enough C4 to blow up a massive structure. Quinn, realizing he is the most attractive character on the show, hops out of his hospital bed and provides a side butt shot. It was bound to happen sooner or later.
That upcoming caravan drama! Finn and Dana are in the back of a limo en route to a nice white male fundraiser, where Dana comes clean that she went to the car accident woman’s funeral and that she wants to come all the way clean to the cops. Finn isn’t on board with this entire plan and just looks really bored in general, but Dana convinces the cute little bugger. I don’t think this relationship is going to work out, you know? In a different limo, Jessica and Brody and talking about Mike and the Tom Walker whispers; Jessica is wearing a fantastic dress, and Brody technically tells Jessica that he killed Tom. I say “technically” because Brody made up a lot of details and promised he was telling the entire truth to his skeptical/manic wife.
Some man named Rex owns the house that is holding the fundraiser, where Finn is clearly looking shifty from second one of arriving. Also, the Vice President’s wife, Cynthia, offers everyone lemonade; I would want some serious hard alcohol if I was about to walk into an entire epic day of fundraiser family weirdness. Brody steps out for a second to call Carrie – “How does my wife know about Tom Walker?” Carrie is going to deal with Mike, Estes is going to keep an eye on Brody during the fundraiser, and Quinn is going to continue taking a lot of prescription pain meds. Everything’s covered! For now!
Eileen has zero trust in any human beings, so Saul needs to show her that she has a windowed cell before she says a single word. That makes sense, as I would have the same bitchy attitude if I were in maximum-security prison. Saul meets with the warden in an attempt to speed up the whole window process, but the warden is a huge ass and basically questions Saul’s power/important. Bad move, bud. Saul will go around the fool, because Saul has all of the military clearance in the entire history of the world, but it will take more time.
Carrie meets up with Mike on a park bench thing, where Carrie tells Mike that he needs to “cease and f*cking desist” before he seriously screws with a matter of national security regarding Brody and Tom Walker. Or, actually, regarding Jessica. Carrie bonds with Mike because it is obvious that Mike is still madly in love with Jessica. Seeing as Carrie is still madly in love with Brody (I think? Can we confirm? Are we being played here?), the two have kind of maybe a lot in common. I don’t see them ever being friends however, so I won’t push Carrie & Mike filling the Paris & Nicole roles, respectively, to headline a reboot of The Simple Life.
Brody is being ogled by some awful woman in all pink at this fundraiser pool party (the fundraiser gets more confusing the longer the episode plays out); this woman looks like she is maybe related to Molly Shannon and was an extra in some direct-to-video Legally Blonde sequel. Leave Brody alone! He just survived life as a prison of war after he converted to Islam and become a sleeper cell! Elsewhere at the estate, the VP and Estes are screaming about “lunatics on the loose with their goddamned explosives,” and we all know that this is going to end poorly. Brody is suddenly in the middle of a horse barn with Rex – Rex confesses that he thinks Brody will be the President of the United States soon enough, and that is basically the only reason he is supporting the Walden/Brody ticket. Brody is all “I’m not the man you think I am, blah blah,” but no one is listening to him. I wish people would start listening.
Carrie is waiting in the trees behind the barn, and Brody comes to find her. I HATE THIS. Carrie and Brody and basically doing the dirty in the middle of the woods; however, we must remember that Quinn told Carrie to make sure Brody felt powerful and in control, as everyone is getting nervous of Brody’s crazy outbursts. The sexual encounter ends with a classic Brody moments – “I do feel used, and played, and lied to… but I also feel good. Two minutes with you and I feel good. How do you pull that off?” And it’s not fully a compliment to Carrie. Brody and Carrie have maybe the most terrifyingly exciting relationship on television right now.
Finn is wandering around the party chugging forgotten, which is what I would also be doing at this point in the evening because this party is horryfing. Dana is acting like a prissy little whore, screaming at Finn that they need to come clean. Hey, Dana – why don’t we wait till all of these rich political fundraiser fools leave before we start discussing your accidental murder? Thanks! Unfortunately, Cynthia and Jessica overhear the spat, and it all comes out in the open. Great work, Dana.
We must remember the poor folks that couldn’t make it to the fundraiser – Saul is still waiting around the prison, waiting to hear the okay from the Attorney General so Eileen gets her room; Saul brings a nice picnic of wine, cheese, and bread for Eileen. So sweet. Eileen mentions Saul’s wife, Mira, and we’re reminded that she is living in Mumbai and Saul’s heart is always bleeding. Saul finally gets the green light, Eileen reviews the documents about her room transfer with some nice glasses that Saul lends to her, and Eileen provides a name for the man – Mohammed Al-Gamdi (spelling is, umm, the best I could do – I’m sorry).
Quinn is in charge of the team to nab Mohammed, who lives near Newark; when the FBI raids the home of this shady characters, it turns out that Mohammed is a nobody musician that Eileen used to know from her family’s old security team. So…Eileen? Turns out the poor sad soul used the entire ploy so that she could kill herself, slitting her wrists with the shards of Saul’s glasses after finally getting her window. Saul let his emotions get the better of him, and the CIA team is floundering.
Brody goes for a midnight swim while Cynthia and Jessica get all of the murder details from the kids; Jessica is ready to take the information to Metro North, but Cynthia states she will take care of the drama. Obviously, Cynthia and the VP will make sure it looks like the thing never happened. Jessica is furious, and explains the situation to Brody; Brody decides to take Dana to Metro North himself. Finn and Dan maybe possibly break up forever, as Finn reveals the reason he liked Dana so much was because she didn’t understand the dark world of politics. Everything is politics.
Brody and Dana are walking up to the doors of Metro North, but Carrie is blocking their path. CARRIE. Estes made Carrie take over the scene, as Carrie had to make sure Brody realized the severity of the deed he was about to commit – if Brody called in the crime, he would break ties with Walden and therefore end his campaign for Vice President; if Brody lost his influence as potential leader of the United Statues, Abu Nazir would no longer need Brody and the entire CIA mission to find Nazir would fall apart. SURE-FOOTED PLOTTING! Homeland took some minor drama of a supporting character and wrapped it around the main arc of season two, woven so tightly that the politics surrounding Dana’s car melodrama is now crucial to the forward momentum of… everything. Oh, Homeland! I am so sorry that I ever doubted your greatness! POLITICS!
[Image Credit: Kent Smith/Showtime (2)]
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