TV Catch-Up: Homeland: How Will Season 2 End?

photo courtesy of screencrush.com

ML- To preface, many apologies for the overall lack of effort on my part in staying up-to-date with reviews. Just returned home from a whirlwind semester in Los Angeles and had barely had time to watch all my TV, let alone organize my thoughts.

A lot has happened since I last blogged about the show. Six episodes, to be exact, have aired, and over the course of that time I've noticed the critical response to the show pull a near-180. A major complaint has been that the manic pacing and plot twists galore have worsened the show, rendering it more familiar to Howard Gordon/Alex Gansa's last hit, 24. From what I've heard 24 is a good show, but not the example of high art the Homeland proved it could be with tight, concise storytelling and well-developed characters last season. Instead, 24 took more liberties with believability and danced with absurdity too often, until it became Kiefer Sutherland running around shooting people and yelling "dammit!"

Right now, I'm afraid Homeland could become Claire Danes running back into places she absolutely should not run into and yelling "fuck!", because this is pay cable, after all. When she went back for the bag containing Brody's confession video in Lebanon, I complained that it stretched my suspension of disbelief. It turns out, that was to set a precedent of Carrie going back when everything otherwise says bail, as she did with Nazir in the mill. I'm frustrated that both times ended up paying off for her, as there was no sense of real accomplishment when she succeeded this time.

I guess that's not true and I can't go that far. Carrie got Nazir, her white whale. I'm disappointed the extent of their scenes together was limited to her emotional torture last week and a poorly-lit battle before his death. Carrie was obsessed with this man -- like enough to construct color-coded timelines and travel the globe hunting for clues to his whereabouts. Seeing her over his dead body didn't feel like a victory because in many ways, to Carrie, it wasn't. What happens to you when you're stripped of the thing you care most passionately about? You have to move on and fill that void with something new.

Which brings us to Brody. Brody loved Nazir like a father, we can assume, and Damian Lewis did a great job of glazing himself over in the subsequent scenes. I loved his mini-breakdown once he found out about Nazir's death. I also loved his near-confession to Jess in the car, and I loved how she stopped him from saying it, because she already knew. I'm worried what implications this has for Jess and the Brody family in the future -- but I'll get to predictions later.

Saul had a great episode too, sticking it to the man by giving the most entertaining polygraph outside of daytime TV. "Do people call you The Bear?" "I sure fucking hope not." Estes realized Saul knows too much and is canning him, but hopefully Saul is about to get all grizzly on some bitches to stay around. I'm glad the writers found a way to include him more in the action this season by adding him to the Quinn story, and Patinkin always nails what he's given.

Speaking of Peter Quinn (not his real name, as we've learned), I like him. I think we're supposed to like him. Sure, he's been plotting to kill off everyone's favorite anti-hero (or is it protaga-villain?) but he's made an impact in only a handful of episodes, a real unpredictable jolt to the storytelling. When he nearly shot Brody in the limo I finally grasped what a badass dude he is.

What is Estes' main goal using Quinn to off Brody? Can't merely be in the name of national security, as Estes has been shown as much more selfish than that. With Walden now dead (in a questionable scene that actually featured the line "I'm killing you!") Estes is going to be trying to find a way to profit off of the late veep's misfortune. Try to parlay this conquest into political credit? Makes the most sense, but there could be something deeper.

Oh, right, Dana. Ugh at the entire hit-and-run story that has taken things NOWHERE, considering Walden is now dead so boyfriend will probably be out of the picture. It was just killing time, wasn't it? I would have rather watched Chris and Brody play Hearts. At least that would have given him something to do!

photo courtesy of IGN.com

So, how does this clusterfuck of a season end? I've got some predictions, formulated by myself and my similarly Homeland-obsessed mother who has a knack for predicting season finales. To me, what we came up with makes perfect sense. Is that what the writers are going for? Sense? Or shock? We'll see:

When Quinn looked in on Carrie and Brody he didn't have the face of a heartless killer. He was torn, finally giving a damn about his cohort and her emotional struggles with a "terrorist". He knows that if he kills Brody, he's killing Carrie, too. Does he really want to ruin her life? No, he doesn't. He won't end up going through with the kill. And maybe, he'll report to a higher-up that Estes ordered a hit on a congressman, ruining his career or at least forcing him to step down. Best man to take Estes' place? The Bear himself!

We'll get a flashback to Brody's mysterious 12 hours with Abu Nazir and discover a shocking revelation: everything is going to plan. Brody knew Carrie would be kidnapped, and he would only kill Walden under the circumstance she knew his alibi. That way, she can attest he did it for her. Nazir himself knew he'd be killed, and sacrificed himself so that everyone's guard would be lowered. Carrie said it herself -- Nazir doesn't care about people dying along the way. The greatest trick Nazir will ever pull is convincing the world he's gone, when really, his disciple is all the more hell-bent on terrorism.

Brody's conflict last season, the reason why he didn't set off the bomb, was his love for Issa conflicting with his love for Dana, Chris and Jess. Now, he doesn't have to worry about them. They're better off without him. He let them go, and now there's nothing holding him back from getting revenge.

But what is his revenge act? This, I don't know. Walden is dead. The only other person we know who collaborated with Walden is Estes. Is he in Brody's crosshairs? Or could it be Carrie? I highly doubt he actually loves her like he claims he does. The man who destroyed his one love, Issa, is gone; is he going after the woman who destroyed his family? So many questions.

The last question: Will Brody die? I think he will. The Brody story has run its course. Everyone and their mother knows what he was planning to do. His political career is dead, as is his mentor. And how many times can he and Carrie break up/get back together before this becomes one of the bad relationships on Glee?

So Brody dies. Jess, Dana and Chris will get a final scene with Mike comforting them, establishing his role as rightful caretaker. Carrie is traumatized, only giving her more verve to hunt down these terrorists. The only downside to Brody's death would be the loss of Damian Lewis from the show (and, I suppose, Morena Baccarin).

Once he dies, the show is free to pick up on a new tangent. Start over, basically, with a new big bad in a new location and return to the pacing of season 1. Maybe establish a pattern, as if every 2 seasons a major story is dealt with and completed? If The Killing had said upfront Rosie's murder would be solved by the end of season 2, I might have stuck around.

Whether he lives or dies, this season of Homeland, for me, will be remembered fondly for the risks the show took. Did it get outlandish, unbelievable and sometimes stupid? Yes, but it was fun, and the acting was amazing, and there were moments of brilliance sprinkled within every episode. I think The Walking Dead is doing almost the same thing this season, except with worse acting and less fun and brilliance but also zombies. As long as the Homeland writers don't turn into zombies and start churning out crap for the sake of cheap thrills and water-cooler WTFs, I'd say the show will continue to find success.

Share your predictions below so you can rub it in my face when you're right and I'm wrong!

Catch-Up Episode Grades:
2x06: B
2x07: B+
2x08: B+
2x09: A-
2x10: B+

Episode Grade: B+
Episode MVP: Damian Lewis
Original Airdate: 12/09/2012

TV Review: Homeland 2x03: "State of Independence"

photo courtesy of npr.org

ML- There is so much good about this season of Homeland, it literally hurts to point out the scattered flaws. This week, I'd say 75% of the episode was near-perfection. Claire Danes, Morena Baccarin and Mandy Patinkin all were flawless and had story lines worthy of their credentials. It was the stuff given to Damian Lewis that made me hesitate to label this episode as highly as TV critics out there.

To recap, Roya called Brody and told him the Gettysburg bomb maker who created "The Vest" would soon be the subject of government focus and needed to be coerced into escaping to a safe house. Brody was the only man applicable for the job because the tailor apparently trusted him more than anyone else.

I call B.S. on this. Brody and the tailor met once, as far as we know, so he could get the vest. Wouldn't the tailor be a little skeptical of Brody not actually following through in blowing himself up? Weren't there other Nazir contacts who could escape to Gettysburg, especially ones who were less high-profile than a Congressman expected at a fundraiser that night? Either this was a terrible stretch of our suspension of disbelief on the part of the writers, or Roya is not to be trusted. If that's the case, bravo, this episode could end up being perfection. Maybe she knew how crazy it was and wanted Brody to take the fall? That's the only way to justify the logic behind sending Brody through a wild goose chase in the woods.

The scene where he killed the tailor was also ridiculous. Did he have to answer his phone? Couldn't he have let Jess go to voicemail while he dealt with the injured man rather than answer it right next to him and force his hand into snapping necks? Just doesn't add up for me.

The tagline for this season of Boardwalk Empire has been "You can't be half a gangster", and I think a similar idea applies to Brody. Brody can't be half a terrorist. He needs to fully submit himself to the will of Nazir and be willing to drop everything at any cost for the man. I'd say he's close, but his problem is his family. Unfortunately, he can't be half a family man, either. Eventually, something has got to give and he will need to choose. Until then, I hope we aren't subjected to more bad writing.

Everything about the episode was top notch. The Saul scenes in the beginning and end were spectacular. Of course Saul was smart enough to hide the chip! It would have been much funnier if he hid it in his beard. When he showed it to Carrie, the acting by the two of them was show-stopping. Danes killed it throughout the whole episode, especially in the long, wordless scene where she took the pills and crawled into bed to die. It proves that even though the dialogue in this show is top-notch and the actors' delivery is equally so, they can convey just as much emotion with the light of their eyes.

Another pleasant surprise was Jess, who salvaged her fundraiser from becoming a career-ending blunder for her husband into a call for better psychological support for families of veterans. It was a call to the masses, but subtextually a cry for help. Baccarin played the moment with grace, even the awkward joke about car trouble in the beginning, and made an extremely unlikable character very endearing. Her scene with Mike was well-placed, I thought. These two were days away from moving in together and Brody's return forced them apart, it's no stretch that residual feelings exist. When she finally told off Brody in the house, I cheered, perhaps because I was so angry at his story line, but more likely because it paints him further into a corner.

I have literally no idea where this show goes from here. We see in the preview Carrie and Saul briefing Estes on the tape. So the CIA knows. There goes Brody's chance at a political career. Do they try turning him into a triple-agent of sorts to take down Nazir? If so, how will Brody be able to fit another personality into his wheelhouse? A Hawthorne quote featured in an episode of The Sopranos speaks to his condition: "No man can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true."

Episode Grade: A-
Episode MVP: Claire Danes & Morena Baccarin
Original Airdate: 10/14/2012

TV Review: Homeland 2x02: "Beirut is Back"

ML- The most heartbreaking moment of "Beirut is Back" was Carrie's panicked breakdown to Saul on the roof of their Lebanese hideout. Despite risking her life and potential for recovery to ship out and help Saul & David Estes extract information from Fatima Ali, Saul admitted to not wanting her there in the first place. All Carrie ever wanted was to do her service to America, so much so that she put her own health on the back burner and focused 100% on Nazir. So when she cries to Saul that she had never been so sure and so wrong about Brody and how much it screwed her up, we, like Saul, gain a greater appreciation for her character.

Yes, she's obsessive and unconventional in her methods, and frankly her handling of her condition was unprofessional and completely deserving of her termination. There would be no issue, and all of us would be on the same side as Saul, if the audience didn't know how right she was. She's struggling to find the answers to a test she already aced, and her quest for someone to believe her is one the audience will be deeply invested in.

Has she found that person already? The episode ended with Saul going through the bag that Carrie foolishly retrieved from Fatima's house, searching for helpful information in the files and documents. Nothing. He notices, though, a stitch in the fabric of the bag itself and tears to reveal a chip. On the chip is the video we saw Brody make in last season's finale, where he stood in the storage unit and explained his forthcoming terrorist actions. The last shot we're treated to is Saul watching this video, aghast, and coupled with Carrie's confession from earlier, the episode packs an unexpected punch into the gut of anyone doubting whether this season would live up to the first.

Nobody expected this season to reach this critical point yet. It surely spells bad things for Saul and especially Brody, but also gives Carrie a new lease on life she may not have expected. Does Saul go to Carrie to begin comparing theories off-the-record? Does he go to Estes without involving Carrie at all? Does he keep it to himself and do some private investigating of his own? Saul is now involved in the scheme as much as Carrie is, and who knows what Brody will do when his back is against the wall. Mandy Patinkin is much more expendable than Claire Danes.

Brody already has plenty of conspiracy theorists in his midst. His old Marine buddies, Mike included, ask him to check the confidential files on the Tom Walker case to see if there's any information on who his real killer was or if any other suspects were involved. Brody lies and explains the files say nothing, which everyone expected him to do. The congressman can not catch a break, as now even his friends are turning their eyes his direction. He's going to have to be much more careful in the coming weeks.

Careful, as in not sending text messages from situation rooms in the Pentagon. He tips off Abu Nazir in one of the tensest moments the series has had so far, but it seemed kind of unrealistic. When the Vice President thinks someone tipped Nazir off, wouldn't it be protocol to search everyone in the room before they exited? Brody is lucky to have gotten away so easily there, but I suppose that's now the least of his worries.

Nazir did survive, despite Carrie and Saul's best efforts. The character truly has transformed into a force of nature; when he stepped out of that car, I gasped as if I saw a ghost, or even a real-life terrorist. I suspect he'll go into hiding for a while, as his trust in many has been compromised.

The second unrealistic thing that kept me from giving this episode a perfect score was Carrie's retrieval of the bag. Sure, it was an exhilarating scene and led to Saul's ultimate discovery of the chip, but the whole thing was too much of a suspension of my disbelief, even with Carrie in her fragile state. Putting everyone's lives in danger of the Lebanese civilians was too risky even on her part, manic or not.

Carrie returns home, considering her mission to have been a failure. The woman in the car with her mentions Carrie must have heard it from everyone and their brother, but thanks her anyway. From what we saw, nobody thanked her. It's always been a thankless job for Carrie, and she's never minded, but this time it wasn't a job, it was a favor. Not to be thanked for a favor that big is going to make her even further re-evaluate her stance on the CIA, which could be trouble once Saul approaches her with his intel.

The only other development this week was Dana with her new non-moronic boy toy, Finn Walden, aka the one she called out during her "Muslim Dad" rant. Could the congressman's daughter coupling with the Vice President's son be a match made in heaven or yet another political complication, especially if things don't end well or she spills some secrets? Time will tell. By the pace that the show is traveling at right now, for all we know that time could be tonight.

Episode Grade: A
Episode MVP: Claire Danes
Original Airdate: 10/07/2012