Photo via Showtime.
After a string of solid episodes, last night’s “A Red Wheelbarrow” was a sobering reminder of how frustrating Homeland can be sometimes. Well, more specifically, how frustrating Carrie Mathison can be sometimes. In the first few episodes of the season, we watched as Carrie, off her meds, became an epic train wreck, landing herself locked up in the looney bin after threatening to spill CIA secrets to the press. One of the most clever and bold—albeit extremely contrived and implausible—things Homeland has ever done was setting all that up as an elaborate scheme concocted by Carrie and Saul in order to recruit Javadi as a high-level operative in the Iranian government. While the fact that it all played out exactly as they planned it is somewhat unbelievable, the multi-episode arc that set the whole thing up has been nothing but a pleasure and refreshing change of pace from last season’s 24-esque pacing and franticness.
But it often seems like while Homeland takes a step forward, it can’t do so without taking two steps back. Last night was a prime example of that as Carrie risked everything her and Saul have been working for this season because of her irrational quest to clear Brody’s name as the Langley bomber. Beyond that, however, Homeland continued to its Le Carre-esque season-long narrative, winding down to an event that…well, it’s not entirely certain what that is yet. After several episodes of questions being answered, Homeland keeps building tension by raising more questions. Namely, who, exactly, is Mira’s lover? And what is Saul really up to? Let’s breakdown last night’s episode.
Leland Bennett
In last week’s episode, “Gerontion,” Javadi tells Carrie (and in so many words, Saul) what she already knew: That Brody is not the Langley bomber. But he also fills her in with the valuable nugget of information that Leland Bennett, the lawyer that brought them together, knows who the bomber really is and that he’s still in the country. This leads to Carrie and Quinn concocting a plan to flush him out by going after Bennett’s law firm. With the help of F. Murray Abraham Dar Adal, they lead Bennett to believe they have evidence connecting him and his firm to the actual Langley bomber.
And this leads to Bennett ordering his “associate,” Franklin, to exfiltrate him out of the country. With the CIA closely following Franklin, waiting for the opportune moment to bust the Langley bomber without blowing Carrie’s cover, they discover that Franklin is actually going to kill him. This, being the only chance for Carrie to clear Brody’s name, causes her to act irrationally. Thus leading to…
Photo via Showtime.
Carrie Jeopardizes Everything
After spotting Franklin putting silencer on a pistol, Carrie jeopardizes everything to go out and stop him from killing the Langley bomber. Despite being yelled at to stand down by Dar Adal, Quinn, and just about everyone else working the mission that night, Carrie proceeds anyway, risking the months and months of work that led to recruiting Javadi. And then…
Carrie Gets Herself Shot
Yep. They gave her fair warning, but she didn’t back down. So, Quinn shoots Carrie in the arm. When she comes to, she’s (obviously) furious and demands to know where Saul is. Saul, of course, is on a secret trip (more on that later). Also, unbeknownst to Quinn or anybody, Carrie is pregnant.
Carrie’s Baby Daddy: Brody?
Looks like the pregnancy subplot is going to be at the forefront of Homeland in the coming weeks. Carrie finally acknowledges her pregnancy (she’s 13 weeks along), and visits her doctor to check things over. The baby’s healthy, but the doctor tells Carrie that she has high blood pressure due to the stress of her job and tells her she needs to take it easy. Carrie responds by saying that what she’s working on is directly connected to the baby’s father, and that she needs to “make things right.” So, uh, I guess that means Brody is the father? This will be interesting.
Photo via Showtime.
Who Is Mira’s Lover?
Now that Saul and Mira have decided to make their marriage work, Mira has to break things off with her lover, Alain. All we’ve known about Alain so far is that he worked with Mira years before. He seemed like an innocuous periphery character only there as a catalyst for Saul to realize he wants to work things out with Mira, but now it seems like the writers have more in store for him. Later in the episode, after Mira breaks up with him, he’s seen snooping in the Berenson household, planting a bug on Saul’s computer. Who are you, Alain? What’s your business here?
Photo via Showtime.
What Is Saul Up To?
Early in the episode, Dar Adal alludes to a secret trip that Saul is going on, of which Carrie can know “nothing about.” During the episode’s climactic finale, Carrie demands to know where Saul is. Cut to: The Tower of David! Where Brody is being held! Saul pays his captors what looks like millions of dollars and is taken to Brody, who is not looking too hot these days. (He’s seen curled up in a ball, with dozens of heroin needles scattered around him.)
Next week’s episode will certainly be interesting.
Carrie Mathison Cry-O-Meter Rating: 1
Photo via Showtime.
Carrie only cries once. But it was after she was shot. And very angry. This is excusable.
