Quinn - seasons 2 through 4: Charting the progress of a ship
By the end of season 4, we have a pretty good idea of how Carrie and Quinn feel about one another but it has been a very rocky path to get there. The wordy version is below. If it's too long for some, there is also a graphical representation.
Episode
Episode Title
Comment
S2
2.04
"New Car Smell"
We are introduced to Quinn. Carrie doesn't like him at first - I'm the same. I think he looks cocky and has arrogant hair.
Carries is surprised that a new analyst has been brought in to handle things.
Later, it seems like he may have a lot to contribute - the two of them watch surveillance together. They eat together - he likes Indian food and olives. He is a bit nosy about her personal life there's almost a bit of forced flirtation. At this point I'm not even contemplating them as a possible pairing.
He also gives her good suggestions and praises her - you can tell that he genuinely thinks that professionally she's pretty good. Carrie doesn't get praised that often so it's kind of a sweet moment.
Non-shippy because they've just met but there's potential because she thinks he's not too bad professionally although she's suspicious and asks Virgil to check him out. Negated by her obsession with Brody and the fact that he is making inappropriate jokes about mental illness. I note that Carrie calls him Peter once in this episode which is really weird - I'm so used to her calling him Quinn.
2.05
"Q&A"
Quinn interrogates Brody. Then he stabs him in the hand with a knife because every good cop needs a bad cop. I still don't like him because I don't believe it's right to stab people in the hand even though he has a nice relaxed and chilled demeanour. Still non-shippy - the knife stab was terrifying and calculated.
2.06
"A Gettysburg Address"
Quinn notices that Brody knows something about the tailor.
While they have antagonism, the clearly work well together and are in sync - Quinn listening to her even though technically he's in charge.
Quinn investigates the tailor's shop
Quinn listens to Carrie's hunch about the tailor's shop because he believes in her (this is mildly shippy).
Quinn is shot by the Bad Guys as is Galvez. This is a very mildly shippy episode but it's still in the very early days of the ship given where Carrie's head's at.
2.07
"The Clearing"
Quinn's in hospital. Carrie consults with him. She brings photographs for him to see and discusses her theories. They're a team and she clearly respects his opinion.
He insists on discharging himself from the hospital despite his stomach wound
We see Quinn's bum - very British actor of him
He pops painkillers during the episode and I start to worry he's going to get addicted
Quinn raids a house but it's a bust
Quinn at first seems callous about Galvez but actually does care. Not a shippy episode but I start to like Quinn more and I think Carrie's' starting to like him as a person/colleague. I like him more, too because he genuinely seems to care about the operation and getting things right. He also understands how to motivate Brody. Not really shippy yet - Carrie is still fixated on Brody.
2.08
"I'll Fly Away"
Quinn hears Carrie and Brody bonking and appears more than a little unsettled by it
Quinn gives Carrie time to complete the mission and calls off the team sent to capture Brody
When Brody meets with Roya, Carrie is concerned for Brody's life when she recognises MM the bad guy, She wants to capture the three bad guys then and there
Quinn insists on letting the operation continue; Carrie disobeys Quinn's orders and gets out of the van to see what's happening. She is very wild-eyed and indiscreet. Not really shippy yet - Carrie is still fixated on Brody.
2.09
"Two Hats"
Max and Virgil snoop on Quinn. They suspect he is a sniper.
Saul goes to see the estranged mother of Quinn's child
Saul's actions spook Quinn into going and meeting with his boss Dar Adal, a man Saul knew from 18 years ago who was running classified operations out of Nairobi. Virgil notes that if Quinn is reporting to Dar Adal, his job function is definitely not just an 'analyst' as he's supposed to be.
Back at headquarters, Quinn leaves after being prompted by Estes. Saul asks Estes where Quinn is going. Estes explains that Quinn is acting as a "FBI liaison" today, and Saul asks why that task is assigned to an analyst.
Quinn drives a limousine to Brody's house to take him to the homecoming. While he waits, Quinn removes a handgun with a silencer from the glove compartment and gets ready to shoot Brody. But when Carrie confirms that the final man in the SUV was not Abu Nazir, Estes orders Quinn to "stand down" and that "we still need him." Not shippy at all given the Quinn storyline and the fact that Quinn was about to kill Brody - but it's some very interesting insight into the character of Quinn.
2.10
"Broken Hearts"
Saul talks with Dar Adal. He is a mysterious black ops guy who is mysterious - but eats at the same waffles joint all the time.
Adal claims that Quinn is one of his men on loan to Estes but claims he doesn't know why.
At Langley, Saul confronts Estes about why Quinn is involved in the operation. Estes becomes furious when Saul implies that Quinn was brought in to kill Brody, in order to cover up Estes' complicity in the drone strike that killed Abu Nazir's son Issa.
Quinn approaches them, reporting that Carrie was in a car accident and is now missing. He is genuinely upset.
Saul heads to the accident scene. While he's gone, Estes tells Quinn "he knows."
Quinn is genuinely concerned when Galvez comes to help because Galvez is still injured but understands when Galvez says he wants to help Carrie. Very mildly shippy given that Quinn seems to have genuine feelings of concern for Carrie.
2.11
"In Memoriam"
Carrie tells Quinn) that she spotted Abu Nazir in the building. SWAT teams are sent inside but they do not find anyone. Quinn puts his arm around her, gives her his jacket when she's cold and also sends the men in again for another search because he believes in her.
Carrie tells Quinn that if Abu Nazir somehow got away with so many personnel surrounding the building, then he must have had help from someone working for them. She asks who was directing the search; Quinn replies that it was himself, along with Galvez.
Quinn joking asks Carrie if she trusts him. She doesn't reply but she clearly does because she concludes that poor Galvez must have smuggled Abu Nazir out of there.
They track down Galvez and search his car but find him to be innocent. Galvez explains that he was rushing to the hospital because his stitches had opened up. Quinn intervenes when Carrie is yelling like a loon - he can see poor Galvez is bleeding.
After Roya goes bonkers at Carrie, Quinn intervenes and tries to send Carrie home because she's tired. He touches her comfortingly twice and tells her that they won't do anything without her.
Carrie is sent home to get some rest, but on the way she recalls Roya saying in Arabic that Abu Nazir would not run, leading her to wonder if he has been holed up in the mill the whole time. Quinn demonstrates he knows Arabic, too. While sceptical at first, he believes her and says he'll join her at the mill, too.
After Nazir is killed and Estes congratulates Quinn, he tells Quinn that he should proceed with killing Brody and that it should be done as soon as possible. Quinn doesn't look happy about it but does not disagree.
At the end of the episode, Brody goes to Carrie's house. They embrace in the doorway as Quinn watches from afar, his face unreadable. Shippy because of Quinn's concern for Carrie but negated by Carrie making out with Brody.
2.12
"The Choice"
Quinn watches Brody and Carrie. He's clearly deep in thought and not all that happy about his assignment.
The next morning, Brody alone goes outside to pray, giving Quinn, carrying a sniper rifle, an opportunity to kill him. Quinn has Brody in his sights but doesn't pull the trigger.
Later, Estes is in his room changing and turns around and finds Peter Quinn sitting in the corner of his room, calm, quiet and terrifying with a gun on his lap.
Quinn tells him that since Brody's political career is over, he's no longer a threat, and that his information was instrumental in catching Abu Nazir. Quinn says that the only reason to kill Brody now is for Estes' personal reasons, and that the collateral damage would be wrecking Carrie's life yet again, and so he refuses to do it and threatens Estes should anything happen to Brody. He's the guy who kills bad guys. It's also very Doctor Who in the - these people are under my protection style of things
S3
3.01
"Tin Man Is Down"
Quinn is in Caracas, Venezuela, where he decides not to place an electronic jamming device on his target's car (presumably it would cause an accident) because he seems a young boy in the back sesat.
He is given the order to attempt to kill his target (Codenamed "Tin Man") by infiltrating his compound.
Quinn kills his target by shooting but accidentally kills the child as well. Non-shippy episode.
3.02
"Uh... Oh... Ah..."
Quinn visits Carrie at the psychiatric ward to warn her of the danger she is in. He is genuinely worried about her. She is very paranoid and accuses him of having been sent there by Saul to threaten her. She kicks him out.
Quinn attends Carrie's psychiatric hearing to act as a character witness even though she does not want him there.
He witnesses Carrie being restrained and is clearly very troubled
After witnessing this, Quinn informs Saul that he does not approve of what the agency is doing to Carrie, and that he intends to resign once his current objectives are completed.
Saul brings in Fara, a Muslim financial analyst, to look into the transaction records of a bank tied to the terrorists who committed the Langley attack. During a meeting with the bank's management and legal teams, she bluntly tells the CEO that his bank is indirectly responsible for multiple acts of terrorism; he refuses to cooperate, however - all of this is witnessed by Quinn. That night, Quinn confronts the CEO and makes a veiled threat on his life while hinting that he was the one who killed the banker's associate in Caracas. He also calls him a venal shithead which is very satisfying. He is both terrifying and hot at the same time because he is so calm and unruffled. For some reason The CEO then agrees to turn over all of his records to the CIA, from which they are able to find past transactions, originating from the Iranian government, being sent to associates of Abu Nazir. Shippy episode as we are definitely starting to get the impression that Quinn has feelings (not sure what sort) for Carrie.
3.03
"Tower of David"
No Quinn. This was a very Brody-centric episode - very compelling because the whole Tower of David thing was fascinating to me, but it was very sadly Quinn-free.
3.04
"Game On"
No Quinn. No idea what he's doing although the Saul-Carrive operation is progressing nicely
3.05
"The Yoga Play"
An episode to make the shippers very happy.
Saul brings Quinn into the loop on the mission with Carrie, and tells him to watch over her. He tells him they think Majid Javadi, the apparent mastermind of the Langley bombing, is on his way into the country.
Jessica begs Carrie to help her find Dana and Leo. Carrie places a call to FBI Agent Hall, who is on the Brody family detail. When he rebuffs her, she tells Max to set up the "yoga play": Carrie will go to a yoga class, where a woman who resembles her will act as a decoy so Carrie can get away from her surveillance. Carrie then runs into Quinn, who tells her that one of the two surveillance teams on her will figure out what she is doing, and she'll be killed. She ignores him and goes anyway. During this scene, he expresses admiration for her bravery and she expresses reluctant gratitude to him for visiting in the hospital and says she's he has her back. She almost doesn't make it back in time but Quinn's there to cover for her and it seems as though her surveillance does not realise that she was not at yoga.
While watching her place, Quinn calls Carrie and they talk about whether or not she's been made and hang up. It's very intimately filmed and there are a lot of close-ups of Quinn's face, eyes and mouth. Carrie is taken away by the bad guys. Sensing something is amiss, Quinn calls Saul, who orders him to keep his distance. Quinn moves in anyway and sees that Carrie has gone. He tells Saul, who is relieved: this means the mission is still live. Quinn says: "But she's on her own," and Saul (who really is a turd) says: "She's always been on her own." Now I'm getting angry all over again. Very, very shippy episode but again, one-sided as it's clear how Quinn feels but Carrie's still elsewhere emotionally.
3.06
"Still Positive"
Quinn's at the safe house with Fara and Max, clearly still worried about Carrie. Saul is still being Saul.
Carrie turns up safe and sound and Quinn shows up to take Carrie to a meet-up with Javadi.
Instead of going to the meeting, Javadi heads to a house which is being rented to his daughter-in-law Susan. When Saul realizes where Javadi is going, he immediately sends Carrie and Quinn there to intercept him.
Javadi shoots Susan and brutally murders his ex-wife Fariba with a broken bottle.
Carrie and Quinn arrive, capturing Javadi and retrieving the murder weapons, but the CIA is unable to clean up the murder scene before local homicide detectives arrive.
Susan's two-year-old child is also in the house, but Saul rebuffs Carrie's desire to take the child with them.
Carrie and Quinn deliver a blood-stained Javadi to the CIA safehouse.
Quinn makes Carrie a cup of coffee and asks if she's ok. Mildly shippy in terms of further emphasising Quinn's feelings.
3.07
"Gerontion"
Dar Adal shows up at Quinn's very stark and minimalist house while he's in the shower.
He asks him where he's been lately, but Quinn offers no information.
Adal angrily presents Quinn with a security camera photograph of Quinn at the scene where Javadi's ex-wife Fariba was killed, and tells Quinn that he is the police's main suspect.
Carrie asks the police captain to close the investigation in the interest of national security, but the captain insists that the man in the photo be questioned first by the detective working the case. Quinn, in no danger of being prosecuted, lies and confesses to the killings in order to protect the Javadi operation. The detective reacts with disgust and asks Quinn whether people in his line of work ever do anything but make things worse.
Carrie goes back to Quinn asking for his help in clearing Brody's name. Quinn seemingly agrees to help, but confesses to Carrie his total disillusionment with the CIA and his doubts that any of their actions can be ultimately justifiable. Carrie doesn't seem to give a damn about Quinn's crisis of conscience - all she cares about is Brody. More development in relation to Quinn's feelings. Carrie's still the same except this is the episode where she admits she needs him and she clearly sees him as a 'friend' or someone she trusts. So it's getting closer to being actually shippy.
3.08
"A Red Wheelbarrow"
Carrie and Quinn do research together into the bombing (they work so well together - this bodes well for the ship). The CIA initiates a plan to flush out the man who built the bomb that was used to attack Langley
When the time comes, the CIA stakes out the motel where the bomber is staying. Carrie, observing from a distance, sees Franklin applying a silencer to a handgun before he exits his car. Carrie starts to approach Franklin, protesting that Saul promised to capture the bomber alive, and that the bomber is the only person who can prove Brody's innocence. Dar Adal orders her to stop immediately, stressing that her intervention would expose them to Bennett and ruin the entire Javadi operation as well. Carrie still does not stand down. Quinn, is acting as spotter but when the order is given to use force to stop her, he swaps place with the sniper and armed with a sniper rifle tries to warn her off as well. She ignores him and so he shoots Carrie in the arm. Franklin enters the motel room and immediately kills the bomber. Quinn rushes to Carrie's side and bandages her gunshot wound. Carrie is rushed to the hospital. She is furious to learn that the bomber is dead and demands to know where Saul is. Very shippy from a Quinn perspective (even though he shot her), but Carrie's oblivious and distracted.
3.09
"One Last Thing"
No Quinn although when Carrie wakes up and the doctor tells her that she was lucky that the bullet was a through and through with no permanent damage she says that it wasn't luck, he's just an excellent shot (talking about Quinn).
Despite having no Quinn in it and despite being a Brody-centric episode, it's still an excellent episode. There's a training montage of all things for Brody, hot bearded special forces guys and Brody has a very emotional confrontation with Dana.
3.10
"Good Night"
On the way to the command centre, Quinn says he wants to make sure Carrie's ok - he feels bad for shooting her. She's still angry with him and gets even angrier when he confesses that he looked at her medical records while she was wounded (to make sure she was ok) and knows she's pregnant. He suggests that for the rest of the mission, Carrie ought to sit out. Carrie angrily responds by denying that the baby is Brody's.
During the operation though, the two stand shoulder to shoulder, he provides her with support and they exchange a smile of shared relief when Brody makes it across the border into Iran. Good foundation for shippiness - they work well together, they get along, they are friends.
3.11
"Big Man in Tehran"
Quinn's barely in this except to express concern about why Carrie isn't being brought home.
3.12
"The Star"
Very much a Brody-Carrie episode.
Quinn's right at the end during the service and he has a conversation with her about the pregnancy and her posting. It's a great scene from a friendship perspective but she's very pregnant and still in love with Brody so it's really not very shippy although it definitely leaves you wondering and hoping.
S4
4.01
"The Drone Queen"
Quinn's not even stationed in the same city
He phones her after the drone strike
He picks her up from the airport - hugs her. Avoids her question about why he didn't go to Kabul
He saves her instead of Sandy during the attack in the street
Loses his temper with her when she's a bit blamey after the attack. This episode shows fledgling indicators of a normal ship.
4.02
"Trylon and Perisphere"
Quinn gets back to the US, drinks a lot and bonks the hotel manager
Gets into a fight and injures some bozos pretty badly. Calls Carrie to get him out. It might be shippy (he called her first) or it might just be pratical (who else woud he call?)
They have a conversation at Sandy's funeral but he refuses to join her back in Islamabad. There are mildly shippy vibes.
4.03
"Shalwar Kameez"
Quinn tries to quit CIA. He is clearly preoccupied with Carrie - as pointed out by the psychiatrist. This might be shippy or it might be obsessive.
Adal also accuses Quinn of having a thing for Carrie
Quinn's still bonking Eden so this is not shippy.
Quinn keeps watching the video - it might be the trauma or he might be trying to see what he can find.
Eventually he sees something and calls Carrie with his observations, she begs him to come
He says no, but then says he can't say no to her. She says she loves him and he looks even more traumatised. This is not shippy to me, it's a bit exploitative and manipulative of Carrie - but we definitely can see where Quinn's at so the ship is looking promising.
4.04
"Iron in the Fire"
Quinn shows up in Islamabad which is in itself quite shippy but then he's clearly disapproving of her tactics with Aayan.
They have a conversation about him trying to leave the CIA. They argue when he starts angsting and she says she wants his help not to have him put his foot on the break.
They run surveillance on Ghazi - Quinn breaking into Ghazi's house to clone his phone. Quinn stops Carrie from racing after him but they share a moment when they try to figure out why Haqqani would want to pretend he was dead.
Carrie seduces Aayan which is disgusting and renders this episode very unshippy. I start wondering if my ship is ever going to go anywhere or if Carrie is going to have sex with every man in the world except Quinn.
4.05
"About a Boy"
Quinn goes to the safehouse. He takes Carrie to task for not answering her phone and tells her about the cleric they lost track of due to her being unreachable. They part on bad terms when Carrie defends herself as having been busy "recruiting", while Quinn responds that it looks more like she was just "fucking a child". Carrie tells a clearly jealous Quinn that it's nothing to do with him anyway. He leaves hurt and angry with Carrie for clearly crossing a line he thinks/believes she should not have. I'm still traumatised by her bonking Aayan so I can't really see the shippiness here.
4.06
"From A to B and Back Again"
Quinn makes a jealous dig at Carrie and she goes off to get Redmond's help instead.
When Aayan is killed, Quinn stops her from killing Haqqani because it would mean killing Saul too. He saves her from herself becuase he knows she'd never forgive herself. This is quite shippy.
4.07
"Redux"
Quinn drives Carrie - says she'll have to talk to him
Quinn accompanies her to see the airport footage
Brody shows up on in this, Carrie ends up kissing Khan while in a daze - not a very shippy episode.
4.08
"Halfway to a Donut"
Quinn rushes in to see where Carrie's been - he's clearly concerned
He's angry the ISI poisoned her - angrier than Carrie herself
She wakes up Quinn in the middle of the night to go and help Saul
Moment at the end with khan.
Moderately shippy but hanging out in the rain with Khan probably negates the shippiness with Quinn.
4.09
"There's Something Else Going On"
Quinn gets the prisoners. He wants to stay with Carrie but agrees to stay at ops when she says she needs him there
Not particularly shippy but the two are largely in accord in this episode with no arguments - she needs him, he does what she needs without argument. Borderline shippy perhaps because of their accord.
4.10
"13 Hours in Islamabad"
Quinn is in action hero mode for most of this episode - incredibly heroic and cool but cannot save Fara
There's an argument between Quinn and Carrie where he refuses to leave but she says she won't lose him
He then goes AWOL and abducts Ghazi. Not a very shippy episode but one of my favourite episodes nonetheless - it's just so good.
4.11
"Krieg Nicht Lieb"
She talks with Khan, calling Quinn her Chief of Support (shippy!)
Quinn visits a former love for help and then Carrie tracks down Quinn
They have an encounter in the car park but he beats up her muscle, grabs her by the throat and tells her to go away
Carrie tries to phone Quinn to tell him about her father
Astrid calls Carrie Quinn's girlfriend but he says nothing
He goes to kill Haqqani but cannot as it would mean killing Carrie.
It's extremely shippy as Carrie goes there to try to save him from himself no matter how much she wants to kill Haqqani. It's interesting that she was prepared to sacrifice Saul to kill Haqqani but she can't bear to let Quinn be dead to kill Haqqani
4.12
"Long Time Coming"
Quinn shows up at wedding, they hug and express care and concern about one another - mutual, not one way
Quinn drives her to the wake
Quinn plays with Frannie, hangs around to clean-up
They kiss. He wants to leave the CIA with her. Shipper hearts implode. This is about as shippy as he gets.
He phones her in Missouri. He says he says he's wondering about her - all this is said with a smile on his face and sexy voice... Alas, Carrie's distracted and fobs him off. He takes it as a no so agrees to go on a dangerous open-ended mission to Aleppo and by the time Carrie decides she wants him - he's already flying over Turkey damnit. Shipper hearts break.
All of the above can be summarised in the following chart. Numbers down the left (to ten) represent shippiness. Numbers down the bottom are the episode numbers. Episodes where Quinn doesn't appear at all are at zero in the shippiness scale.
ETA: Done because of a fic prompt. I couldn’t figure out at what point each one started feeling anything for the other. It’s terrible but I think Quinn started feelings things quite early in season 2 (but definitely something by 2.10 Broken Hearts) and Carrie seriously felt nothing until the end of season 3/early season 4 although she trusts/likes him by 3.07 Gerontion (but not romantically) ...
Episode
Episode Title
Comment
S2
2.04
"New Car Smell"
We are introduced to Quinn. Carrie doesn't like him at first - I'm the same. I think he looks cocky and has arrogant hair.
Carries is surprised that a new analyst has been brought in to handle things.
Later, it seems like he may have a lot to contribute - the two of them watch surveillance together. They eat together - he likes Indian food and olives. He is a bit nosy about her personal life there's almost a bit of forced flirtation. At this point I'm not even contemplating them as a possible pairing.
He also gives her good suggestions and praises her - you can tell that he genuinely thinks that professionally she's pretty good. Carrie doesn't get praised that often so it's kind of a sweet moment.
Non-shippy because they've just met but there's potential because she thinks he's not too bad professionally although she's suspicious and asks Virgil to check him out. Negated by her obsession with Brody and the fact that he is making inappropriate jokes about mental illness. I note that Carrie calls him Peter once in this episode which is really weird - I'm so used to her calling him Quinn.
2.05
"Q&A"
Quinn interrogates Brody. Then he stabs him in the hand with a knife because every good cop needs a bad cop. I still don't like him because I don't believe it's right to stab people in the hand even though he has a nice relaxed and chilled demeanour. Still non-shippy - the knife stab was terrifying and calculated.
2.06
"A Gettysburg Address"
Quinn notices that Brody knows something about the tailor.
While they have antagonism, the clearly work well together and are in sync - Quinn listening to her even though technically he's in charge.
Quinn investigates the tailor's shop
Quinn listens to Carrie's hunch about the tailor's shop because he believes in her (this is mildly shippy).
Quinn is shot by the Bad Guys as is Galvez. This is a very mildly shippy episode but it's still in the very early days of the ship given where Carrie's head's at.
2.07
"The Clearing"
Quinn's in hospital. Carrie consults with him. She brings photographs for him to see and discusses her theories. They're a team and she clearly respects his opinion.
He insists on discharging himself from the hospital despite his stomach wound
We see Quinn's bum - very British actor of him
He pops painkillers during the episode and I start to worry he's going to get addicted
Quinn raids a house but it's a bust
Quinn at first seems callous about Galvez but actually does care. Not a shippy episode but I start to like Quinn more and I think Carrie's' starting to like him as a person/colleague. I like him more, too because he genuinely seems to care about the operation and getting things right. He also understands how to motivate Brody. Not really shippy yet - Carrie is still fixated on Brody.
2.08
"I'll Fly Away"
Quinn hears Carrie and Brody bonking and appears more than a little unsettled by it
Quinn gives Carrie time to complete the mission and calls off the team sent to capture Brody
When Brody meets with Roya, Carrie is concerned for Brody's life when she recognises MM the bad guy, She wants to capture the three bad guys then and there
Quinn insists on letting the operation continue; Carrie disobeys Quinn's orders and gets out of the van to see what's happening. She is very wild-eyed and indiscreet. Not really shippy yet - Carrie is still fixated on Brody.
2.09
"Two Hats"
Max and Virgil snoop on Quinn. They suspect he is a sniper.
Saul goes to see the estranged mother of Quinn's child
Saul's actions spook Quinn into going and meeting with his boss Dar Adal, a man Saul knew from 18 years ago who was running classified operations out of Nairobi. Virgil notes that if Quinn is reporting to Dar Adal, his job function is definitely not just an 'analyst' as he's supposed to be.
Back at headquarters, Quinn leaves after being prompted by Estes. Saul asks Estes where Quinn is going. Estes explains that Quinn is acting as a "FBI liaison" today, and Saul asks why that task is assigned to an analyst.
Quinn drives a limousine to Brody's house to take him to the homecoming. While he waits, Quinn removes a handgun with a silencer from the glove compartment and gets ready to shoot Brody. But when Carrie confirms that the final man in the SUV was not Abu Nazir, Estes orders Quinn to "stand down" and that "we still need him." Not shippy at all given the Quinn storyline and the fact that Quinn was about to kill Brody - but it's some very interesting insight into the character of Quinn.
2.10
"Broken Hearts"
Saul talks with Dar Adal. He is a mysterious black ops guy who is mysterious - but eats at the same waffles joint all the time.
Adal claims that Quinn is one of his men on loan to Estes but claims he doesn't know why.
At Langley, Saul confronts Estes about why Quinn is involved in the operation. Estes becomes furious when Saul implies that Quinn was brought in to kill Brody, in order to cover up Estes' complicity in the drone strike that killed Abu Nazir's son Issa.
Quinn approaches them, reporting that Carrie was in a car accident and is now missing. He is genuinely upset.
Saul heads to the accident scene. While he's gone, Estes tells Quinn "he knows."
Quinn is genuinely concerned when Galvez comes to help because Galvez is still injured but understands when Galvez says he wants to help Carrie. Very mildly shippy given that Quinn seems to have genuine feelings of concern for Carrie.
2.11
"In Memoriam"
Carrie tells Quinn) that she spotted Abu Nazir in the building. SWAT teams are sent inside but they do not find anyone. Quinn puts his arm around her, gives her his jacket when she's cold and also sends the men in again for another search because he believes in her.
Carrie tells Quinn that if Abu Nazir somehow got away with so many personnel surrounding the building, then he must have had help from someone working for them. She asks who was directing the search; Quinn replies that it was himself, along with Galvez.
Quinn joking asks Carrie if she trusts him. She doesn't reply but she clearly does because she concludes that poor Galvez must have smuggled Abu Nazir out of there.
They track down Galvez and search his car but find him to be innocent. Galvez explains that he was rushing to the hospital because his stitches had opened up. Quinn intervenes when Carrie is yelling like a loon - he can see poor Galvez is bleeding.
After Roya goes bonkers at Carrie, Quinn intervenes and tries to send Carrie home because she's tired. He touches her comfortingly twice and tells her that they won't do anything without her.
Carrie is sent home to get some rest, but on the way she recalls Roya saying in Arabic that Abu Nazir would not run, leading her to wonder if he has been holed up in the mill the whole time. Quinn demonstrates he knows Arabic, too. While sceptical at first, he believes her and says he'll join her at the mill, too.
After Nazir is killed and Estes congratulates Quinn, he tells Quinn that he should proceed with killing Brody and that it should be done as soon as possible. Quinn doesn't look happy about it but does not disagree.
At the end of the episode, Brody goes to Carrie's house. They embrace in the doorway as Quinn watches from afar, his face unreadable. Shippy because of Quinn's concern for Carrie but negated by Carrie making out with Brody.
2.12
"The Choice"
Quinn watches Brody and Carrie. He's clearly deep in thought and not all that happy about his assignment.
The next morning, Brody alone goes outside to pray, giving Quinn, carrying a sniper rifle, an opportunity to kill him. Quinn has Brody in his sights but doesn't pull the trigger.
Later, Estes is in his room changing and turns around and finds Peter Quinn sitting in the corner of his room, calm, quiet and terrifying with a gun on his lap.
Quinn tells him that since Brody's political career is over, he's no longer a threat, and that his information was instrumental in catching Abu Nazir. Quinn says that the only reason to kill Brody now is for Estes' personal reasons, and that the collateral damage would be wrecking Carrie's life yet again, and so he refuses to do it and threatens Estes should anything happen to Brody. He's the guy who kills bad guys. It's also very Doctor Who in the - these people are under my protection style of things
S3
3.01
"Tin Man Is Down"
Quinn is in Caracas, Venezuela, where he decides not to place an electronic jamming device on his target's car (presumably it would cause an accident) because he seems a young boy in the back sesat.
He is given the order to attempt to kill his target (Codenamed "Tin Man") by infiltrating his compound.
Quinn kills his target by shooting but accidentally kills the child as well. Non-shippy episode.
3.02
"Uh... Oh... Ah..."
Quinn visits Carrie at the psychiatric ward to warn her of the danger she is in. He is genuinely worried about her. She is very paranoid and accuses him of having been sent there by Saul to threaten her. She kicks him out.
Quinn attends Carrie's psychiatric hearing to act as a character witness even though she does not want him there.
He witnesses Carrie being restrained and is clearly very troubled
After witnessing this, Quinn informs Saul that he does not approve of what the agency is doing to Carrie, and that he intends to resign once his current objectives are completed.
Saul brings in Fara, a Muslim financial analyst, to look into the transaction records of a bank tied to the terrorists who committed the Langley attack. During a meeting with the bank's management and legal teams, she bluntly tells the CEO that his bank is indirectly responsible for multiple acts of terrorism; he refuses to cooperate, however - all of this is witnessed by Quinn. That night, Quinn confronts the CEO and makes a veiled threat on his life while hinting that he was the one who killed the banker's associate in Caracas. He also calls him a venal shithead which is very satisfying. He is both terrifying and hot at the same time because he is so calm and unruffled. For some reason The CEO then agrees to turn over all of his records to the CIA, from which they are able to find past transactions, originating from the Iranian government, being sent to associates of Abu Nazir. Shippy episode as we are definitely starting to get the impression that Quinn has feelings (not sure what sort) for Carrie.
3.03
"Tower of David"
No Quinn. This was a very Brody-centric episode - very compelling because the whole Tower of David thing was fascinating to me, but it was very sadly Quinn-free.
3.04
"Game On"
No Quinn. No idea what he's doing although the Saul-Carrive operation is progressing nicely
3.05
"The Yoga Play"
An episode to make the shippers very happy.
Saul brings Quinn into the loop on the mission with Carrie, and tells him to watch over her. He tells him they think Majid Javadi, the apparent mastermind of the Langley bombing, is on his way into the country.
Jessica begs Carrie to help her find Dana and Leo. Carrie places a call to FBI Agent Hall, who is on the Brody family detail. When he rebuffs her, she tells Max to set up the "yoga play": Carrie will go to a yoga class, where a woman who resembles her will act as a decoy so Carrie can get away from her surveillance. Carrie then runs into Quinn, who tells her that one of the two surveillance teams on her will figure out what she is doing, and she'll be killed. She ignores him and goes anyway. During this scene, he expresses admiration for her bravery and she expresses reluctant gratitude to him for visiting in the hospital and says she's he has her back. She almost doesn't make it back in time but Quinn's there to cover for her and it seems as though her surveillance does not realise that she was not at yoga.
While watching her place, Quinn calls Carrie and they talk about whether or not she's been made and hang up. It's very intimately filmed and there are a lot of close-ups of Quinn's face, eyes and mouth. Carrie is taken away by the bad guys. Sensing something is amiss, Quinn calls Saul, who orders him to keep his distance. Quinn moves in anyway and sees that Carrie has gone. He tells Saul, who is relieved: this means the mission is still live. Quinn says: "But she's on her own," and Saul (who really is a turd) says: "She's always been on her own." Now I'm getting angry all over again. Very, very shippy episode but again, one-sided as it's clear how Quinn feels but Carrie's still elsewhere emotionally.
3.06
"Still Positive"
Quinn's at the safe house with Fara and Max, clearly still worried about Carrie. Saul is still being Saul.
Carrie turns up safe and sound and Quinn shows up to take Carrie to a meet-up with Javadi.
Instead of going to the meeting, Javadi heads to a house which is being rented to his daughter-in-law Susan. When Saul realizes where Javadi is going, he immediately sends Carrie and Quinn there to intercept him.
Javadi shoots Susan and brutally murders his ex-wife Fariba with a broken bottle.
Carrie and Quinn arrive, capturing Javadi and retrieving the murder weapons, but the CIA is unable to clean up the murder scene before local homicide detectives arrive.
Susan's two-year-old child is also in the house, but Saul rebuffs Carrie's desire to take the child with them.
Carrie and Quinn deliver a blood-stained Javadi to the CIA safehouse.
Quinn makes Carrie a cup of coffee and asks if she's ok. Mildly shippy in terms of further emphasising Quinn's feelings.
3.07
"Gerontion"
Dar Adal shows up at Quinn's very stark and minimalist house while he's in the shower.
He asks him where he's been lately, but Quinn offers no information.
Adal angrily presents Quinn with a security camera photograph of Quinn at the scene where Javadi's ex-wife Fariba was killed, and tells Quinn that he is the police's main suspect.
Carrie asks the police captain to close the investigation in the interest of national security, but the captain insists that the man in the photo be questioned first by the detective working the case. Quinn, in no danger of being prosecuted, lies and confesses to the killings in order to protect the Javadi operation. The detective reacts with disgust and asks Quinn whether people in his line of work ever do anything but make things worse.
Carrie goes back to Quinn asking for his help in clearing Brody's name. Quinn seemingly agrees to help, but confesses to Carrie his total disillusionment with the CIA and his doubts that any of their actions can be ultimately justifiable. Carrie doesn't seem to give a damn about Quinn's crisis of conscience - all she cares about is Brody. More development in relation to Quinn's feelings. Carrie's still the same except this is the episode where she admits she needs him and she clearly sees him as a 'friend' or someone she trusts. So it's getting closer to being actually shippy.
3.08
"A Red Wheelbarrow"
Carrie and Quinn do research together into the bombing (they work so well together - this bodes well for the ship). The CIA initiates a plan to flush out the man who built the bomb that was used to attack Langley
When the time comes, the CIA stakes out the motel where the bomber is staying. Carrie, observing from a distance, sees Franklin applying a silencer to a handgun before he exits his car. Carrie starts to approach Franklin, protesting that Saul promised to capture the bomber alive, and that the bomber is the only person who can prove Brody's innocence. Dar Adal orders her to stop immediately, stressing that her intervention would expose them to Bennett and ruin the entire Javadi operation as well. Carrie still does not stand down. Quinn, is acting as spotter but when the order is given to use force to stop her, he swaps place with the sniper and armed with a sniper rifle tries to warn her off as well. She ignores him and so he shoots Carrie in the arm. Franklin enters the motel room and immediately kills the bomber. Quinn rushes to Carrie's side and bandages her gunshot wound. Carrie is rushed to the hospital. She is furious to learn that the bomber is dead and demands to know where Saul is. Very shippy from a Quinn perspective (even though he shot her), but Carrie's oblivious and distracted.
3.09
"One Last Thing"
No Quinn although when Carrie wakes up and the doctor tells her that she was lucky that the bullet was a through and through with no permanent damage she says that it wasn't luck, he's just an excellent shot (talking about Quinn).
Despite having no Quinn in it and despite being a Brody-centric episode, it's still an excellent episode. There's a training montage of all things for Brody, hot bearded special forces guys and Brody has a very emotional confrontation with Dana.
3.10
"Good Night"
On the way to the command centre, Quinn says he wants to make sure Carrie's ok - he feels bad for shooting her. She's still angry with him and gets even angrier when he confesses that he looked at her medical records while she was wounded (to make sure she was ok) and knows she's pregnant. He suggests that for the rest of the mission, Carrie ought to sit out. Carrie angrily responds by denying that the baby is Brody's.
During the operation though, the two stand shoulder to shoulder, he provides her with support and they exchange a smile of shared relief when Brody makes it across the border into Iran. Good foundation for shippiness - they work well together, they get along, they are friends.
3.11
"Big Man in Tehran"
Quinn's barely in this except to express concern about why Carrie isn't being brought home.
3.12
"The Star"
Very much a Brody-Carrie episode.
Quinn's right at the end during the service and he has a conversation with her about the pregnancy and her posting. It's a great scene from a friendship perspective but she's very pregnant and still in love with Brody so it's really not very shippy although it definitely leaves you wondering and hoping.
S4
4.01
"The Drone Queen"
Quinn's not even stationed in the same city
He phones her after the drone strike
He picks her up from the airport - hugs her. Avoids her question about why he didn't go to Kabul
He saves her instead of Sandy during the attack in the street
Loses his temper with her when she's a bit blamey after the attack. This episode shows fledgling indicators of a normal ship.
4.02
"Trylon and Perisphere"
Quinn gets back to the US, drinks a lot and bonks the hotel manager
Gets into a fight and injures some bozos pretty badly. Calls Carrie to get him out. It might be shippy (he called her first) or it might just be pratical (who else woud he call?)
They have a conversation at Sandy's funeral but he refuses to join her back in Islamabad. There are mildly shippy vibes.
4.03
"Shalwar Kameez"
Quinn tries to quit CIA. He is clearly preoccupied with Carrie - as pointed out by the psychiatrist. This might be shippy or it might be obsessive.
Adal also accuses Quinn of having a thing for Carrie
Quinn's still bonking Eden so this is not shippy.
Quinn keeps watching the video - it might be the trauma or he might be trying to see what he can find.
Eventually he sees something and calls Carrie with his observations, she begs him to come
He says no, but then says he can't say no to her. She says she loves him and he looks even more traumatised. This is not shippy to me, it's a bit exploitative and manipulative of Carrie - but we definitely can see where Quinn's at so the ship is looking promising.
4.04
"Iron in the Fire"
Quinn shows up in Islamabad which is in itself quite shippy but then he's clearly disapproving of her tactics with Aayan.
They have a conversation about him trying to leave the CIA. They argue when he starts angsting and she says she wants his help not to have him put his foot on the break.
They run surveillance on Ghazi - Quinn breaking into Ghazi's house to clone his phone. Quinn stops Carrie from racing after him but they share a moment when they try to figure out why Haqqani would want to pretend he was dead.
Carrie seduces Aayan which is disgusting and renders this episode very unshippy. I start wondering if my ship is ever going to go anywhere or if Carrie is going to have sex with every man in the world except Quinn.
4.05
"About a Boy"
Quinn goes to the safehouse. He takes Carrie to task for not answering her phone and tells her about the cleric they lost track of due to her being unreachable. They part on bad terms when Carrie defends herself as having been busy "recruiting", while Quinn responds that it looks more like she was just "fucking a child". Carrie tells a clearly jealous Quinn that it's nothing to do with him anyway. He leaves hurt and angry with Carrie for clearly crossing a line he thinks/believes she should not have. I'm still traumatised by her bonking Aayan so I can't really see the shippiness here.
4.06
"From A to B and Back Again"
Quinn makes a jealous dig at Carrie and she goes off to get Redmond's help instead.
When Aayan is killed, Quinn stops her from killing Haqqani because it would mean killing Saul too. He saves her from herself becuase he knows she'd never forgive herself. This is quite shippy.
4.07
"Redux"
Quinn drives Carrie - says she'll have to talk to him
Quinn accompanies her to see the airport footage
Brody shows up on in this, Carrie ends up kissing Khan while in a daze - not a very shippy episode.
4.08
"Halfway to a Donut"
Quinn rushes in to see where Carrie's been - he's clearly concerned
He's angry the ISI poisoned her - angrier than Carrie herself
She wakes up Quinn in the middle of the night to go and help Saul
Moment at the end with khan.
Moderately shippy but hanging out in the rain with Khan probably negates the shippiness with Quinn.
4.09
"There's Something Else Going On"
Quinn gets the prisoners. He wants to stay with Carrie but agrees to stay at ops when she says she needs him there
Not particularly shippy but the two are largely in accord in this episode with no arguments - she needs him, he does what she needs without argument. Borderline shippy perhaps because of their accord.
4.10
"13 Hours in Islamabad"
Quinn is in action hero mode for most of this episode - incredibly heroic and cool but cannot save Fara
There's an argument between Quinn and Carrie where he refuses to leave but she says she won't lose him
He then goes AWOL and abducts Ghazi. Not a very shippy episode but one of my favourite episodes nonetheless - it's just so good.
4.11
"Krieg Nicht Lieb"
She talks with Khan, calling Quinn her Chief of Support (shippy!)
Quinn visits a former love for help and then Carrie tracks down Quinn
They have an encounter in the car park but he beats up her muscle, grabs her by the throat and tells her to go away
Carrie tries to phone Quinn to tell him about her father
Astrid calls Carrie Quinn's girlfriend but he says nothing
He goes to kill Haqqani but cannot as it would mean killing Carrie.
It's extremely shippy as Carrie goes there to try to save him from himself no matter how much she wants to kill Haqqani. It's interesting that she was prepared to sacrifice Saul to kill Haqqani but she can't bear to let Quinn be dead to kill Haqqani
4.12
"Long Time Coming"
Quinn shows up at wedding, they hug and express care and concern about one another - mutual, not one way
Quinn drives her to the wake
Quinn plays with Frannie, hangs around to clean-up
They kiss. He wants to leave the CIA with her. Shipper hearts implode. This is about as shippy as he gets.
He phones her in Missouri. He says he says he's wondering about her - all this is said with a smile on his face and sexy voice... Alas, Carrie's distracted and fobs him off. He takes it as a no so agrees to go on a dangerous open-ended mission to Aleppo and by the time Carrie decides she wants him - he's already flying over Turkey damnit. Shipper hearts break.
All of the above can be summarised in the following chart. Numbers down the left (to ten) represent shippiness. Numbers down the bottom are the episode numbers. Episodes where Quinn doesn't appear at all are at zero in the shippiness scale.
ETA: Done because of a fic prompt. I couldn’t figure out at what point each one started feeling anything for the other. It’s terrible but I think Quinn started feelings things quite early in season 2 (but definitely something by 2.10 Broken Hearts) and Carrie seriously felt nothing until the end of season 3/early season 4 although she trusts/likes him by 3.07 Gerontion (but not romantically) ...