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.
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