TV Review: Homeland 2x05: "Q&A"

Photo courtesy of tv.com

ML- It's the time of year when I start thinking of "Best Of" lists for the past 12 months. In terms of TV, I've been keeping track of my favorite shows since 2008, inducting the best I watched that year (either live, DVD or Netflix/Hulu) into a "Hall of Fame" which now consists of Six Feet Under, Survivor, Lost, Friday Night Lights and Community.

This year, the drama side has three clear frontrunners, and one of which is Homeland. Season 2 has been a whirlwind ride and is only half over, and perhaps by the finale it will be a runaway choice for HoF placement. While watching this week's episode, however, I spent a lot of time weighing it against the current top pick, Mad Men.

Mad Men aired an episode of its stellar fifth season called "At the Codfish Ball", in which several characters met for an awards banquet and faced differing forms of disillusionment and moral corruption.  Towards the end of the episode, there was a beautiful shot of all the involved characters sitting at the table, digesting their individual discoveries. That image stuck with me, as did the one of the 5 SCDP partners looking out of their new upstairs viewpoint, an endless world of possibilities lying ahead of them. It's instances like this where television stops being mindless entertainment and starts becoming art.

Homeland doesn't take the time to stage such poignant living artwork, but does that make it any less masterful? Obviously, the show is damn good, entertaining and full of uber-talented ladies and gentlemen. It lacks, however, the added flair of planned perfection I'd attribute to Mad Men and Breaking Bad.

Probably the best instance of such directorial depth comes from episode 3, "State of Independence", when Carrie took her pills and silently, submissively succumbed to her suicidal angst -- not before puking them out, of course. It transports the show from being dialogue and blocking and lighting and props to being a work of art. The image of Claire Danes' big bug eyes lying on the bed, waiting to die, is a picture worth a thousand words.

Homeland is a different kind of art. It's a grittier project, devoted to throwing your point of view out of whack and creating layers of doubt into your mind. When Carrie drinks her wine at episode's end, the speculation as to what's going through her head gives us another artistic moment. Is she a woman recklessly declaring her love for a terrorist, or a savvy interrogator just getting the job done? We don't know, and the best part is that the show itself doesn't know, either, or at least isn't ready to tell us yet. The pacing of this show is unlike any other I've seen (though I've heard it described to The Vampire Diaries) and is in itself a high mark for the case of the show as a work of art.

The reason I even brought any of this up was born out of a minor criticism of this fantastic episode. It has nothing to do with Carrie or Brody or newcomer Peter, as I thought every scene set in the interrogation chamber was perfection. (Side note: I read a great article in which a CIA expert fact-checked Homeland at every turn, especially regarding the interrogation. Check it out.)

My issue was with the scene in which the four Brody family members reunite at the end of the episode. Brody, having just gone through an emotional gauntlet; Dana, having just possibly killed someone while riding around with Lil' Veep; Jess, who keeps putting herself out there and accepts Brody's lies in the name of being a good wife (and achieving social status that gives her life some meaning); and Chris, who is STILL ABSOLUTELY USELESS. That's my major gripe, everyone: Chris. Had the writers developed him even one iota this year (or, let's face it, last year) they could have given him a beat that peaked in this scene with the rest of his family, matching the emotional resonance of "At the Codfish Ball"'s over the top, grandiose spectacle.

I guess I just have to come to terms with the fact that Homeland is not Mad Men, and that's not a bad thing. There's no comparing them, just as there's no comparing Breaking Bad or even Downton Abbey, the third front-runner for drama Hall of Fame this year. One man's Animal Practice is another man's Homeland, and there are bits and pieces of art in every show out there. Mad Men is classical music, Homeland is moody jazz with some rock influences.

I suppose we should actually cover Carrie and Brody. In hindsight, it's obviously the story would take them here: Brody will play triple-agent and report to the CIA on Nazir's retaliation plans after the nuclear facility attack. Carrie and Brody are back in each other's lives: his alibi is that they're having an affair. How long until the two start up with getting physical once again? The idea of the CIA operative and the terrorist falling in love is pretty poetic, in a Romeo and Juliet kind of way.

How long can this story be sustained? Let's assume the finale is Brody saving the day and preventing the attack. Does he relocate and get out of government, like Saul said? Does season 3 involve a personal attack on Brody from former Nazir loyalists, forcing Carrie to come to his aid? Or will Brody prevent the attack but pledge a darker loyalty, now out of the government cross-hairs? The show has options, but I'm not sure if they can remain interesting for 5-7 seasons.

By the way, Dana and her storyline are dumb, but hopefully they'll evolve into something more interesting. She now has some leverage against the VP, something Brody may be able to take advantage of, too. Just please, writers, give Chris a purpose, or kill him and send the family into a funk. Just don't keep him on the payroll in his current state of being. Do that, Homeland may be a lock for the Hall of Fame.

Episode Grade: A
Episode MVP: Damian Lewis
Original Airdate: 10/28/2012

TV Review: Homeland 2x04: "New Car Smell"

ML- The episode opened with Estes' son Kenny greeting Saul at the door wearing a Darth Vader mask and waving a lightsaber. Just a random quirky way to introduce the character? No, the show is too smart for that. This was a well-thought reference to one Anakin Skywalker, whose story parallels Sgt. Brody.

*Warning*: The following is a total nerd-out.

Skywalker was a Jedi Knight during the Clone Wars, a war hero in his own right, much like Nicholas Brody. His mind was distorted by the greatest evil mastermind the galaxy had ever known- Chancellor Palpatine, a Sith lord who went on to proclaim himself Emperor. For our purposes, Palpatine and Abu Nazir are one and the same.

The Jedi discovered Skywalker and Palpatine's involvement too late. The Jedi Master Mace Windu confronted Palpatine and expected Skywalker to follow suit. Skywalker didn't, betrayed Windu and went on to slaughter as many Jedi as possible. It seems as though Estes and Saul are like the CIA's wise, hardened Jedi Masters Windu and Yoda. They've discovered his treason but decided to sit on the information- a bad move that fortunately Carrie was able to undo.

We could call Carrie his Obi-Wan and Jess his Padme (and Virgil and Max are the droids!), but those don't align quite as well. The important thing to remember is that after destroying all the Jedi and running the galaxy with an iron fist, Skywalker was redeemed after being taken down by his son and daughter and restoring balance to the force. Does this mean Brody's story ends in a celebration, with Dana and Carrie working together to turn Brody against Nazir and free the ewoks from Imperial captivity? Hopefully so, except for that last part. Homeland is no place for ewoks.

"New Car Smell" represented a fresh start for Carrie as she settled back into the groove of the CIA, a more worn vehicle in which she must sit shotgun to newcomer Peter Quinn. Quinn was brash and aggressive, but likable in his own way. He didn't trust Carrie more than we'd expect anyone briefed on her history to do, despite the video backing up her story. In a show already packed with several strong characters, it'll be interesting to see the trajectory the writers have planned for him.

Another lesser character who drunkenly stumbled his way to the forefront tonight was Lauder, Brody's marine vet "buddy" who has been spitting out conspiracy theories left and right. He barged into Jess' house and she needed Mike to haul him out. It was to Mike, not Jess, that Lauder shared his craziest theory- Brody and Walker were working together. Mike humored him, yet another weak link in Brody's armor that, by episode's end, is shattered completely.

Carrie is a badass Honey Badger frickin' rock star from Mars. Not only can she knock out Lebanese extremists with cinder blocks to the head, she can hold her own against a proven terrorist in an unprotected hotel room. Were her actions best for the CIA? No, but as she and her father chant, "F*** the CIA!" They were best for her, and after all the horrors she went through, she needed and deserved this victory.

So where do we go from here? This was one of the best season finales I've ever seen, and there are still 8 episodes to go in the season. Saul and Estes' plan of sitting and waiting on Brody is foiled. He's in custody. His VP campaign is screwed, which will be a minor setback for the budding relationship between Dana and her Walden beaux. Mike will probably share Lauder's theory with Jess soon, and Dana will connect the dots, too. If I were Damian Lewis, I'd be on the lookout for new job offers, just in case.

Episode Grade: A+
Episode MVP: Claire Danes
Original Airdate: 10/21/2012

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