Emmy Episodes: Homeland

It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. For the fifth year in a row, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.

Homeland: Season 8, Episode 12 “Prisoners of War” (B)

I thought the first two seasons of this show were some of the best television I’ve ever seen. After that, however, things went downhill and while season four was a slight recovery, it never got anywhere near as good as it used to be. I actually made it almost halfway through the penultimate season, which aired over two years ago, and then watched two more episodes that served as the submissions that season for Mandy Patinkin and F. Murray Abraham. Now, the series finale is nominated for directing, and so I’m checking back in right at the end to see how things turned out. This episode was much less intense and fast-paced than I had expected, and only one character died, which is a relatively low body count from what I remember. Evidently, much has transpired that would have made Carrie willing to risk Saul’s life so that she could betray him and in turn save the country from unnecessarily going to war. He caught on to what she was doing quickly but not in time to stop her from injecting him, and it was surprising that the Russian operatives who were set to interrogate him just left and let him live. Carrie was obviously more emotional about the idea of tricking Saul’s sister into thinking that he was dead to manipulate her into giving her the flash drive he had left, but it worked perfectly. It didn’t seem likely that she would let go of the resentment she felt after that, but the flash-forward indicated her looking as happy as we’ve ever seen her. I actually liked the way that this episode ended, with Saul just as surprised as we were that, after writing a book about why she betrayed her country, Carrie had taken over the newly vacant spot of spying on the Russians for the United States. I don’t think this episode needed to be nominated for its directing, especially compared with much better installments from those first two seasons, but I don’t mind it being included and wouldn’t be terribly disappointed if it ended up winning. This is Lesli Linka Glatter has yet to win an Emmy despite five previous bids in this category, so this better-than-expected finish wouldn’t be a bad reason to finally give her a trophy.

Emmy Episodes: Homeland

It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. For the third year in a row, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.

Homeland: Season 7, Episode 11 “All In” (C)

Skipping ahead five episodes from the last hour of this show that I just watched, I didn’t miss too much. The big reveal about Dante apparently led to his death, with no mention here of whether he was ultimately guilty of working against Carrie and the United States, and now Saul, Carrie, and her crew are all in Russia trying to pull off a major operation. The big issue with this show the past few years has been that it presents a wild scenario in which Carrie is the only smart one in a whole sea of trained agents from many different places. Freezing a Russian’s bank accounts led to some pretty drastic measures on his part that appear to have produced tremendous collateral damage, and Carrie had no problem rushing right into the fray with a black mask over her head, blending in with the rest of the shooters and hostage takers. Wearing a wig so that Simone would look like her and vice versa was smart, but do they really think they’ll be able to get her out of the country? Worse still, the idea about leaking the footage of the pandemonium seems to have inspired the opposite effect of vilifying Saul and his mission. As if Keane being removed as president wasn’t dramatic enough, it’s hardly believable the new vice president, played by Beau Bridges, would have no idea at all what to do as soon as he took the reins of power. In other news, this was the Emmy submission for F. Murray Abraham, whose Dar Adal barely appeared in this episode.

Emmy Episodes: Homeland

It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. For the third year in a row, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.

Homeland: Season 7, Episode 6 “Species Jump” (C)

It turns out that I gave up on this show just one episode before this one. I had expected that it wouldn’t be necessary to catch back up come Emmy time, but of course I was wrong, and so this is the first of two hours that I’ll be screening so that I can see what was submitted to voters. Mandy Patinkin has always been a consistent part of this show, and what’s great about him in this episode is that he’s cool as ice, not panicked and angry as he’s been in the past. First, he sat it on Catherine Curtin’s class, then calmly listened to Carrie’s latest antics before going to try to find his friend Ivan, who’s not long for this world. This episode felt a whole lot like the start of the show six seasons ago, though that means it’s getting repetitive rather than returning to its original quality. Carrie was smart to want to prevent Simone from being questioned before they really understood her behavior, and she sounded just as crazy as ever when she pitched her latest idea about what was going on to Dante. When Saul asked her how she knew what she did, I thought he was going to scold her for illegally surveilling someone – again – but instead he just subtly hinted at what he knew that she didn’t. Of course Carrie didn’t listen to what he said and nearly went straight into sleeping with her latest bad boy, but luckily she made a better choice this time to knock him out and scrub his place instead of getting into another inappropriate relationship. David has no idea what he’s in for, and let’s hope that Saul has the right access to the president to be able to tell her that she’s being set up before this all goes way too far.

What I’m Watching: Homeland

Homeland: Season 7, Episode 5 “Active Measures” (C)

I’m strongly considering giving up on this show, not because this episode was significantly worse than the rest of what we’ve seen this season, but rather due to its inability to really go anywhere interesting. Saul thinks it might be the Russians, not O’Keefe, who was responsible for the doctored video that caused all the chaos, an attempt to mimic reality that doesn’t feel like it’s going to be worthwhile since it can’t possibly compare to election influencing and all that, and is hardly as exciting as the kind of government conspiracies we’re used to on this show. I’m not sure why Keane thought it would be a good idea to encourage the widow of the FBI agent killed to attend the memorial, and the fact that the mother of the dead kid chose to welcome her doesn’t negate the angry reception everyone else gave them when they walked in. Keane is congratulating herself without much reason to do so, and things are going to get much worse soon after this brief victory. Carrie’s operation didn’t go too well despite her intervening to plant a second bug after the first failed, and her puzzled reaction at the end of the episode is leading to a conclusion that we’ve been well aware of for some time: Wellington is not involved in this corruption at all, but, worse, he’s being played by someone else who’s manipulating events. I really do feel that this season is proceeding along without much purpose, and with so much else on, why should I bother with this show anymore?

What I’m Watching: Homeland

Homeland: Season 7, Episode 4 “Like Bad at Things” (C+)

I suppose this represents a moderate improvement over what we’ve been seeing so far this season, though I’m not sure this show can ever get back to a truly good and coherent place. Wellington seemed more than ready to face the brunt of Keane’s fury for giving the go-ahead to the general on her behalf against her wishes, but that quickly took a backseat to them needing to work together to deal with the kind of emergent crisis that we never really believe the president could actually be so involved with in the moment (and a famous John McCain defense against torture in reference to a literal ticking time bomb in “24” being a fabrication of television and movies). To his credit, Saul remained as level-headed as he could, cognizant of what was happening around him and what he can control, and O’Keefe can no longer attempt to maintain a degree of victimhood since he alone was responsible for the execution of the hostage agent since he refused to divulge the important truth that the photo of the dead teenager in the morgue wasn’t accurate. It’s not clear if the standoff is totally over, but the damage has definitely been done, and it’s going to be a nightmare to clean up. It’s good to see Dante standing by Carrie and more willing now to pursue the leads she’s putting together, and apparently he’s now her medical monitor as well. I’m never fond of when Carrie tries to lie, and her using the story of a bipolar sister as a way to get info hit a bit too close to home, demonstrating that she’s well aware of some of her instability and happy to use it to her advantage.

What I’m Watching: Homeland

Homeland: Season 7, Episode 3 “Standoff” (C-)

I do ask myself more and more these days why I still watch this show since I believe that it’s lost just about everything that used to make it so good and shows no signs of heading in the right direction with its latest developments. I’ve never been a fan of off-the-rails Carrie and how long it takes for her to get back to believing in herself when she’s experiencing a mental breakdown while being legitimately on the right track of the truth that no one else believes. After getting very upset with her when she tried to force him to go on the record when he wasn’t ready, Dante is now back and more than happy to share the findings he has about Sandrine Holt’s Simone Martin and her crucial connection to Wellington, eager to prescribe Carrie some cold medication so that she can get back to normal. Carrie’s impulsive decision to break into her apartment when she was out went bad right away when she got stopped by the cops and refused to give her name, and Dante showing up to bail her out seemed to mitigate most of the damage, especially since he was willing to talk to her and to listen to what she was going through. Throughout all of this, I’m becoming more and more convinced that Wellington is being framed since he’s constantly suggesting less severe solutions to Keane like letting O’Keefe go and considering recommended military action, and she just won’t listen. The problem is that she doesn’t seem to be responsible either, so the two most powerful people in the White House are probably being played like puppets, which doesn’t exactly seem realistic. Saul really should have led with his disdain for the president when approaching O’Keefe, since now the situation has gotten very bad and is sure to escalate in unfortunate ways sooner than later.

What I’m Watching: Homeland

Homeland: Season 7, Episode 2 “Rebel Rebel” (C-)

I don’t understand where all this is headed and what the point of it all is. In August 2016, this show was renewed for two more seasons, which means that there’s still another season after this one! Keane is starting not to seem quite as totalitarian as she’s so far appeared this season, but Wellington is still not being as open and honest as he should be with his newly released and appointed national security adviser. Saul was right to insist that he wouldn’t be a blind cheerleader for all of Keane’s policies, and Wellington respectfully requested that he wasn’t a subversive leaker either. The fact that Keane doesn’t buy McClendon’s heart attack death but also has no information about it just means that there is so much illicit behavior going on and that no one anywhere can be trusted. Matt Servitto continues to be cast as slighted law enforcement following his memorable roles on “The Sopranos” and “Banshee,” and hopefully his Agent Maslin will be helpful to Saul in his discreet pursuit of O’Keefe. The fugitive radio host offered his own take on the Second Amendment, a hot topic in real-life news these days, insisting that resisting tyranny is the real reason for it, something that most gun owners probably wouldn’t argue is their number one argument for holding on to their weapons. Why he had to shoot himself in the head is beyond me. Carrie is back to her old ways going way too in to her operations with no one backing her, baiting the owner of the ransomware sexually and somehow compelling him to invite her to where he was. Threatening him with her CIA status should be far from intimidating given how easy it was for him to lock her files, but I guess that’s what you get sometimes on this show which has lost sense of what it means to have compelling storylines.

What I’m Watching: Homeland (Season Premiere)

Homeland: Season 7, Episode 1 “Enemy of the State” (C)

Once upon a time, this was the best series on television, dethroning “Mad Men” at the Emmys and producing two incredible initial seasons. After that, however, it lost much of its quality and hasn’t been able to regain it since. Last season was lamentable, and instead of rebooting things as it’s done for the past few years, season seven is starting off as a direct continuation of events as they stood. It’s supposed to be immensely relevant, portraying the era of an anti-press government rule where crazy things happen and everyone is powerless is stop them. Yet it hardly works at all, since Linus Roache’s David Wellington briefs President Keane out in the open and advises her to consider the implications of what she’s done, which hardly seems believable considering our current real-life situation and the many, many people who might try and fail to influence the president’s opinions and actions. Carrie has a source who can testify about what Wellington is doing on Keane’s orders but he refuses to talk, and Dylan Baker’s senator is losing patience. Wellington wants to offer Saul a national security adviser position after he’s been detained for a while, and all he wants is direct access to a president that he doesn’t realize won’t listen to a thing he says since she’s gone off the deep end herself, advocating and potentially arranging for the death of her traitorous general. In order to get Wellington’s house bugged, Carrie continues to cross lines, employing her compliant niece’s assistance, and suddenly the likes of Brett O’Keefe are renegade heroes? I don’t buy it, and I’m going to need to see some glimmer of quality from this show in the coming weeks to stick with it.

What I’m Watching: Homeland (Season Finale)

Homeland: Season 6, Episode 12 “America First” (C+)

This episode’s title is a very interesting choice because of its clear connection to a slogan championed by Donald Trump in his quest for the presidency, and it’s significant because I’ve found this show to be weaker this season because it portrays a less believable alternate to what we’re actually seeing play out in reality. I understand that the final scene of this episode, in which Keane is seen tuning Carrie out as she boldly charges to a future where law and order is what she makes it, is meant to be powerful and show just how irreversibly far things have gone. But based on what we’ve seen of Keane this season, I don’t buy it. She’d want to dismantle the system that made intelligence so secretive and open up channels for diplomacy, not round people up and hold them indefinitely so that she could seize control of everything and do it her way. That she went to Carrie in the first place and asked her to take on this new role suggested that she wanted to be more transparent, not become big brother with the assistance of Linus Roaches’ chief of staff. The middle of the episode in which she was fleeing for her life with Carrie’s help constituted the most thrilling part of the entire season, but the level to which General McClendon was able to manipulate events so that she could be targeted begged an unacceptable amount of suspension of disbelief. I thought that Quinn was going to survive multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, but that was the end for him, and Max may come over when he’s not supposed to, but at least the worst he’s going to do is pass out drunk on the bed. Dar ending up in jail makes sense, but for Saul, who was loyal to Keane most of the time, to be arrested too represents a witch hunt with no goal other than to do something like, say, drain the swamp. The news that this show was renewed through season eight as of August with Claire Danes attached is disappointing since it means Carrie will somehow still be involved, and I just don’t know that there’s new solid ground to be covered here.

Season grade: C+
Season MVP: Elizabeth Marvel as Keane

What I’m Watching: Homeland

Homeland: Season 6, Episode 11 “R for Romeo” (C-)

We’re six seasons in and I feel like this show is repeating itself for the sixth hundredth time. We finally got somewhere where we have incontrovertible evidence that an assumed terrorist was set up and that his attack was actually engineered by someone who went to a whole lot of trouble to frame him. Yes, Quinn did beat the guy to death with punch after punch to the face, which doesn’t help much, but important people from the government were in the home seeing what was happening and documenting it. Now, why Carrie got an inkling that they shouldn’t cut the lock to go into the garage and no one else thought that maybe there was a bomb inside is beyond me, and it’s hard to believe that this kind of thing could happen again. The president’s motorcade nearly running a guy over after he lunged into the street when the caravan was coming through hardly seems like such a momentous event, and Rob’s inability to be clear about that was puzzling and annoying. Quinn making sounds like a monkey was an especially low point of the episode that I’d rather not address further. Keane going on Brett’s show to directly counter his claims felt like something out of an entirely different series, but that’s part of this show’s disjointed nature. Dar giving Max a painful backrub to intimidate him into talking didn’t work too well, and you have to wonder how evil Dar really is or if he’s actually having Max look into something legitimate. We’ll see if next week’s surely awful finale has anything in the way of intelligence to offer.

What I’m Watching: Homeland

Homeland: Season 6, Episode 10 “The Flag House” (C)

There are two things that I find hard to believe more than anything right now. The first is that, after everything that she’s been through and every order that she’s defied, it doesn’t seem remotely possible that she would be compelled not to testify against Dar when Franny’s safety was in jeopardy. It certainly raised alarm with Keane, who knew exactly what was going on and essentially spelled it all out while Carrie said that she couldn’t acknowledge any of it. I wrote before that, with our current president who watches the news incessantly, it’s unfathomable that she would pay so much attention to just one news story when there are inevitably so many out there. But then you get back to the overarching plot, which involves Dar pulling all the strings and going in – in person – to see his conspiracy theorist mouthpiece Brett O’Keefe and getting videotaped by Max, who was caught almost immediately yet still managed to e-mail out the damning footage proving that Dar is behind it all. Far too much of the episode was spent on Carrie being paranoid about Franny being watched and Saul sending Mira on elaborate routes so that he could meet with her and say goodbye. I don’t know where all this leads, especially since we know that both Carrie and Quinn are on to something, but neither are them are likely to be taken seriously enough to really make any difference, which is a shame since Carrie does have a direct pipeline to the president-elect that she’s not properly using.

What I’m Watching: Homeland

Homeland: Season 6, Episode 9 “Sock Puppets” (C)

I’m not amused by this episode’s title, which references the scheme being put on by Brett O’Keefe’s people. His character makes some sense as a conspiracy theorist, and it is mildly interesting to see that he’s directing his minions to troll the Internet with his ideas and ensure that mass chaos and disruption are created whenever possible. Yet Max having the perfect resume and just being his own antisocial self to get the job without so much as a background check or a reference doesn’t track at all, since, even if Brett didn’t trust those avenues, he’d still need to do something to research his hire before letting him have unfettered access to everything, exposing himself in a big way. We’ve learned from this show that paranoia is worthwhile, and no one is immune from it. Dar should be watching his back as he literally has Quinn in his home demanding answers and Carrie gunning for him with Keane’s full support after she completely flip-flopped and decided to trust Carrie implicitly after writing her off last week. The notion that Saul goes down for all of this even though he’s always been pure of heart and intention is miserable, and I’d be far more impressed if the action was more compelling and involving. This show doesn’t seem to have a point other than to show how broken the homeland security system is, and rare moments of tangential relief, like Carrie getting visitation with Franny – which of course immediately struck me as a trap engineered by Dar – are meant to be the only light in an otherwise very dark world.

What I’m Watching: Homeland

Homeland: Season 6, Episode 8 “alt.truth” (C-)

A friend and colleague asked me yesterday whether I was still watching this show, and, ready for him to agree that it has gone so far downhill, I was shocked to hear him argue for how strong it is this season. Every episode, we’re reminded that this show is no longer about actual threats to the country and more about the broken inner workings of the system, with a heaping dose of family and mental drama mixed in. Now both Saul and Carrie have been made to look like fools by an ally they should never have trusted, and Keane was unwise to dismiss Carrie outright because she knows her history and should be well aware that she’s going to trigger a major relapse on her part, especially after Franny was taken away, a devastating reality Saul helped to mediate by showing and assuring her that she was safe. Quinn, on the other hand, continues to be number one distraction on this show, and there is no way that he could hold his breath underwater for a longer period of time then his would-be assassin was willing to wait given the state he’s in. It reminds me of the absurd scene in the movie “The Gunman” where Sean Penn’s protagonist literally passes out in the middle of a chase scene yet still manages to get the upper hand on his pursuers. To tie this show in to the real world again, I keep thinking that Jake Weber’s conspiracy theorist host Brett O’Keefe would be either not heard at all or brutally tweeted against by the president-elect, but the fact that Dar is working directly with them gives way to a whole new slate of unbelievable theories of collusion against those in power.

What I’m Watching: Homeland

Homeland: Season 6, Episode 7 “Imminent Risk” (C-)

I’m not sure at what point this show became a melodrama about parental custody, with unfortunate undertones of government conspiracies at work. Anyone who followed this show regularly from its beginning knows that there are serious concerns about Carrie being a mother, and the things she did when Franny was first born are definitely cause for a court to rule against her having custody. The way that she tried to explained away sleeping next to her daughter with a loaded gun in her hands and having Quinn in the house only made things worse since Franny being immediately removed from the home was very jarring and might have been stricken down. Carrie calling Keane as a lifeline was received very poorly since she did go straight to the top and was told just how inappropriate it was, and that’s why the subsequent reveal that Dar had made it happen by reporting her made me mad. He’s manipulating everything now, sending Astrid to protect Quinn and make sure that he didn’t get himself into trouble, and that took up way too much of the episode. The only actual drama related to national security was Saul being questioned about his visit to the West Bank and trying to track down Majid. I didn’t personally need to watch fingernails ripped off someone’s hand to understand that this Iranian puppet isn’t a good guy, and his execution of the man who saved him proved. This show needs to refocus itself and pick up the pace in the right way to retrieve any semblance of quality.

What I’m Watching: Homeland

Homeland: Season 6, Episode 6 “The Return” (C)

I really don’t feel like we’re getting anywhere here. This show has become pretty boring, and the only action we had in this entire episode found Ray encountering a strange company that seems extremely nefarious, Carrie wandering through an abandoned building and nearly encountering violence, and Quinn getting taken by Astrid, whose return is random at best. Starting out with Alan Dale as the current president made this feel like vintage “24” when he briefly ascended from the role of vice-president to the top office, and while he’s busy making speeches on live TV in New York City, the president-elect is being sequestered in a way that doesn’t make her feel like she’s about to be in charge of the country. It’s also highly unbelievable given the way that our current president has shucked any such protection or privacy on a regular basis from when he was elected until the present moment. I’m not convinced by her cathartic experience with the woman who didn’t vote for her and that she’s suddenly been completely transformed to start talking about her son. I also don’t think it’s anything new that Carrie has been accused by someone of ruining their lives, and I’ve had just about enough of Quinn. Now Ray is suddenly her number one ally, uncovering some sort of conspiracy going on thanks to a scene that felt like it really didn’t belong on this show. I’m not sure how Astrid is connected to all this, but I think we’re going to need some serious action and momentum to make the rest of this season worthwhile.

What I’m Watching: Homeland

Homeland: Season 6, Episode 5 “Casus Belli” (D+)

It seems to me that it would be hard enough to perpetrate a terrorist attack (one would hope, at least) that framing an innocent person for it would come with way too many unknowns and chances for it to fail. On top of that, to presume that someone high up in government intelligence would set up a notoriously unreliable CIA officer and a completely innocent Muslim activist is pretty ludicrous. Both in the fictional world in which this show exists and the real world with more than enough conflict and controversial religious persecution going on, this seems both unbelievable and highly unnecessary. Worse still, this episode quickly devolved into an exploration of Quinn’s deteriorating mental health, as he decided to be really helpful and push a reporter down the stairs of Carrie’s building and then shoot a protestor just to make things better. It didn’t take long at all for news crews to show up at Carrie’s private residence and appear at every entrance to make Quinn even more paranoid, and then the cops set up shop all around as soon as night fell and the equally speedy and severe protests were dispelled by the sound of Quinn’s gunshot. Carrie sat by and didn’t do anything for a long time, which isn’t like her at all, and then she managed to save his life when her basement was breached, only to find out that, after all this, Quinn isn’t actually crazy and she was being watched. The President-Elect not being allowed to see her staff is puzzling, but I’m growing less and less curious by the minute.

What I’m Watching: Homeland

Homeland: Season 6, Episode 4 “A Flash of Light” (C+)

It continues to be surprising how willing this show is to kill off its characters early in the season, starting with Sandy and Aayan in season four. Sekou seemed like an important player in this season, yet apparently it’s enough for him to be framed and arrested, released from custody thanks to some manipulative strong-arming by Carrie, and then purposely disregard the conditions of his release by recording another video in which he outed an FBI informant before getting himself blown up in a very similar move to what happened at the end of season two with Brody being set up as the bomber. It’s an unfortunate development, and one that came as one of only two interesting moments in this entire hour. The other notable scene involved the unexpected reappearance of Majid, a despicable character we haven’t seen since season three after he ascended to a position of power in Iran and then did nothing to prevent Brody’s execution. Saul making him come to Israel to meet him was risky, and he got found out pretty quickly not just by his sister but also by his old pal Etai. It’s irritating to me that Quinn is acting crazy but, like Carrie before him, he’s actually on to something, and I wish that either he would snap back to normal or would be killed off as a regular character since he’s contributing nothing useful to the story. Dar showing up at Franny’s school to have a chat with Carrie was ominous, and it’s a good thing that she’s not backing down, though what President-Elect Keane is asking is quite a big deal.

What I’m Watching: Homeland

Homeland: Season 6, Episode 3 “The Covenant” (C+)

There was a point, early in this show’s third season, when it was flailing and starting to get bad, so far removed from the original intrigue that made its first two seasons so fantastic. Now, after a few not-so-great attempts to redirect it, it’s calmed down considerably. The problem is, it’s just dull now. There’s not enough going on, and what we do have is Carrie interfering in a case in a way that manages to get her client, who is suddenly interested in taking a seven-year prison sentence, put on track to get at least fifteen years thanks to her meddling. This should come as no surprise to Carrie, who has always crossed the line in an attempt to get answers she knows are there, but the bigger thing is that it’s so completely and immediately obvious that Sekou has been framed for a crime he wasn’t even thinking about committing, and somehow he’s still set to get sent to prison for more than a decade? Dar is spending all his time installing surveillance equipment to confirm that Carrie is indeed advising the president-elect, and Saul is off in Saudi Arabia running around like a spy – something we’ve seen him do in a number of dangerous foreign countries now – and raising ethical issues about Israeli settlements and the like. Quinn is waking up slowly to the fact that he can be the man he once was again. I would really appreciate if we could hit fast-forward to when this gets interesting.

What I’m Watching: Homeland

Homeland: Season 6, Episode 2 “The Man in the Basement” (B-)

I don’t think I like the direction that a number of this show’s threads are headed. It seemed in the premiere that Carrie had turned a new leaf, working solely on advocating for those who were being wrongly targeted by intelligence agencies and the government to atone for many of her past sins. Saul’s visit during which he told her that it would be bad if it came out that she was secretly advising the president-elect on foreign policy and dealing with terrorism cases didn’t strike me as a realistic possibility, but of course that’s exactly what she was doing! I have some trouble believing that, since it’s a very influential position and one that I can’t imagine anyone in intelligence would have recommended for her, especially since Saul and Dar didn’t know about it. On that note, Dar is doing his very best to intimidate Hill Harper’s Rob, and while it’s not scaring him, it is forcing President Keane to be very reactive. Carrie’s suggestion of Saul is a good one, and hopefully he can help come back around to a place where he’s okay with what he’s doing. The discovery that Sekou was set up by an FBI agent calls everything into question since it’s the epitome of what Carrie’s organization looks for – someone completely innocent framed by the government for the purposes of scoring wins against terror. I wish that there wasn’t such a focus on Quinn since that whole plotline is really dragging. Ending the episode with Carrie crying after going back through what happened to Quinn with him felt like such an unenthusiastic whimper, and while the usual move to have Carrie get abducted in the middle of the night from her home, or something like that, might have seemed over-the-top, this was just underwhelming and indicative of a sluggish season ahead.

What I’m Watching: Homeland (Season Premiere)

Homeland: Season 6, Episode 1 “Fair Game” (B)

I almost forgot that this show was still on, mainly because I’ve been so consistently disappointed in its quality since its first two fantastic seasons. What’s good about this show is that it has the opportunity to reboot at the start of every season, and it does seem like it’s trying to take advantage of that here. Let’s start with the good: it was hard to tell exactly what Muslim upstart Sekou Bah, a far better role for actor J. Mallory McCree than the one he played on “Quantico,” was up to going around New York City chronicling the sites of extremist acts of terror, and what proved most interesting about it was, when he got arrested by the FBI, it was Carrie who was there to defend rather than interrogate him. Even though Otto doesn’t think she has a clear idea of what she wants, she is doing something she cares about, and as Saul becomes the representative of a more careful and less controlling government, she has other things going on in her life. I like the casting of Elizabeth Marvel as the president-elect, especially since she played a top candidate for that office on “House of Cards,” and it looks like she’s in good company with Hill Harper from “Limitless” as her chief of staff and Robert Knepper from “Prison Break” as a general who might end up playing a bigger part. That’s all intriguing and could head somewhere, even though it doesn’t amount to much of a bombshell or cliffhanger ending. I’m not at all fond of anything related to Peter and his completely drugged-out state, and I hope that he’ll get much better soon under Carrie’s supervision. This show already tried this route and failed, so let’s get this wrapped up as soon as possible so that this show can get good again.