(Photo: Showtime)
"...he's making a point... 'you may have me over a barrel, but I'll never be your bitch.' "
-Saul Berenson
-Saul Berenson
"Still Positive" marked the halfway point of Homeland's third season, and did so with a Saul-centric episode of what is becoming an increasingly Saul-centric show.
I'm infinitely more interested in what makes Saul tick, what will become of him personally and professionally in the face of great change on both fronts, and what might happen if the show's most stable presence suddenly comes unhinged, than I am in Dana's name change or Carrie's pregnancy.
I don't mean that as a knock on either Claire Danes or Morgan Saylor at all. I think Claire Danes is the best actress on television and I've commented before on what I believe to be an irrational hatred of the Dana character from a vocal section of the show's viewership. What I'm saying is that this show has always functioned best as an espionage show, not a soap opera.
'Still Positive' delivered on the espionage front, chronicling Saul and Carrie's mission as it went horribly awry. And, if you prefer the other part of the show (does anyone, other than Showtime executives prefer that stuff?), there were a couple of new wrinkles as well.
Saul's trust in Carrie, his operative in the field, which was the theme of last week's episode, ultimately proved to be his undoing, as she made a judgement call while in enemy custody that enabled Javadi to go on a murderous rampage.
Carrie made the only call that she could in allowing Javadi to stall for time, but in doing so, set a series of events into motion that made Saul's already tenuous life even more complicated. With Lockhart set to take power at the agency, and with Dar Adal all set to throw him under the bus, the last thing Saul needed was a botched operation that left two innocent people dead.
But in his defeat, Saul acted very much like a man with nothing left to lose, like someone who was tired of being everyone's bitch. From dealing with Lockhart, with Mira, with Adal, Saul was left powerless. So, when faced with his former ally, Javadi, a man that Saul said he watched "become an animal, right before my eyes", he snapped. He finally got angry at something or someone, as Mira had begged him to, going from someone that was detached and emotionless, to something of an animal himself.
What will become of this mess of an operation is the thread I'm most interested in going forward.
The other major plot development in the episode, the one that gave the show its title, was Carrie's pregnancy. We know that the events of 'Still Positive' took place in March, three months after Carrie was last, uh, in touch with Brody. Is Brody the father? Or is it the Brody knockoff from the liquor store?
One interesting element that has developed this season is the friendship between Carrie and Quinn. Quinn, usually a pretty cold, detached man himself, has taken on something of a guardian angel role for Carrie. He seems genuinely concerned for her well being. I don't really have a comment here, that's just something to keep an eye on.
And this week's Dana subplot was as amazingly ridiculous as we've come to expect. She wants to change her name? Sure. Understandable. She wants to go away for awhile? Okay. But Jessica is just going to let this happen? Mother of the year, there.
It felt as though this was a way to write Dana and the rest of the Brody's out for a while, which I'm fine with. If you don't have anything solid for them creatively, and you're going to pick up the pace on the CIA part of the narrative, then it's best to leave them out. Perhaps absence will make the heart grow fonder.
Those are my thoughts on 'Still Positive'. What did you think?
I'm infinitely more interested in what makes Saul tick, what will become of him personally and professionally in the face of great change on both fronts, and what might happen if the show's most stable presence suddenly comes unhinged, than I am in Dana's name change or Carrie's pregnancy.
I don't mean that as a knock on either Claire Danes or Morgan Saylor at all. I think Claire Danes is the best actress on television and I've commented before on what I believe to be an irrational hatred of the Dana character from a vocal section of the show's viewership. What I'm saying is that this show has always functioned best as an espionage show, not a soap opera.
'Still Positive' delivered on the espionage front, chronicling Saul and Carrie's mission as it went horribly awry. And, if you prefer the other part of the show (does anyone, other than Showtime executives prefer that stuff?), there were a couple of new wrinkles as well.
Saul's trust in Carrie, his operative in the field, which was the theme of last week's episode, ultimately proved to be his undoing, as she made a judgement call while in enemy custody that enabled Javadi to go on a murderous rampage.
Carrie made the only call that she could in allowing Javadi to stall for time, but in doing so, set a series of events into motion that made Saul's already tenuous life even more complicated. With Lockhart set to take power at the agency, and with Dar Adal all set to throw him under the bus, the last thing Saul needed was a botched operation that left two innocent people dead.
But in his defeat, Saul acted very much like a man with nothing left to lose, like someone who was tired of being everyone's bitch. From dealing with Lockhart, with Mira, with Adal, Saul was left powerless. So, when faced with his former ally, Javadi, a man that Saul said he watched "become an animal, right before my eyes", he snapped. He finally got angry at something or someone, as Mira had begged him to, going from someone that was detached and emotionless, to something of an animal himself.
What will become of this mess of an operation is the thread I'm most interested in going forward.
The other major plot development in the episode, the one that gave the show its title, was Carrie's pregnancy. We know that the events of 'Still Positive' took place in March, three months after Carrie was last, uh, in touch with Brody. Is Brody the father? Or is it the Brody knockoff from the liquor store?
One interesting element that has developed this season is the friendship between Carrie and Quinn. Quinn, usually a pretty cold, detached man himself, has taken on something of a guardian angel role for Carrie. He seems genuinely concerned for her well being. I don't really have a comment here, that's just something to keep an eye on.
And this week's Dana subplot was as amazingly ridiculous as we've come to expect. She wants to change her name? Sure. Understandable. She wants to go away for awhile? Okay. But Jessica is just going to let this happen? Mother of the year, there.
It felt as though this was a way to write Dana and the rest of the Brody's out for a while, which I'm fine with. If you don't have anything solid for them creatively, and you're going to pick up the pace on the CIA part of the narrative, then it's best to leave them out. Perhaps absence will make the heart grow fonder.
Those are my thoughts on 'Still Positive'. What did you think?
For Homeland news, including a 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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