This week’s episode of "Homeland" picks up where we left off — with the attack in New York.
As the president-elect is ushered to a secure location, Carrie, Frannie and Quinn watch the aftermath on television. As they watch, Reda calls Carrie to inform her that Sekou was driving the van that exploded.
Reda urges Carrie to get to Sekou’s family’s home, where they are being interrogated by the FBI, but Carrie resists. "I have Frannie to deal with. I want to get her off to school like a normal day," she says. Are there normal days in Carrie’s world?
School is closed, though, so Carrie agrees to visit Sekou’s family and asks Quinn to babysit until the nanny arrives. Sure, have the unhinged professional assassin guy watch your child. What could go wrong?
When Carrie arrives at the home, the FBI is swarming and trying to bully information out of Sekou’s mom and sister. Carrie intervenes, and ends up face-to-face with Agent Conlin, the agent whom she blackmailed into releasing Sekou.
This week on “Homeland” we pick up exactly where we left off, with Saul riding in the back of a police car. His arranged transport takes an unplanned detour, and he finds himself roughly pushed into a waiting van.
Saul is apparently taken captive, and his kidnappers snap a photo of him — just to…
This week on “Homeland” we pick up exactly where we left off, with Saul riding in the back of a police car. His arranged transport takes an unplanned detour, and he finds himself roughly pushed into a waiting van.
Saul is apparently taken captive, and his kidnappers snap a photo of him — just to…
Conlin demands that she reveal her source for the recording she used as leverage against him, and speculates that it must have come directly from the NSA or a rogue CIA contact of Carrie’s. Carrie refuses to divulge her source and leaves the scene.
While Quinn babysits — or "cool-kid sits" as Frannie insists that she isn’t a baby — a reporter knocks on the door, asking to speak to Carrie. Quinn quickly shuts the door, but the media attention on Carrie’s home is just beginning, as another news van descends on the home.
Meanwhile, Carrie visits her NSA source, who is aghast that the recording she asked him for was used to secure Sekou’s release. He insists that he didn’t get the recording for Carrie after all, and tells her that after she made contact with him, he reported her to his superiors. So someone high up in the intelligence community appears to have wanted Sekou released, and simply used Carrie to make that happen. The plot thickens.
"Today" co-host Hoda Kotb announced Feb. 21 that her daughter, Haley Joy Kotb, was born on Feb. 14. (Feb. 21, 2017)
“Today” co-host Hoda Kotb announced Feb. 21 that her daughter, Haley Joy Kotb, was born on Feb. 14. (Feb. 21, 2017)
It’s hometowns week on "The Bachelor," which means Nick will travel to the homes and meet the families of the four remaining women vying for his love.
It’s hometowns week on “The Bachelor,” which means Nick will travel to the homes and meet the families of the four remaining women vying for his love.
Things at Carrie’s house quickly spiral out of control, as Quinn grabs a reporter and forcefully shoves her off of Carrie’s stoop, sending her crashing down the front steps. Leticia, Frannie’s nanny, arrives and suggests taking Frannie out of the home — especially once she sees Quinn’s skill in media relations. Quinn insists that Frannie stay there, so Leticia proposes calling Carrie to have her make the decision. Quinn takes her phone away, and dismantles it. "No. Not OK," he says. "They’re listening." Oh, wonderful. A hostage situation.
Things get worse when a protest gets underway outside Carrie’s home. One rowdy protester starts throwing rocks through Carrie’s front window, and Quinn responds by opening fire on the man, hitting him in the chest, while cable news airs the situation live. Quinn orders Leticia and Frannie into a basement bathroom, and tells them to lock themselves in until he says so.
Carrie, meanwhile, calls Conlin, and tells him that her source didn’t give her the recording that led to Sekou’s release. "There’s some third party involved, I have no idea who. But whoever it is, they delivered it right to my desk," she explains. Carrie tells Conlin that they need to meet, but Conlin suggests that she take care of the issue at her house first. "They’re calling it a hostage situation," he says, which is news to Carrie.
Carrie rushes back to her home, which is surrounded by police and snipers, who have their guns trained on her basement entrance. She explains to the commanding officer at the scene that Quinn is a soldier, suffering from a severe case of PTSD. Then why did you leave him with your child, Carrie? This is insane.
"They’re not hostages and he’s not a shooter," Carrie insists to the officer. Actually, by definition, both of those assertions are wrong, Carrie. She demands to be let into the house, to try to talk some sense to Quinn. The officer refuses, and sends a tactical unit to the roof, preparing to send them in to take the house by force.
The tactical team starts to gain entry, but the first officer in is nabbed by Quinn, who takes him hostage at gunpoint. The commanding officer orders a withdrawal, and Quinn now has a third hostage.
Meanwhile, Saul returns from his journey, and Dar is waiting for him. Saul briefs Dar on his dealings in Abu Dhabi and Israel, telling him of his suspicion that the man that Saul questioned in Iran had been tipped off that he was going to be questioned about Iran’s dealings. Saul also tells Dar of the contact he made with the Iranian intelligence officer, who he hopes will soon confirm whether Iran is cheating on the deal.
This scene served to show that no matter how underhanded Saul might seem to be sometimes, he really is a company man through and through.
Back in Brooklyn, Carrie convinces the police to let her go inside her house. She talks to Quinn through the window, and he allows her in. As she checks on Frannie, the police start to move in on the house. Quinn tells her that they aren’t going to allow them to leave, and that the man across the street has been watching her for months. "I have proof," he says, clutching his cellphone. As Quinn maniacally grabs the phone, the police storm the home and take him down, arresting him without further incident.
Carrie has Leticia take Frannie to stay with her, and promises to join her after she gathers some of their belongings from their crime scene/home. While rounding up their things, Carrie finds Quinn’s phone, hiding under some broken glass and the doorframe in her basement. She scrolls through his photos, and sees the evidence that he gathered on the man across the street, including the shots of Sekou’s van.
Now convinced that Quinn was on to something, she peers into the house across the street, and sees a light switched off in the building.
Hmm.
Final Thoughts
The tense hostage situation made this an exciting hour, but there was surprisingly little in the way of plot advancement in this episode. I am in favor of smaller, slower storytelling in theory, but the execution of that has left a lot to be desired so far this season. Let’s pick up the pace, "Homeland."
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