Homeland Season 3 (1 Viewer)

[mattCR]

Damn are there a lot of plates spinning in the air right now. Too many things that just teeter on going wildly wrong. They remind you repeatedly how much of a tightrope every one of these people are on.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

This was an episode that made me a appreciate just how good of an actress Claire Danes is. The she scaled the crazy up and down as circumstances warranted left me constantly assessing what was real and what was an act with Carrie. Very well done.

I found the end scene to be a very interesting television exercise; usually when someone's about to be abducted, you're rooting for the hero to get to the damsel in distress before the bad guys take her away. Tonight's climax put the audience in the position of rooting for exactly the opposite: for the bad guys to make a clean break with Carrie before Quinn blew the entire operation.

I'm glad they wrapped up the Dana's-psycho-boyfriend storyline tonight. I liked that they brought it back around to her holding honesty as the most important attribute, after having experienced so much dishonesty in her life. I also liked that the show acknowledged that her primary plot value is as an intelligence asset; as the family member Brody was closest to, she'd be the one he'd reach out to if he was going to make contact. Of course, what Carrie knew as she pointed that out was that very nasty people in South America were hiding Brody away somewhere.
Man, Morgan Saylor brought it in that final scene in her bedroom. Most actresses like to be elegant, even when playing out misery. There was nothing pretty or elegant about Dana's silent breakdown. Absolutely devastating. You almost wonder what the actress had experienced that allows her to go to that horribly dark place. You can see why the show keeps giving her material, because she knocks it out of the park every week. They just need to give her better material. I'm hoping all of this misery is building towards something, and the storyline doesn't just fizzle out like the bit with the vice-president's son.

Most of the characters on the show operate in shades of gray, but man Senator Lockhart's just one giant dick. I'm deeply suspicious of the real CIA, and think a lot of their clandestine adventures need to be scaled back. Ideologically, I'm probably a lot closer to Lockhart's position than Saul's. But man, I just want to see Saul humiliate Lockhart in like the worst way imaginable. He more or less embodies everything we hate about politicians.

 

[ScottH]

One (possibly stupid) question...exactly how much involvement does the CIA think Brody had on the Langley bombing at this point? Do they still think he was the trigger man? I know there was the group that ordered the attack, but it seems Saul has discussed everyone's involvement but Brody's.

 

[Matt Hough]

I echo the relief that Dana's irritating walk on the wild side was wrapped up. It will be interesting to see where they go next with her.

I also agree about the senator. What a tool! I really want to see him have a comeuppance.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Looks like Saul is gonna get hit in 2 directions (not sure what to make of F. Murray Abraham's character yet) after last night's episode.

Please, no more of the Brody Bunch subplots...

 

[ScottH]

I was confused by this episode. Was the plan all along to bring up that they knew about his "soccer player" cover to get him to go along with the plan?

And Carrie pregnant? Please NO! I think I'd rather deal with the Brody Bunch than a pregnant Carrie, or even worse a "mother" Carrie.

 

[Patrick_S]

Yes the plan was always to get him alone and drop the hammer on him. That was the only way they could turn him.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Looks like Saul is gonna get hit in 2 directions (not sure what to make of F. Murray Abraham's character yet) after last night's episode.

What I think it did, captured by the final scene in the interrogation room, is put Saul in a position where he has nothing to lose. Either he lands this thing, or his career is over. A moderate success is no better than a humiliating defeat for him, because the end result is still Lockhart in the director's chair and Saul on the outs. Saul's going to do what he wants to do now, because there are no consequences he cares about for getting it wrong. Javadi thought he was walking into a room where the ground rules of his chosen profession applied. He badly misjudged Saul's position, which in turn means that he badly misjudged his own position.As for Dar Adal, I think they were very clearly setting up the parallels between him and Javadi. He's a survivor. He's keeping his options open and making sure he'll land on the winning side. That being said, I'd say he's leaning toward Lockhart. He's wanted to kick ass for a while now, and Saul's reined that in considerably. I think he sees Lockhart as someone that will take the leash off him.

Please, no more of the Brody Bunch subplots...

This week's bit actually felt like a genuine reaction to what's happened to this family. It's not without precedent for relatives of infamous people to change their names to shake off the association. If they had skipped the whole possibly homicidal boyfriend plot and gone straight from Dana with the prayer rug to this, I would have been happy with how the storyline has played out so far this season. It's got to be just brutal to be Jessica right now. Not only is she going through most of what Dana's going through, now she's being punished by Dana for Brody's actions. Not out of animus from Dana toward Jessica, but because what her father has been accused of has tainted her entire life. And because Jessica prefers losing her daughter to finding her daughter dead in the shower, she lets her go. And it just destroys her. I thought all of that stuff was very well captured.

Yes the plan was always to get him alone and drop the hammer on him. That was the only way they could turn him.

Absolutely. It all built towards that.If this span of episodes was a test to see if the show could work without Brody, I think it's become clear that it can. I don't miss the forced Carrie/Brody sexual tension in the least.

 

[Charlie Campisi]

If this span of episodes was a test to see if the show could work without Brody, I think it's become clear that it can. I don't miss the forced Carrie/Brody sexual tension in the least.

Back in post 17 I complained about season 2 and wondered if the show would have been better had Brody detonated the vest. I wish I included your line, Adam, even though it was a few weeks ago. Damian Lewis was awesome in season one, but sometimes a great character has to die so that his "legacy" is not spoiled by weak, contrived story lines designed to keep him as part of the action. (E.g., from Dexter

Spoiler

Sgt. Doakes

.)

 

[mattCR]

I did enjoy this week's episode, though I don't 'get' Carrie's pregnancy, as you'd think her recent stay in a mental hospital would have turned that up pretty quickly

 

[NolanJ]

This was an episode that made me a appreciate just how good of an actress Claire Danes is. The she scaled the crazy up and down as circumstances warranted left me constantly assessing what was real and what was an act with Carrie. Very well done.

I found the end scene to be a very interesting television exercise; usually when someone's about to be abducted, you're rooting for the hero to get to the damsel in distress before the bad guys take her away. Tonight's climax put the audience in the position of rooting for exactly the opposite: for the bad guys to make a clean break with Carrie before Quinn blew the entire operation.

I'm glad they wrapped up the Dana's-psycho-boyfriend storyline tonight. I liked that they brought it back around to her holding honesty as the most important attribute, after having experienced so much dishonesty in her life. I also liked that the show acknowledged that her primary plot value is as an intelligence asset; as the family member Brody was closest to, she'd be the one he'd reach out to if he was going to make contact. Of course, what Carrie knew as she pointed that out was that very nasty people in South America were hiding Brody away somewhere.
Man, Morgan Saylor brought it in that final scene in her bedroom. Most actresses like to be elegant, even when playing out misery. There was nothing pretty or elegant about Dana's silent breakdown. Absolutely devastating. You almost wonder what the actress had experienced that allows her to go to that horribly dark place. You can see why the show keeps giving her material, because she knocks it out of the park every week. They just need to give her better material. I'm hoping all of this misery is building towards something, and the storyline doesn't just fizzle out like the bit with the vice-president's son.

Most of the characters on the show operate in shades of gray, but man Senator Lockhart's just one giant dick. I'm deeply suspicious of the real CIA, and think a lot of their clandestine adventures need to be scaled back. Ideologically, I'm probably a lot closer to Lockhart's position than Saul's. But man, I just want to see Saul humiliate Lockhart in like the worst way imaginable. He more or less embodies everything we hate about politicians.

Man, oh man, I'm no critic but Saylor might be my least favorite actor/actress of any show that I watch. It's difficult to watch her on screen in ANY scene because she looks so completely out of place.

I actually get irritated watching her because nothing she says or does seem the least bit genuine.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Very solid episode Sunday with none of the drawbacks that have plagued other otherwise great episodes this season. Rupert Friend gave an incredible performance.

My favorite beat was Saul locking Sen. Lockhart in the conference room, and Dar Adal backing the play even though he knew it was torpedoing his career and even though he'd been kept in the dark by Saul because he saw it as the right thing to do for his country. You never see the sacrifice play from our elected officials any more, but I'd like to think you do see it from time to time from the people under them.

 

[mattCR]

Yeah, I thought it was one of those moments that the two people in intelligence instantly grasped what they had as an asset, and the moment the senator reacted by trying to stop it no matter prior disagreements they were on the same page

 

[Charlie Campisi]

Am I having flashbacks to 24, or is there still a potential mole at CIA? I kept distrusting Dar Adal, but I suppose the suspicion relates to his double play in trying to back the right guy for future director.

 

[Matt Hough]

I seem to always be playing catch-up with this show. Just got around today to last Sunday's episode.

No Dana - Yay!

Really loved Saul's handling of the obnoxious senator. My favorite sequence in the series in a while.

 

[mattCR]

Loved last night's episode. It is obvious Saul's interest in 'clearing Brody' is very low; in fact, capturing Brody or using Brody is the way to increase his standing in the CIA more than anything else, and he has no problem doing that.I'm interested to see how the spying on Saul at his house turns out.. because that makes a lot of sense that his wife was an easy target.

 

[MarkMel]

Holy crap so many twists in this Ep. They love casting doubt on almost every character. You can hardly keep track of what actions are and which are not part of the "operation", much less know what the whole "operation" is.

Excellent TV.

 

[Joe_H]

I just watched the last two in a row and one thing that kind of stands out to me is how they're not really feeling the need to continue increasing the stakes each year. Obviously there's still a third to go, but it really (again) is great compared to 24's increasingly outlandish plots.

 

[Matt Hough]

Still playing catch-up. I certainly don't blame them for shooting Carrie. She's a loose cannon doing what she wants to fulfill her own agenda and not the agency's.

 

[mattCR]

Damian Lewis sold the hell out of us role tonight. That's some commitment right there.