Homeland S3E2 Review, “Uh…Oh…Ah…”

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“Uh…Oh…Ah…”

First off, that’s the fucking title?  Uh Oh Ah?  No clue with that one.  Don’t even have an idea where that came from.  I don’t even have a joke.

Suspension of disbelief is important for Homeland.  We’re now living in a world where a “second 9/11″ has happened, and I’m sure everyone has their own vision of what America after such an incident would be like.  This world strikes me as particularly calm.  I remember the state of the nation immediately post-9/11, and no one was this calm.  Even the people that were preaching that everyone should stay calm and not overreact were screaming it for all to hear.  But Homeland’s America?  Pretty fucking calm about CIA Headquarters being blown up and 200+ people going with it.

Which is where suspension of disbelief comes in.  It seems like most people in the Homelandverse have come to the conclusion that Nick Brody was either directly responsible for or aided in the attack.  So when Saul steps in front of a Congressional oversight committee investigating the CIA’s failure to prevent the bombing, that has recently interviewed Carrie, and he tells them that Carrie was fucking Brody, and they don’t at least bring her in for questioning, what the fuck is that?  She just gets committed to a psychiatric ward because she’s off her anti-psychotics, but no one thinks to handcuff her to a table and ask her, “hey Carrie, you know anything about this CIA bombing?”  I can’t buy that.

Saul continues to be fantastic, and dropping in the super-green, vaguely Muslim analyst Fara to help track the financial end of the bombing was a great touch.  Mandy Patinkin adds just the right amount of tension to each scene he’s in, and knows when to press it or dial it back to for extra effect.  His intentional racism referring to Fara’s scarf hit the perfect note.  It’s a small thing, but Saul’s depth is growing with each episode.  To what lengths will he go to, now that he’s acting director, especially since his actions might determine the fate of the CIA?  It’s fascinating, and definitely the strong point for a weak season so far.

Quinn, what’s going on with this dude?  Maybe it’s a Showtime cost-cutting maneuver, but it seems like every time they need a character do something that Saul or Carrie can’t do, it’s “hey, I know, let’s have QUINN do it!  Yeah, Quinn!”  I enjoy the ambiguity of the character, but there doesn’t seem to be any direction.  Quinn is trying to convince Carrie to take her meds to get released from the psyche ward.  Quinn is quitting the CIA because Saul is a dick.  Quinn is upset because he killed a child.  Quinn is threatening corrupt bankers.  This dude is a fucked up CIA superhero!

Brody’s family.  Oh Jesus, Brody’s fucking family.  Enough of this shit.  I don’t care about them.  I don’t see a reason that I’m supposed to care about them.  Why is their house not covered in graffiti?  Can’t the person who spray-painted “HEISENBERG” in Albuquerque make a quick trip to suburban DC?  I’m most worried that this will lead to Brody showing up at the Brody family house, again, to tell Dana how much he loves her, again, and probably have a face covered in ginger stubble, again.  At least sad sack Mike seems to be out of the picture.  Enough, I say.  Kill them all off and be done with it.  Even better, have crazed and bearded Brody come back and kill them all.

The only real enjoyment from this episode is the espionage angle, focusing on the American bank that is funding terrorists (go figure, the fun part of the show about spy stuff is the spy stuff).  With the return of Brody hanging over everything like an anvil meant for the roadrunner but inevitably going to land on the audience, I’m quickly losing hope.  Homeland has salvaged something from nothing before, but this is quickly spiraling into ridiculousness, and I’m beginning to lose hope.

5/10