"New Car Smell" I'm a really big fan of episode titles of shows where it's always something minor and detailed that forces you to pay close attention to the whole episode to figure out how they came up with it. Remind me a lot of Breaking Bad in that sense. In my opinion, this week's episode of Homeland was one of the best the series has had so far. I never thought that Carrie and Brody would reunite this soon in the game -- and then to see that the meeting led to Brody's arrest?! I was floored. I mean obviously there is an entire season left to cover so I doubt the CIA will find any real evidence to keep him locked up, but still. Just the fact that they have him locked up, in hiding, and the flash drive to use against him really places the odds against him.
The writers did such a good job with the scene featuring Brody and Carrie in the bar. They didn't have to say too much, but their body language and emotions gave it all away. I kept thinking, "Is Carrie going to crack?" the whole way through. And in typical Carrie fashion, she did crack in a way. But thank God they at least had some sort of grounds to arrest him upon. But was it just me, or did we all think that the hotel room scene was going to go a whole other direction than it actually did?!
New character alert -- I absolutely love Kevin. I'm so glad they've introduced someone new and I love that he adds somewhat of a light comedic touch to the show. The way he is so dead on about everything, he just reads people perfectly. I can't wait to see more of him as the show continues. In addition, thank GOD that the CIA is finally giving Carrie her credit when it's due! I feel like Estes needs to man up a lot more and give her a more legit apology, but hey, we can't expect too much from him. I'm so happy to see her back in her element and secure in the fact that she was right this entire time. Finally feels good to see her happy. Which, sadly, is only half true, because although most of her identity is back in tact, she's still really heartbroken. It was painful seeing that last scene with her fighting back tears in the hotel room. That last line where she yelled in his face, " I LOVED you" -- wow, sent chills down my spine. I wish the CIA had given us at least one more minute to hear Brody's response to that, but of course, they pop in right at that moment.
I can't imagine where her mind is at. On the one hand, she's the only person who's known that this guy is a fake, phony, and terrorist. On the other hand, she's managed to block off that side of him and fallen in love with him! And it honestly looks like even up until Sunday's episode she was STILL hoping that there was some humanity left in him or something to save. She even goes so far to expose herself 100% and admit she's been in love with him. That's heavy.
Other than that, it was cool to see some other aspects of Dana's life rather than her rants and rude one-liners to Jess, but really? Spending a whole 5 minute segment on a 16 year old's crush on the VP's son? We don't care. Kind of added the high school appeal to it though, so maybe they're trying to broaden their audience base?
Finally, I love this entire arc with Lauder's character. He's the only "layperson" who really knows what's up, but of course no one believes him because he's the town's obnoxious drunk. It's interesting seeing his discernment in putting the pieces together. I'm glad Mike finally at least has lent an ear to this and he's sort of being pulled in. At least a bit! I'm curious to see how the writers will develop these guys' story lines to figure out more of Brody's real identity and what he's up to.