It’d be understandable after the last two episodes if Homeland had decided to take a little breather this week, and for the first forty minutes it seemed like that was the case. We open on a big surveillance operation underway, as Carrie, Quinn, and Danny watch from their safehouse as Roya meets with a man they can’t identify. Virgil and Max are dispatched to follow her and get close enough to record the conversation, but since the clever reporter met the man near a noisy fountain, the team can’t hear anything. (How many of you playing along at home started wondering briefly if Max was the mole?) Carrie suggests pulling Brody in to identify the guy, although Quinn cautions he isn’t to be trusted.
Dana, meanwhile, is distressed over the hit-and-run and tries to talk to Finn at school, but he’s evasive and dismissive, shutting her down and insisting the woman’s probably fine. Doubtful, she cuts class and heads to the hospital, only to find the woman in critical condition. Her daughter, who’s about Dana’s age, tells Dana that it’s likely her mom won’t make it through the night. Dana freaks and runs away, having a minor panic attack as the guilt overwhelms her. She confronts Finn at school and tells him the woman died and that her daughter is all alone now and needs their help. Finn is only interested in covering their asses and cautions her not to say anything, much to Dana’s discomfort. It should be noted that Morgan Saylor has just been getting better and better in this part over time. I wouldn’t mind seeing some Emmy recognition for her as a supporting actress next year.
Meanwhile, Mike and Lauder are continuing their investigation into Tom Walker’s death. A homicide detective who worked on the case walks them through the tunnel where the body was found then tells them the CIA swooped in and shut them down. Lauder convinces Mike to ask more questions and he arranges to contact a friend at the CIA, but Saul intercepts him and ushers him into David Estes’s office where they warn him to pretty much stop asking questions. Undaunted, he goes to Brody’s house and searches his garage for some sort of damning evidence. He finds Brody’s service weapon and ammo container with one bullet missing and goes to Jessica with his suspicion that Brody killed Tom. Jessica refuses to believe it, but there’s doubt on her face.
Brody is summoned to the safehouse and though he can’t identify the man in the photo, after a bit of badgering from Quinn and cajoling from Carrie, he surprisingly fesses up that he killed the tailor. Quinn is not pleased at this late disclosure, and throws some shade at Carrie for being too easy on him. He calls her on her confession last week of wanting Brody to leave his wife and run away with her, and Carrie calls him out right back, saying that at least her method produced results. Later, when Saul comes to check on her, she bitches about Quinn and when he worries that working this closely with Brody will be damaging for her, she tells him that “her eyes have been opened” after watching the suicide tape….but it’s not entirely convincing.
Brody’s set to meet Roya later that day and fish for info, by telling her he heard Carrie talking about a new Hezbollah contact. When Carrie unexpectedly pops up at his car right before that meeting to check up on him, she tries to calm him by stroking his hand and neck when he expresses doubt. It’s too much, like always, and Brody calls her on it, catching her hand and wondering if she’ll offer him sex or understanding next to get him to cooperate. Carrie’s annoyed, rather than hurt, snapping right back to business mode and reminding him to wear his mike to the meeting. It’s a compelling line they’re walking here with Carrie’s professional and personal feelings so tangled. We know there still are real feelings for him on Carrie’s part, but it’s hard to tell how far she’ll let those feelings interfere with the job she has to do a second time around.
Our final scene finds Carrie storming into Brody’s office, frantically yelling about whether he lied to her and set them up and knew that attack was going to go down. He has no idea what she’s talking about and tells her so, and Carrie finally bursts into tears, sobbing as Brody reaches out and pulls her into a hug. And their tangled web gets woven just a little bit tighter…
Tara Gelsomino is a reader, writer, pop culture junkie, and Internet addict. You can tweet her at @taragel.