Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

Review: 'Homeland' - 'Beirut Is Back': May Day

Saul and Brody both have calls to make

By Alan Sepinwall Sunday, Oct 7, 2012 11:00 PM

Damian Lewis and Jamey Sheridan in "Homeland."

Credit: Showtime

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"It fucked me up, Saul. Being wrong about Brody. It fucked me up. Because I have never been so sure, and so wrong." -Carrie

The end of "Beirut Is Back" is one of those jaw-dropping "Homeland" moments that threatens to overwhelm the hour leading up to it, but what makes it extra-special, I think, is how well it paid off what had come before.

Saul spends the hour unsure of whether he can rely on Carrie, which Carrie completely understands. Her counter-argument — "Look, the way I am now, I wouldn't trust me, either. But the Carrie who recruited her — that one I believe." — was beautifully-phrased by writer Chip Johannessen, and she spends much of that scene beating herself up for her perceived failure with Brody. If she could be so sure about that, and apparently incorrect, then how can she be sure of anything again?

But the tip about Nazir turns out to be right, and this fictional version of the U.S. government gets incredibly close to taking out its own Bin Laden type, foiled only because Brody once again gets to work a cell phone in a secured location.(*) Still, Carrie's instincts are proven right, and then proven right again when she insists on searching the apartment for clues — not because the papers she secures are valuable, but because the bag she put them in happens to contain the memory card with Brody's video confession from the end of last season.

(*) Those of you who didn't like the season 1 finale — or simply didn't like that Dana was able to place a call to Brody in a secure underground bunker (and to a stranger's phone, no less) may have had flashbacks when Brody texted Nazir the "May 1" (aka "May Day") warning.

Brody's decision is an interesting one, as he could have let Nazir die and hope that this would be the end of his involvement in terrorism. He definitely seems to enjoy his new life and memories of Isa or no, you can see him wanting out. But his instinct is still to save Nazir and hope that this will be enough to secure his freedom, when it's only going to drag him in deeper.

And, of course, he doesn't know that Saul has seen the video confession, which is a point of no return moment for the series. There may be a plan to keep Brody around for the long-term, somehow, but it won't be a case where he keeps his identity a secret for years on end. Saul knows, and even if he keeps the information close, I can't imagine this being a situation where he keeps it entirely to himself, then gets conveniently bumped off after foolishly confronting Brody on his own. Things are going to change, and as we've seen from some other Showtime series of late (including the one that leads into "Homeland"), change can be very, very good.

Some other thoughts:

* Speaking of what Saul does or doesn't do with the video, this would be the point where I remind everybody of the No Spoilers rule for the blog, which includes no discussion of the previews. I don't know how much, if anything, they give away of what Saul does, but we're not going to talk about it in the comments.

* We see the return of Brody's old Marine unit, including Lauder, the drunken instigator who once again sees through all the lies, but is so obnoxious that no one listens.

* I actually had less of an issue with Brody texting Nazir in a room with the Joint Chiefs than I did with Carrie having the enormous good fortune to grab that bag. The fact that it was in the apartment of one of Nazir's chief lieutenants mitigates that a little, but it's still a big leap.

* Jess is getting in deeper with the Washington elite, including the introduction of Walden's wife Cynthia, played by Talia Balsam (aka Mona Sterling from "Mad Men").

What did everybody else think?

Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

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Next 138 Comments

Alex

She grabbed the bag to carry all the stuff that she was carrying out.
October 7, 2012 at 11:06PM EST Reply to Comment
- HISLOCAL My money is on Dead Dad From Revolution as the mole. Recognizable actor suddenly cast as a relatively boring team member? Either he's bad or he'll figure something out and die, but it falls in the same category as Todd on Breaking Bad.
  October 8, 2012 at 10:13PM EST
- HISLOCAL Welp...first time posting on mobile and it went to the wrong post...back to computer posting for me.
  October 8, 2012 at 10:14PM EST
- HISLOCAL Iamthewho.what?
  October 8, 2012 at 10:24PM EST
- HISLOCAL TWICE???? Seriously, F this mobile posting, I'm absolutely quitting right this second.
  October 8, 2012 at 10:26PM EST
- svetlana Maybe nazir made copies of the tape and gave it to people he trusted as an insurance policy in case something happened to him?
  October 9, 2012 at 12:13AM EST
- svetlana Ugh my comment was supposed to be a response to another post. This new comments section is awful and almost impossible to use from my phone. I understand updating the web site but why make it harder to use?
  October 9, 2012 at 12:16AM EST
cultstatus

Shocked they pulled the trigger on Brody being found out so quickly. I'm guessing it turns into a cat and mouse game with the CIA tailing Brody to get to Nazir.
October 7, 2012 at 11:07PM EST Reply to Comment
- Tony I would hate if they had Saul confront him alone and then conveniently be taken out. But, if Saul doesn't take this to Estes right away then he is the(a) mole right? Unless they decided to drop that story line from last season.
  October 7, 2012 at 11:16PM EST
- JerseyRudy If Saul was the mole he would not have been the one to green light the assassination attempt on Nazir.
  October 7, 2012 at 11:20PM EST
- Banff JERSEYRUDY's comment is logical, of course - but did they ever resolve who slipped the prisoner the razor blade so that he could kill himself last season? Saul was one of a very small number of people who had that opportunity, and that lingering question has bothered me ever since.
  October 8, 2012 at 12:10AM EST
- HeatherPDX Brody slipped him the razor. He had the opportunity (he was out of the frame for a moment when they were "fighting" - a tussle started by Brody). And when he took the polygraph it was shown that he could beat it (he stated that he had never cheated on his wife so even Carrie knew he could beat the polygraph).
  October 8, 2012 at 1:10AM EST
- brian Hey Banff, it was Brody, hence why he staged that fight. Are you paying attention?
  October 8, 2012 at 1:16AM EST
- Banff @HEATHERPDX: thanks for that, and I know that was implied, I'm just not sure that it was literally confirmed. @BRIAN: thanks for the gratuitous sarcasm, it's so fresh and new to find that on the internet. But seriously, even Alan, in his review of that 'Blind Spot' episode, wrote (in the context of saying that he found the characters so engaging that it trumped his usual obsessiveness over plot details) that "I don't really want to go back and watch Brody and Hamid's fight frame-by-frame to figure out if Brody slipped him the razor fragment (and we did dwell on him shaving earlier, a scene included to at least create suspicion), or to start wondering if there's a mole in David's team that could be leaking intel to terrorists and slipping suicide implements to prisoners." And when Hamid entered the room, Saul did approach him, and there was some physical contact. All I was saying is that yes, the natural assumption is exactly what HEATHERPDX and and BRIAN say, but that I don't recall it ever being officially confirmed. Part of the fun of these stories is that the natural assumption doesn't always turn out to be what happened.
  October 8, 2012 at 10:21AM EST
- jack_is_laughing @Banff, if it's any consolation to you, if it turns out that Saul is now a mole I will personally hunt down the showrunners for Homeland and slap them silly. That would be the most idiotic plot twist at this point I can imagine, beyond the Vice President being a mole.
  October 8, 2012 at 11:38AM EST
- Dave I They clearly left it ambiguous whether it was Saul, Brody, or "Other" that left the razor blade. Hence Saul failing a question on the polygraph because he was allegedly distracted (or was he?!!!). It seems unlikely Saul is actually a mole, yet they were clearly playing that angle. So Brian, your fresh dose of sarcasm is a bit misguided in this case.
  
  -Cheers
  October 8, 2012 at 9:49PM EST
- Banff LOL! Okay, so I think we can agree that Saul as mole seems unlikely, and could possibly require some showrunner-slapping if the writers went there, but that they have not officially resolved the question of who slipped Hamid the blade, which is what I was asking. And no offense, Brian, and I hope none taken.
  October 8, 2012 at 10:14PM EST
Park

I almost walked out of the room when the VP took Body into the freaking Situation Room! Does a junior Congressman who was being surveilled by the CIA for terrorism and MIA for years get that high of a clearance? No one even questioned him being there. This show is giving me high blood pressure.
October 7, 2012 at 11:09PM EST Reply to Comment
- cultstatus I'm guessing it was a favor to Brody because he assumed how much he would want to see Nazir killed.
  October 7, 2012 at 11:13PM EST
- mountaineer I completely agree. That he just so happened to be there at that moment and they let him in on it..with a cell. I love this show..but things like that really irritate me.
  October 7, 2012 at 11:18PM EST
- mountaineer I have to add it did only irritate me for 30 seconds and by the end I had forgotten it completely. Can't wait for next week.
  October 7, 2012 at 11:24PM EST
- chuchundra They let a random person with an unsecured cell phone in the situation room when the equivalent of the Bin-Laden assassination is going down. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
  
  Sometimes you see the 24 in this show's DNA; ridiculous nonsense slipped in just to drive the plot along.
  October 7, 2012 at 11:36PM EST
- Kendra While it was a well executed scene tension wise, all of that bothered me as well.
  
  All the while Brody was driving to the Pentagon, I kept hoping that it was a fake out and he wouldn't be included in watching the operation. Then when he was in the room, I hoped he wouldn't be able to send a signal. Carrie with the bag bothered me much less, although I was trying to figure out why that guy, of all people, would have Brody's video.
  October 7, 2012 at 11:50PM EST
- To be fair, the situation room exists in the White House, not the CIA. (You'll remember all the photos of the President and joint chiefs during the Bin Laden raid. Those were taken at the White House. The CIA undoubtedly has something similar, but one is not the other)
  
  The thing that really annoyed me is this -- didn't they take Brody's cell phone when he entered the CIA headquarters last week, thus the need for him to take all the notes in the office longhand instead of just taking pictures? Yet this week he seemingly bypasses the security and takes his cell into the building? Wishing for some consistency from the writers in an otherwise flawless episode. (Though just like Mountaineer, I had forgotten about it by the end ;)
  October 8, 2012 at 5:16AM EST
- Jamie this really, really bugged me as well. Even forgiving how he was allowed in there in the first place and somehow keeping his cell phone, isn't it ridiculously far fetched to assume that a text message from the Pentagon to Beirut could go undetected? Couldn't they triangulate that fairly easily? I mean only the people in that room and the safe house in Lebanon knew of the operation.
  October 8, 2012 at 6:38AM EST
- Darkdoug I think it's a kind of arrogance thing, where the VP blows through normal security procedures, because Brody is his hand-picked golden boy. No body is allowed to cast asperisions on this patriot's loyalty, because, after all, he IS the ultimate patriot and symbol of Our Gallant Men and Women who are Fighting the War on Terror.
  
  They could check his phone last time. This time, as with the bunker, he's with the VP who has priorities, so he ges whisked through security
  October 8, 2012 at 11:13AM EST
- AUSpur STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS:
  
  FYI - They were at the Pentagon, not CIA HQ.
  October 8, 2012 at 2:52PM EST
- Dro No way, no f'ing way they would let him with his cell phone in that room.
  As someone that lives in DC and has dealt with classified rooms, no chance. Really irritated me.
  October 9, 2012 at 12:38AM EST
- Dave I What DRO said. This show is great until it does stuff like that. Protocol would be in place to keep that from happening. I realize as writers they are looking for ways to keep Nazir, Brody, etc. alive and in play until they're ready to take them out a/o wrap up those loose threads. Still, they are pulling way too many contrivances out of thin air and ignoring the rules implied by the realism they set up.
  
  They really need to be smarter about this show if they want it to work. I am not buying it that Brody can somehow sneak in a suicide bomb vest into the presidential safe room (or whatever you'd call it) and it does not work, or that Brody can just get into a highly classified room in the Pentagon to watch what could be THE most important military mission for protecting the homeland security, much less that he can just pull out his cell phone, text Nazir, and nobody catches on. I flat out do not believe that is possible in this day and age.
  
  I like this show, I want to love it. It does a lot right, and the cast is amazing. Then it does this stuff out of sheer plot point contrivance. It seems lazy, or just not very well thought out, and if you think about it those things simply do not work. The fact the show is relying on these gaps in logic really undermines everything that is so good about the show. My concern is the writers do not see that, or simply do not care.
  
  -Cheers
  October 9, 2012 at 9:26AM EST
Delta1212

Well, they did say they wanted to get to things faster than the audience would expect. I guess they weren't kidding.
October 7, 2012 at 11:10PM EST Reply to Comment
Ashley

I thought that the May 1 text might have been referring to the day Bin Laden was killed
October 7, 2012 at 11:18PM EST Reply to Comment
- evietoo Ah, good call. I think it was a May Day, but you're right -- double meaning for those of us at home.
  October 7, 2012 at 11:30PM EST
- BrettPoker Bin Laden was killed on May 2nd. I think that's a bit of a stretch. Nice coincidence that it was that close though.
  October 8, 2012 at 2:22PM EST
Darren

I spent like an hour trying to figure out where I had seen Walden's wife?! ahhhh good old Mona Sterling, still kicking it with the elite I see
October 7, 2012 at 11:28PM EST Reply to Comment
- zach you can use the internet to post comments but you can't go to imdb.com?
  October 8, 2012 at 4:36AM EST
- pwt why do u have to make such an asshole comment for. Maybe some of us actually WANT to use our brains instead of just using the internet for unnecessary sarcasm? It's unfortunate the internet can't impart manners.
  October 9, 2012 at 2:19AM EST
- albatross ZACH, don't be a dick.
  October 10, 2012 at 12:05PM EST
evietoo

I was stunned they showed that video at the end. It's almost like I still don't believe he's caught. It's too fast, in a way. But I hope it's real. I hope Carrie can finally see she was not out of her mind wrong.
October 7, 2012 at 11:32PM EST Reply to Comment
- Jimmbo It's the only way to keep Carrie in the show. So long as Brody remains undiscovered, Claire Danes spends every episode doing household banter with dad and sis.
  October 9, 2012 at 11:57PM EST
- eve But caught how? All the video will show is him saying well I guess you know what I did by now and here's why I did it. There is nothing of him saying what he did (or at the time was planning to do.) When he made the video I thought his language was kind of odd but now I see where they were going with it. It's still not the smoking gun but enough for Carrie and possibly enough for everyone else to take notice.
  October 12, 2012 at 2:18PM EST
Darren

I'm still somewhat confused with Brody, he had a way out. There's most likely no way anyone in Abu Nazir's circle would figure out Brody had access to the attempted killing and could have stopped it. I think that was meant to remind us that Brody truly does care for Abu Nazir. The realization that he would be killed hurt Brody more than scared him.
October 7, 2012 at 11:33PM EST Reply to Comment
- Another Guest "The realization that he would be killed hurt Brody more than scared him." ITA. Brody was acting on emotion and instinct here, not rationally plotting out his future. Remember from Ep. 1-7 ("The Weekend") Brody almost tearfully telling Carrie that he loved Abu Nazir. I think that is the truth.
  October 8, 2012 at 8:30AM EST
JennyD

LOVED the episode, especially the ending. I don't remember us seeing the rest of Brody's video before... so do we really KNOW what he says? We're expecting a total confession of his being a terrorist etc and all he might say is something totally innocuous. All I know is when Saul started playing the video I gasped. SO GOOD!
October 7, 2012 at 11:34PM EST Reply to Comment
- Jbagels They showed the entire video in last season's finale. He basically gives himself up and gives his explanation for his beef with the US gov.
  October 8, 2012 at 1:06AM EST
Haik Mendelovich

Ah, so good, so frustrating.

I can't believe the writers went to Brody On The Phone In A Secure Bunker again. I really can't.

In fact, I have trouble believing that Brody is allowed a direct dial cell number for Nazir, or that Nazir would pick up, or... sigh.

I find this particularly galling because the rest of the episode is so damn great.

Of course, Sol finding Brody's suicide tape changes everything.

Unless it doesn't, and we're thrown the biggest curve yet.

"Suspend disbelief, suspend disbelief, suspend..."
October 7, 2012 at 11:59PM EST Reply to Comment
- Kendra I don't think he called Nazir directly. I suspect he texted the female contact and she's the one who passed along the information.
  October 8, 2012 at 12:01AM EST
- Haik Mendelovich @Kendra: I can't imagine there would have been time to involve a phone "relay".
  
  I realized tonight that the female contact/reporter was played by Zuleikha Robinson, who played poor, doomed Ilana on Lost.
  October 8, 2012 at 12:20AM EST
- Kendra Perhaps not but it would be incredibly sloppy for Brody to have Nazir's private number. If they're free to talk that way, why the go-between partner?
  
  Then again, that whole situation stretched believability so who knows with this show.
  October 8, 2012 at 1:35AM EST
- jack_is_laughing This is certainly not the first series of convoluted plot elements that an entire episode has hung on. To enjoy Homeland you need to suspend disbelief a lot, and then suspend it some more. But if you can do that, it's solid TV.
  October 8, 2012 at 2:44AM EST
- AUSpur He didn't have Nazir's direct number. Someone else in his entourage handed him a phone that showed the message.
  October 8, 2012 at 2:55PM EST
- Haik Mendelovich The problem with Brody having even the direct dial of a Nazir inner-circle member is that that phone could be used to find and target Nazir.
  
  Look at OBL... no phones, no net connection were at his compound.
  
  See all the trouble those rascally writers are causing? ;-)
  October 8, 2012 at 6:46PM EST
- tom What everyone misses is that the video feed is in a secure room. These rooms are fully shielded - it's impossible to get a cell phone signal in or out. The point of taking the cell phone away is to prevent recording anything and then sending it off after leaving the room.
  October 13, 2012 at 7:01PM EST
Kendra

I really enjoyed the episode. There were 'logic' issues that bothered me but the episode overall was so well done that I let it slide in a way I may not if the show weren't as good.

As I said above, the sack didn't bother me but the fact that the video was in that guy's possession kind of did. Why would he have it? Do all of Nazir's soldiers have it?

You make a good point about Brody being able to let Nazir die which would free him. I don't think he's at the point where he wants to be free from Nazir. The loyalty to Nazir that turned him into a terrorist will have to dissipate quite a bit more. I actually suspect that's how the season will end. I think they'll spend the season pushing him into a place where his connection to Nazir will become inconvenient for where he'd like his life to go and he'll sacrifice him somehow. The CIA will know but won't have the proof to take him down.

I'm really curious to see how Saul handles the information both with the CIA and Carrie. The show had better not do the convenient kill.
October 8, 2012 at 12:00AM EST Reply to Comment
- JerseyRudy Carrie retrieved the stuff from the apartment of the Hezbollah commander. He is much more than one of Nazir's soldiers. More like a partner.
  October 8, 2012 at 12:07AM EST
- Kendra I still found it strange that he'd have the video since Brody really feels like a Nazir asset so I think he'd be in possession of it.
  October 8, 2012 at 12:19AM EST
- Neeraj Agree with Charles_. Saul is going to turn him. Saul was mesmerizing when he turned that woman on the roadtrip, and Carrie was powerful when she turned the DC diplomat. Looking forward to this.
  October 8, 2012 at 9:20PM EST
- jenny I agree with Charles, too, and good points, Neeraj, and well said.
  I'm kinda dreading tho that something hinky will go on, because of Estes history/loyalty to the VP and his involvement in the cover=up. If Saul gives Estes the tape, covering the VP's ass and his own is going to be a priority for him.
  October 9, 2012 at 5:07AM EST
snowlarbear

why does everyone think that that HAD to be a secure bunker?

i don't think it's a stretch to say it was just some room where they were setup to monitor the operation. was the Bin Laden op room a secure bunker?
October 8, 2012 at 3:16AM EST Reply to Comment
- The Bin Laden raid was watched in the actual Situation Room at the White House. The Abu Nazir raid was watched in a purported SCIF inside the Pentagon (thanks to the WaPo for the proper terminology), and these facilities are supposed to be controlled by the DCI (Director of Central Intelligence). Are they harkening back to the mole of season one and leaving us to assume Brody has had help every step of the way in getting the access he's needed without raising too many eyebrows? That seems to be the most logical explanation if you ask me. They never named the mole, and all along we're thinking Brody's really flying under his own radar and left to his own devices, when that may be the farthest thing from the truth ;)
  October 8, 2012 at 11:20AM EST
smartazjb0y

Anyone else get really confused with the actress for Carrie's informant looking REALLY similar to the imam's wife from season 1? The one who gave Carrie info after the mosque shooting? I went back and watched the scene with the imam's wife and she looks eerily similar to the actress playing Carrie's informant and I was super confused.
October 8, 2012 at 4:11AM EST Reply to Comment
- mikerwilson Yes! I had the exact same thought when I first saw her last week...but then I realized that that would make absolutely no sense. Still a strong resemblance though.
  October 8, 2012 at 12:58PM EST
- Dan Racist. (I thought that at first too)
  October 8, 2012 at 2:55PM EST
M.J

i remember Brody mentioning something about the drone strike and justice for deaths of children as his motive in the video. Saul knows about that drone strike. if he does keep Brody's secret i think it will have something to do with that.
October 8, 2012 at 5:01AM EST Reply to Comment
- jack_is_laughing That's a really interesting point. I had not thought about that. I could also imagine Saul trying to take this higher in the chain of command and being stone-walled for the same reason, possibly.
  October 8, 2012 at 11:44AM EST
- jenny They're going to take great pains to not have the truth about Brody come out, so as not to expose the truth about the drone strike, never mind embarrassing the administration, CIA and ruining the VP.
  I think the end game will have to include the VP being exposed.
  October 9, 2012 at 5:16AM EST
Jamie

it was an exhilarating episode for sure, but man I just can't dismiss so many of the contrivances in it. Does anyone here happen to have CIA or NSA experience? How quick would it take to realize that a text message was sent from the Pentagon to freaking Beirut? I imagine it would be fairly easy to triangulate. Also, why was there such a big viewing party for the raid after the initial info was so top secret only Estes and the special ops commander? There are more like how no one in the CIA or marines raised similar questions about Walker, but man I just don't buy how that text message can go undetected.
October 8, 2012 at 6:33AM EST Reply to Comment
- Haik Mendelovich I believe that the text message would not only be detected, it would be logged and read.
  
  And Brody would be found out.
  
  Of course, since Saul has the suicide tape, that hardly matters.
  October 8, 2012 at 8:38AM EST
John

It was a very good episode, but I had a bigger problem with Brody's text than anything else, even going back to the finale (which didn't bother me all that much). I'm not sure how these things work, but wouldn't it make sense to secure everyone's cell phones when they go into a room to watch a top secret special ops mission? Even if they don't, the biggest problem the show has right now is the utter implausibility of a first-term (really, less than that, since he was appointed to his seat) Congressman getting this much access. And for that matter, what Vice President has this kind of power? I know he's in line to become the next president and everything, but it's starting to annoy me that we never actually see the real president.
October 8, 2012 at 7:41AM EST Reply to Comment
- Park Maybe you should read earlier comments and save yourself the time.
  October 8, 2012 at 7:58PM EST
JayHayabusa

s much as I enjoyed these 2 episodes (nitpicking apart), I just can't get over the cartoonish representation of Beirut. Born and raised in Beirut, I lived there for 24 years and not one neighborhood in the city looks like the reality of Homeland.
October 8, 2012 at 8:58AM EST Reply to Comment
- drmrfzl Well they filmed those scenes in Israel. I'm sure you're right that it looks noting like Beirut, but I would imagine there's a certain amount of working with what you can get when it comes to filming a TV show in the Middle East.
  October 8, 2012 at 11:03AM EST
- JayHayabusa Not begrudging the production on those inaccuracies. They have plot machinations that will drive the narrative forward that are based in the region. So they chose Beirut. Just giving my sense of detachment watching these episodes, a sense 99.99% of viewers won't share :)
  Btw, Hamra Street is a true location in Beirut, it just is one of the most exclusive locations in the city with unparalleled nightlife and high living!!
  October 8, 2012 at 11:14AM EST
- rdp Apparently it was filmed in Tel Aviv and having visited both Tel Aviv and Beirut many times it does seem to be an Israeli perspective on what Beirut would look like. Especially with all the women including Carrie wearing headscarves.
  Of course it is fine to shoot it somewhere else in the Middle East but it unnecessarily plays up certain stereotypes which having nothing do with Beirut.
  October 11, 2012 at 4:09AM EST
- MJ Don't worry, tv series set in America do a laughably bad job at faking their locations too, I'm from Boston & as much as I love Fringe, I wish they would have just set it in NYC where it is so obviously made.
  October 12, 2012 at 3:12PM EST
Bill

I'm afraid Homeland is turning into 24. The first season was my favorite show of 2011. I was hooked by the first episode. I appreciated the "slow burn" of the first half of the season - just observing a man trying to re-integrate into society and into his family.
I'm afraid that now the program is just turning into a dumbed-down, action-thriller. I feel like the intelligence of season 1 is missing so far. Season 1 had interesting things to say about religion, politics, family, and what it means to be a patriot. I hope I'm wrong, but I think all we have this season is another spy thriller.
October 8, 2012 at 9:10AM EST Reply to Comment
- Scott M Yes, something is "off" this season compared to last. I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I think you might be on to something....
  October 9, 2012 at 12:20AM EST
eddieisannoy

This isn't a big deal, but why did Carrie say she dyed her hair to her women contact when she was wearing a wig? She told her she was wearing fake contacts, why say she dyed her hair?
October 8, 2012 at 9:31AM EST Reply to Comment
- Steve That actually bothered me more than anything else, because it seemed like an actual mistake rather than dramatic license. And I think she actually did dye her hair, because otherwise, why would she have been wearing the wig during her prep in Cyprus? But yeah, the fact that her hair instantly went back from black to blonde suggests a wig, so I think it was just a gaffe.
  October 8, 2012 at 10:24PM EST
- DougMac I think you're right. i still like it, but it is seeming like a different show than last year.
  October 9, 2012 at 12:39AM EST
- Laura Yes! And then she specifically said she spoke with her contact a few hours ago. So she made it back to the safe house after spending a night on the streets and prior to sharing her intel, she dyed and dried her hair?? That might have abboyed me more than the cell phone in the pentagon.
  October 9, 2012 at 10:15PM EST
Shawn Mahone

I do not know how this will play out because of how the information about the Drone strike in the finally was dealt with. Saul may now know Carrie was right but if he does try to expose Brody it could expose the drone attack and then as Estes said in last season....everyone will be fu""ed in a whole bunch of ways. One has to remember that where Carrie acts hastilly and as a force of freaking nature..Saul is more circumspect in his actions and he will want to know what makes Brody tick (he told Carrie to find this out last season) so he will want to investigate and when he finds out why Brody was ready to risk his life...I just do not think it is all black and white and out of all the characters on Homeland Saul is the one who comes across fairest and comes across as a man who understands the shades of grey that we live in the most.

The Drone attack can never be known, the death of Isa and all those innocent children by the drone can never be found out. David Estes and the Vice Preseident can never let this information out and America cannot afford for this to happen. Brody cannot just dissappear so quickly since he is tied so close to the vice president.

I can see a situation where all this is covered up and Brody gets to keep on going since the careers of so many high ranking individuals would be screwed if Brodys transgressions came to pass.

Carrie and Saul may have to pay the price again for the politicians and career men who are only interested in climbing the greasy pole and not really in making America and the world a better place.

It may sound cynical but it is a sad truth and one that does become hard to swallow. Greed, power and ego...argh.
October 8, 2012 at 10:14AM EST Reply to Comment
- jack_is_laughing MJ made a similar comment above and I agree, the drone strike is the one plot element that could keep Brody's secret from being outed into the open. However, that wouldn't stop them from getting rid of Brody in other ways.
  October 8, 2012 at 11:48AM EST
- Shawn Mahone They cannot send him to gitmo because people would ask why, they cannot kill him or lock him up as either situation could cause the people who work for Abu nazir to leak information that damages the vp and Estes and by extension the CIA and America. The one way this works is to turn brody in season 3, I think. But who knows right now, good stuff.
  October 8, 2012 at 3:30PM EST
- jack_is_laughing No, they can't ship him to Gitmo nor would they, but they can simply kill him off or set him up in such a way that he goes to prison for a crime he didn't actually commit (I've seen my share of "thrillers").
  
  Just curious why you think Nazir would hold on to hard evidence that the drone strike killed those kids? I don't recall him having that. Did he? Because I imagine Brody and Walker would have acted as his agents to get revenge regardless of whether Nazir humiliated the US or not.
  
  I suppose there is some weird argument to be made that if he does have evidence, keeping Brody's secret secret keeps Nazir's evidence at bay, but that would be fairly silly logic for a terrorist mastermind bent on destroying America.
  October 8, 2012 at 6:11PM EST
virgotex

I'm unclear how the memory card got into the bag and got to Beirut. Gotta go back to S1- I don't remember any exposition of what Brody did with video he shot.
October 8, 2012 at 10:47AM EST Reply to Comment
- Darkdoug He put it in a dead-drop spot under a rock in a park. I think it was near the culvert where he met with, and killed, Tom Walker. On the way to that meeting, he actually goes to the spot he had stashed the video and is disappointed to find it gone.
  October 8, 2012 at 11:22AM EST
- asdg It's possible that it's not the same exact card. Nazir's people found the original card and his lieutenant has a copy. I'm sure they'd make copies because that's a pretty importanat videoclip if they ever wanted to blackmail Brody.
  October 8, 2012 at 5:42PM EST
Darkdoug

Maybe this is the beginning of Saul's exit from the show. My brother told me, when I described this show to him, and named the actors, that Mandy Patakin never stays more than two seasons with any TV show, so this is the start of the chain of events that will get him killed, before he can do anything with the information (but not before he leaves a clue Carrie or someone else can follow up on, of course).
October 8, 2012 at 11:25AM EST Reply to Comment
- jack_is_laughing Chicago Hope: He left after two seasons but came back for the fifth (and what ended up being the final season). But yes, Patinkin doesn't stick around long for series TV.
  October 8, 2012 at 12:05PM EST
- ct not true, Pantikin was in Criminal Minds for at least 5 seasons
  October 8, 2012 at 12:08PM EST
- HISLOCAL He was only on Criminal Minds for 47 episodes. I remember that he just up and quit over the summer, so when the show debuted that fall, they had to do some cheesy thing where Reid found a letter from Gideon explaining that he had to leave.
  
  I read an interview w/ MP where he said that he couldn't bear to do Criminal Minds anymore because he couldn't deal with the fact that people were deriving entertainment from watching depraved serial killers...........so he quits and joins a show about terrorists. He's a great actor, but seems like kind of a flake.
  October 9, 2012 at 9:56AM EST
- Dezbot Patinkin's known for bailing, unfortunately. Plus, there was a blind item recently about an actor known for bailing on shows getting ready to bail on a hit cable show. Hoping it is all b.s., of course, and the item came out after the S2 of Homeland was already filmed, but...ugh.
  October 9, 2012 at 7:20PM EST
keith

I think this is where I lose interest in Homeland. We worried it would become 24 and in my opinion is has. Great first season though.
October 8, 2012 at 11:49AM EST Reply to Comment
- Another Guest I didn't watch "24" but I think "Homeland" is worth riding out a bit longer. :-)
  October 8, 2012 at 1:13PM EST
- John There's nothing wrong with 24 (at it's best--it did have a bad season or two). It's one of the five or 10 greatest dramas of all time and is without question the best action show ever (when people compare Strike Back--which I like--to 24, I just laugh). The other thing is, we knew what kind of show 24 was going in, so the cell phone thing is a bigger deal for a more "serious" (I'm not sure it actually is more serious, it's just that it has a slower pace) show like Homeland. Though to be fair, I'm failing to think of an identical situation in 24. The people who leaked sensitive information generally had clearance because of their jobs (sorry, but I'm not buying that Brody would have that kind of access with like a year of Congressional experience), and they were discovered shortly thereafter.
  October 8, 2012 at 4:16PM EST
- JerseyRudy Putting aside the issue of Brody being able to text in that situation, they have explained Brody's access to classified information. He has been given access by the Vice President who is grooming him to be his VP. He is not the typical first term Congressman.
  October 8, 2012 at 5:29PM EST
- HISLOCAL I also feel that Homeland is just not as masterfully crafted as Breaking Bad or Mad Men, and shouldn't have won "Best Drama".............but that being said, it's an exciting, fun, and GOOD (even if not A+++) show, so to say that you can't take an hour out of your week to watch it seems a little overblown.
  October 9, 2012 at 9:59AM EST
Emma

Not happy with the believability factor of Brody being able to text Nazir...and the almost instantaneous transmission to Beirut. Letting Brody in to watch the assassination,.. come one! Hope they don't continue with many more of these convenient moments, I know it's difficult with a show like this, but i want to be able to believe that there is plausibility of events. And Alan, curious why would Saul keep the discovery about Brody to himself? I wouldn't get why that would be the case. And if Mandy Pitankin leaves this show quickly, I won't be happy!
October 8, 2012 at 11:55AM EST Reply to Comment
- Another Guest I agree. The implausibility of that set-up, plus the certainty once underway that Brody's message would succeed in saving Abu Nazir, took me out of the episode. Willa Paskin at Salon has suggested alternative scenarios that would have been much more plausible while still showing us Brody's emotional turmoil at the possibility that the man he loves would be killed -- and having to hide his relief from the others when Nazir is spared.
  October 8, 2012 at 1:13PM EST
Dan

Amazing episode. I was so happy that Carrie was right first the the informant. Now the fact that Saul knows is amazing. He now knows that Carrie was right! It's great.

I think he has to show Estees the video. Also, it is bound to happen eventually, but I hope he tells Carrie that she was right sooner rather than later. From there, I really don't know.
October 8, 2012 at 12:39PM EST Reply to Comment
- Slam The longer it takes Saul to tell Carrie she's right, and tell Brody he's seen the video, the more tension it creates, and keeps us watching.
  
  I'm pissed about Brody texting from the war room and I like the comparison to 24. I'll keep watching, and I know I have to "suspend disbelief", but C'mon, man
  October 9, 2012 at 11:43AM EST
velocityknown

I'm going to say something about previews, not for next week, but the clips we got for this week's episode. I know we don't have to watch them, but shouldn't Showtime not be so revealing in their information with them?

One of the clips they released this week was Brody meeting the Illana (that's her name now) in the parking lot after the May 1 text. I saw that clip in which she says "Nazir sends his appreciation", Brody saying "I can't be sending messages when I'm surrounded by the Joint Chiefs", so since I saw that clip before the episode, I knew what was going to happen during that moment. Was it still enjoyable? Yes.

Am I complaining a bit too much about previews? Possibly.

Was that clip too revealing. I still think so, yes. Clips should set up the plot of the episode, we shouldn't be seeing what happens near the end.
October 8, 2012 at 12:45PM EST Reply to Comment
- jack_is_laughing It's fair to say they might be giving too much away, but it's also fair to say that if you're watching previews you should expect plot details to be spoiled. There is a finite number of scenes and lines in any given episode that work as "tease" and networks assume that if you're watching the preview, you either need some juice to come back the next week or you're someone who wants big kernels of info revealed in advance. There's a fair amount of the population that likes spoilers and doesn't need to be surprised by major plot developments.
  
  My point is that you should assume major plot elements will be spoiled watching previews. If you already know you're going to come back week-after-week, there's really no good reason to watch previews unless you don't mind spoilers.
  October 8, 2012 at 2:40PM EST
Heisenberg

The (obviously, very) early leader for best episode of any show this season. That includes Breaking Bad.

This was an incredibly taut and reflective episode and was made all the better by the closing moment.
October 8, 2012 at 1:31PM EST Reply to Comment
- madmeme Seriously flawed.
  October 9, 2012 at 7:44PM EST
justjoan123

I am still confused about that text -- I know that no one is permitted to bring a cell phone into a CIA facility. Isn't that also the case with the Pentagon? The security check ins are supposed to impound all electronic devices at the entrances, to be returned on a visitor's exit. All the phone traffic within the building is supposed to be done by land line. So, again, how is it that he can text?
October 8, 2012 at 2:28PM EST Reply to Comment
Brian K

I was a big fan of this show last season and I thought the season opener was great. However, going all "24" on us by having Brody text Nasir, ruined it for me. Inclined this series precisely because it was so different from 24. The only thing that will bring me back to watch is to see if Brody is exposed. I sure hope that Saul doesn't go after him by himself. That would be even more like 24.
October 8, 2012 at 4:02PM EST Reply to Comment
Mr. Brevity

Riveting. Shocking. Flawed.
October 8, 2012 at 4:29PM EST Reply to Comment

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Comments

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Alex She grabbed the bag to carry all the stuff that she was carrying out.

HISLOCAL My money is on Dead Dad From Revolution as the mole. Recognizable actor suddenly cast as a relatively boring team member? Either he's bad or he'll figure something out and die, but it falls in the same category as Todd on Breaking Bad.

HISLOCAL Welp...first time posting on mobile and it went to the wrong post...back to computer posting for me.

HISLOCAL Iamthewho.what?

HISLOCAL TWICE???? Seriously, F this mobile posting, I'm absolutely quitting right this second.

svetlana Maybe nazir made copies of the tape and gave it to people he trusted as an insurance policy in case something happened to him?

svetlana Ugh my comment was supposed to be a response to another post. This new comments section is awful and almost impossible to use from my phone. I understand updating the web site but why make it harder to use?

cultstatus Shocked they pulled the trigger on Brody being found out so quickly. I'm guessing it turns into a cat and mouse game with the CIA tailing Brody to get to Nazir.

Tony I would hate if they had Saul confront him alone and then conveniently be taken out. But, if Saul doesn't take this to Estes right away then he is the(a) mole right? Unless they decided to drop that story line from last season.

JerseyRudy If Saul was the mole he would not have been the one to green light the assassination attempt on Nazir.

Banff JERSEYRUDY's comment is logical, of course - but did they ever resolve who slipped the prisoner the razor blade so that he could kill himself last season? Saul was one of a very small number of people who had that opportunity, and that lingering question has bothered me ever since.

brian Hey Banff, it was Brody, hence why he staged that fight. Are you paying attention?

jack_is_laughing @Banff, if it's any consolation to you, if it turns out that Saul is now a mole I will personally hunt down the showrunners for Homeland and slap them silly. That would be the most idiotic plot twist at this point I can imagine, beyond the Vice President being a mole.

cultstatus I'm guessing it was a favor to Brody because he assumed how much he would want to see Nazir killed.

mountaineer I completely agree. That he just so happened to be there at that moment and they let him in on it..with a cell. I love this show..but things like that really irritate me.

mountaineer I have to add it did only irritate me for 30 seconds and by the end I had forgotten it completely. Can't wait for next week.

chuchundra They let a random person with an unsecured cell phone in the situation room when the equivalent of the Bin-Laden assassination is going down. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.Sometimes you see the 24 in this show's DNA; ridiculous nonsense slipped in just to drive the plot along.

AUSpur STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS:FYI - They were at the Pentagon, not CIA HQ.

Dro No way, no f'ing way they would let him with his cell phone in that room. As someone that lives in DC and has dealt with classified rooms, no chance. Really irritated me.

Delta1212 Well, they did say they wanted to get to things faster than the audience would expect. I guess they weren't kidding.

Ashley I thought that the May 1 text might have been referring to the day Bin Laden was killed

evietoo Ah, good call. I think it was a May Day, but you're right -- double meaning for those of us at home.

BrettPoker Bin Laden was killed on May 2nd. I think that's a bit of a stretch. Nice coincidence that it was that close though.

Darren I spent like an hour trying to figure out where I had seen Walden's wife?! ahhhh good old Mona Sterling, still kicking it with the elite I see

zach you can use the internet to post comments but you can't go to imdb.com?

pwt why do u have to make such an asshole comment for. Maybe some of us actually WANT to use our brains instead of just using the internet for unnecessary sarcasm? It's unfortunate the internet can't impart manners.

albatross ZACH, don't be a dick.

evietoo I was stunned they showed that video at the end. It's almost like I still don't believe he's caught. It's too fast, in a way. But I hope it's real. I hope Carrie can finally see she was not out of her mind wrong.

Jimmbo It's the only way to keep Carrie in the show. So long as Brody remains undiscovered, Claire Danes spends every episode doing household banter with dad and sis.

Jbagels They showed the entire video in last season's finale. He basically gives himself up and gives his explanation for his beef with the US gov.

Kendra I don't think he called Nazir directly. I suspect he texted the female contact and she's the one who passed along the information.

Haik Mendelovich @Kendra: I can't imagine there would have been time to involve a phone "relay".I realized tonight that the female contact/reporter was played by Zuleikha Robinson, who played poor, doomed Ilana on Lost.

Kendra Perhaps not but it would be incredibly sloppy for Brody to have Nazir's private number. If they're free to talk that way, why the go-between partner? Then again, that whole situation stretched believability so who knows with this show.

jack_is_laughing This is certainly not the first series of convoluted plot elements that an entire episode has hung on. To enjoy Homeland you need to suspend disbelief a lot, and then suspend it some more. But if you can do that, it's solid TV.

AUSpur He didn't have Nazir's direct number. Someone else in his entourage handed him a phone that showed the message.

Haik Mendelovich The problem with Brody having even the direct dial of a Nazir inner-circle member is that that phone could be used to find and target Nazir.Look at OBL... no phones, no net connection were at his compound.See all the trouble those rascally writers are causing? ;-)

tom What everyone misses is that the video feed is in a secure room. These rooms are fully shielded - it's impossible to get a cell phone signal in or out. The point of taking the cell phone away is to prevent recording anything and then sending it off after leaving the room.

JerseyRudy Carrie retrieved the stuff from the apartment of the Hezbollah commander. He is much more than one of Nazir's soldiers. More like a partner.

Kendra I still found it strange that he'd have the video since Brody really feels like a Nazir asset so I think he'd be in possession of it.

Neeraj Agree with Charles_. Saul is going to turn him. Saul was mesmerizing when he turned that woman on the roadtrip, and Carrie was powerful when she turned the DC diplomat. Looking forward to this.

snowlarbear why does everyone think that that HAD to be a secure bunker?i don't think it's a stretch to say it was just some room where they were setup to monitor the operation. was the Bin Laden op room a secure bunker?

mikerwilson Yes! I had the exact same thought when I first saw her last week...but then I realized that that would make absolutely no sense. Still a strong resemblance though.

Dan Racist. (I thought that at first too)

M.J i remember Brody mentioning something about the drone strike and justice for deaths of children as his motive in the video. Saul knows about that drone strike. if he does keep Brody's secret i think it will have something to do with that.

jack_is_laughing That's a really interesting point. I had not thought about that. I could also imagine Saul trying to take this higher in the chain of command and being stone-walled for the same reason, possibly.

jenny They're going to take great pains to not have the truth about Brody come out, so as not to expose the truth about the drone strike, never mind embarrassing the administration, CIA and ruining the VP.I think the end game will have to include the VP being exposed.

Haik Mendelovich I believe that the text message would not only be detected, it would be logged and read.And Brody would be found out.Of course, since Saul has the suicide tape, that hardly matters.

Park Maybe you should read earlier comments and save yourself the time.

JayHayabusa s much as I enjoyed these 2 episodes (nitpicking apart), I just can't get over the cartoonish representation of Beirut. Born and raised in Beirut, I lived there for 24 years and not one neighborhood in the city looks like the reality of Homeland.

drmrfzl Well they filmed those scenes in Israel. I'm sure you're right that it looks noting like Beirut, but I would imagine there's a certain amount of working with what you can get when it comes to filming a TV show in the Middle East.

MJ Don't worry, tv series set in America do a laughably bad job at faking their locations too, I'm from Boston & as much as I love Fringe, I wish they would have just set it in NYC where it is so obviously made.

Scott M Yes, something is "off" this season compared to last. I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I think you might be on to something....

eddieisannoy This isn't a big deal, but why did Carrie say she dyed her hair to her women contact when she was wearing a wig? She told her she was wearing fake contacts, why say she dyed her hair?

DougMac I think you're right. i still like it, but it is seeming like a different show than last year.

Laura Yes! And then she specifically said she spoke with her contact a few hours ago. So she made it back to the safe house after spending a night on the streets and prior to sharing her intel, she dyed and dried her hair?? That might have abboyed me more than the cell phone in the pentagon.

jack_is_laughing MJ made a similar comment above and I agree, the drone strike is the one plot element that could keep Brody's secret from being outed into the open. However, that wouldn't stop them from getting rid of Brody in other ways.

virgotex I'm unclear how the memory card got into the bag and got to Beirut. Gotta go back to S1- I don't remember any exposition of what Brody did with video he shot.

Darkdoug He put it in a dead-drop spot under a rock in a park. I think it was near the culvert where he met with, and killed, Tom Walker. On the way to that meeting, he actually goes to the spot he had stashed the video and is disappointed to find it gone.

asdg It's possible that it's not the same exact card. Nazir's people found the original card and his lieutenant has a copy. I'm sure they'd make copies because that's a pretty importanat videoclip if they ever wanted to blackmail Brody.

jack_is_laughing Chicago Hope: He left after two seasons but came back for the fifth (and what ended up being the final season). But yes, Patinkin doesn't stick around long for series TV.

ct not true, Pantikin was in Criminal Minds for at least 5 seasons

Dezbot Patinkin's known for bailing, unfortunately. Plus, there was a blind item recently about an actor known for bailing on shows getting ready to bail on a hit cable show. Hoping it is all b.s., of course, and the item came out after the S2 of Homeland was already filmed, but...ugh.

keith I think this is where I lose interest in Homeland. We worried it would become 24 and in my opinion is has. Great first season though.

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Alex

She grabbed the bag to carry all the stuff that she was carrying out.

cultstatus

Shocked they pulled the trigger on Brody being found out so quickly. I'm guessing it turns into a cat and mouse game with the CIA tailing Brody to get to Nazir.

chuchundra They let a random person with an unsecured cell phone in the situation room when the equivalent of the Bin-Laden assassination is going down. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Sometimes you see the 24 in this show's DNA; ridiculous nonsense slipped in just to drive the plot along.

AUSpur STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS:

FYI - They were at the Pentagon, not CIA HQ.

Dro No way, no f'ing way they would let him with his cell phone in that room.
As someone that lives in DC and has dealt with classified rooms, no chance. Really irritated me.

Delta1212

Well, they did say they wanted to get to things faster than the audience would expect. I guess they weren't kidding.

Ashley

I thought that the May 1 text might have been referring to the day Bin Laden was killed

Darren

I spent like an hour trying to figure out where I had seen Walden's wife?! ahhhh good old Mona Sterling, still kicking it with the elite I see

evietoo

I was stunned they showed that video at the end. It's almost like I still don't believe he's caught. It's too fast, in a way. But I hope it's real. I hope Carrie can finally see she was not out of her mind wrong.

Haik Mendelovich @Kendra: I can't imagine there would have been time to involve a phone "relay".

I realized tonight that the female contact/reporter was played by Zuleikha Robinson, who played poor, doomed Ilana on Lost.

Kendra Perhaps not but it would be incredibly sloppy for Brody to have Nazir's private number. If they're free to talk that way, why the go-between partner?

Then again, that whole situation stretched believability so who knows with this show.

Haik Mendelovich The problem with Brody having even the direct dial of a Nazir inner-circle member is that that phone could be used to find and target Nazir.

Look at OBL... no phones, no net connection were at his compound.

See all the trouble those rascally writers are causing? ;-)

snowlarbear

why does everyone think that that HAD to be a secure bunker?

i don't think it's a stretch to say it was just some room where they were setup to monitor the operation. was the Bin Laden op room a secure bunker?

M.J

i remember Brody mentioning something about the drone strike and justice for deaths of children as his motive in the video. Saul knows about that drone strike. if he does keep Brody's secret i think it will have something to do with that.

jenny They're going to take great pains to not have the truth about Brody come out, so as not to expose the truth about the drone strike, never mind embarrassing the administration, CIA and ruining the VP.
I think the end game will have to include the VP being exposed.

Haik Mendelovich I believe that the text message would not only be detected, it would be logged and read.

And Brody would be found out.

Of course, since Saul has the suicide tape, that hardly matters.

JayHayabusa

s much as I enjoyed these 2 episodes (nitpicking apart), I just can't get over the cartoonish representation of Beirut. Born and raised in Beirut, I lived there for 24 years and not one neighborhood in the city looks like the reality of Homeland.

eddieisannoy

This isn't a big deal, but why did Carrie say she dyed her hair to her women contact when she was wearing a wig? She told her she was wearing fake contacts, why say she dyed her hair?

virgotex

I'm unclear how the memory card got into the bag and got to Beirut. Gotta go back to S1- I don't remember any exposition of what Brody did with video he shot.

keith

I think this is where I lose interest in Homeland. We worried it would become 24 and in my opinion is has. Great first season though.

Heisenberg

The (obviously, very) early leader for best episode of any show this season. That includes Breaking Bad.

This was an incredibly taut and reflective episode and was made all the better by the closing moment.

Mr. Brevity

Riveting. Shocking. Flawed.

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