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Review: 'Homeland' - 'Game On': Say hi to your mother for me
A review of tonight's "Homeland" coming up just as soon as I say I'm going to Trader Joe's...
The other day, I was talking with Mo Ryan about how even the great showrunners often have blind spots, giving some undeserving character or storyline way too much burn, and either not realizing or caring about how they actually play. "Mad Men," for instance, has Betty; "The Wire" season 5 had the newspaper. It happens, and usually the shows are otherwise so great that you learn to ignore the part that the creative team can't or won't fix.
But as we pass the one-third mark of "Homeland" season 3, I'm beginning to fear that we have a show made up of nothing but blind spots.
If it was just that the creative team loved Morgan Saylor's performance as Dana and didn't understand that viewers don't care about Dana outside her interactions with her father, it would be a difficult problem, but a survivable one. There is absolutely no reason we need to be spending any time in an episode, let alone this much, on Dana's overwrought, poetry-reciting escapades with Leo(*) — who, like her father, isn't exactly who he claims to be, and has a past and possible future of suicidal behavior — but if the show around her was strong, I would just roll my eyes and move on.
(*) I just realized this week that the actor, Sam Underwood, is the same one who played Dexter's would-be protege Zach Hamilton in that show's final season. The Showtime casting people are more impressed with Underwood than I am.
But there's also the continued survival of Brody, which we talked about last week. There's more time spent with Jessica, who was one of the series' most interesting characters in its first few episodes and has become progressively less so, which necessitates the return from "The Blacklist" of Diego Klattenhoff as Mike.(**) There's a lot of time spent on forensic accounting of the new Iranian villains, which isn't that tough to follow, but has so far just played as a massive info dump.
(**) The same episode also brings back David Marciano for a brief appearance as Virgil. "Homeland" giveth with the returning actors, and "Homeland" taketh away.
And then there's Carrie Matheson. Claire Danes now has two Emmys for this role. She is great in it, and given the design of the series, she's theoretically its best bet as a star for the long haul. (Much as I love Mandy Patinkin, and I'll be talking about him more in a moment, Showtime isn't doing 8 seasons of "Saul the Bear.") But as I talked about last week, they've put Carrie in such a bad place — covering up Brody's assassination of Walden (and not even trying to stop it once she escaped from Nazir), helping Brody go fugitive, being wildly out of control and self-indulgent — that it's amazing to remember how sympathetic she once was.
The twist at the end of "Game On" — revealing that Saul was using Carrie as bait for the Iranians, and that Carrie was in on the plan — feels like a Hail Mary pass by the writers to solve the Carrie problem in a single move. Carrie's not out of control! She's in cahoots with our man Saul! She's still on the side of the angels, and always has been! Like her! Please!
Mostly, though, the revelation just left me scratching my head about what exactly was real over the last four episodes — and not in a pleased "Usual Suspects"/"Sixth Sense" way that made me eager to revisit what I'd already seen, but a much more annoyed mode. Perhaps we'll find out next week exactly what happened, and when, but right now my guess is that when Saul visited Carrie at the end of the season's second episode, he responded to her drugged "Fuck you, Saul" with an explanation of his plan. For all of Carrie's behavior this season to be acting defies credulity, and even if she became aware of the plan at that late date, there's too much behavior from the two most recent episodes for it to entirely work. There are too many moments where she's entirely alone, or in contexts where it doesn't matter who's observing her — except for us in the audience, and we should not factor into this equation — where she acts like this is all real. I can understand, perhaps, why she might try to go fugitive after getting Franklin's offer — it's all a show for the people she knows are watching her — but why is she so concerned about her father and Maggie blowing off the hearing? Why is she near tears at the thought of betraying her country for cash when her back is to bad guy lawyer Leland Bennett? Who are the guys in Virgil's office?
UPDATE: Alex Gansa told EW that Carrie and Saul hatched the plan shortly after the CIA bombing, which means this entire thing has been an elaborate play. Don't buy it. Sorry. And it cheapens a lot of what we've previously seen (like ending episode 2 on "Fuck you, Saul"). Also, Linda Holmes does an excellent job of articulating the difference between concealing Brody's motivations in season 1 and Carrie's here.
And why is "Homeland" playing this game with the audience? It was one thing to keep Brody's motives opaque during the first season, as that year was designed as a cat-and-mouse game where the biggest question was whether Carrie was right or crazy (or both). We're past that point now. We know Carrie. We know Saul. We know about their relationship. You build on that and you explore it; you don't do narrative sleight of hand that doesn't entirely make sense.
And yet I will say that despite my largely annoyed reaction to this twist, Mandy Patinkin's performance in the final scene was just so good — so warm and inviting in that beautifully understated way Patinkin plays Saul — that I came incredibly close to going along with it. Saul was happy with this turn of events, and therefore I should have been.
Which, I suppose, makes Saul my own "Homeland" blind spot.
What did everybody else think? Now that the season's story arc has become more clear — including placing the bad guys in Caracas, which will no doubt bring Brody back into things — are you interested in where it's going? And does anyone want to defend the Dana/Leo road trip?
Alan Sepinwall may be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com
Homeland, Damian Lewis, Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin, Rupert Friend, Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon
Dame Maggie Smith (guest)Riveting episode, and superbly acted by Ms. Danes. I think the answers posed in this review will come in time, perhaps next week, and a little patience is warranted. People chomped at the bit defending Breaking Bad as "slow burn" storytelling and then denigrate it when used elsewhere. It all seems a bit inconsistent.October 20, 2013 at 10:07PM ESTReply to Comment
AnonymousThe entire episode felt like Carrie's fever dream. I'm never sure what is intended to be objective truth and what is meant to be the truth filtered through Carrie's subjective (and damaged) experience.
With a crime show like "Breaking Bad," viewers are more inclined to give the storytellers slack when it comes to making all of the pieces add up and "make sense" than they are in a 'realistic' spy story, where motives and the character's subjective experiences are supposed to be ultimately logical and ultimately consistent - in a plot sense. The viewer can tolerate ambiguity in a crime story. When it comes to "Homeland" - that is, domestic security – the viewer wants it all to add up.October 20, 2013 at 10:52PM EST
GeminiI don't think anyone views Homeland to be that "realistic" anymore. It's realistic characters in unrealistic situations, like most good TV dramas.October 20, 2013 at 11:01PM EST
AnonymousI don;t know, Gemini. The main criticism I read of "Homeland" these days - and it's consistent and harsh - is that it's unrealistic. My point is that viewers seem to have a different set of expectations of what is realistic in, say, a drama about a meth-cooking cancer-ridden high school teacher than they do when it comes to a story about a CIA agent.
I'm not saying I like Homeland better than Breaking Bad. I love them both, and they are equally plausible.October 20, 2013 at 11:07PM EST
GeminiI get that criticism, and I get peoples' expectations. And perhaps in the first few episodes, the show started off hyperealistic. But it hasn't been that way for awhile now, arguably for two years. The criticism that it is unrealistic just feels old now, and certainly rings false when one compares it to other "unrealistic" dramas that are considered the pinnacle of television. As long as the characters ring true (as I feel they do in Homeland and Breaking Bad), I can forgive a certain amount of plot implausibility in the service of good entertainment.October 20, 2013 at 11:25PM EST
FictionIsntReal"Breaking Bad" redeems itself, introducing something that seems like a risk and making it work. "Homeland" used up its goodwill last season.October 20, 2013 at 11:51PM EST
GhostHead56The main criticism of Homeland is that the Brody family story isn't interesting and that Brody is outliving his welcome.
Also, last season was a bit over the top with the 24esque stuff like the helicopter appearing out of nowhere which felt unearned. Whereas Breaking Bad would slowly build the over the top stuff and it felt earned.October 21, 2013 at 1:02AM EST
Jaxemer11LOL. No one needed to defend Breaking Bad. This show is batshit crazy ... in a bad way. There is no slow burn here ... there is only flailing.October 21, 2013 at 2:47AM EST
MamacitoHuh? People were specifically criticizing the fact that it was moving so slowly in the first 3 eps.October 21, 2013 at 11:21AM EST
Dave II sort of chafe at the Breaking Bad comparison. Breaking Bad was not about the Shyamalan-esqie twist. It was about pacing and building up to something special, and yes there were twists yet they were not the out-of-nowhere haymakers.
This is not even about a "slow burn." This was a bait-and-switch for the sake of revealing the "gotcha!" at the end of this episode. The problem (well, one of them, there are several) is when I look back at everything, there is not this Eureka! moment of clarity, just a sense of contrivances where they certainly seem to have come up with an idea or two (namely the Carrie-and-Saul conspiracy and Dana's crazy, possibly murderous-intent boyfriend) and just cramming them in regardless of whether or not they actually worked. For me, with Breaking Bad, and stories like The Usual Suspects and Sixth Sense, at the end things fit together nicely. Here? They felt ridiculous.
Also, as an aside from Alan's review, I like Betty on Mad Men. She deserves arguably less screen time, yet I think she is still important as fallout from Don's womanizing, as Sally, Bobby, and Eugene's mom. I know, I know, I am in the minority there. However, her character development has actually worked for me, and rewatching Mad Man from start to finish has made me like her much more as a character over the course of her arc. On the other hand, after tonight if I never see Dana again I would be perfectly fine with that.
-CheersOctober 21, 2013 at 3:59PM EST
SlamTopic: Mrs Brody, Skyler White, Betty Draper: Kill one, Marry one, F**k one ..... DiscussOctober 21, 2013 at 5:56PM EST
ButImALawyerFor future reference, one does not chomp at a bit, they champ at a bit.October 21, 2013 at 11:06PM EST
madmeme@Gemini: "The criticism that it is unrealistic..."
No, the criticisms are that it's ill-conceived, poorly plotted, and badly written.October 22, 2013 at 5:13AM EST
Hollywoodaholic@Slam. Okay, I'll bite because I'm shameless. You go ahead and marry Skyler because she's good with money, you F--- Jessica Brody because she's just a smoking hot 'companion,' and you kill Betty because, well, because she's already colder than a corpse.October 22, 2013 at 9:34PM EST
SlamBetty Draper - Marry: she knows which fork to use for salald and shit like that, and she'll look great in the Christmas card.
Skyler Whit - KILL. She's horrible. And she was equally horrible in Deadwood as Seth Bullock's wife. KILL.
Jessica Brody - are you kidding me ? That's some baby makin' right there.October 23, 2013 at 2:01PM EST
Dude, read above at what I was responding to about it being unrealistic.October 24, 2013 at 3:11PM EST
Dame Maggie Smith@Butimalawyer Sorry dear, it's champ on this side of the pond, but I was using the Americanization to post her. It serves me right!October 24, 2013 at 3:13PM EST
tinamI am puzzled at the end of this episode by many things; I am puzzled by the flim-flam revealed in the last minutes of the show of Carrie's complicity in Saul's scheme; I agree that there are so many unanswered details of her "incarceration" that seemed to show how real her distress was; and I am puzzled as to why the writers seem to think that we need this parellel plot of the Brody Bunch, specifically Dana and Leo which entails of course her lame and drippy mother.If the show is going to go ahead full steam on whatever plotting they have re: Carrie/Saul and Iran, why take half the show to distract us with Dana's mess. But I am also dreading the return of Brody himself and HIS incarceration in Caracas. I assume these plolt lines will be brought together in a way that probably will defy all reason.
But....I WAS glued to my seat for the first time this season with the Carrie storyline and the scene with carrie and Saul at the end felt pretty cathartic; phew. saul did not turn into the big bad meanie as we thought and I could really feel carrie's sense of abandonment and loss. But isn;t that what these spy-guys DO to people they are turning? I really want to like saul the Bear but somehow...hmmm....just don;'t know anymore.October 20, 2013 at 10:17PM ESTReply to Comment
GhostHead56Maybe it wasn't perfectly executed, but there was a bit of a payoff feel to the ending I agree.October 21, 2013 at 1:04AM EST
hunter2012I happen to agree with Sepinwall about how it doesn't make sense for all of this to be a set up from the beginning of the season. Maybe form Saul's POV it was his intent but I also agree that if Carrie was in on it at any time it had
to be right after that beautiful "Fuck You" moment to him and not before. I think that is when he told her the plan and she agreed to it. I think she would do that even after what she thought was his selling her down the river at the congressional committee hearing because he is a father figure to her more so than her biological dad. So everything to me prior to that Fuck you moment was real including her disappointment in Saul and trying to shop her story to the press.
Since that moment I can buy her behavior as a combination of acting for the hospital personnel, her lawyer, the non CIA authorities etc and her own natural fear of being left in a psych ward and desperately and truly wanting to get out.
It is true of the private moments in which she is alone she doesn't seem to be acting on the benefit of anyone. I often go by that to figure out the character's true motivation how does he/she act when no one is watching or at least no one in the know, like how Dr. Richard Kimble was innocent in the movie "The Fugitive" was truly innocent because he was frantically looking for the one arm man instead of trying to flee to Mexico but the US Marshals didn't know that until late in the game and so thought and treated him as guilty because they didn't see what we the audience saw in Kimble's private moments). But I think her lack of change in behavior private can be explained in this case because her mind is not normal and she has a lot of fears that are banging around in her head I think that is her own natural aversion to being in a mental hospital caused have her acting as if she had absolutely no way out, like a white knuckle flier. He knows the plane will land safely (the odds are greatly in favor of it) but it doesn't help. She knows Saul is going to get her out, but it doesn't help (her seeing that hysterical and panicking patient being held down and drugged most certainly played to her fears regardless and it happened to her not that long before). Her finding it strange that her father wasn't there at her release hearing can be understood from that POV. She needed them as a crutch even if it was an in part act, because it was mostly not despite her plan with Saul.
I also believe her desperation out of being let out in the mental care version of parole was also real. She likely thought that was when she was going to get out as arranged but then she saw Dar Adal walking out of the private meeting with the judge and her subsequent denial of "parole" played to her fears and so she desperately wanted to contact Saul to tell him what went wrong and did it through her lawyer and her bio dad.
So given her mental state I can see how she would still act as if she had no hope despite what she knew. Her mind isn't stable like ours and she was in the belly of her worse nightmare so regardless of her mission that Saul gave her that her captivity was to help sell the ruse that the CIA was out to destroy her-and btw it really is at least with Dar Adal on down-she is not going to act normally and drop the act when she is alone, because her careening, hyper alert mind is not an act despite her plans with Saul.October 22, 2013 at 8:55AM EST
HISLOCAL"which entails of course her lame and drippy mother" - hahaha, well said.
They could have at least milked that scene by showing Jessica in sheer anguish as she calls her daughter 100+ times, totally freaking out that she's lying on a bathroom floor somewhere with her wrists slit, and then cut to Dana cruising happily along with her new hunky boyfriend, ignoring her phone and generally being a dickish teenager. That would at least have contained some real family drama that we could sink our teeth into.October 24, 2013 at 10:26AM EST
Sue (guest)Hm. So this twist is suppose to be worth 3 3/4 episodes of mostly bad TV? idkOctober 20, 2013 at 10:20PM ESTReply to Comment
AdamIf you were ever inclined, go back to the start of the first season. We didn't know who anyone was, what their motivations were, just that we had this unbalanced CIA operative playing by her own rules, and watching this man, this stranger, on hidden cameras all through his house. The danger, the voyeurism, the misdirection.
It was really great television for a while, and what we're watching now bears no resemblance.October 21, 2013 at 10:12PM EST
PobrecitoI wish we could stop the comparisons to the first season :(October 24, 2013 at 3:16PM EST
dlj (guest)I'm not sure that Saul's plan required too much acting from Carrie; she certainly wasn't in on the early parts of it (e.g., his testimony). And so far as whatever limited info he gave her when he visited, her state of mind was and is shaky enough to justify her behavior for the most part.
So far as Dana... well, I guess a defense would be that they wanted to end the story of Brody's family with something beyond the immediate aftermath of 12/12. And we don't know what the resolution will be yet. Right now it's definitely bad though.
So far as the men at Virgil's - I think the idea is that Saul is doing some things outside official channels. He ordered Carrie brought in to keep the fiction that he's doing his best to sideline her. I'm not sure what justifies that exactly, but it does help keep Carrie and Saul going.October 20, 2013 at 10:28PM ESTReply to Comment
VRIn regards to that -- why was he "so angry" on the phone when he heard that Carrie was released by the 6th Circuit Judge? I don't understand what he needed to that for unless he's the only one in this operation along with Quinn. I definitely know (think -- haha) that Quinn is in on it as well.October 21, 2013 at 12:55AM EST
primateSaul had to be angry on the phone because Dar Adal was present in the room with him at the time. My read of the situation was that Saul has kept Carrie's true plan a complete secret from everyone else in the organization, to protect the operation from the possibility of a mole or some other kind of leak ruining it. It only works if the enemy truly believes that the CIA has burned Carrie. This also crucially hinges on Carrie being good enough to evade capture, since the agents sent by Dar Adal would not have been faking it. Saul would have had to have great confidence in Carrie to be able to withstand all that pressure, which I suppose we know to be the case. It also partially explains why Carrie is so constantly upset, because she really is only barely hanging in there. Still, you figure that she would have known that the agency would freeze all her accounts and wouldn't waste time trying to withdraw money and then going to see the bank employee to resolve the problem. But perhaps all of that was necessary as cover in case she was being watched. Who knows. There's a lot that can be swept under the rug of "keeping up appearances", but not quite everything.October 21, 2013 at 4:20AM EST
DarkdougI agree with Primate. In order to make Carrie's defection plausible, they had to go through all the motions. She had to try getting her money, so they'd know she did that, and believe that she was really at the end of her rope when she finally gave in. They're more willing to believe her because she is seen to have no other options, and because she throws up conditions like demanding a face-to-face meeting and refusing to betray agents in the field. Those are the kind of things traitors do to rationalize their choice and minimize the transgression in their own minds.
And it is fully and entirely plausible that this mentally disturbed woman WOULD be having these emotional issues. That she would spit out a curse at Saul (if only for asking her to go through with this, or for letting her volunteer), and she would be suffering and in anguish even when there were no cameras watching. If she was cool and collected and satisfied with things going according to plan in the absence of observation, THAT would have been the unrealistic story.
Alan talks about blindspots, but he has his own, and it seems that when a show dips below whatever creative threshold he holds it to, it can do no right, even while he is willing to skim over crap from shows that are still in favor.
All I know about David Milch is what Alan has written about him, and I've only ever watched Deadwood of his shows, but the writing and his behind the scenes behavior were incredibly self-indulgent. Alan complains here and there about shows that retain characters because the actor is so good, but that strikes me as a better reason than a promise made out of friendship, which is why Powers Boothe stayed employed on Deadwood when his character was extremely redundant. Yet this is usually treated as an amusing quirk, while Morgan Saylor is the target of ongoing griping. If the Brodys were dropped from the show when Nicholas fled the country, people would be scoffing at how the show just passes by the revelations of the finale and their effect on his family.
On 24 people love to complain about Terri's amnesia and Kim & the cougar, but their most ridiculous plot point on the entire show is never mentioned by critics - the scene where a rapist accosting Kim agrees to switch his attentions to a woman who looks like Leslie Hope, when Elisha Cuthbert is in his grasp, because he is asked nicely! But it was a character being a Strong Woman and involved the sacred topic of Rape, so we are not allowed to question it! I don't think that scene was even mentioned in his book when he discussed the flaws of 24.
Similarly on The Wire. It's the Wire and David Simon is a genius, so we are forbidden from questioning his twisting probability until it screams so he can put Frank Sobotka in a position to be murdered. "Oh no, before we will allow you to give us the information to bring down a massive criminal network with two dozen murders in a couple of weeks, we are going to kick you out of police HQ and make you procure a lawyer, on your own, alone, with all the time in the world to change your mind or be whacked." And then when he dies and the case is hurt, we are supposed to buy into The Wire's message that the bad guys always win because of flaws in the system, instead of "David Simon hath decreed it so."
Don't even get me started on the flimsy excuses he'd cook up for Skyler White (her pregnancy exaggerates her cleavage - she's not REALLY hitting on her boss, the fact that she's wearing a plunging neckline has nothing to do with it!! ).
For my money, the single most improbable plot twist of the entire run of Homeland to date is that Brody would agree to, and stick with the suicide bomb plot all the way up through a malfunction that he is forced to fix, when the terrorists have no leverage or control over him, and minimal contact. But it was in the holy and exalted season 1, so no questioning allowed. Instead we are going to pick over the choices and observations of a mental patient in season 2 to find things we can call improbable! "Why would Carrie do this that or the other thing? It's completely unbelievable! This show has gone off the rails!" Um, she's...Carrie? Also nuts? If you can buy that Brody will go so far as a hair from pushing his vest trigger a second time, how can you question the plausibility of anything else he did?
This show makes more sense than a lot of people give it credit for. But because of blind spots, it gets slammed all over the place.October 21, 2013 at 11:05AM EST
madmeme@DarkDoug - LOL! You're seriously comparing 'Homeland' to 'Deadwood' or 'The Wire'? To say it isn't even in the same league would be already giving it WAY too much credit - it's not playing the same sport.
Your huge screed is as full of holes as a typical episode of this laughable show. There are too many to tackle, but suffice it to say that Alan's 100% correct: Carrie's behavior in private does not compute for someone who is playing a part. It was specifically written to trick us - the audience.
But according to Gansa's spin, Carrie sobbing as she watched the televised hearing of Saul testifying against her - well, that was just her reacting to watching the plan play out in front of a national audience! What a load of s**t! This show has now gotten too stupid to even bother wasting more words on.October 22, 2013 at 3:38AM EST
MikeI`m in two minds. I agree about the crying scene Madmeme. That was just for the audience`s sake as well as the fuck you Saul scene. The writers really made a point of her behaviour in private, ending the first two episodes on that, that it seemed like a cheap trick to get to the point they got to and reminded me a little of an inconsistency we`d see on Dexter. But overall I liked the execution of the twist as I had no idea it was coming and it seemed well written and the acting was superb in that scene. But Carrie`s behaviour in private makes it a bit more implausible.October 22, 2013 at 6:06AM EST
madmeme@Mike - I agree the acting was superb (as it usually is in 'Homeland'), but I was expecting Carrie to approach Saul with the 'arrangement' with the Iranians in tow, to offer herself up as a possible double-agent to him - an offer too good too refuse.
What would have been the difference if they had used this approach to get to the same point? Character-wise, it would have meant that Saul really did think that she belonged in a mental hospital for awhile - which, let's face it, is probably the least she deserved for getting involved with a known terrorist, then aiding and abetting that terrorist (the murderer of the Vice-President) to escape.
But the real reason Gansa & Co. didn't plot it in this much more logical and believable way (given the evidence of Carrie's actions in private) was that they would have missed out on the possibility of the bait and switch.October 22, 2013 at 6:26AM EST
Travis (guest)The problem is I dont think the planned on the show going more than 2 seasons. It feels like they have just run out of meaningful storylines.October 20, 2013 at 10:28PM ESTReply to Comment
jimmy (guest)Dude, did you NOT actually see this coming a mile away? It's THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD. Hello in there, McFly!
Carrie's on her way to becoming a fake double agent.
I don't know how this season of Homeland is gonna work, but if someone wants to see how this is done, rent TSWCIFC. It's freakin' awesome.October 20, 2013 at 10:41PM ESTReply to Comment
Jimmy (guest)Alan, seriously, you didn't see this coming from a mile away?! This is plotline of THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD!! And since then it's been done a hundred times. Carrie's on her way to becoming a fake double agent, and the guy she thinks she's chasing isn't the real bad guy. (Hint: real bad guy = Salieri)
I don't know how this year of Homeland is gonna fly, but if you want to see how it's done to perfection, rent TSWCIFTC. It's freakin' awesome.October 20, 2013 at 10:48PM ESTReply to Comment
abby536Hint: Real Bad Guy = Salieri.
Yes! You don't hire Salieri if he's not up to something.
But I assume Saul knows or suspects this and thus he too is pulling a fake out. He's seen Amadeus right?
As far as Alan not understanding why Carrie is all over the place, she's a mess because she was off her meds and imprisoned. She must have questioned her own sense of reality, she knows she can't ever fully trust her own memory or perceptions. Talk about stressful. It was incredibly dangerous and selfish of Saul to ask her to/let her do it, thus the fuck you. That makes perfect sense to me. Is it realistic? No, it's a show continuously set in a heightened environment. Does it track from a plot perspective? Sure. Alan rarely seems to enjoy watching self destructive or tortured characters but I NEVER thought Carrie was likable. Why does she need to be likable? Why can't she be an antihero?
I can only think they're working up to something where Carrie has to kill Brody or he has to die to save her/the country etc. I still think this season should have been them on the run with Saul chasing them, that could have included some kind of double agent thing for Carrie. The chemistry doesn't work if they're not on screen together and their chemistry is 50% of what made the show.October 22, 2013 at 2:45PM EST
Athabasca (guest)So, was Dar Adal in on the plan? His motives were equally opaque.October 20, 2013 at 11:01PM ESTReply to Comment
JimmboDefinitely not. Saul hates him, plus he would not let him into the banking forensic discussion because this whole game Saul's playing is very outside channels. Remember, there's a mole somewhere, so Saul's not letting anyone else in on this - except the pretty Muslim analyst (who he berated last week in a strange and uncharacteristic way, which I guess will be explained in time).
This also explains the spooks in Virgil's office. The CIA at large (including Dar Adal) is taking the surface Carrie story straight. No mole contamination on Saul's secret hijinx.October 21, 2013 at 12:02AM EST
JimmyNo. He's the bad guy, the mole. He's where the 25% huge bank commissions are going.October 21, 2013 at 1:14AM EST
JimmboJust to be sure we're clear: Dar Adal is the F. Murray Abraham character.
And he may be the mole (which is really the only likely scenario to justify FMA's pay grade) but if Saul knew that for sure, he wouldn't need to spring this elaborate trap.October 21, 2013 at 1:34AM EST
JimmboOh, wait. Maybe Athabasca is asking if Adal is working with the Iranians. I took "the plan" to mean Saul's plan.
Either way, I think it should be noted that mole defense is playing a large part in Saul's actions. This explains the agents in Virgil's office, the containment of Dar Adal, etc etc.October 21, 2013 at 2:06AM EST
Jaxemer11Dar Adal is not the mole ... that would be way too obvious.October 21, 2013 at 2:52AM EST
AthabascaI was unintentionally ambiguous. I meant, was Dar Adal in on SAul's plan to have Carrie burrow deep into the Leland Bennet thing. So, yean, Jimmbo, that's what I meant. Thanks for your comments though! I hadn't thought of Dar Adal being the mole...but that doesn't work for me because I think Dar Adal isn't so disposable. I think he's there to give Saul and Carrie and eventually Brody, endless grief.October 21, 2013 at 9:57AM EST
Domenic (guest)Thought it was lots more of the same problems that have persisted in the first three episodes of this season, the plot wallowing in the same conflict, and not progressing. I thoroughly enjoyed the last scene though, and if it causes the plot of the show to change direction, I might just be willing to go along with it. My tolerance, however, is wearing thin.October 20, 2013 at 11:01PM ESTReply to Comment
Chris (guest)THat twist reminds me of 24 season 3 when Jack broke Ramon Salazar out of jail and became a fugitive only for it to just be a ruse to get him undercover except this make much less senseOctober 20, 2013 at 11:20PM ESTReply to Comment
Haik Mendelovich (guest)Ah, the show went irretrievably off the rails at the beginning of S2, IMHO. It almost felt like the writing was outsourced to high-schoolers to save money or some such. Now it's simply too late to right the ship.
Speaking of high-schoolers, Dana is a worthy successor to Wesley Crusher as the teen fans most love to hate, and deserves her very own Usenet newsgroup:
alt.dana.brody.die.die.dieOctober 20, 2013 at 11:24PM ESTReply to Comment
svetlanaI've discovered an easy remedy for the Dana hate....just fast forward. Thats what I do now, I skip every scene involving extraneous Brody family members and it makes the show a million times more watchable.October 22, 2013 at 4:30AM EST
CharlieI'm with you on that. Thank God for TWC On Demand; fast forwarded through every scene with Dana and her convict. Are the show runners that clueless that they don't realize how dumb that plotline it, that's it only serving as filler to get 50 minutes of TV??October 22, 2013 at 11:49AM EST
Kcosmo (guest)I think that the "Saul, you left me in there too long" line (paraphrasing) was intended to convey the idea that because she was in the hospital so long, she was doubting the whole mission, and presumably wondering whether the plan was real or just a figment of her screwed-up mind. Continuing in this vein,she presumably kept following "the plan" out of sheer desperation, but had no idea if it was still a plan or not until Saul hugged her.
I think it's a lot to lump into one line, but that's my read...
-kcosmoOctober 20, 2013 at 11:44PM ESTReply to Comment
davethat's a good read of a line i had a hard time reconciling with the 270 degree plot twist it was a part of, thanksOctober 21, 2013 at 12:18AM EST
AussiecharlyI think you are on to something. I could believe they had an agreement that she would go off her meds and be the scape goat in the Senate hearings, in the hope of baiting the enemy. Details could have been limited. The on and off of the drugs and the resulting very real paranoia didn't need to be 'acted'October 21, 2013 at 6:56AM EST
tinamI think that is a good read on it, explaining in part her true angst and suffering at being in there, and, in retrospect, making her suffering all the more poignant ; also , if we take that read, makes the last scene with saul even MORE moving. Interesting how many viewers are relieved that we can like Saul again, even those disppointed in where the show has been going.October 21, 2013 at 7:58AM EST
hunter2012I think that is exactly what it was. As I mentioned above, I think Saul let her in on what she was doing after she said "Fuck You" to him but of course she still has all of her paranoia and anxieties about being looked up in a mental ward to deal with. Bluntly, she doesn't have a normal mind so it is not easy to drop her "act" even in complete privacy because a lot of it, despite knowing Saul's plan and her daughterly trust in him and her role, ISN'T an act.October 22, 2013 at 9:13AM EST
chuckmourner (guest)Two big problems with this episode. 1) The interminable DANA storyline feels like Howard Gordon BS from his 24 days. It's like every episode has a Kim and the cougar segment.
2) There is no answer to Dar's query as to how a Maryland court has the jusdiction to revoke a Virginia Court order. The only reasonable conclusion is that Saul ordered the hospital to comply. You would think the Iranians would have figured that out too, rendering Carrie a poor prospect as a double agent.October 20, 2013 at 11:46PM ESTReply to Comment
Brody BunchAs to question #2 (BTW, I think Saul, not Dar Adal, asked it: There's no answer because a Md. court has no jurisdiction over a Va. hospital, period. It would not happen. But that also begs the question. What was Carrie doing in a Va. psychiatric hospital? She's a resident of DC (Adams Morgan)so she'd either be in a DC hospital or a federal hospital. A VA state hospital makes no sense. But this is the kind of carelessness we've come to expect from Homeland.October 21, 2013 at 10:38AM EST
John G.I thought you said "defund" the Dana/Leo road trip. Which made me chuckle.October 20, 2013 at 11:48PM ESTReply to Comment
KAG (guest)Building on your premise -- and in defense of the writers some -- it would be my supposition that 1) Saul did tell Carrie of his plan after her FU greeting in the hospital; 2) she's not faking her hospital behavior as her getting out and executing this plan would depend entirely on trusting Saul, at a time when she'd have little reason to actually have such trust; 3) Dar would not be in on this plan, as Saul does not trust him; 4) there's little downside for Saul to do this, as Carrie has such minimal credibility that he could easily write her off if the plan went South; 5) Carrie's reaction to the lawyer would be very real if she's sitting there wavering between whether to trust Saul and his plan, or believe what Leland is telling her about her being set up (which she probably is, by Dar, independent of Saul). So, I find this plot line a lot more credible than you do. As to Brody's family, I'll grant the writer's some leewayto connect the dots down the road...October 20, 2013 at 11:54PM ESTReply to Comment
I agree with all five points you made, especially #5. She has to trust Saul, fear Dar, and all of this in her worst nightmare: being in a mental institution.
Regarding Brody's family: I don't hate it since it is a question as to how all this has affected them and I don't mind if it is explred. I do hope there is a pay off at the end of it.
Meanwhile I just soke in Jessica Broady's hotness! :-)October 22, 2013 at 9:24AM EST
erika_herzogif Carrie had the foresight -- and ability -- to stash a gun and her passport in a safe wouldn't she have thought to put money there too? the whole stealing money from an old hookup is beyond lame. and then how did the conspirators find her?
but really all of this trying to apply logic to Homeland storylines is illuminating Alan's point -- the show is floundering, is nonsensical, and beyond frustrating.
at this point all of the storylines are annoying. now it's an experience of watching, but it's a slow-motion Dana-filled train wreck.October 20, 2013 at 11:57PM ESTReply to Comment
Greg HuffSidebar: You have the BEST avatar image, Erika! I love that album!October 21, 2013 at 12:50AM EST
erika_herzogMe too! :) It was my Facebook avatar a long time ago and thanks to HitFix's wonky website it comes up sometimes when I post.... Nothing like the close harmonies of the Louvin Bros!October 21, 2013 at 1:01AM EST
StephanieI was under the impression Carrie gave up the rest of her stash to help Brody. Passport in one place. Money in the other, etc. When she gave Brody his getaway supplies, there went the money she would've used to save herself.October 21, 2013 at 10:47AM EST
MikeYeah the stealing money part is a great example of why was Carrie acting like that in private? Surely no cameras would be in that guy`s place as he was the last resort to go to.October 22, 2013 at 6:12AM EST
I believe you're right. She gave up all of her money to help him escape, including paying the guy for the fake passport for Brody.
As for her private behavior at the guy she had a one night stand with and stole his money, I think she knew she was being followed by the Organization backed by the Iranians so she went there on purpose. I suspect that guy will be questioned by the CIA and he will tell them she stole money form him, further backing up her cover story.October 22, 2013 at 9:37AM EST
Crys (guest)I don't get why viewers have formed a forum against Dana. I seriously get her, what do you expect from a broken teenager? Ugh! she's a troubled soul and all. After seeing this episode I hope she doesn't loose her life. Its normal to be this damaged after discovering your dad is a TERRORIST!
And about Carrie I'm just holding on tight to the next episodes and hoping she gets back to the "drunk on white wine and jazz mode".
Btw Claire Danes is a great ACTRESSOctober 21, 2013 at 12:12AM ESTReply to Comment
janeI don't know who I'm rooting for to commit suicide first, Dana or her zero of a BF.October 21, 2013 at 1:16AM EST
Chris LBecause we're not interested in watching a TV show about her. "That's what the CW is for!"October 21, 2013 at 9:15AM EST
kronicfatigueListen to the opening credits/theme and then ask if this is supposed to be a cw show on teen angst. Dana's story is forced and off key from the tone of the showOctober 21, 2013 at 10:33AM EST
hunter2012Unfortunately a lot of people including the reviewer don't care for the family drama even though the show is not only about espionage and terrorism but what affects it has on Brody's family.
It was that way in the original Israeli version as well. They deal heavily with the affects of the former hostage's (in the original show there were, in effect, three Brody's. They also spend a lot of time on their families. In this adapted American version they were merged into one guy and elements of all three merged together. The same with the families into a singular Brody family. And if anyone thinks Dana in the American version is a real problem, see the Israeli version of her.) effects on the family. In one case one of them converted to Islam, just like Brody.
Anyway I for one is interested in seeing the effects of Brody's treason has on the family (even though I don't think he was responsible for the CIA bombing, but he did help murder the Vice President. Incidentally that plot that got widely panned in how it was executed was based on some fact as seen on "60 minutes") but many aren't so it is greeted with hostility including and especially Dana's plotline.
Different strokes...October 22, 2013 at 1:07PM EST
ethan_d.a. (guest)I understand the furrowing of eyebrows at the idea that Carrie was putting on a show for no one in her apartment, but most spy novels about deep cover agents (which is essentially what she was for three episodes here) make clear that in order to best pull off their act, they have to to make themselves believe it even in private.October 21, 2013 at 12:17AM ESTReply to Comment
Heisenberg (guest)1) It's still a stretch, but the guys in Virgil's offic could have been there on orders from Dar Adal. Since Saul is playing this close to the vest, not many others would know. Virgil tipped Carrie off. Carrie become frustrated because she knew her task just became more difficult. That's not exactly neat, but it's no more implausible than other elements of the show or others.
2) Watch 24 - Season Three, Episode 7. You'll notice some strong similarities, though 24's execution and logic was stronger.
3) I didn't love the road trip, but the story of Dana following the events of Season 2 is worthy of exploration and well performed.
4) All that said, this show is so disjointed and in need of an arc. Hopefully, the closing twist will put the show on a path. Hopefully, that path is a good one.
We need to start a list of blind spot chatcters in TV history. Here are my nominations:
-Jam on Parks and Rec
-Barney and Robin's relationship on HIMYM
-McNulty (post Season Three on The Wire)
-Betty Draper
-Dana Brody and Nicolas Brody on Homeland
-The entire supporting cast of Dexter
And finally the character from which this list shall get its name:
-The Dawn Summers Blind Spot List
October 21, 2013 at 12:20AM ESTReply to Comment
DaveMcNulty in the last half of Season 4 was absolutely key - the anger he expressed then in being brought back in to work a case but then jerked around was palpable, and brought light to the character through all 5 seasons (including the ridiculous serial killer fake-up). You should take him off the listOctober 21, 2013 at 12:36AM EST
guestIf you actually watched Mad Men you'd know how ridiculous it is to call Betty a "blind spot" character.October 21, 2013 at 9:28AM EST
Dave (guest)Question: What does Saul do once he finds out Carrie helped Brody escape?
Given what we've just seen - Saul going through extraordinary lengths to turn a potential "liability to a lot of people with a lot to lose" into a real live case officer off the books who could make a play on the Magician, we have reason to believe there is a whole lot of trust between them. They just out-Adalled Dar Adal for goodness sake!
Does Saul learn of Brody's innocence as nothing more than patsy? Does he care either way? Does it destroy their relationship? Whether in a fever dream or incredibly triple-double agenting, Carrie's been putting a lot of weight, very publicly, on "needing to talk to Saul" and "letting him know it's working" etc. etc. But the very deep level of trust for this working relationship has to be challenged down to its core once Saul finds out about Brody, right? And, now that we know all things Iranian are flowing through Caracas, Brody is going to be brought back into this CIA-fold right? I agree with Alan that the show is floundering, but at this point, all the momentum is on getting the Magician into a room, hook or crook, even by Brody's help somehow, if necessary, right? And if it does involve Brody, at some point Carrie's helping him across the border has to come out, right?
Btw, All of the setup with the Brody family on the impact of his (presumed) blowing up of the CIA has to play out somewhere - it has to link up to the next story line to motivate the show. And the options here aren't great: keep Brody alive, either vindicate or vilify him; kill Brody, and then halve the cast because they are vestigial or...what exactly? We're nearly halfway into the show and we're still dealing with old business...what is going to motivate this show once the Brody(s) storyline(s) run out?October 21, 2013 at 12:33AM ESTReply to Comment
hunter2012I think this could be a way to get Carrie back into the CIA fould, but Brody? No way even if he is cleared of the bombing (of course he was never CIA anyway but a Marine and then Congressman)
I really don't know how Saul will react if and when he learns of Carrie's complicity in Brody's escape. As mentioned he could well be innocent of the bombing-I believe he is innocent-but he did help kill the VP and there is no way he can comeback from that, not tomention him wearing a suicide vest once, so no Brody is a public enemy no matter what and I don't know if Saul's forgiveness can go that far with Carrie.
Oh and Carrie's need to talk to Saul is not suspicious to anyone. First they know how close she is to him and two, it is the ramblings of a crazy person, so no problem.
Incidently again, "Covert Affairs" and "Homeland" are running similar plot arcs when you think about it. In CA Annie Walker is dead to the CIA and is in very deap cover; in "Homeland" Carrie is "dead" to the CIA-but "talking dead" in that she can expose secrets-but is also in deep cover. Both have a few trusted people working them without the rest of "The Comapany" knowing.October 22, 2013 at 1:38PM EST
VR (guest)I think episode 1 was solid on its own. The last 3 could have been condensed into one episode. Why waste 4 episodes? We're getting nowhere it seems. DO PEOPLE REALLY THINK the real Javadi is coming to the US as the 2nd most wanted man behind Brody? I highly doubt it even after seeing the previews. It's bullshit. Just get down to the nitty gritty and give us some great television. Because I'm waiting for it. Episode 1 of Season 3 had my heart racing. These last few did nothing.
I agree with this author that there's WAY TOO MUCH TIME spent on Dana. That's a good 7 minutes of an episode. Maybe it's 5. Maybe it's 10 (mins). I'm not counting...but for those who are -- it's way too much. And Diego coming back from The Blacklist where he's always angry for some reason was not necessary except for the one packet of information he brought to the table about Leo. This is turning into a Soap Opera. I don't care about Dana. I don't care about Leo. I'm glad they're not showing much of Chris. It's a good thing. Dude sucks at acting.
Bring back the intellectual Homeland!October 21, 2013 at 12:48AM ESTReply to Comment
WastrelWhy wouldn't Javadi come to the US?
After all, Abu Nasir wandered in and out of the US whenever he felt like it.
Remember, this is a world where the CIA is three people, the FBI are one copper with a suit, the NSA doesn't exist, and there is no border security in the slightest. And yet the CIA can kill anyone, anywhere in the world, whenever they like. The USA seems like the safest place for the bad guys to hide! So long as they're hiding in plain sight right around the corner from the good guys, they can never be found...October 21, 2013 at 9:09AM EST
illogicWastrel - how is our border security in real life? Impenetrable?October 21, 2013 at 1:36PM EST
WastrelWell, I'm guessing it's good enough that at no point in the early 2000s were Osama Bin Laden, Mullah Omar, Ayatollah Khamenei, and Saddam Hussein all hanging out together in a Macdonald's somewhere in Connecticut chanting 'death to the west'. Which is what would have been happening in Homeland.October 21, 2013 at 8:09PM EST
illogicConsidering that people that don't have a pot to piss on are able to sneak into the country, I'm guessing that bin laden, Hussein, etc. could do so if they really wanted to. They didn't have a reason to. And of course they realize it's be signing their own death warrant. Abu Nazir knew he would die, that was his intent.October 22, 2013 at 12:16PM EST
GhostHead56Did anyone else see the twist coming? IDK, when Carrie agreed to work for Iran, it seemed out of character and her playing a double agent was the only rational explanation.October 21, 2013 at 12:55AM ESTReply to Comment
VRTo be honest -- I think she really will work for the Iranian's because they're the ones holding Brody. She'll help them to save him at some point. Guaranteed!October 21, 2013 at 1:16AM EST
WastrelI half saw it - I thought she'd go to Saul and suggest working as a double agent, didn't think it had already been arranged (because, as Alan points out, that doesn't make any sense and we weren't given any clues, it was just pulled of of their arse at the last minute as a cheap twist).
VR: yup. At least, I guess, that's kind of true to the spirit of the show, which has always been obsessed with these borderline two-possible-motivations scenarios. That's how they got their drama in the first two seasons, so it'll be no surprise when it happens again this season. Unfortunately, each time it feels more and more manufactured.October 21, 2013 at 9:12AM EST
AdamYa i was thinking she was trying to get "in" and then take that to Saul as a way to prove she was on board again. I figured the rub would be that they wouldnt believe someone wouldve approached her like that. Love the way its playing out now thoughOctober 21, 2013 at 3:41PM EST
GhostHead56I was thinking the same thing. She was going to propose to Saul that she would be a double agent. Saul being involved from the start didn't make sense which is why none of us saw that coming.October 21, 2013 at 4:10PM EST
lolabelle (guest)The idea that Carrie might be so desperate as to actually betray her county was extremely interesting; and her visible inner turmoil made it absolutely gripping. The twist took all of that away, and besides which it was so cheap, I am remembering my original deep fear for this show: that everything was a figment of Psych Ward Carrie's imagination. Please, God, No.October 21, 2013 at 1:52AM ESTReply to Comment
thedemonhog (guest)http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/10/21/homeland-season-3-interview/
Apparently, Saul and Carrie hatched this whole plan before the season premiere. That I do not buy.October 21, 2013 at 2:03AM ESTReply to Comment
Robin JacksonTotally disagree. Much of the season made little sense to this point, now it all becomes clear. Personally I didn't buy the Carrie going nuts in the restaurant scene, it just seemed forced and fake. Turns out that scene and others that seemed slightly off or OTT were actually faked.
Amazing end to the episode and got me hooked and believing in Homeland again after thinking it had all gone a bit meh.October 22, 2013 at 11:16AM EST
thedemonhog (guest)Apparently, Saul and Carrie hatched this whole plan before the season premiere. That I do not buy.
http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/10/21/homeland-season-3-interview/October 21, 2013 at 2:04AM ESTReply to Comment
Jim (guest)Officially Rock Bottom!!! Congrats, Homeland.
So, Carrie's as good of an actress as Claire Danes? WTF!?!? Carrie knows exactly how she behaves when she's off her medication? All of a sudden, despite clearly not being aware in Season 1? We're really supposed to buy this junk? Are you kidding me? I'm insulted for 24 when it's compared to this. 24 knew exactly what it was, and it never tried to be anything different. That's why it won the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy Award after 120 episodes. This show is an absolute disgrace right now.
All respect lost.October 21, 2013 at 3:40AM ESTReply to Comment
madmemeNot only is Carrie as good an actress as Claire Danes, she stays 'in character' while home alone - crying as she watches Saul testify against her at the hearing - even though she knows it's part of the plan to discredit her. Damn, she really commits to the part!October 22, 2013 at 9:51AM EST
GeminiAll those scenes technically make sense and could be interpreted that way though. I don't mind it.October 24, 2013 at 3:36PM EST
Chris (guest)I'm calling bullshit. Cheap trick I'd expect from Dexter writers. Esp since Alex Gansa says it was from outset of season. Then it makes no sense whatsoever. Mighta bought Sepinwalls theory but first four eps are a futile exercise now. Only good thing is a reset on the season and Carrie as double agent.October 21, 2013 at 4:04AM ESTReply to Comment
WastrelThe episode is called 'Game On'.
Might as well have titled it 'Hey, those four didn't count, I'm going to get it right this time, this is the real one...'October 21, 2013 at 9:14AM EST
JayMy thoughts exactly re the Dexter writers! Lol guess they would have been looking for new jobs since end of Dexter, after this episode I seriously wonder if any of them joined Homeland. God help us.October 22, 2013 at 6:17AM EST
Andie (guest)I think Carrie was so worried because even though she knew the plan, she didn't know if she could trust Saul. On the surface, he's completely turned on her, and maybe she thought he was wringing her in for another round. I thought that bit at least made total sense, and re-energized my excitement about the show.
I thought once Brody was back, he'd be back. I'm worried about him and I want him to get an escape, even if it's as twisty as Carrie's.October 21, 2013 at 5:08AM ESTReply to Comment
Life Coach (guest)This show is has the intellectual and emotional range of Bad Boys 2.October 21, 2013 at 5:15AM ESTReply to Comment
Bill (guest)If Carrie was in on this, there's just way too much stuff that doesn't make sense and was only included for our benefit. Why would she have bothered going into the bank and looking distressed in front of the banker? Why would she have called Virgil and tried to get out of town? Why did she act all surprised to her neighbor when her car wasn't there? On another show I might give the writer's the benefit of the doubt that answers are coming, but Homeland has a history of glossing over these types of inconsistencies.October 21, 2013 at 6:59AM ESTReply to Comment
GregThe actress who plays Dana is very good. I don't know how old she is but she looks like she's 15, and, while in character, she carries her self that way. So seeing her in that sex scene was somewhat creepy. Alan is correct, who needs the teen angst scenarios, she commits suicide, mom and her brother move out of state for a "fresh start" problem solved!October 21, 2013 at 8:31AM EST
DaveYes there are so many things that don`t add up that it seems the writers were just so pleased with themselves about the twist that they didn`t think/care about it making sense. Even though I think the scene with the twist was nicely executed they have spent too much time trying to fool us by adding unnecessary things like you mention. Especially the scene at the bank seems ridiculous. Also why did she steal the money?October 22, 2013 at 6:24AM EST
madmemeWhat's even worse is the scene when she's home alone, crying while she watches Saul testify against her at the hearing - knowing full well that it's just a ploy by Saul to 'discredit' her.
According to the interview with Gansa, she's just crying because the full impact of seeing it televised to a national audience is just too much for her. What a joke!October 22, 2013 at 9:56AM EST
BixMadmeme: What's so implausible about that? Remember, she was also legitimately off her meds at that point. She was all over the place emotionally.October 22, 2013 at 4:37PM EST


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