dwmarch

Futher to this, there are two kinds of spies: declared and undeclared. Carrie, as CIA Station Chief for Islamabad, would be a declared spy with diplomatic cover. That means if the host government catches her in an act of espionage all they can do is declare her Persona Non Grata and kick her out of the country. Carrie tried to claim that Quinn had diplomatic cover by calling him her "Chief of Support". Khan made it clear that the diplomatic ship had already sailed and sank and Quinn was to be treated as an undeclared spy.

Abu Nazir was the season 1/2 villain who slipped into America via a plot hole. Javadi was the "bastard, but he's our bastard" of season 3.

For the first while the show had me going. Carrie was back with her family and safe and Quinn was there... I was waiting for things to turn ugly and for us to find out she was under the influence of ISI drugs again. But then we had a scene between Carrie's sister and Quinn while Carrie was out of the room so there went that idea. However, that scene made me think Carrie was going to come downstairs only to find them making out. And then, what's this? They've avoided a cliche? Oh, wait a minute. There it is. I was also wondering when Quinn's vehicle was going to blow up or when they'd be interrupted by a gunshot or et cetera. Instead we get a missed connection and Carrie has no opportunity to tell Quinn how she really feels now that she knows it's okay to be bi-polar while being in a relationship. That was cheap. Carrie can't Google? She has no other data to go on as regards mental health other than stories from her mother? "My family fell apart due to this problem therefore all families who face this problem will also fall apart" is some crappy reasoning on Carrie's part and she should know better. I did however enjoy this exchange (paraphrased): Carrie: Don't pressure me! My life is full of soap opera drama! Quinn: I'm going to go halfway around the world and shoot some people now. So Carrie has this urgent burning need to talk to Quinn to tell him what he already knows (we'll find a way to make it work, his words to her) so what does she do? Goes to the boss of the CIA's Badass Killers department and tries to blackmail him! Again Carrie's logic has gone missing and she doesn't fathom how or why this could be a bad idea. I feel like this Pakistan plot has been twisted in a way that just doesn't work. Haqqani is supposed to be this show's Bin Laden, right? So let's say after 9/11 a senior CIA Black Ops guy somehow arranges a meeting with Bin Laden and promises to get him off the kill list if he lets go of his only copy of a video of George Tenet on a leash. Seems legit...

My innner Lil' Jon came out at the end of this episode. "WHAT?!?!? WHAT?!?!? Hokaaaay!" Big continuity glitch: Carrie takes her leather jacket off in the SUV. She gets out and is still wearing it. A shot later she's not wearing it anymore. I'm assuming she didn't just abandon it in a Pakistani bazaar so someone done screwed up. Quinn's old girlfriend is German? I thought her accent was more UK or Aussie. She gets line of the episode: "Tell him to go fuck himself. He'll know why!" I loved Max giving Carrie the most awkward hug of all time and her just going with it because grief. Why did Quinn need to recruit Kiran? Just so she would upload the video and start some shit? I thought he was going to ask her to deliver the bomb and I thought she was going to get caught along the way.

I hope we get more angry Max in the future. He was intense! I loved the Star Trek references and the fact that "Janice" was a Janice Rand figurine! Kono and Danny talking about Grace growing up was great. This show always gets good results with unusual character pairings. Of course Kono tells Danny that he doesn't have to lie to Grace anymore so what does he do? Lies to her when she figures out he's not happy about something! She's not the type of kid who will be upset that Dad couldn't get a "real" Christmas tree. (Also, I live in British Columbia. You call that a tree?!?!) Another entry in the 5-0 corruption file: now they've got Pua disregarding the law that he was so eager to uphold! I loved his perp booklet with the shots of McGarrett and Danny strategically placed. Between that and his warrantless search of Danny's property, he'll be ready for 5-0 in no time! The astronaut attempting to give CPR to the murder victim was strange. Chest compressions alone are useless and I'd expect an astronaut to know that! Liquid nicotine was also used as a poison on a recent episode of the Canadian historical drama Murdoch Mysteries. Great minds think alike?

I bet Haqqani sure wishes he had a nephew or something who was in medical school and had easy access to supplies. Carrie with the M-16 reminded me of the same scene in 24 with Chloe. Max even got a kill this episode. Way to go Max! I also liked how that Marine looked a little shaken up after his first shot. That reaction told me he had never fired his weapon in anger before. I was very surprised we didn't have a scene of Quinn storming up to the ambassador's husband and telling him he was dead meat. I realize the cell at the embassy isn't meant to be more than temporary holding but it's a terrible jail cell. Those wide bars you can stick both your arms through (real jail cells have a mesh on top of that that you can't stick a finger through!), the guard being posted outside and facing away from the door, no camera inside. The ambassador's husband would be on suicide watch and would be strapped to a bed and probably sedated. The ambassador would not be allowed alone time with him. The ambassador is lucky her husband didn't kill himself. I'm pretty sure whoever investigated it would figure it out pretty fast. I will miss Farah and I am sorry she was killed for nothing. Lockhart was stupid. Give them the case, sure. But take all the valuable shit out first! I'm also sad that that background character CIA guy died so Lockhart could get away. He did well with what little he was given. I can't blame Saul for essentially being useless. He just got back from being held hostage and almost blown up by the bad guys after being on the run and getting captured after being held hostage and almost blown up by the CIA. He's had a shitty week.

Well, in real life certainly. But this is the show that had the CIA assassinating six people in a bunch of different places all inside of a few minutes not that long ago. I think it would have been more appropriate for Lockhart to threaten violence while the ambassador threatens economic consequences.

Wow, way to fake me out, Homeland. I've always had this theory that Brody was hung by a harness and his death was faked so the Iranians could put him to some other nefarious purpose. But bringing him back as half-hallucination, half-crafty-ISI-bastard was brilliant. Carrie wasn't just off her meds. Right at the beginning we see someone putting white powder into the pill casings that match the ones that keep her sane. I wish Carrie had known to seek some help but I have seen a person go manic before and when they do, they do not think anything is wrong (with them). I like Haqqani. He's charismatic, tough, willing to get his hands dirty, intolerant of insubordination and kind to his prisoners. He's not the best debater though. Saul says "You killed a bunch of your family members for no readily apparent reason!" Haqqani comes back with "Well, Christians suck too!" I also appreciated that they didn't just rustle up a team of Navy SEALS at a moment's notice to go rescue Saul. "That shit takes months to plan!" is valid and something I wasn't expecting to see on a series that has only a few hours left to wrap this plot up. "We'll pull your aid package!" is a pretty dickless threat coming from the head of the CIA. How about "I'll have every single one of you assassinated" instead?

Beyond McGarrett's dad surviving there were a few key differences in how things played out: Danny was in NYC on 9/11, implying that the situation where his partner was killed didn't happen. Witnessing 9/11 directly apparently turned Danny into a cheerful psychopath. However, his marriage has done well. Danny also drives his own car! Kono never blew out her knee and went on to be a four time world champion surfer. This is the strangest aspect of McGarrett's fantasy. As much as I want to say he wishes he had never brought her into 5-0 the implication seems to be more that she is of no use to the team whatsoever and is just a pretty face that should be selling cosmetics. Harsh. Chin never got caught up in his family's troubles and thus was able to become Captain at HPD. We don't find out if Malia survived or not. Max is a doctor at the hospital rather than being the coroner. Jerry is homeless and nutty as hell, only worthy of a "look at that poor bastard... well, this is Hawaii so I guess he doesn't have it that bad." Jenna Kaye is alive and searching for her husband! Great little cameo there. Kamekona has some badass tribal tats all over his head, lives comfortably in Halawa and has very little sense of humor. Nice to see they remember that the big guy originally started off as a much greyer character. Wo Fat was raised by Doris, officially making her the worst mother ever. But Wo Fat has a dad and he's going to be pissed! It occurs to me that this episode would work well as a series finale... we're back with a new episode next week I hope!

The ear trauma is visible in 2x07. Apparently the doctors pulled the tag straight to one side to remove it.Either that or Ressler did it himself to score more hillbilly heroin.

A little bit too formulaic for my tastes but some of the twists were good. How is it that in the contest of SUV versus dudes on a motorbike the SUV is the one that ends up flying? It should have been more like "Oh, there's two pricks on a bike chasing us..." SQUISH. Followed by "I guess we'd better scrape some of that DNA off the wheels to see who those guys were." Every bad guy on this show knows the FBI's procedures and how to lead them around by the nose, even though this task force is supposed to be a secret. We've already established that they don't really follow the rules so why do they follow procedural manuals that guide them into every ambush every enemy ever sets? This was briefly addressed in the show but I wish they would expand on it: Ressler has access to help from the FBI. Agents get hooked on drugs as an occupational hazard. Help is available! But no, Ressler has to be a tough guy and try to quit cold turkey. If he's hooked on opiates that is a very profoundly bad idea!

I meant to mention this for last week's episode but it's relevant here too: how exactly does one kidnap Jerry? They would have had to lead him up from the basement. So if Jerry was so bold all he would have had to do was fall backwards and the guy behind him is in for one ruined day. It may sound trite but it's true: fat people are hard to kidnap. McGarrett is obviously thinking about the new girl as a replacement for what's-her-name. How can I tell? He just met her ten minutes ago and he's already calling her up and asking her for favors. I appreciate that she's not going to just endlessly do favors for him without making him return some. Weak villain this episode. His dad was bullied in school and did poorly in life as a result (but still lives in Honolulu so there's that) so this kid sees a horror movie, decides to do a copycat routine, murders his dad's bullies and then cuts his dad up?!?! The bookstore guy is ex-SAS? And his plan was to get captured and harassed by 5-0 so that his accomplice could get away with the money? Weak, although I do like the implication that 5-0's repeated crapping on civil rights has not gone unnoticed and has become somewhat of a weakness for them. We went from a freighter to a much smaller ship at the end of the episode. I can understand why the villain would switch ships but they never called it out in dialog so I'm assuming it was a continuity glitch. When did Danny learn to fast-rope from a helicopter onto a ship? I know he hangs around with Steve a lot but seriously? That is not something one picks up in one's spare time. Speaking of Danny, he sure got over his troubles quickly. He's moping at the beginning but by the end he's forgotten all about his recently murdered brother and is instead jealous of Steve's truly random encounter with a football player. Jerry would never willingly use a Microsoft Windows Surface 3.0 with Windows 8.1. I will accept that he was forced to use it by virtue of the villain having stolen all of his other stuff.

Ressler is an FBI agent and doesn't know where to find hillbilly heroin in Alaska?!?! I loved the further background on Dembe. James Spader gives the best speeches. Tall creepy dude was Mr. Homn from Star Trek: TNG? I thought he had died a while back. Or maybe I'm just thinking of the character who was killed off in the books. Let me see if I have this straight: Red's guy following Lizzie finds the secret holding cell where she's got Tom. He plans to tell Red about it but gives her some grace time so she can tell him herself. She decides to take him out of the picture instead and doesn't tell Red. What the actual fuck? Last season, Red hired guys to deliver Tom to her and he escaped because she's dumb. Why would he care if she kidnapped him again?

Saul was the director of the CIA, has been on television and is also Jewish to boot. And he thinks he's discreetly following an ISI hitman through the airport? Speaking of the ISI, how do we know they're real villains? It's not the manipulations or kidnappings or etc. It's that they smoke in the office. I thought Carrie was going to flip Ayan right after sleeping with him. Or after he confessed about his uncle. "Guess what kid, you work for the CIA now!" I guess the soft approach is working better for now but at some point she's going to have to flip the script and the longer she keeps this pretense up the more awkward it's going to be. The ambassador's husband took a picture of Carrie's meds but I'm pretty sure that ship sailed when she testified on national television and then the CIA sold her down the river by noting just how crazy she actually was. I am pretty sure they never followed up with a "just kidding, we were trying to recruit someone in Iran and we needed our target to believe it." If we're in for more domestic fun with Carrie and Ayan I really want her to ask him what his favorite kind of tea is.

I liked the unusual format of this episode. Instead of a shocking incident leading to 5-0 being called in, we had a nice quiet opening. In fact, this whole episode was pretty low-key with I think only three shootings in total. I see this show is now sponsored by Ray Ban sunglasses. I like how Steve dresses up for the anniversary of his dad's death but cannot be bothered to shave. I wish there had been a little more follow-up to last week's events. We went to another country, murdered several people and all that happened is that Danny is taking some time off? Also, did we get those millions back to Chin's nemesis in Halava? Is Halava a real jail? If so I bet the real people working there absolutely hate that this show depicts Halava as having a revolving door through which criminals can pass at any given moment. Police corruption count: getting a prisoner out of Halava early (although they never did specify what he was in for) and ignoring Jerry as he blatantly broke the law. It's also questionable as to whether or not this cold case that Steve's dad worked on for twenty years is worth the resources of the governor's special task force. That homeless guy helped 5-0 without complaint and they didn't even thank him for leading them to crucial evidence. It was established early on that the guy in Halava was working for a drug dealer and the victim was trying to buy the young guy's freedom. So it seemed like it took way too long to come back around to the idea that the drug dealer might be the killer. Doesn't McGarrett already have a girlfriend?

Agreed. She hasn't seen anyone get brainwashed and she hasn't been established as knowing about it beforehand, so how does she know the exact terminology they use? Hydra has never really trusted her so it stands to reason they'd brainwash her just in case SHIELD did pick her back up. I speculate we're going to see brainwashed Simmons versus brain damaged Fitz. I loved Raina's leather skirt but since she was tortured in it last episode and choked in it this episode, she's probably never going to wear it again. I am surprised jumping onto a flying quinjet does not get one sucked into the engines, especially if the thing is cloaked when one jumps. If Skye's father is so anxious to see her again why did he run away when she came to his door? He could have prevented her from seeing the bodies.

Continuity glitch! When Lizzie is getting her double to impersonate her, we can clearly see that the other gal is wearing a plain old blazer. Yet somehow when she gets upstairs she's got a leather jacket on, just like Lizzie's. And when Lizzie comes back, the gal is still rocking the blazer even though the spy caught her through the window rocking leather. They could have at least had a scene in which Lizzie hands her leather jacket off to the other gal. Speaking of that leather jacket, why does she only wear it for Red? Usually, when a woman will wear leather for only one man, there's something sexual going on. Aram rocked in this episode. I am still unsure if he told Lizzie about Red's efforts deliberately or because he's just not that sly. But seeing him at the hospital bed at the end, I think he is that sly. So the CDC, the world's premiere authority on contagious diseases, can't deal with this pneumonic plague because it's old. But a bunch of enviro-terrorists not only manage to mass produce it, they also develop a cure that only the boss gets. Riiiiight. Looks like Lizzie is going to adopt that baby. If the way she treats her dog is any indication, Pee Wee Herman should be handing the baby over to someone else within two episodes.

So we've got a Pakistani version of Carrie now, complete with badass leather jacket. Interesting. The ambassador's husband was the one feeding documents to Sandy who was then feeding them to the bad guys? I feel like there's one too many traitors there. I also feel like in real life this would be absolutely, utterly impossible. Tom Clancy described the Canary Trap twenty years ago. Basically, for every sensitive document that exists, everyone who gets a copy gets a slightly different version. The document leaks, there's a unique identifier that traces right back to the source. I'm guessing the drugs are for Aayan's terror-uncle, who has bad kidneys or something like Osama Bin Laden had.

Add me to the chorus saying that 5.5 million should go back to the Leonardo DiCaprio wannabe while the other 13 million goes in the 5-0 fun fund. I can understand if they have to beat feet quickly because there could be more lackeys on the way but still... I want something to work out in their favor eventually, instead of just taking the same plot (5-0 owes a gangster a shitload of money!) and just transferring it from Danny to Chin. I liked that for once 5-0 got to the bad guys' destination before they did and cleared everyone out. However, I don't believe any normal police force would take on six heavily armed gangsters with only five team members and a civilian.I guess it was somewhat covered in establishing that this abandoned summer camp was as far from anything as one can be and still be in Hawaii but they still should have had a line about the area being too remote to call in backup. A clever side character! That EMT with his pocket dial to 911 was awesome. Usually these characters play along and get shot for their trouble, as we saw with the helpful airport lackey the gangsters shot. I assume there are medical ethics that prevent the EMTs from causing the guy to bleed out faster. Not much of a hostage situation if you can just nick the guy's artery and have him bleed out faster than he can pull the trigger. Why did it not occur to Jerry that all the soccer/football talk might have been code? And why is Jerry sitting five feet away from the shop? He's a distinct looking dude and even if they weren't keeping an eye out for him they would have noticed by now because he's right outside the door all day long! I asked for the big corruption and 5-0 did it, although not in the way I was hoping. I thought Chin Ho actually had the 25 million or whatever and would just dip into it to help Danny. So 5-0 takes this huge pile of money, flies off to another country, kills a bunch of people and presumably flies home. Vic Mackey would be proud.

I am pretty sure Raina's superpower is that leather skirt she was rocking. It definitely had me hypnotized and under her control. Strangely enough, it's the exact same skirt Margot Robbie wore in The Wolf of Wall Street. Raina must be a fan. The dueling Mays reminded me of They Live and that ten minute long brawl. Glad to see Talbot isn't with Hydra. Did Fitz actually give his imaginary girlfriend shit for letting him down? Convenient of Agent 33 to be exactly the same size as May in addition to having the exact same hair. Face/Off was the same idea. Change the face and everyone is fooled, despite the million other cues that should send up red flags. Although in all fairness, it's probably something one would be least expecting. Unless one was an Agent of SHIELD of course.

Red's ex-wife has a husband that she thinks is faithful. Alas, he is not and his girlfriend was about to spill the beans because she wanted him to leave his wife. Red and Pee-Wee made her go away. They kept the dog, both as an exclamation point on the message to the husband and also because that dog was being treated shamefully.

Well for what it's worth I'm going against the grain to say that I throughly enjoyed this episode. As with Hawaii 5-0, I always enjoy a departure from the formula and this episode certainly offered that. I don't think Lizzie has ever spent so much time with a Blacklister without being a hostage. There have been complaints that she is the worst FBI profiler in the world so I thought it was great that they actually used her background here. Paul Ruebens was an excellent addition to this show. He's perfectly creepy as Red's henchman and I loved his indignation at the treatment of the dog. He even cleaned up after it! I knew there was a Breaking Bad connection in this episode but I totally failed to recognize Gale beyond knowing he was a "Hey, It's That Guy!" I thought the young patient he was treating looked like Walt Jr. So Gale's cunning plan was to get himself shot in front of the Senator who had no interest in his research? Was the sniper who save Lizzie the same handsome man from her hotel stay? MLP's character is reminiscent of Nancy from Weeds and her lack of logic. She's been kidnapped and tortured, with her body parts being mailed to Reddington. Reddington saves her, resolves the situation that put her in danger in the first place (Berlin was mad about some money, which Red got back to him in a previous episode) and then offers to send her off to start a new life with the husband whom she doesn't know is cheating on her. She decides she'd rather stay in Philly and continue to be available as a target for Red's many enemies. Even though she must realize the next kidnapper might cut off something more significant than a finger, she has set down roots and is going to stay where she is, damn it! But her husband has a change of heart and she relents after a second of questioning Red's involvement. Alright then. I like that there's a bit more comedy in these episodes. The bit with Aram and Lizzie regarding her warrant was hilarious, although it is chilling that the actual FBI could poop on you in just such a manner and there's really nothing you could do about it. What's up with Cooper? Why did he just blurt out all this exposition about secret government programs? It's not like him to have an IDGAS moment. Is his illness catching up to him?

I initially really liked this show because it was, as I described it "24, but realistic". It would seem that in the fourth season they have given up on this idea. Let's examine: So Quinn wants to quit. Here is the CIA's process for a resignation. They interview him and ask him all kinds of inappropriate questions about his personal life. He tells them to fuck off and they accept this as him saying he does not resign as of this moment. However, he stops showing up for work and ignores calls from his boss. Eventually, the boss visits him in person to find out what is going on. He assaults the boss, offers no coherent explanation for his actions and shows himself to be compromised by over-consumption of alcohol. At the end, he inserts himself into a completely seperate operation that he wasn't even a minimal part of. At this point, if the CIA lets him back in they deserve every bad thing that happens as a result! Also, is he in a hotel or an apartment? I've never seen a hotel room that had a hallway before. Carrie was solid in this episode. She wasn't taking shit from anyone, she was getting results and she set up her own station without anyone else finding out what she was doing. I loved that she put on the leather jacket and seduced the kid. Farah reminds him too much of home. The crazy Western lady in the leather, begging him to help? Well, there's something special about her, isn't there? Carrie was way too shocked by Saul having an old girlfriend. Why didn't you say anything, Saul? Well, perhaps because first of all it's none of your fucking business and second, you ought not be surprised that the former head of the CIA has some secrets!

I liked that this wasn't a traditional 5-0 episode of uber-smart criminals whom 5-0 foils mostly by accident. However, a couple of things jumped out at me. First, the patronizing way 5-0 talked to the new ME. She didn't get her doctorate shining shoes! The team seems very pleased to find that she is compotent. They should expect no less! Second, did McGarrett and Grover actually have a bet as to whether or not they could get Kono to wear an embarrassingly small bikini? Like they actually have a stash of clothing that they keep in case the opportunity to sexually harass Kono comes up? Speaking of Kono, that monologue she gave at the end about surfing was odd. I did enjoy her interrogation method though. Danny has this cunning plan to dig up several million dollars by himself? Can't see how that could go wrong. I see now that Grover is a part of 5-0 he's learned to do things the shortcut way, like letting suspects escape because we can't wait for backup. Did he not bitch at them about forgetting to cover the back? 5-0 shot the shit out of the suspect car but no one in Hawaii bothered to report a speeding car that was liberally laced with bullet holes? They could have had the one surfer gal maintain her code of silence and just added a line about a concerned citizen seeing the car and a uni following it. I am not sure what the laws are for Hawaii but I think Jerry's audio bug is only capable of producing inadmissable evidence. I have to say though, for what should be a really silly plot it's working out well. The scene between Jerry and Kamekona was great.

Hawaii 5-0 is off to a good start for season 5. I always love it when they switch up the formula and this was one of those episodes. The kidnappers made a mistake! A simple one but a mistake nonetheless! And they weren't five steps ahead of 5-0 like they usually are! I missed something along the way though. The kidnapper had a brother-in-law who helped him? Why? That's some deep stuff to get into. Interesting that the only death in this episode was courtesy of trigger-happy 5-0. I am looking forward to the inevitable episode in which they are brought to account for gunning so many people down. Danny continues to be the heart of the team. His empathy is one of the best things to see and I love how he connects with the people he helps. I also appreciate that Danny took the intruder from last week and straight up arrested the son of a bitch. However, again... if you shoot this guy in the head he won't have any leverage. I was kind of hoping that the kidnapping victim's father would arrive home in time to be a part of the plot. Navy SEAL on the warpath! However, I am pretty sure that plot has been done before on this show.