“Whatever you decide, I’m truly sorry for what happened to you, and I wish you luck.”
In the type of environment Carrie and Quinn and Saul and the rest live in, the concept of choice becomes muddled, and your own agency oftentimes becomes secondary to what’s happening around you. Moving forward, Aayan must decide whether or not to tell his story in exchange for a ticket out of Pakistan, but either way, he’s still doing something that’s the result of him simply being thrown into a situation unwillingly. He wanted no part of this, he’s afraid, and ironically, the fact that he’s an aspiring doctor is used to trick him, to get him into a room with Carrie, to get him to hear an offer that would allow him to live out those aspirations elsewhere.
If part one illustrates a Carrie Mathison who is intelligent, capable, and determined, part two illustrates a Carrie Mathison who is adrift, out of place, and drowning. Her home is in the field, outside of the United States and far away from her baby–and therefore her past–and she’ll do anything to stay there because without the work, she has no idea who she is.
Nicholas Brody was never going to make it out alive. Nicholas Brody knew he was never going to make it out alive. Nicholas Brody has accepted his fate.
As we close out the third season of Homeland, I’m finding myself impressed by the ability of the writers to still reach into our bodies and crush our hearts, to craft a poignant, contemplative episode that ties up Nicholas Brody’s storyline while still being emotionally resonant. After I finished watching this episode, I realized how perfect a series finale this could be; our characters have all moved on with their lives, all of them in a relatively happy place. Yes, even Brody.
Even though he ends up being hanged by the very people that first turned him, he’s made peace with his destiny; we saw some of those feelings doled out over the course of the season, from the seemingly hopeless prison in the Tower of David to his conversation with Nazir’s widow last week. In “The Star”, we get them full-on. For example, Brody reminisces about his father and tells Carrie he was born in the desert, evoking the idea of coming full circle; it’s similar to last week’s choice of beginning his redemption in the “place where it all started”, but this time, he ends his journey in, symbolically, the place where he started.
Another great scene I’d like to mention is Carrie’s and Brody’s right before Brody’s arrested. It’s a well acted scene–great acting all around in this episode–for Danes and Lewis, and it’s brilliantly written. For once, the “star-crossed lovers” shtick season 2 was forcing on us doesn’t seem tacky or manipulative; instead, we see two psychologically broken people drawn to each other in the moment. Carrie remarks that the reason she was put on Earth was so that their paths could cross, and Brody responds by saying that this idea is “the only sane thing left in the world”. It’s true, isn’t it? Brody’s not going to indulge in escapist idealism, but he’ll indulge in one final goodbye. I mean, let’s face it: he’s not going to have any kind of life in the United States, regardless of what Carrie says. He also can’t expect to stay in Iran when he’s just killed the head of the Revolutionary Guard. So he’ll, say, allow Carrie to stay on the line for a few more seconds, and he won’t put up a fight when she says she wants to witness the hanging, but he’ll also slowly help her on her own path to acceptance.
In fact, much of this episode is about tempering Carrie, the pregnant idealist who loves to disobey orders. For example, Javadi asks her why she wants to burn everything she’s worked for to the ground and why she would torture herself like this; this brings us back to Brody. The episode asks “Why? Why is Carrie giving up her life for Brody?” It also asks “Why can’t she let him go?” Throughout the hour, we see Carrie and Brody clashing over the merits behind his actions; Carrie says she’s thought about the present situation weeks in advance, and she tries to justify his actions by telling him that for Marines, the rules are different. Yet, Brody responds by bringing her back down to Earth; no, for Marines, the rules aren’t different. He needs to pay for his actions.
So that brings us to the final theme of this episode: legacy. We jump four months after Brody’s hanging–a strangely beautiful scene–to find ourselves in a whole new world: Carrie’s about to have her baby, Saul’s become more successful outside of the CIA, and Lockhart decides to promote Carrie to station chief in Istanbul. Now, it’s all about the future and the part Brody has (or doesn’t have) in it. Carrie wants to immortalize him on a wall of stars, but understandably, Lockhart won’t budge; the fact that she doesn’t drag on the issue is a sign of change, a sign of acceptance. She’ll start a new life in Istanbul, but she can’t be connected to Brody through his child. She’s afraid, both of the future itself and of the potential corrupting of it by the past, but she needs to move on; like Quinn says, if she doesn’t, she’ll regret it.
So instead, in one final act of compassion, she adds a new star to the wall of the CIA; she doesn’t need to defend him in front of everyone else anymore. It’s for both herself and Sergeant Nicholas Brody: a hero, a traitor, and a star.
GRADE: A-
OTHER THOUGHTS:
-Kudos to Lesli Linka Glatter for her direction in this episode. That final scene is absolutely gorgeous.
-The final scene works emotionally and thematically for me, but let’s not forget that Carrie used a Sharpie to draw a star on a memorial wall in the CIA.
-Saul has shades of Carrie throughout the proceedings; in fact, Lockhart and Adal have to temper him.
-Speaking of, I thought Lockhart and Adal would play more prominent villain roles in the show, but thankfully, they come across as sensible CIA agents.
-The final scene, as well as Saul and Carrie’s goodbye, reminds me of the season 2 finale. Yet, instead of the contrast of hundreds of dead bodies and the reunion of the two, they say goodbye while those dead bodies are immortalized on the wall.
-It’s awful that Carrie doesn’t have any consequences for her actions in Iran; how in the hell is she still part of the CIA, getting a promotion, and why does she even want to remain a part of it? Oh well, it looks like in Istanbul, she can break all the rules she wants.
-How can Brody just walk out the front door after he kills Akbari?
-Why does no Iranian think of interrogating Brody? Also, it was kind of stupid for Carrie to expect Javadi to give her anything.
-Now that I think about this, the plot continues to be so ludicrous that, if I wasn’t in a better mood, would knock this grade down a few notches.
-Also, Saul’s plan worked. Ha.
-The show’s portrayal of Iranian people probably isn’t very kind; last week, pretty much everyone was cheering for Brody, therefore categorizing every Iranian as being fine with terrorism.
-No Dana or Jess; in fact, Saylor and Baccarin aren’t regulars next season. It makes sense, given Brody’s death, and I like how they still hang over the proceedings in the episode. As for Chris, he’ll be playing with his rubber ducks.
-I’ll miss Damian Lewis. Brody was sometimes a frustrating character, but Lewis was magnificent.
-See you all next year. I have no idea where the show’s going next, but I’m looking forward to it. The season was choppy, but it ended beautifully. Thanks for reading.
Sergeant Nicholas Brody is a traitor; there’s no dispute about that. However, is he someone who will try to repent for his sins? Is he someone who will put aside his differences with his country and carry out the assassination of General Akbari? For most of the episode’s running time, we’re led to believe that no, this is not the case, and the episode cleverly manipulates our notions of who Brody is.
Is it one manipulation too many? You know what? I don’t believe so. When he tells his assembled Iranian fan club that he has nowhere to go, he’s being 100% truthful. There’s no way he could ever be accepted back into American society–if he was, it’d be an egregious plot twist that would serve absolutely no purpose, save for the satisfaction of the Showtime executives–no matter what he does. In fact, we can see that he prepares himself for any outcome; he’s much more rational here than, say, Carrie, who’s still off being an awful CIA agent and ruining the plans of pretty much everyone.
Getting back to Brody, his conversation with Nazir’s widow is very telling; in fact, right then and there is his repentance. Right then and there, he acknowledges how much he’s ruined his daughter’s life (yeah, I know you feel the deepest connection to Dana, but again, no mention of the other two members?). At that table is essentially Nazir’s family, two people brought together through a mutual love, but two people who are working together to move on in their lives. Brody’s smiles in response to the outpouring of the Iranians’ love are genuine, but he recognizes the necessity of paving a new path. He takes a second at the end of the episode to revel in “the place where it all started”, but also deems it appropriate to begin anew there.
So, it’s a nice handling of Brody’s character; my one gripe with the ending is how it validates Carrie to an extent. I like how Javadi takes her aside and criticizes her attachment to Brody, as well as how Brody acknowledges the insanity of her plan, and hopefully this kind of scolding continues to take place. There’s no way Saul and the rest can forgive her for intervening and acting like a righteous asshole, even considering Brody takes out Akbari at the end. Carrie’s biggest asset and her biggest flaw is the same: doing what she believes is the right thing. She believes that running away with Brody will benefit both of them, and she believes that Brody is still the same person, the same embodiment of her idealized version of the future.
Nevertheless, the episode itself continues last week’s excellent spy/suspense scenes, delivering some tense sequences that are thoroughly entertaining and compelling. Hopefully next week’s finale is able to deliver a satisfying conclusion to a, for the most part, redeeming season.
GRADE: A-
OTHER THOUGHTS:
-I like the more grounded portrayal of Adal and Lockhart recently; they’re acting like reasonable government officials with a job to do, not like mustache-twirling villains who want to take Saul’s job.
-I wonder if we’ll see the Brody family next week. I don’t think we really need to.
-Will Brody die next week? I’m hoping he does; the writers have given him a pretty nice arc here, and even though he’s redeemed himself somewhat, he’s still in a position where’s he got nowhere to go. Any progress he makes now is in service of both the operation and his own psyche.
-Once again, Damian Lewis does some fantastic work.
Credit to Showtime and Homeland for all pictures. I own nothing.
I like how simple this episode is. It isn’t trying to do too much; it’s just a straightforward spy/suspense story, and while it obviously isn’t perfect, it strikes a nice balance between the character moments and the (still implausible but entertaining) operation. Homeland’s strength is taking us through these specific set pieces, a la The Weekend and Q&A.
Anyway–and I’ve said this ever since the inception of the storyline–this Brody arc is really implausible. So what, he’s just going to traipse into Iran with no plan and just kill the head of the Revolutionary Guard? Sounds fun. When Brody’s car essentially gets sliced in half, we don’t expect him to survive, but we do because we know he won’t die here (if that makes a lick of sense). Also–and this will be my final gripe about this–I find his quick turnaround into the badass Marine again a bit contrived.
Of course, the show’s yet again found some way to make this entertaining. The whole shootout sequence is very well shot for a nighttime scene, and when the episode strays away from the operation, there isn’t any forced political intrigue by way of an evil Senator Lockhart; although there’s a tension simmering between everyone, their actions here seem realistic and the interactions don’t seem all that meandering.
As for Carrie, I do think the Brody-Carrie stuff does have some good aspects, save for of course that awful “We have to abort!” line. I don’t think it descends into soap opera shenanigans TOO much here because 1) they play equally off of Carrie seeing the Marine in Brody as seeing the Lover in Brody and 2) Carrie realizes the “I have faith” line is bullshit and just a fantasy. Fantasy is Carrie’s greatest flaw, and it’s nice to see her recognize it here.
Carrie still does mind-numbingly stupid things, but this episode also helps reflect a bit of why she’s good, what with her manipulation of Fara. It’s not enough in the grand scheme of things, yes, but she and Patinkin are just able to sell her arc in this episode.
All in all, it’s another solid outing that has me looking forward to the final two episodes.
GRADE: B+
OTHER THOUGHTS:
-The pregnancy stuff is as bad as I thought it would be; I find it hilarious that people have to keep reminding her of it: “So this operation is going to involve this and this and OH YOU HAVE A BABY INSIDE OF YOU!”
-I half expected Carrie to blow up in the conference room and start telling everyone the baby actually is Brody’s. “Look at this ultrasound, world!” she says, waving it in front of Saul’s face and pointing out the red hair she scribbled on it with marker.
-For some reason, every time they cut to Carrie or Saul chewing the gum, I got really annoyed.
-After the other guy went “I don’t have kids, you dumbass!”, I fully expected Brody to go “Yeah, same here.”
Credit to Showtime and Homeland for all pictures. I own nothing.
Let’s get this out of the way first; much of what goes on in this episode plot-wise is absolutely ludicrous; Saul’s Iran master plan, for one, as well as everything involving Brody’s ridiculously quick recovery, Alain Bernard, and the like. Of course, like I mentioned before, sometimes you just have to put that aside for a bit.
Character-wise, this is a fantastic episode. The acting, as always, is impeccable, and Danes and Lewis convey the tension and desperation of two people clinging to each other out of necessity. Lewis in particular goes through a wide range of emotions in a short amount of time, but we’re still allowed to see the detrimental effects the heroin has caused. In addition, his first scene with Carrie is a highlight.
Although I’m still frustrated with Carrie’s continual playing of the victim card and her penchant for not giving a damn about orders, it still paves the way for a great Dana-Brody scene that is miles better than any other Dana offerings in a while. It reminds me of those fantastic season 1 scenes in which her character isn’t bogged down with extraneous storylines and idiotic boyfriends. Here, when she asks Brody to write down what he wants her to say, you can see the conflict in his eyes; he obviously knows she’s not serious about it, but she’s one of two people that he sees as truly understanding, and he wishes everything were as easy as writing a script. It explains in part why he doesn’t ask to see Jess and Chris–although seriously, Brody? Not even one mention?
Elsewhere, we’re at least seeing Saul’s plan come fully into focus, as implausible as it is. Patinkin’s always greatest when bouncing off of Danes, and this week does a nice job of tying Saul, Brody, and Carrie together while propelling the endgame even farther forward. Saul has a similar control over Brody as he does Carrie; he can always get them to do something “one last time”, and we’ll see how Brody’s turns out. Here’s hoping the last fourth of the season ends the season on a good note.
GRADE: B+
OTHER THOUGHTS
-Not much Quinn this week. Hopefully he doesn’t get pushed aside in favor of Brody’s increased presence; in fact, the show should play off that dynamic a bit more.
-I like to think Dana’s friend just abandoned her there.
-I’m just grateful the show gave some scenes a chance to breathe here. So far this season, it’s either been mind-numbingly slow or way too quick, and I’m happy for the change of pace amidst the forward momentum; an example of this is Carrie and Brody’s first scene.
-Will Brody survive this? Knowing the Showtime executives, they’ll probably have him accidentally kill Javadi, go through a foot chase through the streets of Iran, then blow up an embassy or something before jumping into a river and seeing Chris at the bottom of the water.
-I said last week I wouldn’t get this up until much later, but it turns out that’s not the case! Still, next week looks to be crowded yet again, what with The Walking Dead’s midseason finale, Homeland, Masters of Sex, and Treme’s premiere.
Credit to Showtime and Homeland for all pictures. I own nothing.
Polar Bears Watch TV 