Homeland: Our Man in Damascus
December 14, 2015 11:34 AM - Season 5, Episode 11 - Subscribe
Carrie follows a lead..
I'm going to enjoy seeing Allison get her just deserts as she is sure to do next episode.
posted by orange swan at 4:58 PM on December 14, 2015
posted by orange swan at 4:58 PM on December 14, 2015
I'm beginning to lose faith that Quinn will get laid this season.
posted by telegraph at 6:33 PM on December 14, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by telegraph at 6:33 PM on December 14, 2015 [4 favorites]
I think Allison is going to get a lovely Russian bullet in her head soon enough. No way they just let her walk away to her dacha on the Black Sea after she explicitly followed instructions to let a massive terrorist attack happen on European soil.
There are many mechanics about this show that bug me, but Carrie's cell phone not having signal in the middle of the train station was high up on the list. If they needed her incommunicado, it was easier to just assume her phone wouldn't work once she walked into the damn tunnels.
Also, there are men locking gates left and right and no one is FREAKING OUT? Because there's no way people would just calmly hang out and not, you know, call security or the police or pull a fire alarm.
posted by lydhre at 5:32 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
There are many mechanics about this show that bug me, but Carrie's cell phone not having signal in the middle of the train station was high up on the list. If they needed her incommunicado, it was easier to just assume her phone wouldn't work once she walked into the damn tunnels.
Also, there are men locking gates left and right and no one is FREAKING OUT? Because there's no way people would just calmly hang out and not, you know, call security or the police or pull a fire alarm.
posted by lydhre at 5:32 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, there are men locking gates left and right and no one is FREAKING OUT? Because there's no way people would just calmly hang out and not, you know, call security or the police or pull a fire alarm.
They're Germans. Germans will quietly wait for at a crosswalk for the light to change when there is no car traffic visible within miles.
posted by leotrotsky at 11:28 AM on December 15, 2015
They're Germans. Germans will quietly wait for at a crosswalk for the light to change when there is no car traffic visible within miles.
posted by leotrotsky at 11:28 AM on December 15, 2015
I couldn't imagine how Allison's crime scene setup was going to pass even rudimentary inspection, though I suppose it really didn't have to. Just distract until she could run again.
Allison's fingerprints are all over both guns. Allison's gunshot wound comes pressed right up against her. I'm no GSW expert, but that's gotta present differently even to the ER doc.
posted by chazlarson at 8:30 PM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Allison's fingerprints are all over both guns. Allison's gunshot wound comes pressed right up against her. I'm no GSW expert, but that's gotta present differently even to the ER doc.
posted by chazlarson at 8:30 PM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
The whole city is on alert for a terror attack that is happening in ONE HOUR and she can't yell "bomb" or "fire" or something?
Not only that, but it looked that it was business as usual at the train station: still open, still full of people, no police or army in sight even though a major attack was supposed to be under way in the city. Brussels was put in lockdown for several days in November due to a threat of imminent attack. In Paris, one month after the December attack , there are still daily shutdowns in the Metro because passengers report unattended luggage or strange people wandering on the tracks. A real-life Carrie would have no difficulty closing down the entire station. Of course the show was written well before the Paris events (and probably lacks the budget to show what a whole citywide lockdown looks like) but still.
posted by elgilito at 6:43 AM on December 16, 2015
Not only that, but it looked that it was business as usual at the train station: still open, still full of people, no police or army in sight even though a major attack was supposed to be under way in the city. Brussels was put in lockdown for several days in November due to a threat of imminent attack. In Paris, one month after the December attack , there are still daily shutdowns in the Metro because passengers report unattended luggage or strange people wandering on the tracks. A real-life Carrie would have no difficulty closing down the entire station. Of course the show was written well before the Paris events (and probably lacks the budget to show what a whole citywide lockdown looks like) but still.
posted by elgilito at 6:43 AM on December 16, 2015
The threat had been made against a European city. The decision was made not to announce to the public the target city once the agencies figured it out.
posted by Feantari at 10:11 AM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Feantari at 10:11 AM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Great episode! This season has been hewing a bit too close to 24 for me, all the drama and plots and discoveries. But at least they have Laura Poitras Sutton as a representative of liberal enlightenment, I thought her TV appearance and threat came off pretty nicely myself.
Agreed the setup in the HBF strains credulity. Pretty sure those gates don't exist at all, and even if they do the moment some Muslim-looking guys start locking them all hell would break loose. Also cell phones work just fine in the HBF, thank you. It's not totally stupid, just the willing suspension of disbelief required to make an action drama go, but it's a bit silly.
I'm hoping Allison escapes and survives. Actually I was hoping she'd just lay low and re-establish herself for the next season. (Assuming there is a next season, I'm kind of hoping not.) She's a great character and a great actress.
posted by Nelson at 9:34 PM on December 16, 2015
Agreed the setup in the HBF strains credulity. Pretty sure those gates don't exist at all, and even if they do the moment some Muslim-looking guys start locking them all hell would break loose. Also cell phones work just fine in the HBF, thank you. It's not totally stupid, just the willing suspension of disbelief required to make an action drama go, but it's a bit silly.
I'm hoping Allison escapes and survives. Actually I was hoping she'd just lay low and re-establish herself for the next season. (Assuming there is a next season, I'm kind of hoping not.) She's a great character and a great actress.
posted by Nelson at 9:34 PM on December 16, 2015
This season has been hewing a bit too close to 24 for me, all the drama and plots and discoveries.
This episode reminded me of series 2 24 for the specific exploitation of the convenient coma and - its close relative - the mistimed revival tropes. There was also a bit of Frankenstein's monster and a touch of "She can nae take it any more cap'n".
posted by rongorongo at 1:35 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
This episode reminded me of series 2 24 for the specific exploitation of the convenient coma and - its close relative - the mistimed revival tropes. There was also a bit of Frankenstein's monster and a touch of "She can nae take it any more cap'n".
posted by rongorongo at 1:35 AM on December 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
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Why, oh why, did Carrie not sound an alarm, make a bomb threat or otherwise do something that would have evacuated the train station? The whole city is on alert for a terror attack that is happening in ONE HOUR and she can't yell "bomb" or "fire" or something?
Asking too many questions, I guess.
I was pleased to see that the whole waking-Quinn-up-too-soon gambit failed - it would have been too stupid if he just woke up and gave them the info. (Plus, I don't think he actually knew the details of their plan.)
posted by HE Amb. T. S. L. DuVal at 4:01 PM on December 14, 2015