Homeland: Lies, Amplifiers, F**ing Twitter

April 6, 2018 3:05 PM - Season 7, Episode 8

Carrie and Saul interrogate a suspect. Wellington makes a play.

Alternate recap: My head is spinning so fast I can't even.

posted by penguin pie (6 comments total)

Holy shit, that was SO GOOD. I think I need to watch it again to even start getting my head around it, but I LOVED so much about it:

* That we FINALLY saw Carrie come to the ultimate pinch point between Franny and saving-the-world-with-Saul-and-the-CIA and of cooourse she made the decision we've all long suspected she would, but honestly, what a relief to see it finally happen.
* They totally had me with Dante getting 'poisoned'. Even though Carrie had said she had an idea, so was presumably in on some kind of play, I totally thought Saul and the lawyer were stitching her up with a plan of their own and were for some weird reason killing Dante. I was watching the pair of them in the side room, thinking "OMG, what's are they up to? Why is Saul friends with the lawyer? Why is Saul stitching up Carrie?" (though it did seem a bit unlikely that Dante would instantly trust a lawyer he'd never seen or heard of before on the back of some lame excuse about the other guy being busy).
* Since, as resident Quinn fan, I'm just about contractually obliged to mention him in every single thread, there was something super-poignant about watching Carrie stand over yet another man she'd been entangled with, being rushed to hospital as a result of her attempts at spycraft. I assume that resonance was deliberate, but despite being the most ardent Q-fan, was glad they didn't make too much of it, would only have dragged it backwards to have her suddenly flashing back to Berlin.
* It was touching watching Saul genuinely concerned for Carrie's mental wellbeing, repeatedly trying to get her to look after her own life rather than chime in on his operation. It puts us in absolutely no doubt that Carrie is completely and utterly responsible for her own participation in whatever unfolds.
* It feels totally ludicrous that, just a few eps ago, Carrie was engaging the entire Scooby gang in a desperate effort to try and get some evidence against Simone that would be legitimate enough to submit to Paley. Whereas now they're totally happy to torture a guy almost to death in a back room and use his supposedly-dying confession to secure a warrant for her arrest. Like that's a perfectly legit way to gather evidence. But I was caught up enough that I went with it.
* I assumed they were going to assassinate Simone. Was a bit of a surprise that they whisked her away, and even more when she smooched the face off of Russian McNeckBeard.
* Who, by the way, is just way too cool for school. And that's not a compliment. Like the kid who happened to have inherited a leather jacket from an uncle and suddenly thinks he's the bees knees despite only being 15. Not so much acting, more just arching an eyebrow moodily at everyone who comes within striking distance.
* I only looked up the episode title to make this post, and wow, is it badly titled. Surely this title belongs to one of the earlier episodes, when people were, like, talking about Twitter?
posted by penguin pie at 3:28 PM on April 6, 2018 [1 favorite]

penguin pie, have you seen any of The Americans? Costa Ronin aka Russian McNeckBeard plays a much more nuanced character there and people like his character in that show, so it's what he has to work with in this show, I guess.

I'd recommend the show to a Homeland fan, although it's "slower" (esp. later seasons)
posted by sylvanshine at 5:02 PM on April 6, 2018

No! I’ve heard other people recommend it though - interesting that he’s in it too - will have to look it out, thanks for the suggestion, sylvanshine!
posted by penguin pie at 5:26 PM on April 6, 2018

Also enjoyed this episode of Homeland, but not quite as much as the previous two. They've lined the plot up and are now moving swiftly through it. It's a bit strange to see Saul letting Carrie do the interrogation. I mean even if she wasn't on the edge of mania why would he trust her right now?

Dante's awfully dumb trusting the spy people with some random guy he's never heard of being his supposed lawyer. At least for once it's Saul who fucks up, not Carrie. "We'll poison him but only almost to the point of death, not to actual death. That'll work great." Of course it will, this being TV, but oof.

The episode title is a line Carrie says, right? I forget the context of why but it came up this episode I think.

Yeah The Americans is great. You want to start from the beginning though and definitely not right now, the final season. It's much more a relationship show than a spy drama, and a lot of the joy of it is period nostalgia. But it's excellently written.
posted by Nelson at 7:27 AM on April 7, 2018

The title is something Carrie screams at her sister while trying to explain what she's doing instead of caring for her child. That's why it sounds so stupid.
posted by kevinbelt at 10:49 AM on April 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

Thanks kevinbelt, I rewatched and spotted that. Also explains why I hadn’t heard it first time as it was kind of screeched in desperation!
posted by penguin pie at 4:58 PM on April 9, 2018