Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson and Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison in Homeland (Season 2, Episode 2)
Greg: So now we are left to wonder who confronts Brody first? Saul? Carrie? Mike? Jessica? Dana? I've been racking my brain on the direction this season is going to take, and if it's going to result in a stunted story arc. A senior member of the CIA now knows the truth about Brody. Is there any possible way for him to wriggle out of this, and string it out over the course of 10 episodes? If he's caught, where does the show go from there?
Tierney: I mean, who does Saul call first — his boss, Estes, or Carrie, the person who deserves to know first that she was right all along (especially after her melt-down of self-doubt on the roof top)?
Maybe the bigger question is where does Carrie go from here? I imagine if/when Brody is exposed, she will have to carry the show into its next major arc, unless it ends when Brody's arc does. I really like the detail that she went rogue to meet her asset, Fatima. It's a decision she shrugs off to Saul, but I think is actually really telling of her character. One, this is her being a good spy: She knew Fatima would not have divulged that secret Nazir meeting to her with Saul or anyone else hanging around. Two, deliberately or subconsciously, she knew she needed to make herself indispensable to the mission and the CIA as a whole: She is not going let herself be Estes's pawn.
Despite the reemergence of "Hero Carrie" (and I'm glad this Carrie is re-emerging so soon), she is still sick. She started to lose it again when she was resting in bed in Beirut — and I think that might be a recurring problem for her. She can keep her cool in the most chaotic, dangerous situations, but in those quiet moments she falls apart. Even though a big part of the reason she cracked while in the hospital last season was that she hadn't taken her bipolar meds, I think, the medication factor aside, she is at her mental best immersed in the action, and at her worst when she is completely removed from it.
I think a lot of the upcoming episodes will focus on her wavering from the flashes of brilliance and the panic of self doubt that's weighing her down.
Greg: That is where the show will find its ability to transition over 12 episodes. Carrie walks this tightrope between CIA wunderkind and calamitous mental wreck, so much that even if she does fall back into Langley's good graces, her own personal flaws are going to get in the way. Let's hope it doesn't ultimately get in the country's way.
Come back next week as Greg and Tierney continue their Homeland discussion.
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