“UH…OO…AW – pee-ew”
Meter Reading: 40/100
Keep in mind that a score of 35 is the minimum possible
score here, similar to how one receives points on the SAT for correctly
spelling their name (complete myth), so this is or was closely approaching the
worst episode in Homeland history.
I was optimistic going into Sunday night’s episode and that
optimism quickly faded. Minutes into the episode we were right where we ended
with the premiere of this season- Crazy Carrie, well, acting crazy. This time,
she goes to the home of CIA Director, Saul Berenson, only he is not home and
poor Mira is left to deal with Carrie and her never-ending rage and bulging eyeballs. Carrie, doing
her best Snowden impression, then attempts to deliver her story to a reporter,
but three security guards arrive and take her away with a psychiatric detention
order. It is clear that Dar Adul is behind the detention order.
I’ll admit that the acting performance by Claire Danes (how
is she so good at making her eyeballs bulge?!) is great; to be able to portray
a woman who is clinically insane and still be a top-notch CIA agent is a feat
in itself. But as viewers, what we love is character development. Carrie has
been crazy for over 1.5 seasons now, which has been drastically amplified ever
since her electro-shock episode at the end of Season 1.
This season, I, and I imagine a lot of other viewers, would
love to have seen Carrie as fresh as ever, ready to get back in the field and
catch the “true” terrorists of the bombing at Langley. I can imagine a season
where Carrie and Quinn, all under Saul’s command, are out there mixing it up in
the remote Middle East chasing bad guys, being chased by bad guys all to bring
the terrorists in question, to justice.
Even if we can’t have a sane Carrie, I still remember my
favorite episode where Carrie used her craziness to her advantage in the field
and totally disregarded her safety for the good of her country. Think back to
Carrie in the episode “Beirut is Back”, where she meets the wife of a wanted
terrorist and helps bring her to safety. In doing this, she is chased through
Beirut by four men, all because she followed her instincts and went back into
that apartment to dig for more evidence. She narrowly escapes with her life by
knocking out one of the men with a brick. And just what did she risk her life
for?? The video confession that Brody prepared prior to his attempted suicide
bombing. That was classic Homeland- the suspense, the intensity, the
unpredictability, where you’re yelling out to the TV “Carrie, don’t do it! Go
back and find Saul!!”
Now it seems like we are backtracking; Carrie is back in the
nut-house, Jess is still a bad mother with no control over her household, and
as much as I hate to admit it, Saul seems lost- in his own home and at work.
The issue with the show, in my opinion, is that the writers have no idea what
they’re writing about from season to season. We’ve all heard how Brody was
supposed to be killed at the end of Season 1, then at the end of Season 2. I
don’t believe in the writers of the show; they are being selfish and riding out
the Brody storyline to make a few more $$ it seems like. But who am I to
question.
So now let’s concentrate on what are or could be the saviors
of this season and the show, generally speaking:
- · An obvious one here- the return of Brody. Sad to see that my prediction of a James Harden-esque beard did not come true but still excited to see his story unfold this season.
- · Quinn. He goes to see Carrie in the hospital and advises her to be careful because there are things “she’s not aware of” and he fears that she is making herself into a big target. So exactly what are these things that she’s not aware of? Is this a ploy to keep the audience engaged or could there be new, interesting storylines soon to be revealed?
- · Fara Sherazi, a CIA analyst brought in by Saul to analyze the data Quinn collected while killing the “Tin Man”. This character has a lot of promise and I see a relationship forming between Fara and Saul, similar to Saul and Carrie. It doesn’t seem that Fara has the same physical capabilities that Carrie had in the field but her intelligence, pride and culture could make for interesting storylines where she goes under-cover
- ·
I need to mention Quinn one more time. I love
how his role and dialogue are increasing. Also, what is going on between Fara
and Quinn? Something is up there…
C’MON HOMELAND:
- · Dar Adul threating to “take care” of the Carrie situation and Saul standing right there with nothing to say. C’MON SAUL!
- · Dana having three times as much on-screen time as Saul, C’MON HOMELAND!
- · Jess’s acting, C’MON HOMELAND!
- · Dana thinking the rug she found was a real prayer rug, when in reality it was a regular old filthy carpet the Brody family had stored in the garage, C’MON HOMELAND!
PREDICTIONS:
- · The show will be cancelled at the end of this current season
Character(s) of the
Week:
Nazanin Boniadi, marry me.
Question of the Week:
Which character do you feel like you are the most
emotionally invested in?
dana brody
ReplyDeleterecap > episode for sure
ReplyDeleteAgreed ^
ReplyDeleteYou should all follow me on twitter @BrianPolivy for some comical Homeland mockery each Sunday
ReplyDeleteLove the live tweeting!!
DeleteI'M FUCKING ZEN
ReplyDeletehttp://fuckyeahomeland.tumblr.com/
ReplyDelete