HOMELAND

[ultimoDANK]

I'm not sure how anyone ever thought Saul was the "big bad"

I liked this episode but it was disappointing to have Clark Johnson as a homicide detective and NOT just call him Meldrick Lewis.

[Petey]

I think it was the 24 thing where eventually you just assumed that everyone except Jack Bauer (and Chloe) was evil.

[EVA]

I don't think anyone ever really thought that, so much as feared it tremendously.

F. Murray Abraham also said "butt monkey" this episode.

[Craig H]

Yeah, I feared it would happen because it would make zero sense and would be a twist for the sake of having a twist. I fear they'll do the same with Quinn sooner or later.

[sydneybrown]

Very very very talk heavy episode of Homeland, but it was my favorite of the season, with the senator getting locked in the room being an all-time favorite moment on Homeland. It still feels like the show wants to paint Saul as the big bad, but they just can't pull the trigger on it.

 

See, had they killed Brody, you would have had an even greater emotional impact and still had this season. Although it does seem like they're going in the direction of clearing Brody's name and then the next season will be about saving Brody.

 

I liked the episode way more than others, but yeah, I do not give even the slightest shit about Brody being cleared.  The guy still tried to blow up a number of people (with video evidence admitting it), and did still kill the VP.  In Homeland's world, apparently the shoe bomber would get a pass since he didn't actually kill anybody.

 

And I know I'm in the minority, but the Senator is far and away my favorite character.  He's the guy just calling out the absurdity and bullshit of every plot twist on this show.  Guaranteed he's killed before he ever gets confirmed.

[Reed]

Yeah, the whole "We have to prove Brody's not a terrorist"  plot is asinine considering that, yes, he actually was.

 

I mean, even if he got cleared on the CIA bombing deal, wouldn't he get still get life in jail over the vest thing?

[ultimoDANK]

Yeah, the whole "We have to prove Brody's not a terrorist" plot is asinine considering that, yes, he actually was.I mean, even if he got cleared on the CIA bombing deal, wouldn't he get still get life in jail over the vest thing?

No, no Carrie and Brody buy a nice little quaint farm in upstate New York and live a quiet life. Don't you try and ruin this beautiful love story for me.And Craig now you think Quinn is gonna be a bad guy?? He's been portrayed as a guy who struggles with some of the things he has to do in the name of his job. That's even sillier than Saul being a bad guy.

[Jrag]

So is there any chance that horrible Dana leaves the home subplot is the last we see of house Brody this season?  I almost stopped watching after last week, but found myself enjoying this week because it focused on the central plot.

 

Javadi still working Carrie even after making a deal with Saul automatically makes him the best bad guy.  Well, maybe not the best, but the only one who isn't a proven idiot.

[Craig H]

Yeah, the whole "We have to prove Brody's not a terrorist" plot is asinine considering that, yes, he actually was.

I mean, even if he got cleared on the CIA bombing deal, wouldn't he get still get life in jail over the vest thing?

No, no Carrie and Brody buy a nice little quaint farm in upstate New York and live a quiet life. Don't you try and ruin this beautiful love story for me.

And Craig now you think Quinn is gonna be a bad guy?? He's been portrayed as a guy who struggles with some of the things he has to do in the name of his job. That's even sillier than Saul being a bad guy.

I already explained myself. Those fears come from not wanting the show to go off the rails. There are times when the writer and director of the episodes cast characters like Saul and Quinn with a shadow of doubt. It's moments like that who've make me think the show could go in some nutty directions.

[Jrag]

I get what you're saying, Craig.  Just this last week they had the CIA girl grab a knife like she was going to stab Javadi for awful, plot-stopping reasons. It's like they are trying to turn jumping the shark into a suspenseful moment.  Truly a one of a kind show.

[EVA]

Tell me I'm seeing things and I didn't just watch a guy dissolve someone in acid in a bathtub. #unflatteringcomparisons

[Petey]

I feel like they're really building to something now which is good. It's been slow paced but I'm alright with that since the show seems to be revolving around a central plot (save Carrie being preggers, which I'm sure they'll tie into the central plot... it's just silly). Almost feels like this season has been a reboot of how they want the show to be going forward with less plot tweests and action and more long term development. I'm alright with that since the crash TV stuff from season 1 and 24 can only last so long before it burns out.

[EVA]

I wonder how hard it is to be a practicing lawyer AND a master assassin. Like, that's a lot of school, I imagine.

[Reed]

I wonder how hard it is to be a practicing lawyer AND a master assassin. Like, that's a lot of school, I imagine.

 

Takes the term "cut throat lawyer" to a whole new level.

[Jrag]

Saul knowing where Brody is seems like a hell of a plot twist to me.  Loved this week.  This show varies in quality so much from week to week.  The french guy sneaking around Saul's house is interesting.  I'm 100% invested in Saul's play right now.  I was not expecting an attempted regime change to be in the playbook for Saul this season.  I wonder how they will extend that 9 day time window?  Frame the Senator? Drive him crazy til he proves unfit for the job?  No clue.

 

I'm starting to believe Dana leaves the home actually IS the last we see of the Brody family this season.  It will be hard to get back to prestige show status after all of this, but focusing on the main plot has made this show about 1000 times more fun to watch.  I think I would rather watch Carrie contemplate abortion for 20 minutes than watch Dana try to find herself for what seems like an eternity.  Clearly a good trade off, and giving Carrie a legit reason to get back off the meds isn't bad, but it's the worst story on the show right now.

 

 

Tell me I'm seeing things and I didn't just watch a guy dissolve someone in acid in a bathtub. #unflatteringcomparisons

 

How can that be your first response to this episode?  There is so much actual shit to nit pick.  There was also a whole lot of good stuff.  I respect your TV opinions more than most, but that seems sort of petty.

[Fat Spanish Waiter]

You guys are still watching this shit, LOL.

[Jrag]

You guys are still watching this shit, LOL.

 

You were obviously right about season 2, but Saul is bringing this show back!  

 

Or maybe not, but you should give it a go.  

[sydneybrown]

Carrie getting shot has made a lot of this season worth it.  And made Quinn my new favorite character.

[EVA]

Tell me I'm seeing things and I didn't just watch a guy dissolve someone in acid in a bathtub. #unflatteringcomparisons

 

How can that be your first response to this episode?  There is so much actual shit to nit pick.  There was also a whole lot of good stuff.  I respect your TV opinions more than most, but that seems sort of petty.

That was just a stream of consciousness post that occurred to me as I was watching the replay. There's a lot more to say about the episode, but that's all I really had the chance to say at the time.

Saul knowing about Brody is a big twist, but at this point, I'm so leery of the show's logic-fails when it comes to this stuff, I'm trying really hard not to think about it, because I feel fairly certain it must contradict something that has happened this season. On a similar note, while I'm interested in what the previews suggest Saul's intentions for Brody are, I just look at the condition Brody is in when Saul finds him and know there is no way that they can get him clean and in shape to carry out a mission in 9 days. So, either they have to figure out some way to keep Saul in charge for a longer period of time....or just fuck it and have him Jack Bauer his way through addiction like a machine.

The way this season has gone, I'm just leery of everything.

And I really kinda hated the stuff at the motel. It took what's become a tiresome HOMELAND trope (Carrie disobeys orders and sabotages an operation based on one of her hunches) and combined it with the classic 24 trope of a person of interest getting taken out just before the good guys can bring them in.

I really don't know what Quinn's arc is right now. They left so much potentially great material on the shelf with him (and Dar Adal, who reached a new low this week, as not even the scumsucking lawyer had an ounce of fear of him). Last episode (or the one before that, I forget), when he met with Detective Clark Johnson, and Johnson ridiculously asked him something like, "Do you people ever make anything better," the connection the show was wanting us to make was to Quinn accidentally killing the kid in 3.1, but I couldn't help thinking that the connection should have been to him letting Brody live and how much better this season could have been if they had followed up on that...at all.

[Petey]

 

I wonder how hard it is to be a practicing lawyer AND a master assassin. Like, that's a lot of school, I imagine.

 

Takes the term "cut throat lawyer" to a whole new level.

 

[Jrag]

I'm with you on Dar Adal.  Great intro to the character last year, but they really haven't done anything with him.  Seems to be something coming on that front, though. Or maybe it's just that F. Murray Abraham can't help but look like a badass and they actually have no plan for the character?  I don't know.  It would be awesome if he makes some sort of shady play to keep Saul in charge.  

 

Does he know where Brody is?  He seems to be the only guy Saul talked to about the trip.

 

 

And I really kinda hated the stuff at the motel. It took what's become a tiresome HOMELAND trope (Carrie disobeys orders and sabotages an operation based on one of her hunches) and combined it with the classic 24 trope of a person of interest getting taken out just before the good guys can bring them in

 

Normally I hate this, but mostly because other people allow her to act that way.  The repercussions for her antics are always way too mild. Really loved that someone was finally all "just shoot her."

[Jrag]

.

[tigertooth]

"Did you ever think if I wanted to see you?  What do you want me to say?  Just write it down and I will say it to you, as long as you promise that I never have to see you again.  Either of you!"

 

- Homeland viewers to Dana and Jessica Brody

[Craig H]

F' it. I like this show, as silly as it can be. That montage of Brody getting back into shape was great and this is the first time we're seeing Brody as a Marine combatant.

 

My only complaint is how confidant Saul was in that his plan would go off without a hitch. His plan is contingent on so much going right that it's impossible for it to work as written.

[tigertooth]

I thought the hallucination scene with Brody and his former partner Tom Walker was a good idea that was terribly executed.

 

I agree that Saul's plan is ridiculous.  He just assumes that if Iran got hold of Brody, they'd use him for regime propaganda.  So Iran is going to tell the world they're harboring a terrorist who (nearly everyone believes) bombed the CIA?  I really doubt they'd openly declare that they support terror acts which killed US citizens (and that's before we get into the idea of Shiite Iran cozying up to a Sunni Al Qaeda agent).  And once the American people learned that Iran was harboring Brody, you think that would lead to peace between the two nations?  Good grief, the political discussion wouldn't be whether we should bomb them, but how much.

 

The plan is so bad, I'd like to believe that Saul is actually trying to start a US-Iran war to prevent Iran from ever getting nukes.  Or just as revenge.  But given how dumb things have been, I doubt that's where they're going.