Homeland
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It opens with Carrie rocking, looking nervous, breathing heavily.
Shes in her doctors office, realizing that, as she says, Impulse control is becoming a problem.
She agrees that perhaps the lithium has stopped being effective in treating her bipolar disorder.
As she says, shes not as risk averse as she should be.
Danes is very good in this scene, showing the fragility of Carries situation.
Theyre greeted by a man with a big dog thats apparently trained to eat government agents.
Saul demands to see Brett and refuses to leave.
Not much later, the talk-show host comes out with four armed men.
Saul insists that they just talk through the options in plain sight.
While David pressures President Keane to drop the charges, it feels like something bad is bound to happen.
Carrie comes home during all of this and has a heart-to-heart with her sister.
After a few days of sleep, they can figure out what to do next.
She insists that Franny never be allowed to see her in a psych ward.
Does this feel like ominous foreshadowing to anyone else?
Again, its nice to see Danes dig into the emotion of a character she knows so well.
While Carrie is sleeping and Saul is negotiating, Keane goes to an important meeting with her military advisors.
Shes incredibly defensive throughout the meeting, accusing her advisors of trying to use her national vulnerability against her.
Its Dante Allen, one of her few remaining connections in a position of power.
Although he told her to go to hell in last weeks episode, hes back on her side.
The theory, is seems, is that she went there to coordinate his murder.
Lets just process that for a second, though.
Would David Wellington use someone like this to coordinate a hit ordered by the president of the United States?
Someone whos careless enough to get a parking ticket?
Anyway, Carrie takes an upper to offset her downer and shes off on an adventure with Dante.
She takes some pictures of the ticket and personal photos, and she downloads the hard drive.
But it all goes very wrong shortly thereafter when shes picked up on the street by local cops.
While Carrie is making risky decisions, Brett OKeefe seems to be doing a lot of the same.
Saul tells him that hes the most urgent national-security issue right now.
Ignoring a bit of nasty transphobia by Brett, they both have some salient points.
Saul reminds him that hes in the best negotiating position.
Whats it going to take to get everyone out of this standoff safely?
But somethings wrong: Brett tells his girlfriend not to go anywhere.
Something is definitely about to happen.
As weve seen the last few episodes, Bretts girlfriend wants this nightmare to end.
She runs to the FBI and tells them that more armed men are coming to the house.
Suddenly, trucks pull up and the armed OKeefe supporters grab Saul, threatening to kidnap him.
It will control the news cycle.
Keane refuses, but David goes over her head, calling in the attack anyway.
As armored vehicles approach Bretts compound, we see Carrie and Dante developing a deeper relationship.
She tells him about the issues with Franny last year and cries.
(Anyone else think Showtime and Danes will submit this episode for Emmy consideration?)
Carrie sits with Dante on a curb as soothing music plays on the score.
Its a moment of peace and quiet for Carrie Mathison.
She could definitely use a few more.
Other Notes
Are the new faces making you forget the fan favorites from seasons past?
Is Dante the new Quinn?
Is Brett the new Dar?
Plus the line, The White House is in crisis mode.
Will you be satisfied if thats the case?
Any guesses about what might happen next week?
