by Robbie Jones
It’s been an agonising two week wait since the terrifying cliff-hanger of episode nine, and did it pay off?
Abso-fucking-lutely!
It’s been an agonising two week wait since the terrifying cliff-hanger of episode nine, and did it pay off?
Abso-fucking-lutely!
The first twenty minutes or so of this episode focused on the attack on the embassy and the ambush on Saul and Carrie. It was some of the most nail biting stuff since the finale of Season One, with a huge degree of uncertainty. From the minute Quinn walks into the episode, you just know that things are going to get badass. We haven’t seen this side of Quinn for a while; it’s about time he showed up. Well my friends, he certainly did, and it’s no lie that he stole the episode. When Haissam Freakin’ Haqqani and his men slaughter most of the people in the building and take the rest hostage, he marches up to the vault containing Lockhart, Ambassador Boyd and other officials. Demanding a list of informants, he picks off hostages until Lockhart steps out with the list. It’s an incredibly tough call to make; you have to wonder what you would do in that situation. Fact is, if Haqqani gets that list, those informants are going to die. But at that present moment, Lockhart was watching him hold a knife to Fara’s throat, and he made a gut choice. It’s possibly the one moment where we have a little respect for Lockhart, and it’s interesting to see his change of stance; generally he came off as the kind of guy who accepted the casualties of war, and would just grit his teeth and refuse to give up anything (Which is the position that Boyd holds in this scene). Instead, he sees three people die and another about to go and he gives it up. It adds a little humanity to the character, who up until now has been mostly unlikeable.
Quinn is the highlight of the entire episode; him and another marine form a two man army against the Taliban in the embassy, and it’s so awesome. But Quinn gets hit hard by the deaths and the rage takes him over, making it worse when he loses them at the halfway point. An absolutely stunning start to the episode, but the only problem is that it didn’t feel right just being the start. Things would’ve been so much more awesome had it lasted the entire episode, and then even MORE awesome had it been the season finale. Picture it; an attack on the embassy, an ambush in the streets....the CIA officials are trapped in the vault and it’s up to Peter Quinn to save them. What a phenomenal finale that would be, but of course, both suggestions would mean issues with time and pacing. So now that Saul’s story is pretty much over, these last two episodes will focus on Carrie and Quinn. Quinn has gone dark; he’s got revenge on his mind, and has put off evacuating with the CIA just to find Haqqani and bring him to justice. He kidnaps Farhad Ghazi, the man who abducted Saul, and brings him into a dark room with several torture weapons. Are we about to see torture scene in Homeland? Is this gonna get brutal? We can only hope so, but we know what TV censors are like, and it could end up being very watered down.
This is it guys. We’re about to witness the last two episodes of Season Four. How is it all going to go down? We’re going to have a painful wait, but this week’s episode was probably the best episode of the entire show, rivalled only by the Season One finale.
This is it guys. We’re about to witness the last two episodes of Season Four. How is it all going to go down? We’re going to have a painful wait, but this week’s episode was probably the best episode of the entire show, rivalled only by the Season One finale.
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