Homeland: Parabiosis

November 9, 2015 11:22 AM - Season 5, Episode 6

Saul orders a sweep at the station. Carrie looks to Düring for support.
posted by roolya_boolya (7 comments total)

Oddly transitional episode. Except no one gets anywhere. Carrie spends the entire episode trying to leave town only to be sucked back in, again, at the end. Quinn tries to get strong enough to leave the terrorist-rooming-house only to have to go back. And Saul finally works himself up to making his own decisions over the CIA (and Dar), then gets captured and presumably brought right back to the CIA. No one got anywhere.
posted by Nelson at 1:03 PM on November 9, 2015

The NYTimes recapper has been saying that the Saul/Dar conversations have gotten so weird and melodramatic that perhaps they are on to Allison and her Russian connection. You'll remember they showed her eavesdropping through a door during the latest screaming match.

But, this show has gotten kinda ridiculous, so who knows. Maybe Saul is actually ready to spend his life in prison for treason for giving Carrie those documents.
posted by sideshow at 3:52 PM on November 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I agree that the Saul/Dar stuff has been pretty over the top and ridiculous, like much of the show. If it turns out it's all a con I'm going to be annoyed, because that means all that action and plotting and detecting work was happening off screen and then whisked out, deus ex machina.

Quinn being rescued by the Muslim Angel of Mercy who just happens to manage the building with a terrorist living in it is too much for me too.
posted by Nelson at 4:24 PM on November 9, 2015

The Angel of Mercy thing is baffling. Kept thinking he was going to try to recruit Quinn, or shag him, or Quinn had lured him on purpose to go into deep cover, or .... then at the end with "alright you've stabbed our just-released terroristy-acting associate, come back in the house mate" - SOMEthing HAS to be a set-up!
posted by runincircles at 7:58 AM on November 10, 2015

I think the invitation back is for two reasons:

1. Quinn is injured again, and needs additional medical attention
2. The guy who came to talk to Quinn on his way out is happy to see Hajik dead, intends to be the new leader of the group, and is interested in making use of Quinn's skills as a mercenary. I'm not sure, but I think it was this guy who asked Quinn back in at the end, not the doctor.

I think the next part of Quinn's plot line is going to hinge on his cover as a mercenary, and his usefulness to the new head of that group
posted by vibratory manner of working at 4:42 PM on November 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

The guy who invited Quin back had said earlier that the only person who wanted him dead was the terrorist, and had indicated that he was not very happy with the terrorist, and that not many of the others were either. Quin intentionally baited the terrorist during their interview, and I think it was Quin's idea to take the guy out, making it look like the terrorist was making the first move. I think that once the terrorist was gone, everyone else breathed sighs of relief, and it was natural to invite Quin back to heal the wounds that they believe he received innocently from their late colleague.

Can someone explain to me how Saul was able to slip the documents to Carrie's boss in a way that the boss was able to conceal them from the CIA agents who searched him? The way it seemed to me, they were only talking about it when the CIA burst in.
posted by ubiquity at 3:54 PM on November 11, 2015

Saul slipped the usb stick into During's coat pocket on the way in to the meeting. It wasn't on either of them when they got searched. During found it when he picked up his coat on the way out.
posted by roolya_boolya at 4:31 PM on November 11, 2015