Homeland Season 3 (1 Viewer)

[mattCR]

The first two were far better then this weeks, but I can appreciate they are at least not making this in any way a simple 'he returns!" Brody storyline.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

They definitely should have gone with the original plan to make this about Brody and end things with him, but the success and the need to shoehorn Brody into the plot after it should have been done with him has reall killed the show

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The biggest problem with episode three was that there was no forward momentum. The ball didn't get moved down the field any.

 

[Matt Hough]

Yep, pretty slow going. But I really feel they're setting us up for Brody to die before the end of the season. I think the producers themselves know that his time has passed and the show can go on now without him.

 

[jcroy]

Wonder if the show will continue if Brody is killed off.

 

[Patrick_S]

Wow, interesting twist at the end.

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

Tonight's episode was a breath of fresh air after last week's train wreck. Carrie and Saul secretly working together...yes!! I both laughed and cringed when the big reveal was made about Dana's boyfriend. Laughed because it was so over the top and expected and cringed because it smacked of the same idiot subplot last year with Finn. Hope it's wrapped up quickly because it adds nothing to the the show.

 

[NolanJ]

Maybe it's just me, but I have no interest in the subplots involving Brody's family, ESPECIALLY the daughter. Doesn't interest me in the least.

 

[Patrick_S]

After listening to the senior partner talking to Carrie who here did not want to arrange a special meeting between him and Quinn?

 

[ScottH]

Maybe it's just me, but I have no interest in the subplots involving Brody's family, ESPECIALLY the daughter. Doesn't interest me in the least.

It's not just you.

So when exactly did Carrie and Saul start working together? Is that clear yet?

 

[Joe_H]

No idea, but I would presume it was from before the season started. The only reason I would guess that is because until she was put in the mental hospital, Carrie was supposedly off her meds, but as soon as she got back home, she had pills ready to go. Wouldn't she have tossed any extras out if she was really just suddenly deciding to use alternative treatments?

That whole thing though actually completely surprised me. I mean, I had thought that Carrie was going to go to Saul and give him this information for the first time in order to try and get him to back off on the having her on lockdown thing. I didn't see that coming at all that it was a plan they had together from some earlier point.

 

[Charlie Campisi]

So when exactly did Carrie and Saul start working together? Is that clear yet?

They haven't fully explained it, but it's reasonable to assume it's been some time. Saul knows there's a mole at CIA. He has to conduct a bulletproof cover story for Carrie to get her in place with the Iranians. He drags her through the mud in front of Congress, under oath no less, and then she goes to the press. Even though her name isn't public, the well connected Iranians and law firm know who she is (presumably through the mole or other sources) and they see the whole mental hospital drama unfold. After that, they have to be convinced that Saul and Carrie are totally opposed and she is vulnerable. When else would they have a chance to get access to a highly connected, mentally unstable CIA operative who is mad at her bosses? Perfect!

The plan had to be so well constructed so as to draw the Iranians out and make them think it was their idea. Indeed, it was so believable that you see the toll it has taken on Carrie. It was real for her and probably only being able to cling to the thought that the plan might pay off kept her going, without knowing if it was working.

Also, nice touch with Saul insulating the new agent's research into the money trail and telling her not to tell anyone. Shows he doesn't trust others in the agency beyond Carrie and the new girl, and maybe Quinn. I think it puts to rest the speculation that Saul is the mole from last year.

 

[ScottH]

I'd have to watch it all again (I won't), but I seem to remember scenes between only Carrie and Saul where they weren't acting as if they were scheming. The only one I can remember explicitly is when Saul visits her in the hospital and she says "Fuck you", so maybe there weren't any others.

 

[Simon Massey]

I have to say that was brilliantly done by Homeland as I have been complaining about how they played the Carrie storyline and Saul has seemed completely out of character in some things. Should have realised there was something more to it and Im glad they completely wrongfooted me!!

 

[albert_m2]

So is it possible since the money trail leads to Venezuela which is also where Brody is that we find out that the there is a link to his protection and their boss?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Wow, interesting twist at the end.

I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's definitely a pull-the-rug-out game changer, but I kind of feel like they cheated. There was too much genuine sense of betrayal from Carrie, even when she didn't have an audience, for me to feel like it was earned.

I both laughed and cringed when the big reveal was made about Dana's boyfriend. Laughed because it was so over the top and expected and cringed because it smacked of the same idiot subplot last year with Finn. Hope it's wrapped up quickly because it adds nothing to the the show.

I agree 100 percent. I thought the stuff with her in the first couple episodes was very powerfully done, especially because it was so simple and undramatic. By contrast, the potentially homicidal boyfriend comes across as such an artificial plot point. The best storytelling derives from the character. By contrast this is something that happens TO her, and that's fundamentally less interesting.

I'd have to watch it all again (I won't), but I seem to remember scenes between only Carrie and Saul where they weren't acting as if they were scheming. The only one I can remember explicitly is when Saul visits her in the hospital and she says "Fuck you", so maybe there weren't any others.

I'm hoping that their arrangement was worked out after that scene, because otherwise it really feels like cheating to me.

 

[MarkMel]

One way to look at the "Fuck you" - she was all doped up on whatever meds they gave her, she's clearly struggling with being in deep cover, she even said "Saul, I can't do this anymore." So the "Fuck you" could have been not because she was betrayed but because of what Saul was asking her to do.

If you look at it that way, the "Fuck you" makes sense.

 

[Charlie Campisi]

I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's definitely a pull-the-rug-out game changer, but I kind of feel like they cheated. There was too much genuine sense of betrayal from Carrie, even when she didn't have an audience, for me to feel like it was earned.

I'm hoping that their arrangement was worked out after that scene, because otherwise it really feels like cheating to me.

I though about that too, but I'm willing to accept that in order to be an effective deep cover agent, you have to totally believe your cover story (reference - Argo). It doesn't work if you come out of character, ever. At least that's how I can look back at those scenes and not consider them cheating. When Carrie finally does break character and goes to visit Saul, even knowing it was all an act and that it was successful, she still breaks down and cries because of the emotional toll playing that cover took on her. I concede there's some stretching there, but it doesn't bother me too much. Not nearly as much as season two's storylines bothered me.

Edit - Mark, you posted while I was typing but glad to see I'm not alone.

 

[ScottH]

One way to look at the "Fuck you" - she was all doped up on whatever meds they gave her, she's clearly struggling with being in deep cover, she even said "Saul, I can't do this anymore." So the "Fuck you" could have been not because she was betrayed but because of what Saul was asking her to do.

I don't remember it, but if she really said, "Saul, I can't do this anymore" then that actually changes my outlook on it.

 

[Matt Hough]

I fast forwarded through every scene with Dana. I have zero interest in any subplot with her.The rest of the episode was terrific.