Carrie is not the biggest fan of Saul at the moment (via Showtime).
If last season’s finale raised any suspicions that Homeland may have jumped the shark, tonight’s strangely titled episode, “Uh…Oo…Aw…,” is the best evidence. Last week’s reserved, lukewarm premiere setup what looked to be some of the biggest plot points for the season: The return of “Crazy” Carrie, Saul’s awkward new position in the CIA, the Brody family’s breakdown, Peter Quinn’s weird, sudden morality, F. Murray Abraham doing F. Murray Abraham things. But in tonight’s disappointing episode, all of these plot elements are taken into predictable and tepid territory, along with some serious out-of-character moments, turning the show into something of a self-parody of itself. Let’s analyze:
Saul’s Casual Racism
This was perhaps the most jarring and uncharacteristic aspect of this week’s episode. With the small victory Saul and his team had last week in taking out several key players in the CIA bombing, they’re now under immense pressure to track down and eliminate the main guy behind the attack, Majid Javadi. Since he supposedly hasn’t been seen in public since 1994, their quest capturing him isn’t going to be easy. So, Saul brings in Fara, a young, Persian intelligence officer to help him follow the money trail that will inevitably lead to Javadi.
From the moment Fara comes onscreen, things got weird. Strolling through Langley in a headdress, people give her menacing, unfriendly looks, the weird casual racism of which culminates in what’s easily the most uncomfortable moment of the episode, when Saul chews her out, saying “you wearing that thing on your head, it’s one big ‘fuck you’ to the people that would have been your co-workers had they not perished in that blast out there.” Am I the only who thought this was a really uncharacteristic moment for Saul? Saul, of all people, has demonstrated to be the most tolerant, level-headed person in the show, but for him to lash out at a person’s religious attire—especially considering he’s married to an Indian woman—just seemed really out of character. Come on, Homeland, you’re better than that.
Carrie vs. the CIA
As I predicted last week, it seems like this season’s central narrative is going to be Carrie vs. the CIA. With the CIA under the gun from the Senate Select Committee, headed by the ruthless Senator Lockhart, they’re looking for someone to “throw under the bus” and, despite Saul’s assertion early in last week’s episode that he wouldn’t sell out Carrie, he did just that at the end of the episode. Now, Carrie is on a warpath to clear her name and prove that Brody is innocent. In an act of retaliation, she goes to the press to tell all of the CIA secrets she knows, so they can’t make her a scape goat, but alas, the CIA—thanks to F. Murray Abraham and his mysterious tactics—catches wind of this and has Carrie committed. By the end of the episode, a highly sedated Carrie is reduced to nothing more than a drugged-out shell, barely capable of getting the words “Fuck You” out to Saul when he comes to apologize.
Carrie vs. Herself
We also learned last week that Carrie has been off her meds for months now. “They dull my head, I miss things,” she tells her psychiatrist. Of course, while a medication-free Carrie might be a sharper, more astute Carry, it also makes her act like a total fucking lunatic pretty much all the time. By the end of the episode, things were looking pretty grim for Carrie’s future, because, in the quest to clear her name, Carrie has become her own worst enemy.
Carrie vs. Basically Everyone
Spoiler alert: Carrie cries this episode (via Showtime).
Apart from waging a crusade against the CIA and, against her better judgement, herself, Carrie has essentially waged a war against basically everyone: Peter Quinn, the doctors, her family. Quinn comes to visit her and warns that she needs to cool off or else the CIA is going to totally screw her over. She tells him to fuck off. At her sanity hear, her family shows up with medications and suggests she start taking them again. She tells them to fuck off. Seriously, who didn’t Carrie tell to fuck off this episode?
Peter Quinn, Secret Agent Man
Last week, Quinn shot and killed a child, and now it seems that’s eating him up. So much so, that he’s apparently waging his own little war against the CIA. After telling Saul bluntly that he doesn’t approve of what he’s doing with Carrie, he then goes rogue, threatening one of the bankers that is linked to Javadi. At this point, Quinn’s arc is the most intriguing thing about this season.
Dana Brody, drama queen (via Showtime).
The Kids Aren’t Alright
Well, well, well. Look at young Dana Brody. Guess she’s not so young anymore. After running away from home to make whoopie with her new boy toy in the laundry room of the psychiatric clinic, Dana delivers one of the corniest monologues since Tom Cruise declared that Renee Zellweger completes him, or whatever. “At this moment, I want to be alive!” Teens, am I right?
Where’s Brody?
Speaking of the Brody family, it’s been two full episodes and still no Nicholas Brody. I suspect we’ll be catching up with him next week.
Carrie Mathison Tear-O-Meter Rating: 5.
Nope, Carrie doesn’t like Saul at all (via Showtime).
This week was tricky because, while Carrie is on the verge of crying in almost every scene this week, she only breaks out into tears five times.
