What I’m Watching: Homeland

Homeland: Season 2, Episode 3 “State of Independence” (B+)

This wasn’t a great episode for our main characters, as they both realized that it’s hard to have only one foot in the door. Carrie staying up late all nigh to write her report really didn’t pay off as she was purposely left out of the meeting and then told by Estes that she shouldn’t have expected to be reinstated. Vomiting up her medication suggests that she is spiraling downward once again, and hopefully Saul’s house call will help prevent that. Showing the video of Brody to her before letting Estes or anyone else see it implies that he trusts her again, and hopefully they’ll be tactful in how and where they share the news. Brody receiving on-the-spot assignments from Roya while he’s supposed to be in the public spotlight is immensely problematic, and his panic was evident as he pursued his reluctant passenger through the woods near the gas station. He was much more calm and collected when he used a piece of wood to jack up his tire, but he revealed how his situation was getting out of control when he killed Bassel because he was making too much noise while he was on the phone with Jessica. His wife, for her part, did an impressive job of rescuing the event, but threatening Brody with a divorce is going to undo all that hard work. Everything is heating up and heading towards a boiling point, and I can’t wait to see how it all comes together in the coming episodes.