"Back to Beirut"
I'm ashamed to be posting at this hour, on a Tuesday. This post was supposed to be up yesterday morning, but shame on me! I've been lagging on my posts. I'll get into the why's and whatnot in my next post, but lets give Homeland its credit for delivering a promising sophomore episode on Sunday night. At first, the excitement that had built up from the premiere had me thinking that Sunday's Episode 2 would either be a flop, or totally a mix of too much information. And I'm so happy I was wrong! Claire Danes... can you just get an Emmy PER episode?! She was amazing. The montage of the music while she walked in her room in Beirut, hyperventilating, crawling on the floor, and seeing the dust particles gather around her in the sunlight had me shaking. I literally felt her emotions as she walked up to the roof and just took her breaths. Those scenes were powerful.
I can't explain how realistic these writers are. I love when you are unable to predict what's going to happen. Sure a lot of us love screaming out, "I CALLED THAT!" while watching movies with a big group sometimes, but for a show like this, it's that much more intrinsically rewarding to be in complete shock and awe when seeing the final scenes. I honestly was torn both ways, wondering if Carrier's informant was indeed trustworthy or playing them. It wasn't until I saw Abu Nazzir's face come out of the car that I was like "done deal." It KILLED me that they let Brody into the CIA room to view the secret op. I think that's the only part that I was like.. um, really now? Would they really let a random congressman into a secret operation's film sesh? I don't know. That bugged me a little but honestly the whole time as he started to break a sweat, I was like wow, what are you going to do next? And of course -- all he could do -- a warning text. It was so awesome watching all of that go down. Milliseconds before we hear Estes give the go ahead on firing, Abu Nazzir's men get Brody's text.. and of course they get away just in time. Rightfully so, too,because of course we need him around for the duration of this season!
I love Carrie's fire and 110% attitude. Not only is she PISSED about this (doesn't even take a moment to bask in the fact that her informant led them directly to Nazzir), but she goes above and beyond and decides to run her own suicide mission into Farida's old home! Gosh, watching her grab those bags and run up and down the stairs was incredibly intense. The camera angles were perfectly shot in those scenes. And I kept thinking, watch, she won't even grab anything meaningful... but hey, I bite my tongue! Of course the last 2 minutes were the most intense of all! The disk drive in the backpack. GOLD. Seeing Brody's face on the screen.. double whammy. I literally screamed at my TV. Now, I know, it won't give away too much, but even that little reveal satisfies me. It'll hold me off until Sunday. Who knows what is yet to come, but I like it. And I can't wait to see how they will incorporate Carrie's return to the CIA. I want Brody done with. Season 1, I was awkwardly a fan of his. Probably cause his M.O. was undefined. But now, even though he's that character they want us to love and hate; at this point I don't really like him at all. Like come on bro, you have a wife and kids and you're in the government.. and here you are calling your ex-Marine brother a fake because he turned on the US... yeah well you are doing the exact same thing hypocrite! I know he has to cover his tracks, but he is seriously brain washed. Gah.