Homeland:
S3 Episode 6: Still Positive
by Nikole Gunn
WOW. WOW.WOW.WOW. This is the Homeland of old. A big episode that posed many questions, gave
a couple of answers and then turned everything on its head.
It’s a shame many
viewers have turned away from the show, probably deciding after episode one
that the show had lost its way. But it’s
clear the creators and producers had laid a bread-crumb trail and are finding
their way back.
Again, it was an
episode light-on Brody, but full of Carrie dramas, plot twists and turns. Senator Lockhart flexed his muscle ahead of
his confirmation as CIA boss and comes across as a “Hawk” to Saul’s “Dove”.
Lockhart is also
doing deals with the Machiavellian Dar Adal, who we think is Saul’s number two
man, but isn’t the loyal soldier at all.
And, oh yeah,
Dana Brody. The sulky teen is changing her name. She can’t be Dana Brody anymore. And my care
factor couldn’t be any lower. Harsh, I
know. But there it is.
The episode opens
with Carrie hooked up to a machine in a room somewhere. But Saul, Quinn et al have no idea where she
is. Good one guys, very professional.
Then she comes
face to face with Javadi – who’s taken over from Abu Nazir as the series’ bad
guy. He’s testing her bona fides via a
lie detector test.
Then the first
distraction of the episode: Saul’s marital woes. He’s surrendering his
marriage. I know it fleshes him out, but really, can’t we go back to Carrie in
all her Carrie-ness.
Clearly my wish
is their command. Carrie’s hooked up to that
machine, calmly answering questions.
Deliberate echoes of Brody many moons ago in Season One. But it seems, Ms Mathison is not as goof a
liar as he was.
Javadi is onto
her and knows Saul has been behind it all.
But then she turns the tables on him, revealing that she know that he’s
embezzled millions of dollars from Iran and that he’s an enemy of the
state.
So what’s at play
here? Can Javadi be turned, becoming an
asset of the CIA? It turns out Javadi
once worked with Saul, but betrayed Berenson during the Iranian Revolution of
’79. Once good friends are now bitter
enemies.
And then a mid-episode
bombshell that I doubt anyone saw coming.
Carrie pees on a
stick. She’s pregnant. And then she casually throws the pregnancy
test in a draw, with a dozens and dozens and dozens of them. All positive: “Still positive”. Hence the title of the episode
WHATTTTTTT???? Who’s the daddy?
Let’s do some
math here to narrow down the likely offender.
Series 3 is set 3 months or so after the Langley bombing and the last
time we think she hooked up with Brody.
Allow for a month or so for events in season 4 and that would make her 4
months along. That would account for all
those pregnancy tests. Brody could be
the man.
Or: it’s the
liquor store worker she shagged a couple of times already in season 3.
Or: it’s someone she
met during the 3 months between season 2 and 3.
Or: it’s
Quinn. I’m putting it out there. Quinn’s been crushing on her and it would
explain his tenderness, his visit to the psych hospital, keeping a watch on her
etc.
She was
suspicious of him in season 2 and now they’re friendly. There’s more to it. And if it turns out he is the daddy, you read
it here first!!
Meantime back at
the ranch, another layer to the plot.
Javadi has traced his family, who Saul managed to get out of Iran. It’s
the same family he watched in the last episode.
He shoots dead the woman, who turns out to be his daughter-in-law and
stabs his ex-wife with a broken bottle
Carrie and Quinn
arrive on the scene after the event and Javadi is captured. But what to do with
the crying baby? Leave him says Saul,
leave him. Carrie is torn, but in the
end picks the boy up, cuddles him and puts him down in his play-pen.
So, after the
bloodbath in suburbia, does Javadi still have value as an ‘asset’ to
potentially bring down the Iranian regime? Or is he worthless and
expendable? All will hopefully be
revealed in time.
Can I repeat my
opening line? Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.
Interesting
fact: Another episode without any Brody
and minimal involvement of his family. And
as much as I’m a Nick Brody fan, (and who doesn’t love that red-headed
Englishman Damien Lewis), the show is better for not breaking cover and
returning to Venezuela to see if he’s made another breakout attempt or if he’s
dived head-long into the abyss of drug addiction.
At some point, we
will have to ‘go there’, but not yet.
And for that I’m grateful.
Oh yeah, Dana’s
running away from home. She can’t be
Dana anymore so she’s got to leave. Does
that mean the writers will quietly drop her character? Here’s hoping, but I don’t think so somehow.
We’re now at the
half way point in series 3. Can they do
enough in the remaining episodes to win back the viewers? It’s an intelligent show and I’m now willing
to forgive them for episode 1 and 2, but are others willing to do the same?
Time will tell.
