Homeland 3.01
Oct. 6th, 2013 09:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakLast season had been something of a mixed affair; the first half, up to and including the episode Q & A was very good, but then an unfortunate decision as to the dynamic of two central characters was made, and the show was the worse for it. However, the set up in the s2 finale was intriguing enough for me to want to continue. Based on the opening of s3 which I've just finished watching, this was the right decision.
The mistake I was referring to was to change the Carrie & Brody dynamic to star-crossed lovers, as opposed to two people with a genuine connection at opposite ends who because of the nature of their goals are playing a cat and mouse game of betrayal of each other. The s2 finale not only offered a fittingly ironic fate/penance for Brody (on the run for something he didn't do, but framed because of something he DID intend to do, and betrayed and killed others for) but promised a focus on the Saul and Carrie dynamic instead, which I was hoping for. What I hadn't anticipated, but which in retrospect makes perfect sense, is that the being-betrayed-by-someone-she-loves-for-what-he-sees-as-greater-good story would make a come back...via Saul setting Carrie up as the scapegoat for the CIA. Because Mandi Patinkin's warmth and ability to convey Saul's genuine deep affection for Carrie through two seasons, this is something you don't see coming until about half through the episode (also because F. Murray Abraham is around as a red herring, but it occured to me that Saul would have been around for Carrie's testimony if he didn't intend something), and maybe not even then until Carrie figures it out.
As I said: in retrospect, it makes perfect sense. Not least because there isn't a single lie said (minus the big one about the CIA's dealing with Brody) - as with the framing of Brody, which was only possible because he really did intend to carry out a bombing, Carrie herself made it possible to become a scapegoat. She did conceal her bi-polar condition from her superiors, she did have a sexual relationship with Brody. And as the episode also makes clear, assassinating a couple of high profile terrorists as a "see, we're totally on top of it and avenging" isn't going to cut it for the CIA to reestablish credibility (and funding). They need the public to have someone to blame, someone who is there (unlike Brody), and Carrie is the ideal culprit.
Early on, during Carrie's first interrogation by commitee, I thought that her arc this season would be to use the self blame for not having seen Abu Nazir's beyond-the-grave masterminding coming to go after the guy established as the next boo-hiss terrorist mastermind (aka The Iranian, The Magician), which I wasn't sure would be that compelling and would reduce the shades of grey, especially since the main bad guys on the American side of things, Vice President Walden and David Estes the CIA director were gone. While figuring out the true culprits behind the bombing and what's-his-name the Iranians doings will still probably be part of what Carrie will do this season, the rest of the ep sets her up for something far more cruel and more interesting. Because Saul, her mentor, the one person she trusted beyond question, is her antagonist now, and the reason why he turned against her isn't a spiteful or selfish one, which would have been ooc: he does love her, but if it's Carrie versus the badly shaken CIA he's just been made responsible for and by larger implication the nation, Carrie goes down.
Saul's conversation with his returned wife Mira in this light is also fascinating, when he expresses his doubt as to whether the taking-out-the-high-profile-terrorists as a plan is any good. At the time, I thought his "we're not assassins, we're spies" and that what a spy does isn't to kill their targets but to learn, lure, regroup and use them, going after more rewarding targets yet was a bit of a more preposterous way to distinguish Saul from the late David Estes, much like Quinn's refusal to take out terrorist-in-Venezuela because the man has a child with him. But then the episode throws its curveballs: Saul wasn't convinced of the assassinations plan not for moral reasons, that's not what he had meant, but because he knew it wouldn't get the Senate comittee of the CIA's back and wouldn't cut it with the public, which is why he sets up and delivers Carrie as the scapegoat, and Quinn ends up killing the boy anyway, despite his intentions, because that's what happens if you're walking around (and have to, by nature of your goal) with a kill first, before they kill you mind frame.
So, then: Carrie will have to outthink Saul. And she's off her meds because she thinks they're slowing her down mentally. Which is a Carrie thing to do, self destructive and insane, but the hell of it is, she may be right. Consider me hooked, show.
In subplot news: I'm glad we're dealing with the fall out for the Brody family instead of ignoring them now that Brody is on the run, but where is Mike? Presumably we'll get an explanation re: his absence. Not that I mind Jessica's interaction with her mother and finding out more about her own background. Also, having had Dana make a suicide attempt between seasons and starting her plot line when she's leaving the recovery home is a clever way of both conveying the enormity of what her father's supposed actions meant to her and avoiding having to show us Dana-in-suicidal-depression staring at walls every week, which in a fast paced show is tricky to do.
Trivia:
- Carrie having scenes with her father instead of her sister makes sense both on a Watsonian level - he's bi polar himself, of course he'd notice that she's off her meds before anyone else does - and a Doylist one, foreshadowing the central conflict with her other father, Saul.
- is the Senator VP Walden's successor as our boo-hiss political American bad guy, or a Opponent Who Has A Point? If the later, my current crazy speculation is that Carrie might end up using him somehow to clear herself. Then again, Carrie might also consider falling on her sword for the greater good as the better option - if, that is, Saul had honestly asked her to do so instead of setting her up
- why do I have the sinister feeling Dana's latest boyfriend will end up posting that topless photo of hers on the internet titled something like "See Terrorist Daughter's Breasts"?
The mistake I was referring to was to change the Carrie & Brody dynamic to star-crossed lovers, as opposed to two people with a genuine connection at opposite ends who because of the nature of their goals are playing a cat and mouse game of betrayal of each other. The s2 finale not only offered a fittingly ironic fate/penance for Brody (on the run for something he didn't do, but framed because of something he DID intend to do, and betrayed and killed others for) but promised a focus on the Saul and Carrie dynamic instead, which I was hoping for. What I hadn't anticipated, but which in retrospect makes perfect sense, is that the being-betrayed-by-someone-she-loves-for-what-he-sees-as-greater-good story would make a come back...via Saul setting Carrie up as the scapegoat for the CIA. Because Mandi Patinkin's warmth and ability to convey Saul's genuine deep affection for Carrie through two seasons, this is something you don't see coming until about half through the episode (also because F. Murray Abraham is around as a red herring, but it occured to me that Saul would have been around for Carrie's testimony if he didn't intend something), and maybe not even then until Carrie figures it out.
As I said: in retrospect, it makes perfect sense. Not least because there isn't a single lie said (minus the big one about the CIA's dealing with Brody) - as with the framing of Brody, which was only possible because he really did intend to carry out a bombing, Carrie herself made it possible to become a scapegoat. She did conceal her bi-polar condition from her superiors, she did have a sexual relationship with Brody. And as the episode also makes clear, assassinating a couple of high profile terrorists as a "see, we're totally on top of it and avenging" isn't going to cut it for the CIA to reestablish credibility (and funding). They need the public to have someone to blame, someone who is there (unlike Brody), and Carrie is the ideal culprit.
Early on, during Carrie's first interrogation by commitee, I thought that her arc this season would be to use the self blame for not having seen Abu Nazir's beyond-the-grave masterminding coming to go after the guy established as the next boo-hiss terrorist mastermind (aka The Iranian, The Magician), which I wasn't sure would be that compelling and would reduce the shades of grey, especially since the main bad guys on the American side of things, Vice President Walden and David Estes the CIA director were gone. While figuring out the true culprits behind the bombing and what's-his-name the Iranians doings will still probably be part of what Carrie will do this season, the rest of the ep sets her up for something far more cruel and more interesting. Because Saul, her mentor, the one person she trusted beyond question, is her antagonist now, and the reason why he turned against her isn't a spiteful or selfish one, which would have been ooc: he does love her, but if it's Carrie versus the badly shaken CIA he's just been made responsible for and by larger implication the nation, Carrie goes down.
Saul's conversation with his returned wife Mira in this light is also fascinating, when he expresses his doubt as to whether the taking-out-the-high-profile-terrorists as a plan is any good. At the time, I thought his "we're not assassins, we're spies" and that what a spy does isn't to kill their targets but to learn, lure, regroup and use them, going after more rewarding targets yet was a bit of a more preposterous way to distinguish Saul from the late David Estes, much like Quinn's refusal to take out terrorist-in-Venezuela because the man has a child with him. But then the episode throws its curveballs: Saul wasn't convinced of the assassinations plan not for moral reasons, that's not what he had meant, but because he knew it wouldn't get the Senate comittee of the CIA's back and wouldn't cut it with the public, which is why he sets up and delivers Carrie as the scapegoat, and Quinn ends up killing the boy anyway, despite his intentions, because that's what happens if you're walking around (and have to, by nature of your goal) with a kill first, before they kill you mind frame.
So, then: Carrie will have to outthink Saul. And she's off her meds because she thinks they're slowing her down mentally. Which is a Carrie thing to do, self destructive and insane, but the hell of it is, she may be right. Consider me hooked, show.
In subplot news: I'm glad we're dealing with the fall out for the Brody family instead of ignoring them now that Brody is on the run, but where is Mike? Presumably we'll get an explanation re: his absence. Not that I mind Jessica's interaction with her mother and finding out more about her own background. Also, having had Dana make a suicide attempt between seasons and starting her plot line when she's leaving the recovery home is a clever way of both conveying the enormity of what her father's supposed actions meant to her and avoiding having to show us Dana-in-suicidal-depression staring at walls every week, which in a fast paced show is tricky to do.
Trivia:
- Carrie having scenes with her father instead of her sister makes sense both on a Watsonian level - he's bi polar himself, of course he'd notice that she's off her meds before anyone else does - and a Doylist one, foreshadowing the central conflict with her other father, Saul.
- is the Senator VP Walden's successor as our boo-hiss political American bad guy, or a Opponent Who Has A Point? If the later, my current crazy speculation is that Carrie might end up using him somehow to clear herself. Then again, Carrie might also consider falling on her sword for the greater good as the better option - if, that is, Saul had honestly asked her to do so instead of setting her up
- why do I have the sinister feeling Dana's latest boyfriend will end up posting that topless photo of hers on the internet titled something like "See Terrorist Daughter's Breasts"?
no subject
Date: 2013-10-09 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-10 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-12 12:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-15 09:08 pm (UTC)I thought it was interesting that the previously-on didn't show Brodie actually killing Walden. Irrelevant to the specific episode, or a bit of a whitewash? Also cynical, all the (male) newspaper reviewers over here are whining "Where's Brodie, he's the main character isn't he?"
no subject
Date: 2013-10-16 05:08 am (UTC)I think it's the former; it's the start of a new season, they're clearly hoping to get casual or new viewers as well, so to understand Carrie's situation they make it clear both why Brodie's suspect (his earlier attempt, hence the clip where Dana asks him whether Carrie's original accusation was true and he says yes, but that he wouldn't do it anymore) and that he didn't do it this time. Of couse, imo, this is also relevant to Dana's between seasons suicide attempt, I suppose, because she knew more about her father than the rest of the family and by the end of s2 had the confirmation that Carrie hadn't been crazy when telling her to call him in order to stop him etc. So the idea that he then went on to actually commit a second and worse group bombing would be her own experience of not helping the car victim and keeping silent a thousand fold magnified.
Mind you, I wouldn't be surprised if Brodie's actual kills (let's not forget the poor tailor here in addition to dastardly Walden, oh, and his co-prisoner marine) would not be referred to again, full stop, either for economic storytelling or to make him look better, but then again, maybe not. I mean, the show did surprise me before because I thought Brodie's death was the only fate I would have found satisfying, storytelling wise, through most of s2, but then Brodie on the run, framed for someting he didn't do but with a framing only possible because of something he did do, with a chance for a new life but at the expense of the old one totally worked for me. IMO they should never bring him back, good as Damian Lewis is. Now I know that won't happen, I'm that much of a tv cynic, too, but I do hope they'll keep it down to only two or three - or maybe only one - appearances this season.
The season poster shows Carrie, Saul and Brodie all in equal facial size, for what it's worth, so even male tv critics should be able to gather that no, Brodie's not the lead. :)