S08.E04: Chalk One Up

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Saul plans an announcement. Carrie gets a surprise.

Promo:

Clip:

Original air date: 3/1/20

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ahh, this is the time in the season where the shit hits the fan.

As soon as Samira's brother in law came back and tried to sweet talk her through the door, I knew he was either going to take her back to the village or just kill her right there in her house. The only good thing that happened in this episode was Carrie rescuing her.

Oh, Max. Guilt tripped into staying. Please don't die!

[scrb]

Why exactly is Samira's story a big deal?

First of all, if she's from some small Afghanistan village, she likely wouldn't have the means to live like Caroline in the (big) city, without a job but her own roomy apt.

But what exactly does Carrie or the Americans owe her, saving her from these fundamentalist Neanderthals?  It's certainly a laudable thing to do but what are they going to do, give Samira asylum, get her out of the country?

 

As for the president's helicopter being taken down by an RPG, if it was THAT easy to take down the POTUS, he wouldn't be going on that trip, no matter what kind of a photo op it was.

The skies would have been swimming with aircraft, not two measly, mostly defenseless copters which could be so easily taken down.

How would the Taliban know the flight path of the copters?

And the copter disappearing from radar?  Are they for real?  It would have transponders and satellites tracking it.

 

Of course the last place the president would go to is a base on the outskirts of hostile territory.  They could fly in some GIs for the photo op at Bagram instead.

 

This damn show ...

 

Carrie getting freaked out when she's escorted out of the CIA station to Bagram.  Come on, she's suppose to be an old pro.

Tasneem and Galom being salty about the US making deal with the Taliban (doubt the head of the ISI would even be invited).  Yeah they may not like it but they wouldn't openly show their opposition, pouting and puffing furiously on their cigarettes at the US embassy or wherever they were.  And the US National Security Advisor would not be taunting them openly and taking victory laps.🙄

 

This damn show ...

 

[Loandbehold]

54 minutes ago, scrb said:

Why exactly is Samira's story a big deal?

First of all, if she's from some small Afghanistan village, she likely wouldn't have the means to live like Caroline in the (big) city, without a job but her own roomy apt.

But what exactly does Carrie or the Americans owe her, saving her from these fundamentalist Neanderthals?  It's certainly a laudable thing to do but what are they going to do, give Samira asylum, get her out of the country?

She was the one who exposed the VP's self-dealing w/ her audit. This allowed Carrie to blackmail him into agreeing to release the Taliban prisoners. Which was needed before Haqqani would agree to peace. 

[scrb]

Yeah I remember that but that still doesn't mean they owe her asylum or anything like that.

Unless she moves far away from her in laws, she isn't going to be safe from them.

So is Carrie going to do that for her?  This is the last season so it's not like she can be recruited to be an interpreter or something.

I guess they wanted that side story intrigue of Carrie having a little showdown against the Taliban, unless they do something further with the story.

[preeya]

6 hours ago, scrb said:

As for the president's helicopter being taken down by an RPG, if it was THAT easy to take down the POTUS, he wouldn't be going on that trip, no matter what kind of a photo op it was.

I guessed he would be targeted and possibly killed the moment he put on the vest. The VP from the opposing party had to become president the moment we heard:   "No vice president has ever challenged a sitting president."  "No vice president's ever been from the opposing party."

[nara]

I knew POTUS was doomed, but it still made me tear up...I guess I feel like peacemakers are often the ones targeted. In all fairness, it could be an accident...

I thought veep may have been behind it, but he looked genuinely shaken.

Do we know the new VP? 

Glad Max didn’t leave. If he had, those young soldiers would have died and he would have felt guilty forever. Was the helicopter that Max didn’t take POTUS’s?

Glad Carrie saved Samira. That will come in handy at some point...

I always assumed Saul was Jewish, so was surprised by his “Jesus Christ” swearing.

 

[Minaboo]

9 hours ago, nara said:

I always assumed Saul was Jewish, so was surprised by his “Jesus Christ” swearing.

Me, too.

I’ve often thought a “Me, too” button would be handy.

[Pike Ludwell]

As Max was walking to the helicopter it was clear he was having second thoughts and might decide to stay. I kept thinking "Don't do it Max. Don't stay. Go." But he did it - he stayed.  I understand it's supposed to be a heroic thing - stand with your fellow troops, but that makes a lot more sense in the heat of real wars than in Max's situation. The sensible thing was to leave.

Next ep., they're going to have to get a bunch of men down there fast - there's got to be a way. Get them down there. Spread bomb traps all over the place, napalm (or whatever) the area where the Taliban is approaching, and get the prez out of there fast. I don't know - there's got to be a way, and we'll see early next ep. I think that prez survives this.

Edited March 2, 2020 by Pike Ludwell

[Joimiaroxeu]

Wow, if Carrie hasn't been turned she was sure trying to make herself look guilty by rifling through the computer room like that.

What tipped Samira off that those Taliban guys were coming back to grab her?

Jenna cranked the shady up to 11. Was she surprised by the detour Carrie took to help Samira or had it been planned to distract Carrie?

So did Max know it was going to be the president arriving at the camp? Was that what his whole assignment there was about, to make sure the coast was clear? Whatever, wow were Tasneem's jaws tight having to watch Warner make his speech.

I think Saul and a bunch of others have been played. There's probably a coup underway in the US and either the VP is an active part of it or he's the puppet who'll be worked as POTUS. Max's last minute change of plans not to leave with the president's copter now seems suspicious to me too. But then again, if he'd stayed on the coms he might've been able to head off the president getting shot down.

[Norma Desmond]

Well, that was tense. Even though it was kind of obvious that something was going to happen to the president, it was still a great, suspense-filled, old school Homeland episode.  Bravo.

[WaltersHair]

Quote

Next ep., they're going to have to get a bunch of men down there fast - there's got to be a way. Get them down there. Spread bomb traps all over the place, napalm (or whatever) the area where the Taliban is approaching, and get the prez out of there fast. I don't know - there's got to be a way, and we'll see early next ep. I think that prez survives this.

We just need to get Kurt Russell to go in there and save the president from New Yor...er the Taliban.

[LoveLeigh]

I thought when Carrie told Samira to stay in the car and she would be safe there that the episode would end with Samira gone from the car. 

I think when Max had second thoughts about leaving he might have saved his own life because many of those choppers that were shot down carried soldiers who were leaving. Right? 

Edited March 4, 2020 by DakotaLavender

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Inside the episode:

 

[dwmarch]

I was hoping this episode would go the other way. Everyone's all happy about the deal but the guys out in the hills don't know about it and as they're leaving they gun down Haqqani himself by pure chance.

What is it with this show and CIA stations with vents or thin walls that allow eavesdropping? The local crew wants to spy on Carrie and they are doing so from behind a door with a big-ass vent on it that lets her listen in.

The show is doing a good job with the ambiguity so far. Does Carrie want to know what they heard of her conversation with Yevgeny because she lied in her contact report and it won't match up? Or does she just not want them to know she almost drowned her baby?

I don't have a better citation for this than Black Hawk Down but RPGs are not famed for accuracy.

Saul is Jewish although he might not be particularly observant. But he has said kaddish for someone before and he talked to Aileen way back in Season 1 about being the only Jewish kid in the area where he grew up. He's also visited his sister in Israel (who IIRC gave him shit for not being Jewish enough). JC makes for a good intensifier regardless of one's beliefs.

[healthnut]

Great tense episode, definitely vintage Homeland. I think my heart stopped when they showed the taliban going after the helicopter. How on earth does the other chopper not see what happened? Do they still have that rule that you can’t kill a president on TV? I remember that being an issue on Season 4 of 24. The VP staying in the oval definitely stood out. He clearly has his own agenda but I’m thinking he’s a smokescreen and not actually involved. 

I agree Tasneem looking that salty was very unrealistic. If they are involved, they certainly didn’t give it away this episode. Very excited about this season so far. 

[slowpoked]

I didn't understand what happened - did Haqqani orchestrate the attack on the US Pres behind everyone's back, after "agreeing" to the peace agreement? Or was there another faction in play?

[Norma Desmond]

10 minutes ago, slowpoked said:

I didn't understand what happened - did Haqqani orchestrate the attack on the US Pres behind everyone's back, after "agreeing" to the peace agreement? Or was there another faction in play?

It seems another faction's in play. Whoever orchestrated it, had the help of someone from the CIA or the government.

[TVbitch]

I knew as soon as Max didn't get on it, that chopper was going down! 

Max is not part of that troop, he was on a specific mission to repair that thingie, so why is he feeling all emotional about needing to stay with those guys. Ah, does Max finally feel like he belongs?! 

Can someone help me out. I don't remember much of last season. Why was Carry in the Russian prison? And did she sleep with handsome handler guy while there? (If not I'm sure she will soon!) Was he a good guy or bad guy last season? 

[dwmarch]

6 hours ago, TVbitch said:

Why was Carry in the Russian prison? And did she sleep with handsome handler guy while there? (If not I'm sure she will soon!) Was he a good guy or bad guy last season? 

Carrie was captured in Moscow while rescuing Simone Martin, who was a witness to the shenanigans last season. I don't recall exactly how it all went down but Carrie stayed behind to make sure Simone could escape. I think she tricked the Russians into thinking she was Simone and they were understandably pissed when they caught up to her.

It hasn't been established whether she slept with Yevgeny or not. She was shown as having a guard who was sympathetic to her and I theorized that she slept with him but it was never shown. Carrie has weaponized her sexuality in the past (I think she even grabbed Saul's junk once) and I am sure she would have tried it while imprisoned since it was about the only weapon she had. We'll see.

Yevgeny was most definitely a bad guy last season. He's the one who shot his own driver to distract the hospital staff so he could go in and murder Dante, the FBI agent.

[Pallas]

All roads seem to lead to Afghani President General G'ulum, who (1) didn't want the peace, (2) got blackmailed by the CIA into "walking back" his statement saying so, and (3) who now stands to become President, if his own President didn't survive the crash. Or who could simply take over with the backing of his fellow generals -- and the U.S. -- and resume the war against the Taliban, who apparently broke the truce and killed both nation's leaders. All he'd stand to lose is his frenmity with Tasneem and so, his smoking partner at public events.

G'ulum is also the narrative link between Carrie and Yevgeny, and Carrie and Samira. And who has he been bribing or bankrolling with the millions he's absconded with so far? 

 

 

[catsitter]

On 3/6/2020 at 9:32 PM, dwmarch said:

Carrie was captured in Moscow while rescuing Simone Martin, who was a witness to the shenanigans last season. I don't recall exactly how it all went down but Carrie stayed behind to make sure Simone could escape. I think she tricked the Russians into thinking she was Simone and they were understandably pissed when they caught up to her.

It hasn't been established whether she slept with Yevgeny or not. She was shown as having a guard who was sympathetic to her and I theorized that she slept with him but it was never shown. Carrie has weaponized her sexuality in the past (I think she even grabbed Saul's junk once) and I am sure she would have tried it while imprisoned since it was about the only weapon she had. We'll see.

Yevgeny was most definitely a bad guy last season. He's the one who shot his own driver to distract the hospital staff so he could go in and murder Dante, the FBI agent.

The time when she tried it on with Saul was immortalised in the opening credits for a long time - that was when Saul said, "What the f*** are you doing?"

[Ottis]

Show is already starting to lose me. I enjoy it when they are using current events to show plausible situations and Saul and Carrie working their magic. When they add drama for the sake of adding drama (helicopter shot down, and a douche bag VP, and yet again Saul is in the crapper), it feels like the Hallmark channel and I don’t care because now anything can happen just because the show wants it to be dramatic. Blech.

[John Potts]

Aww, that's the kind President you kind of wish was real - honouring a debt because it's the right thing to do. Still think it was stupid to go personally to Afghanistan, (even before his chopper went down), but honourable. Oh well, that's where honour gets you, I suppose.

How did the escort miss Marine-1 going down!!?? Even for Homeland, that's an unbelievable level of incompetence. And even if you couldn't land, wouldn't you drop troops to render immediate aid? That's the President - and the troops are (ultimately) expendable to protect him. Am I wrong in hoping the Pakistanis "win"? They may be working for the side of "Evil", but they're logical and competent. It would be even better if it was just a random accident (unlikely with the troops on the ground around the crash site) - it would be fitting with all these secret (and not so secret) agendas clashing if it was dumb luck that played the largest hand.

Max, you should have got out when you had the chance. Now you're going to be stuck in Afghanistan forever!

On ‎3‎/‎2‎/‎2020 at 5:05 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

So did Max know it was going to be the president arriving at the camp?

Yes, that's what the soldiers were questioning him about ("Probably some General - what, One Star, Two?" "Higher")

On ‎3‎/‎5‎/‎2020 at 7:09 PM, healthnut said:

The VP staying in the oval definitely stood out. He clearly has his own agenda but I’m thinking he’s a smokescreen and not actually involved. 

Pretty sure he's not either, unless he has his own intelligence operation that's better than the CIA (though given how incompetent and/or disloyal they have proved to be over past seasons, that's not that hard!)

[Kel Varnsen]

On 3/6/2020 at 9:32 AM, TVbitch said:

I knew as soon as Max didn't get on it, that chopper was going down! 

I thought the same thing. Although what exactly is Max's job where he can just decide on his own that he won't be coming home when his mission in the war zone is done?