Homeland 2.04
Or: Game changers are us.
After not letting the evidence of Brody's confession disappear conveniently, following cliché, the show now toys with then turns against another expected storyline - Carrie & CIA resuming surveillance on Brody, Carrie both spying on and having a relationship with him. Apparantly they decided we've been there, done that, so, no. And again I'm left with some speculation but no definite idea of how the hell they'll proceed from there.
I also love that Carrie's motives are murky. Her confidence is bolstered again after her vindication, and with it the conviction to be infallible, but actually the audience is left in the dark about whether or not she was right re: Brody having seen through her pretense. She could be. They can read each other fairly well, she and Brody, and his question about ECT did indeed break for a brief moment through her pleasant no-grudges-I'-fine facade. But it's equally possible that Brody, who has his own issues (now including murder of hapless tailor) to carry around (no pun intended), wasn't sure about whether or not to believe her, or simply left because he didn't know how to connect with seemingly wholesome Carrie (their previous connection, before he learned she was spying on him, was greatly fueled by how broken and screwed up they both were). And that Carrie's subsequent actions were entirely because she wanted payback, payback for the public disgrace, the electro therapy, the loss of her job, the months during which everyone including herself thought she was a pathetic madwoman. That she did what she'd wrongly been accused of doing last season, let her own emotions about Brody trump her judgment as an agent. And of course Carrie ignores directions (this is why without liking Estes & Co. much you can understand somewhat their attitude towards her) and creates a situation where the CIA has no choice but to pull Brody in. So instead of a season of follow-the-Brody, he's brought down in ep 4. And now? The only obvious consequence while retaining Brody as a character that I can see is that the CIA turns him (or tries to, with the question as to whether they succeed or whether he's being a triple agent left open) in order to bring down Abu Nasir. But we'll see.
The three scenes between Carrie and Brody - the staged meeting at the CIA where they're both faking their reactions, the meeting at the bar where there is one moment when Carrie can't disguise what she felt about the ECT and Brody may or may not notice, and the hotel room talk when they're truthful to each other - are also an acting tour de force, because Claire Danes as Carrie faking it has to be believable (if Carrie were a bad actress, she'd be a bad agent), yet also make it clear this is not real, and the full efficiency only hits you when the utter contrast comes, the moment when she says to Brody "it reeks" and cuts loose. Brody tries to maintain facade a bit longer, but you can also see in Damian Lewis' face when it shatters and he stops and realises this is it, no more games. And then in the middle of Carrie's cutting summation of Brody's character, that raw "I loved you".
As opposed to last week, none of the other storylines felt like they were treading water, either. I continue to be pleased and relieved how Jessica is handled. Yes, she doesn't know why her husband is lying to her, but she's entirely correct about him lying. That she doesn't trust him anymore and after having given him repeated chances to tell her the truth draws the logical consequence of kicking him out is not only sensible but presented as such. Meanwhile, Dana refreshingly doesn't fall into the trap of Dad good, Mom bad, but is aware her father is a liar and her mother has a reason for wanting him to leave, and draws a consequence to both her parents' actions by not wanting to cheat and preferring to end one relationship before starting another.
Which brings me to something that gives me a kick for I-wrote-that-story! reasons. Last season Brody used Civil War events as a questionable allegory of his own actions towards his daughter; this season Dana and the VP's son are musing on Thomas Jefferson and the quintessential Jefferson paradox of slave owner/all-men-are-created-equal. (BTW, show, do let them make the trip to Monticello, I'd love to see it, which I haven't done other than in pictures.) And the Jefferson/Sally Hemings relationship, while they're at it. (Mind you: Dana, if a boy identifies you with Sally Hemings, you might want to rethink your romantic choice. I think TJ/Sally was far more complicated than rape/Stockholm syndrome, but a recipe for teenage love, it was certainly not.) Dana and VP Junior aside, I wonder whether we're to read Carrie or Brody into either Jefferson or Sally. Or even Nazir.
The other name with associations was our new character, Peter Quinn. As in Turn of the Screw Quinn, where you don't know whether he's a real ghost or our female narrator's imagination and projection. Hmmm. That Estes, even in apologetic mode, would not trust Carrie to supervise the Brody operation on her lonesome and give her someone he trusts as a superior makes sense (also, see above); he's shown to be competent and someting of an asshole (the nurse remark), so by the rules of tv I have to wonder whether Quinn is meant as a future love interest for Carrie. The other, not mutually exclusive possibility is that he's a mole, given Carrie (it's not paranoia when they're really after you) takes the trouble to ask Virgil (welcome back, Ray V!) to check out Quinn's background. O rmaybe just a foil (both Quinn and Estes have reason to be pissed at the stunt Carrie pulls near the end of the episode). We'll see.
Lastly: racial profiling is brought up and narratively disapproved; even while Saul says that statistically it's justified when dealing with Muslim terrorism, the three people the CIA puts up as supects in the scene (the car wash guy, the Taxi driver and the female blogger) are ones the audience knows to be innocent , with the former two only connected to Brody by the coincidence of him going through his Lady MacBeth handcleaning phase and needing his car washed clean. Random circumstance. (The Sudanese taxi drivers sore remark about why he hates driving people to CIA headquarters was great, too.) Mind you, I do wonder that the Suleika Robinson played journalist who is Brody's actual contact didn't get investigated, but since Carrie put up her photo, maybe that will come.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/831587.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
After not letting the evidence of Brody's confession disappear conveniently, following cliché, the show now toys with then turns against another expected storyline - Carrie & CIA resuming surveillance on Brody, Carrie both spying on and having a relationship with him. Apparantly they decided we've been there, done that, so, no. And again I'm left with some speculation but no definite idea of how the hell they'll proceed from there.
I also love that Carrie's motives are murky. Her confidence is bolstered again after her vindication, and with it the conviction to be infallible, but actually the audience is left in the dark about whether or not she was right re: Brody having seen through her pretense. She could be. They can read each other fairly well, she and Brody, and his question about ECT did indeed break for a brief moment through her pleasant no-grudges-I'-fine facade. But it's equally possible that Brody, who has his own issues (now including murder of hapless tailor) to carry around (no pun intended), wasn't sure about whether or not to believe her, or simply left because he didn't know how to connect with seemingly wholesome Carrie (their previous connection, before he learned she was spying on him, was greatly fueled by how broken and screwed up they both were). And that Carrie's subsequent actions were entirely because she wanted payback, payback for the public disgrace, the electro therapy, the loss of her job, the months during which everyone including herself thought she was a pathetic madwoman. That she did what she'd wrongly been accused of doing last season, let her own emotions about Brody trump her judgment as an agent. And of course Carrie ignores directions (this is why without liking Estes & Co. much you can understand somewhat their attitude towards her) and creates a situation where the CIA has no choice but to pull Brody in. So instead of a season of follow-the-Brody, he's brought down in ep 4. And now? The only obvious consequence while retaining Brody as a character that I can see is that the CIA turns him (or tries to, with the question as to whether they succeed or whether he's being a triple agent left open) in order to bring down Abu Nasir. But we'll see.
The three scenes between Carrie and Brody - the staged meeting at the CIA where they're both faking their reactions, the meeting at the bar where there is one moment when Carrie can't disguise what she felt about the ECT and Brody may or may not notice, and the hotel room talk when they're truthful to each other - are also an acting tour de force, because Claire Danes as Carrie faking it has to be believable (if Carrie were a bad actress, she'd be a bad agent), yet also make it clear this is not real, and the full efficiency only hits you when the utter contrast comes, the moment when she says to Brody "it reeks" and cuts loose. Brody tries to maintain facade a bit longer, but you can also see in Damian Lewis' face when it shatters and he stops and realises this is it, no more games. And then in the middle of Carrie's cutting summation of Brody's character, that raw "I loved you".
As opposed to last week, none of the other storylines felt like they were treading water, either. I continue to be pleased and relieved how Jessica is handled. Yes, she doesn't know why her husband is lying to her, but she's entirely correct about him lying. That she doesn't trust him anymore and after having given him repeated chances to tell her the truth draws the logical consequence of kicking him out is not only sensible but presented as such. Meanwhile, Dana refreshingly doesn't fall into the trap of Dad good, Mom bad, but is aware her father is a liar and her mother has a reason for wanting him to leave, and draws a consequence to both her parents' actions by not wanting to cheat and preferring to end one relationship before starting another.
Which brings me to something that gives me a kick for I-wrote-that-story! reasons. Last season Brody used Civil War events as a questionable allegory of his own actions towards his daughter; this season Dana and the VP's son are musing on Thomas Jefferson and the quintessential Jefferson paradox of slave owner/all-men-are-created-equal. (BTW, show, do let them make the trip to Monticello, I'd love to see it, which I haven't done other than in pictures.) And the Jefferson/Sally Hemings relationship, while they're at it. (Mind you: Dana, if a boy identifies you with Sally Hemings, you might want to rethink your romantic choice. I think TJ/Sally was far more complicated than rape/Stockholm syndrome, but a recipe for teenage love, it was certainly not.) Dana and VP Junior aside, I wonder whether we're to read Carrie or Brody into either Jefferson or Sally. Or even Nazir.
The other name with associations was our new character, Peter Quinn. As in Turn of the Screw Quinn, where you don't know whether he's a real ghost or our female narrator's imagination and projection. Hmmm. That Estes, even in apologetic mode, would not trust Carrie to supervise the Brody operation on her lonesome and give her someone he trusts as a superior makes sense (also, see above); he's shown to be competent and someting of an asshole (the nurse remark), so by the rules of tv I have to wonder whether Quinn is meant as a future love interest for Carrie. The other, not mutually exclusive possibility is that he's a mole, given Carrie (it's not paranoia when they're really after you) takes the trouble to ask Virgil (welcome back, Ray V!) to check out Quinn's background. O rmaybe just a foil (both Quinn and Estes have reason to be pissed at the stunt Carrie pulls near the end of the episode). We'll see.
Lastly: racial profiling is brought up and narratively disapproved; even while Saul says that statistically it's justified when dealing with Muslim terrorism, the three people the CIA puts up as supects in the scene (the car wash guy, the Taxi driver and the female blogger) are ones the audience knows to be innocent , with the former two only connected to Brody by the coincidence of him going through his Lady MacBeth handcleaning phase and needing his car washed clean. Random circumstance. (The Sudanese taxi drivers sore remark about why he hates driving people to CIA headquarters was great, too.) Mind you, I do wonder that the Suleika Robinson played journalist who is Brody's actual contact didn't get investigated, but since Carrie put up her photo, maybe that will come.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/831587.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.