Homeland 2.12.
In which the show manages to surprise me...
Not by letting Quinn decide against killing Brody. I could see that coming, but I also thought, see last review, Brody would get killed by the other marine instead. Also, I didn't see the explosion coming, though it was clear SOMETHING would happen (I'd never been a Saul-is-the-mole believer, but it was the only thing momentous enough I could think of that could still happen; I'm glad the show went with something different, of course!). Before I get to that, and the irony and counterpoint to the s1 finale, let me make one general observation re: Carrie, Brody and their actors: somehow, despite being excellent, Danes, Lewis and the scripts never sold me on Carrie and Brody as a happy couple as well as they did on them as a messed up, distrusting each other one, which really hit me when Carrie after the explosion pulled her gun on Brody, because all of a sudden, all that intensity was there again. (Not because I generally see messed up relationships as more intense than happy, mutually reciprocating ones; I don't, I hasten to add.)
Between last week's peaceful separation from Jessica, love declaration to Carrie, death of Abu Nazir and Walden and now this week's pow wow with Mike and sort-of-reconciliaton (at least compared to their previous scene) with Dana, it was clear that SOMETHING had to happen to Brody, not just because there is a third season which definitely would not be about Carrie trying the civilian life with him, but more importantly because Brody, no matter the hell he went through and how sympathetic his motivations, is guilty of several deaths (Walker and Our Friend The Tailor, Walden), of intended mass slaughter, and of course of what he did to Carrie at the end of s1. This not being a Robert Altman movie, I couldn't see the show handwaving and giving him a happily ever after. (Or making him a faker all along and the next big bad, which I'd also seen suggested.) Otoh, killing him would have been very predictable. Which the solution they came up with was not, and yet it fitted as a great counterpoint to s1. Back then, Brody did pull the trigger, was given a second chance to reconsider by sheer accident and was stopped by Carrie having gotten Dana worried enought to listen and call him. While people did die (Elizabeth Gaines and Thomas Walker), there was no suicide bombing/mass explosion, and in that Carrie succeeded, but at the price of everyone, including herself, considering her sanity lost, her career destroyed, and of course her attachment to Brody was not just rejected but used as a weapon against her. Now, in the s2 finale, she starts out with everything looking great for her (Nasir is dead, Brody did keep his word, he's sincerely attached to her now, even Estes' plan to rid himself of Brody and, in a less lethal way, Saul is foiled by Quinn disobeying orders) - and then the very thing she could, at her most miserable, stop happens when she's at her most happy, while Brody, who could lie convincingly when he was set on his own death, now has his own words turned against him when he's being truthful. The confession tape was always a Chekovian gun, but I thought it was already fired early in the season when Saul found it. As it turns out, the big firing was saved for the finale. Brody's punishment by tv fate, being framed for the sin he didn't commit but had intended to at an earlier time, is both cruel and fitting, and yet said fate isn't merciless; he's still alive, free, and he still has a shot at a new life (for now, though really, after that broadcast even Canadians would surely recognize him on sight?).
Sidenote: thanks, show, for Brody continuing to pray as a Muslim. The idea of his conversion to Islam being separate from his brainwashing by Nasir wasn't always carried out with the best success, but it was constant, and carried through with consequence.
I knew that Carrie wouldn't go with him, and again, not just because there's a third season, but because of the way the character was defined through most of both seasons; she might be capable of leaving in a situation of relative safety, but not after an attack such as this one, even though it will be next to impossible for her to prove she wasn't involved in the bombing herself, given her conspicious leaving of Walden's funeral ceremony after an exchanged look with Brody which presumably the survivors and the camera footage will remember/document. Even with Saul's attachment to her, that's going to be hard; he's now worse than ever in the "to trust or condemn" position. The relationship between Carrie and Saul has always been as important, if not more so, to the show as the one between Carrie and Brody, and it was put on the back burner in the second half of this season, so I'm glad it's bound to be central in s3. The final scene, Saul and the died Body's and Carrie coming to him, just saying his name, was a killer, no pun intended.
What else? If this is the last we'll see of the Brody clan, ouch. Poor Dana. Otoh given Brody admitted to her the truth about the s1 events means she's the only one of the family in a position to guess that confession tape might not be about what it looks like, but I doubt she's able to think of that right now. Jessica, Chris and Mike had the shock from hell. If it's NOT the last we'll see of the Brody clan, I wonder whether Carrie will contact Dana, and/or Mike or Jessica?
Poor David Harewood is without an American job again, but I thought Estes was for the chop sooner or later. Otoh we don't have yet any purpose for the introduction of F. Murray Abraham's character, so I expect Saul's in charge position will only be temporary, and Abraham's Super CIA Black Ops Master will then succeed Estes (again, otherwise, there would have been no point to introducing him). "I kill the bad guys" Quinn will be back, blaming himself for not having killed Brody and resenting Carrie for it; and of course there's the open question as to who put the explosive in Brody's car. Roya and her team had enough time and opportunity, but they're behind bars now, and someone triggered it. All I know about explosions is what tv taught me and tv says the person who triggered it can't have been on another continent but was presumably nearby; also, Brody specifically points out to Carrie his car was parked elsewhere, so it has to be someone with clearance for the ceremony for Walden. So?
Which leaves the speculation that next season will be Carrie trying to prove her innocence on the one hand and on the other trying to find the real traitor within the CIA while everyone else (once they discover Brody's body wasn't among the dead) is trying to find Brody and distrusting Carrie, plus we'll be introduced to our next Big Bad(s), with both Walden and Nasir dead. (And Estes, but as I said: I figure Abraham's role will be Estes' replacement.) I don't think we'll say Brody again except in flashback or at most as a one episode guest star, but my current guess is this is intended as the goodbye for the character. Of course... I could be wrong.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/850321.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
Not by letting Quinn decide against killing Brody. I could see that coming, but I also thought, see last review, Brody would get killed by the other marine instead. Also, I didn't see the explosion coming, though it was clear SOMETHING would happen (I'd never been a Saul-is-the-mole believer, but it was the only thing momentous enough I could think of that could still happen; I'm glad the show went with something different, of course!). Before I get to that, and the irony and counterpoint to the s1 finale, let me make one general observation re: Carrie, Brody and their actors: somehow, despite being excellent, Danes, Lewis and the scripts never sold me on Carrie and Brody as a happy couple as well as they did on them as a messed up, distrusting each other one, which really hit me when Carrie after the explosion pulled her gun on Brody, because all of a sudden, all that intensity was there again. (Not because I generally see messed up relationships as more intense than happy, mutually reciprocating ones; I don't, I hasten to add.)
Between last week's peaceful separation from Jessica, love declaration to Carrie, death of Abu Nazir and Walden and now this week's pow wow with Mike and sort-of-reconciliaton (at least compared to their previous scene) with Dana, it was clear that SOMETHING had to happen to Brody, not just because there is a third season which definitely would not be about Carrie trying the civilian life with him, but more importantly because Brody, no matter the hell he went through and how sympathetic his motivations, is guilty of several deaths (Walker and Our Friend The Tailor, Walden), of intended mass slaughter, and of course of what he did to Carrie at the end of s1. This not being a Robert Altman movie, I couldn't see the show handwaving and giving him a happily ever after. (Or making him a faker all along and the next big bad, which I'd also seen suggested.) Otoh, killing him would have been very predictable. Which the solution they came up with was not, and yet it fitted as a great counterpoint to s1. Back then, Brody did pull the trigger, was given a second chance to reconsider by sheer accident and was stopped by Carrie having gotten Dana worried enought to listen and call him. While people did die (Elizabeth Gaines and Thomas Walker), there was no suicide bombing/mass explosion, and in that Carrie succeeded, but at the price of everyone, including herself, considering her sanity lost, her career destroyed, and of course her attachment to Brody was not just rejected but used as a weapon against her. Now, in the s2 finale, she starts out with everything looking great for her (Nasir is dead, Brody did keep his word, he's sincerely attached to her now, even Estes' plan to rid himself of Brody and, in a less lethal way, Saul is foiled by Quinn disobeying orders) - and then the very thing she could, at her most miserable, stop happens when she's at her most happy, while Brody, who could lie convincingly when he was set on his own death, now has his own words turned against him when he's being truthful. The confession tape was always a Chekovian gun, but I thought it was already fired early in the season when Saul found it. As it turns out, the big firing was saved for the finale. Brody's punishment by tv fate, being framed for the sin he didn't commit but had intended to at an earlier time, is both cruel and fitting, and yet said fate isn't merciless; he's still alive, free, and he still has a shot at a new life (for now, though really, after that broadcast even Canadians would surely recognize him on sight?).
Sidenote: thanks, show, for Brody continuing to pray as a Muslim. The idea of his conversion to Islam being separate from his brainwashing by Nasir wasn't always carried out with the best success, but it was constant, and carried through with consequence.
I knew that Carrie wouldn't go with him, and again, not just because there's a third season, but because of the way the character was defined through most of both seasons; she might be capable of leaving in a situation of relative safety, but not after an attack such as this one, even though it will be next to impossible for her to prove she wasn't involved in the bombing herself, given her conspicious leaving of Walden's funeral ceremony after an exchanged look with Brody which presumably the survivors and the camera footage will remember/document. Even with Saul's attachment to her, that's going to be hard; he's now worse than ever in the "to trust or condemn" position. The relationship between Carrie and Saul has always been as important, if not more so, to the show as the one between Carrie and Brody, and it was put on the back burner in the second half of this season, so I'm glad it's bound to be central in s3. The final scene, Saul and the died Body's and Carrie coming to him, just saying his name, was a killer, no pun intended.
What else? If this is the last we'll see of the Brody clan, ouch. Poor Dana. Otoh given Brody admitted to her the truth about the s1 events means she's the only one of the family in a position to guess that confession tape might not be about what it looks like, but I doubt she's able to think of that right now. Jessica, Chris and Mike had the shock from hell. If it's NOT the last we'll see of the Brody clan, I wonder whether Carrie will contact Dana, and/or Mike or Jessica?
Poor David Harewood is without an American job again, but I thought Estes was for the chop sooner or later. Otoh we don't have yet any purpose for the introduction of F. Murray Abraham's character, so I expect Saul's in charge position will only be temporary, and Abraham's Super CIA Black Ops Master will then succeed Estes (again, otherwise, there would have been no point to introducing him). "I kill the bad guys" Quinn will be back, blaming himself for not having killed Brody and resenting Carrie for it; and of course there's the open question as to who put the explosive in Brody's car. Roya and her team had enough time and opportunity, but they're behind bars now, and someone triggered it. All I know about explosions is what tv taught me and tv says the person who triggered it can't have been on another continent but was presumably nearby; also, Brody specifically points out to Carrie his car was parked elsewhere, so it has to be someone with clearance for the ceremony for Walden. So?
Which leaves the speculation that next season will be Carrie trying to prove her innocence on the one hand and on the other trying to find the real traitor within the CIA while everyone else (once they discover Brody's body wasn't among the dead) is trying to find Brody and distrusting Carrie, plus we'll be introduced to our next Big Bad(s), with both Walden and Nasir dead. (And Estes, but as I said: I figure Abraham's role will be Estes' replacement.) I don't think we'll say Brody again except in flashback or at most as a one episode guest star, but my current guess is this is intended as the goodbye for the character. Of course... I could be wrong.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/850321.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.