Me too. Roya really turned the tables on Carrie. I think that’s what Homeland does best – the one-on-one conversations that expose deep feelings.
Did we see a hypodermic needle in someone’s hand, approaching Roya, after Carrie left the room?
Sepinwall, and people commenting on his review, are unhappy with the show, particularly the action aspects. They’re bitching that Carrie survived two personal encounters with Nazir. I get where they’re coming from. The writers want Carrie in the thick of the action and it isn’t always plausible. Carrie guessing that Nazir was still in that warehouse because Roya said “he doesn’t run” – that was flimsy. Better for them to simply realize that he had to still be there because he couldn’t have gotten away.
I am one of those people. There is so much to dislike about this episode. So much that I’m going to make a list:
Dana literally crying over spilt milk.
Carrie bumbling into the interrogation room minutes after a scene where Estes gave Quinn explicit instructions to keep her away from Roya. Where the hell was Quinn? Why weren’t there any guards posted outside the room to keep her from entering? And are we to assume Carrie thought it was acceptable (or even expected) to waltz directly from the restroom into the the interrogation room before consulting a single person about the gameplan?
The Nazir search team didn’t have canines or building blueprints or thermal imaging or anything else that might aid in the discovery of one of the world’s most wanted terrorists.
Nazir’s hiding place was absurdly obvious. Did no one think to check there before Carrie pointed it out? I was expecting her to see a crack of light coming from behind what the Tac team had assumed was a solid concrete wall, not a utility closet hidden behind a storage grate. Please. I had better hiding spots than that when I was in kindergarten.
The whole absurd scene of Carrie following behind a lone member of the Tac team moments after Quinn explained that they worked in pairs.
Nazir giving chase through a creepy abandoned mill like some Scooby Doo terrorist.
Nazir punching Carrie and throwing her around instead of stabbing her with the same knife he had just slit a dude’s throat with.
Estes wanting to assassinate a sitting congressman who will very shortly become the subject of intense media interest.
Dana going from the moral center of the show in season one and during the early part of season two to a shrill hateful brat with zero dimension.
I could go on and on, but I’ll leave it at that. This may have been the episode where the show jumped the shark, and if not, it’s been the single most dramatic drop in quality from the freshman to sophomore seasons of any show I’ve watched.
I really really hate to agree with you, but I do. Not because I don’t want to agree with you personally, but because the first season of the show was so great it sucks more how badly this second season is going.
They could redeem it all with the finale, I suppose, but I’m not hopeful.
With Nazir still on the loose, after having kidnapped Carrie (for reasons unknown) once, there she is again, driving around by herself with no sort of security. WTF? If they didn’t care about her safety, you think that they’d at least have been following her for her potential value as bait.
It’s a testament to how far I think it’s fallen that when Carrie was driving around with the camera riding shotgun, I was fully expecting her to get into another car accident.
Heck, I was expecting a bomb to go off when Nazir was finally trapped.
Nazir was all alone? No minions?
Galvez was allowed to leave without telling anyone?
I still think/want to believe there’s more going on. Why is Estes so determined to get Saul on a leash? F. Murray Abraham – just one scene with dialogue?
The problem with any show that goes for one big shock after another to keep viewers interested is that you quickly reach the point of absurdity. Sooner or later, Homeland will have to reveal that Estes, Saul or Carrie has been a terrorist all along, because where else will they have left to go?
They’ve been renewed for a third season, which I’m assuming will involve taking down Estes and some of the other powerful people who are trying to carry out the assassination of Brody, and also discovering who the mole is that’s talking to the terrorists. I think it would be a serious mistake to take this show past three seasons and still try to make it fun/exciting.
I thought S2 E11 was a very strong hour. In fact, it renewed my faith a little.
Clever: the slow reveal of Estes vs. Saul, the manner of Carrie and Brody joining (forever) in common cause, “he’s Muslim” about Galvez, that Dana is by some stretch the sanest/least dysfunctional character, the Roya vs Carrie interrogation.
I think it also helps if you can see the occasional homage or tongue in cheek.
Imo, the story with Homeland is not the storylines, they’re often throwaways/disposable - you have to get that far. What’ important is the ambiguities, the moral uncertainties and conflicts, the duplicity, the way the viewer is drawn in to empathise with the unacceptable and even despicable.
This is actually our world that’s depicted and, like Homeland, not all the storylines make sense or are explained.
In terms of the structure of the drama, I suspect Quinn - and everything connected with Quinn - was written after S3 was signed up. This storyline can provide the end of season cliffhanger without giving up the ultimate (mole) reveal.
Was this the series finale? Its sure felt like it. But apparently there is another episode and another season.
Usually penultimate episodes end on cliff hangers, this did not, it fucking wrapped every plotline up. Although I would still like to know the purpose of the poor Philadelphia policewoman.
It’s not really wrapped up – there’s still a hit order on Brody. And unless I’m forgetting something, nothing came of Brody stealing those codes from the VP’s safe.
There’s an interesting comment on one of Sepinwall’s columns, a theory about why we’re so picky about Homeland but we let plot holes and contrivances slide on Breaking Bad. We expect consistency from Homeland but not BB, because the stuff that happens on Homeland is rooted in reality, and Breaking Bad is a parable, a morality tale. Walter White is Everyman, Brody and Carrie and Saul represent people we see on the news.
I think that’s as good an explanation as any. The strength of both shows is the relationships, not the action. Both shows get the relationships right, and both shows are quite watchable without gunfire and car chases.
I’m kind of glad they wrapped up a bunch of plotlines though. Too many shows feel they need to stretch stuff out for their entire run. One of the things I like about Homeland is that stuff gets resolved pretty quickly.
Just taking a guess, but despite lots of story lines wrapping up in short order, I will bet I come back to this thread after Sunday’s season finale and say, “Holy crap! Didn’t see that coming!”
Yep. From the previews, we see someone getting a naval funeral, a burial at sea. Is that Nazir’s body? Bin Laden was buried at sea. Or is it the VP or someone at CIA who was a veteran and warrants a naval funeral?
That was the most puzzling scene from the previews.