(Photo: Showtime)
"Everywhere you go, other people die, but you always manage to survive. Did you notice that? You're like a cockroach, still there after the last nuclear bombs go off." -Dr. Graham
Has there ever been an easier episode to recap than "Tower of David"?
Brody is back. Brody is being held in a place that he doesn't want to be, taking a drug that he doesn't want to. Carrie is being held in a place that she doesn't want to be, taking a drug that she doesn't want to.
This is Homeland, though, so of course there is more than meets the eye going on here.
Carrie was visited in the psych ward by a mysterious lawyer, who has a connection to some outside source that has some use for Carrie. She seems to think that it might be the Syrian or Israeli government that wants to pick her brain, and she doesn't want to have anything to do with him. But her wheels are turning; so much so that she actually called for her lithium, to help quiet the noise in her head brought on by her mysterious visitor.
And Brody? Oh, Brody. What fresh hell will you bring on this time?
We caught up with Brody, who had two bullets in his gut, in Venezuela. I'm sure it's no coincidence that the country at the center of the CIA's multi-pronged attack on The Magician's terrorist network is where Brody found himself.
Once there, and once recovered from his wounds, Brody was eager to get moving again. It seems that since Carrie left him at the Canadian border at the end of last season, he's been staying in motion constantly, as he seemed more concerned with the condition of his passport than his own physical well-being.
Both Brody and Carrie thought that they had found escape hatches. For Carrie, she thought that it was Saul that was going to visit her and take her out of that place. For Brody, he thought that the nearby mosque would be his ticket out of there, with some help from his captor's daughter.
In both cases, our protagonists were incorrect. Brody found himself dragged out of the mosque, his would-be rescuers killed by his captors. Carrie did not find Saul willing to get her out of the psych ward, rather a man that simply wants to use what she knows.
When the hour was over, both main characters were seemingly resigned to their fate, and taking their medicine. For Carrie, it was lithium; heroin for Brody.
But as Dr. Graham, a fantastically rich character that I hope we get to see again this season, said of Brody, both he and Carrie are survivors. They may find themselves temporarily waylaid, but if what we know of them holds true, they'll be back to shaking the world soon enough.
This was a stripped-down episode of Homeland, free of Saul and Quinn and Dana and Jessica and anything else that might distract from the very straightforward story that "Tower of David" wanted to tell.
While that might not lend itself to the thousand-word recaps I'm used to writing, it served us well as an audience, allowing us to focus on the show's two chief protagonists and setting up what should be some high-quality storytelling for the rest of the season.
Brody is back. Brody is being held in a place that he doesn't want to be, taking a drug that he doesn't want to. Carrie is being held in a place that she doesn't want to be, taking a drug that she doesn't want to.
This is Homeland, though, so of course there is more than meets the eye going on here.
Carrie was visited in the psych ward by a mysterious lawyer, who has a connection to some outside source that has some use for Carrie. She seems to think that it might be the Syrian or Israeli government that wants to pick her brain, and she doesn't want to have anything to do with him. But her wheels are turning; so much so that she actually called for her lithium, to help quiet the noise in her head brought on by her mysterious visitor.
And Brody? Oh, Brody. What fresh hell will you bring on this time?
We caught up with Brody, who had two bullets in his gut, in Venezuela. I'm sure it's no coincidence that the country at the center of the CIA's multi-pronged attack on The Magician's terrorist network is where Brody found himself.
Once there, and once recovered from his wounds, Brody was eager to get moving again. It seems that since Carrie left him at the Canadian border at the end of last season, he's been staying in motion constantly, as he seemed more concerned with the condition of his passport than his own physical well-being.
Both Brody and Carrie thought that they had found escape hatches. For Carrie, she thought that it was Saul that was going to visit her and take her out of that place. For Brody, he thought that the nearby mosque would be his ticket out of there, with some help from his captor's daughter.
In both cases, our protagonists were incorrect. Brody found himself dragged out of the mosque, his would-be rescuers killed by his captors. Carrie did not find Saul willing to get her out of the psych ward, rather a man that simply wants to use what she knows.
When the hour was over, both main characters were seemingly resigned to their fate, and taking their medicine. For Carrie, it was lithium; heroin for Brody.
But as Dr. Graham, a fantastically rich character that I hope we get to see again this season, said of Brody, both he and Carrie are survivors. They may find themselves temporarily waylaid, but if what we know of them holds true, they'll be back to shaking the world soon enough.
This was a stripped-down episode of Homeland, free of Saul and Quinn and Dana and Jessica and anything else that might distract from the very straightforward story that "Tower of David" wanted to tell.
While that might not lend itself to the thousand-word recaps I'm used to writing, it served us well as an audience, allowing us to focus on the show's two chief protagonists and setting up what should be some high-quality storytelling for the rest of the season.
For more Homeland, including a great podcast that breaks down the latest episode each week, check out http://www.homelandpodcast.com
Subscribe to them on iTunes here: http://homelandpodcast.com/itunes
Or on your mobile device here: http://homelandpodcast.com/stitcher
Follow them on Twitter @HomelandPodcast
Follow me on Twitter @EthanRenner or @ethanwritescom
Subscribe to them on iTunes here: http://homelandpodcast.com/itunes
Or on your mobile device here: http://homelandpodcast.com/stitcher
Follow them on Twitter @HomelandPodcast
Follow me on Twitter @EthanRenner or @ethanwritescom
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