S05.E01: Separation Anxiety

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Two years after Carrie Mathison's ill-fated tenure as Islamabad station chief, struggling to reconcile her guilt and disillusionment with years of working on the front lines in the "war on terror," Carrie finds herself in a self-imposed exile in Berlin, estranged from the CIA and working as the head of security for a German philanthropist.

 

Promos:

 

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Promo:

 

Clips:

 

[Primetimer]

Two years after we last saw her, Carrie's out of the spy game...for now.

Read the story

[HollaMcDollar]

Well..…… not quite what I was expecting given the SpoilerTV hype (best opener since the pilot). I'll stick with it for now, but I don't know how much longer at this rate.

[Milburn Stone]

The big conference room meeting where Quinn laid it out freaked me out. Because I believe him.

 

So I'm in.

[halgia]

Yeah, I'm down for this change of direction, at least so far.

[Boundary]

After last season I thought I was out. But this was a return to form. It earned its way back: starting with the simple things, like Carrie not walking of the church mass and actually staying, seemingly earnestly. I liked that the CIA didn't come rushing back to Carrie and that she didn't immediately rush to rejoin the ranks. I liked that Carrie is caught between her new employer and her former employers, both sides don't really trust her. There also seems to be a patience about how they will unfold the story. All in all, it was enough to keep me in. Oh, and Berlin always makes the best looking spy movies, so let's hope Homeland benefits from that as well.

[WaltersHair]

I love Quinn so much. He's the anti-Snowden we need.

[Muffyn]

I suddenly want chicken.  Guess I'll see if I can find a Chickenberg nearby. 

[chocolatine]

Is it possible for Carrie to have a meeting with an Islamic figure by any means other than abduction?

 

I love Quinn so much. He's the anti-Snowden we need.

 

I loved him last season, but I was not OK with him detonating a bomb in an apartment building with crowded cafes/bars downstairs. Innocent people could have gotten hurt. I did love his "briefing" at Langley though. 

 

I love Miranda Otto, but I didn't buy the retcon that her character and Carrie are supposed to be such good friends going back to Baghdad. If that's true, why have we never seen or heard of her before?

 

Finally, the little actress who plays Frannie looks like she could be Damien Lewis's biological daughter. I wonder how many red-headed toddlers had to audition until casting found one with such a great resemblance.

Edited October 5, 2015 by chocolatine

[TrininisaScorp]

Not yet pulled in by Carrie's story, but Quinn's is very interesting. Honestly, he seems so screwed that I'm already concerned he may not make through the season in one piece.

I enjoyed Berlin & new, cute, looks like Brody Franny. I also loved seeing Saul back in action. I don't know how to feel about the new bf, but Carrie likes her some gingers.

Def missed Homeland!

[dwmarch]

Well, off to a good start. My only complaint is that there was a little too much watching Carrie try to fall asleep. There's no tension in that at all. Next week on Homeland, will Carrie fall asleep when her head hits the pillow? Or will she toss and turn all night?

 

I also didn't really buy the computer stuff. Some hackers are trolling jihadists and meet cute with the CIA along the way. A few seconds later they're getting a document dump. And the tech explains it as "some cables were missed"? Saul even hangs the lampshade of "they're supposed to be separate!" But if you just plug a cable in, the CIA's secure network will poop like a frightened animal. Getting too far into the intricacies of this would turn this show into 24 and we'd be opening sockets all over the place but I wish they had tried for a more plausible explanation.

 

I like that snarky chick who seems to be Carrie's office nemesis. Because of her snark and carelessness I assume she's going to murdered by jihadists next episode. I wouldn't be surprised if Carrie's boyfriend ends up missing Oktoberfest too.

[parandroid]

 

I also didn't really buy the computer stuff. Some hackers are trolling jihadists and meet cute with the CIA along the way. A few seconds later they're getting a document dump. And the tech explains it as "some cables were missed"? Saul even hangs the lampshade of "they're supposed to be separate!" But if you just plug a cable in, the CIA's secure network will poop like a frightened animal.

I work in the computer industry, and while I'm not a full-blown security professional, I know enough to be dangerous. I thought that the depicting of a hack was actually much much closer to reality than any of the other crap put out there by hollywood / TV. The list of puke  worthy crap is too numerous to mention. Scorpion, Agents of SHIELD, NCIS, the last bond movie (oh god - that still makes me puke)... By comparison, this one actually deserves an oscar just for being as close to reality as possible. Kudos to the writers for actually doing the research.

[Haleth]

Great start and wonderful to see all our old friends back... Saul, Dar Adal, Peter...  Carrie actually seemed happy with her life. 

 

I loved him last season, but I was not OK with him detonating a bomb in an apartment building with crowded cafes/bars downstairs. Innocent people could have gotten hurt. I did love his "briefing" at Langley though.

 

I'm going with the theory that he knew how to make the bomb big enough to blow up the one apartment but small enough to not to injure anyone beyone the walls.

 

Finally, the little actress who plays Frannie looks like she could be Damien Lewis's biological daughter. I wonder how many red-headed toddlers had to audition until casting found one with such a great resemblance.

 

And not only that, they needed to find twins!  (Two babies are credited for playing Frannie.)

[Milburn Stone]

I love Quinn so much. He's the anti-Snowden we need.

 

Word.

 

TV usually functions as escapism. Even previous seasons of this show worked that way, by focusing on what seemed to be limited (if awful) threats. This episode compelled by momentarily waking us the f*ck up to the fact that nothing less than the entire fate of Western Civilization is at stake in real life.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Milburn Stone

[cmfran]

When she got pushed out on to the street in front of her apartment, I realized the "kidnap van" has become Carrie's Uber.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Poor Carrie. She finally has some semblance of a normal life and now she is back to being kidnapped and sent right into the middle of some shit.

[Constantinople]

I see Carrie hasn't changed.  She still expects people to do things for her in exchange for nothing because she's Carrie.

[Boundary]

I like that snarky chick who seems to be Carrie's office nemesis. Because of her snark and carelessness I assume she's going to murdered by jihadists next episode.

 

I thought she was too much. Pushing the "publish" button because the dude hung up on her? And, beyond the bluster, she didn't seem to have any cogent arguments against what Carrie was saying. On the other hand, Saul seemed too blasé about flouting another country's laws; the show didn't even attempt a justification. I wonder if I'm supposed to have this impression about both sides. 

[HollaMcDollar]

On the other hand, Saul seemed too blasé about flouting another country's laws; the show didn't even attempt a justification. I wonder if I'm supposed to have this impression about both sides.

I think there was some justification given; they specifically mentioned how Berlin (and all of Germany) had become a safe haven of sorts for terrorists, hackers, etc., who take advantage of Germany's strict privacy laws that protect against the German government & police spying on citizens- a policy adopted during reunification & mostly born out of fear of what the East German Stasi did to citizens.

From that (in addition to facts like the 9/11 hijackers organizing in Hamburg, Germany), I believe the audience was supposed to infer that certain measures needed to be taken against these bad actors that are essentially abusing & hiding behind German law. Perhaps that is too much to ask of the audience, but I think that's what they were attempting they do.

[slowpoked]

So let me get this straight - all those backhanded deals that Dar Adal made with Haqqani was all for nothing, since Saul failed to get the director position at the CIA anyway? So a terrorist who bombed and attacked a US embassy remains free and unpunished and rules the mountains wherever he is in exchange for a tape that was pretty much useless anyway? Good job 'Murica.

 

I don't quite understand the position Carrie is in now. So she's in private industry, but with how Saul talks to her in disdain, she's working for the "other side" now? What other side? Is the foundation the kind of organization that's sympathetic to terrorists? Is it a wikileaks type of organization? Because that annoying chick who itches to publish that document as if she'll die if it didn't get published stat, seems to be working directly under During, not even undercover. God, I hope she's gone soon, she's so freaking annoying, she doesn't get what she wants in that instant and goes off to publish classified government docs.

 

It looks like Quinn's ex will figure in this season too. Promising start, hopefully it doesn't bomb midway like most seasons did.

[Boundary]

I think there was some justification given; they specifically mentioned how Berlin (and all of Germany) had become a safe haven of sorts for terrorists, hackers, etc., who take advantage of Germany's strict privacy laws that protect against the German government & police spying on citizens- a policy adopted during reunification & mostly born out of fear of what the East German Stasi did to citizens.

 

 

Sure that's the general argument Saul gave but Quinn's actions didn't provide any context whatsoever. Was it a general "let's flout Germany's laws" or were there specific individuals who warranted a special dispensation? That chick who works with Carrie was annoying and did everything to undermine her case in my eyes but I still got troubled by Saul's stance. And no doubt Quinn will continue assassinating a few bad Germans in the coming weeks but I don't see how normal German citizens, not just the shrill activists, won't be alarmed by the revelations.

 

Despite the handicaps, German intelligence still need to do their job but the Stasi connection, I hadn't thought of that. If the show does more in the coming episodes to provide such context then my unease with Saul's CIA might diminish. This is why I think the show has improved, there seems to be many more layers and it has found its feet outside Brody's shadow (fingers crossed). For the first time since the first season, the show has something to say. 

[FurryFury]

I see Carrie hasn't changed.  She still expects people to do things for her in exchange for nothing because she's Carrie.

Didn't she offer them money? And maybe even implied helping her boss was in their own interest as well?

 

Overall, an OK premiere, but I expected more. Quinn's scenes were the best by far. I'm really intrigued by his arc this season.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Carrie likes her some gingers

You'd think he'd realize that some measure of Carrie's attraction to him was due to her obsession with her now dead, terrorist baby daddy. He must be made of some pretty solid stuff to be okay with all the drama she brings to the table.

 

I'm glad they at least moved the action out of the Middle East even if the storyline will still largely be focused on that area. It'll be nice to have different kinds of scenery.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Joimiaroxeu

[rubyred]

I was surprised to find myself actually empathizing with Carrie last night - I had thought that well had run dry several seasons ago. But seeing her trying to do her job around these people who don't get it: the dude who thinks his billions make him bulletproof; Moral Outrage with Braids foundation blogger (flashback to Dana Brody *shudder*); they think they understand the shit; they should meet Peter Quinn, who has been in the shit for 2 years and is more weapon than human now.

 

It was a leetle convenient that Saul is European Division Chief and he's now running Quinn, so that they both could show up in Berlin, but whatev, it's CD's show.

 

Overall I think there's some interesting story potential here, given how timely the subject is.

[DrivingSideways]

I learn way more about the show here than I do by actually watching it!

[Muffyn]

I work in the computer industry, and while I'm not a full-blown security professional, I know enough to be dangerous. I thought that the depicting of a hack was actually much much closer to reality than any of the other crap put out there by hollywood / TV. The list of puke  worthy crap is too numerous to mention. Scorpion, Agents of SHIELD, NCIS, the last bond movie (oh god - that still makes me puke)... By comparison, this one actually deserves an oscar just for being as close to reality as possible. Kudos to the writers for actually doing the research.

I was impressed by this too.  Usually security breaches are shown as fully formatted, pristine documents with Top Secret emblazoned in red as if stamped on the screen.  This did look much closer to reality.  Okay, so I've spent oo much time staring at data.

 

I'll let the show do what it needs to  do to bring Quinn and Saul back.  I just hope we do not see a lot of Carrie's child.  Red-headed children creep me out.  I'll let myself out now. 

[cali1981]

I was pleasantly surprised by where the show went last night.  Carrie is, most likely, a very well known and despised figure in certain quarters in the Middle East and one that Jihadists would kill in a New York second. It was not a shock to see that past probably become a factor as she was arranging a trip to Lebanon. I like her now being caught between her old world that she can never completely escape from and her new world that appears to compromise everything that she believed in and endangers people that she knew (release of the US-Germany surveillance info by her employer).  It's an interesting puzzle so let's see how she tries to work her way out of it.  Again, Peter Quinn appears to be the most fascinating character.  It looked like Saul was employing him strictly as an " officially off the reservation" assassin. It had a ring of Mission Impossible's "The Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions" didn't it?

[Pallas]

The showrunners' chutzpah exceeds that of the hackers. I like the nerve of having Saul and Quinn maneuvered into position to operate in Berlin (at cross-purposes with Carrie) because some local Merry Pranksters stole 1,361 uber-classified CIA files. As if they were filching their roommate's yogurt. And their stern Germans, confining themselves to an imperious, "Imbeciles: the Italians made more efficient allies. We're through. Now go! Go and do whatever you want. You with your Peter Quinn and Michael Mann, set loose in our capitol."  

 

The cross-purposes are also intriguing. That Saul, the former conscience of the CIA, is now its reflex, itching to hit Carrie for dicking around with a benevolent billionaire's vanity foundation. Its reflex, or its mettle.  That Carrie is embracing the symbols of old world values in the center of the Old World, a country which nonetheless itself launched a jihad and continues to atone. While she continues to get what she wants by the power of her wanting it: greater than the power of her adversaries' suffering. That the state of Quinn's soul scares Dar Adal -- and not Saul.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Even though Carrie's boss is supposed to be a nice guy with good intentions, he still annoyed me.

 

Boss: I want to go to there.

Carrie: Uh, it's really fucking dangerous.

Boss: I still want to go to there.

Carrie: It's really not safe.

Boss: Just get some people and do your security stuff.

Carrie: We don't have the resources to properly protect you in the middle of a war zone.

Boss: You have three days. Figure it out.

 

I mean, I get that he's the boss and she's the employee so he gets what he wants but I felt like 95% of her issues were that it's really not safe for him to go (and 5% is Carrie not wanting to go for multiple reasons).

[Constantinople]

Writing down the name of a fictional character and putting it in Quinn's assassination safe deposit box sounds like one of those wish fulfillment games you could play back at TwOP.

 

I'd write down Noah Solloway from The Affair.

[33kaitykaity]

That was so much fun.  

 

First thought was yay, the actress who played that CIA station chief in Berlin was age-appropriate.  She looked like she's rapidly barreling beyond her forties, so she has the experience and the skills to actually do the job, not some fresh-cheeked prodigy like Katherine Heigl of "State of Affairs."  

 

Next thought was as soon as Quinn broke into that apartment, the countdown clock inside me head went off and kept asking okay, who is he going to kill and how long is it going to take for him to kill them?  

 

Third thought was when Carrie got locked down on that chair and she's so trying to sob them into thinking she's weak by complaining about her wrists.  Carrie is a stone cold bitch and she has suffered so much more in the past without breaking a sweat, so when she came back with "he owes us an audience under such-and-such," you had to know that was her play from the get-go and she knew that it would work whatever she had to endure in the process.  

 

Final thought was just how freaky it was to watch Saul and Quinn walk past each other in that square going uh-oh, something bad is about to happen.  

 

I loved seeing Germany.  

[AmyVS]

I finally got what the opening credits of the previous season were about-- all the discordant jazz music, snippets of dialogue, weird images... that was Carrie's troubled mind. Now that she seems stable and functional, just a plain title card. I wonder if we will see a return to the "troubled mind" opener at some point?

 

Or, they just made it a plain title card to save time.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I always hated the opening credits so I really hope we just get a title card from now on!

[Joimiaroxeu]

I'd write down Noah Solloway from The Affair.

I'd write down Victor Newman from The Young and the Restless.

[Pallas]

Last season also opened with a title card, then returned with a tweaked title sequence for the remaining episodes. (Among the audio clips edited in: Brody saying, 'I have to go now...') About the sequence.

[David Matychuk]

I see the great Ted Mann's name in the credits; it's a good sign. Also, will the porn website studio be very soon littered with bodies 'n' gore, or will it just get blown up?

[LoveLeigh]

I STILL don't get how that hack happened. How did those two jerks accidentally hack into the CIA website? I saw them posting some stupid stuff and next thing I saw they had an alert, but they didn't know the password so how did all of those files start transferring before the plug was pulled? 

[halgia]

I STILL don't get how that hack happened. How did those two jerks accidentally hack into the CIA website?

The jerks were hacked into the ISIS webserver, and they saw that someone else was too. They checked out who it was, saw that the other person had a government address and a hackable router, and then started downloading crap.

[chocolatine]

I'm going with the theory that he knew how to make the bomb big enough to blow up the one apartment but small enough to not to injure anyone beyone the walls.

 

 

But is it ever possible to determine precisely how big the blast is going to be? It just seems irresponsible considering the diplomatic nightmare that would occur if an innocent person got killed and the German public found out it was at the hands of a CIA agent gone semi-rogue. That would be a much bigger deal than the spying. There have got to be less conspicuous ways of taking out low-level terrorists.

Edited October 6, 2015 by chocolatine

[dwmarch]

The jerks were hacked into the ISIS webserver, and they saw that someone else was too. They checked out who it was, saw that the other person had a government address and a hackable router, and then started downloading crap.

 

And they were able to do this because when the CIA moved their equipment downstairs the secret server somehow got connected to the open internet. Apparently if this ever happens all one needs is a brute force attack and the CIA's system will obligingly spew files.

 

Maybe they'll come back to this later because it does seem like quite the coincidence that the porn guys just happened to have tools handy capable of hacking the CIA on a moment's notice. When we first saw the olive-complexioned guy he was introduced with ominous music and wearing a black leather jacket of doom. He could be the mole.

 

But is it ever possible to determine precisely how big the blast is going to be? It just seems irresponsible considering the diplomatic nightmare that would occur if an innocent person got killed and the German public found out it was at the hands of a CIA agent gone semi-rogue. That would be a much bigger deal than the spying. There have got to be less conspicuous ways of taking out low-level terrorists.

 

If anyone can do it, Quinn can. The idea was to make it look like the terrorist blew himself up.

[albaniantv]

Yes, how great to be in Germany, although I did go on the alert a couple times for my favorite cast members of Deutschland83. (Especially after I saw that great actor from The Lives of Others, Sebastian Koch)

 

The elfin version of Brody is to humanize Carrie or maybe is supposed to even her out, which is why we haven't seen any medications? I know, it's early, but we are seeing this perfect little triangle of daddy figure/elfin child/mom, with a church scene, and no booze, meds or sex. Can't last, but it's a great changeup. 

 

Hard to believe Carrie would have purposely snarled Saul's chances to be named CIA director--maybe others such as Adal want him to believe that.

 

Love the humor--wish I had come up with Uber comment!  And Constantinople, so agree about Noah Solloway; how could Dominic West have become so wooden since that wonderful Brit drama, The Hour.

[attica]

Miranda Otto! She has such great hair. She's sort of like if Patricia Clarkson and Connie Britton had a baby.

 

Saul looked good in his pocket square suit, marching purposefully across the Platz. Love Saul and all he does.

 

I wonder about Quinn, who didn't bother with gloves in the bombs-above-chickenberg apartment. 

 

I'm pleased with the new season so far. Proceed, Gansa et al!

[penelope79]

When she got pushed out on to the street in front of her apartment, I realized the "kidnap van" has become Carrie's Uber.

 

LOL... amazing! :)

Since you all basically expressed my same thoughts, I'll be a shallow shipper and say that I can't wait for Peter and Carrie to meet again (since, very conveniently, they're both in Berlin).

[lvbalgurl]

I'd write down Victor Newman from The Young and the Restless.

 

I'm picking Ramsay Bolton.  GET HIM, QUINN.

 

Honestly, I'd be thrilled if Homeland decided to spin Quinn off onto his own show.  I effing love him, and find him its most fascinating character.  Killing "the bad guys" is what he's good at, and he seems to have given in to it more than ever.  He seems almost on autopilot now, as opposed to the tormented figure he was after he accidentally killed a child.

 

Or is he?

 

"He's a martyr in paradise, and I'm stuck here."

 

I think if someone put a bullet into Quinn, he'd be all right with that.  He'd finally be freed of this hell he can't seem to escape.

 

But I don't want anyone to put a bullet into Quinn.  Damnit.

Edited October 6, 2015 by lvbalgurl

[beeble]

You'd think he'd realize that some measure of Carrie's attraction to him was due to her obsession with her now dead, terrorist baby daddy. He must be made of some pretty solid stuff to be okay with all the drama she brings to the table.

 

I'm glad they at least moved the action out of the Middle East even if the storyline will still largely be focused on that area. It'll be nice to have different kinds of scenery.

And I'm still worried that Franny's daddy will end up being the ginger one-night stand from season 3. (The liquor store guy)  Of course, that guy might end up giving Franny less baggage to carry around.

[attica]

So, Quinn is now Hitman 47? That's weird!

[Joimiaroxeu]

I'm picking Ramsay Bolton.  GET HIM, QUINN.

Heh, yep I could go with that too.

 

Honestly, I'd be thrilled if Homeland decided to spin Quinn off onto his own show.  I effing love him, and find him its most fascinating character.  Killing "the bad guys" is what he's good at, and he seems to have given in to it more than ever.  He seems almost on autopilot now, as opposed to the tormented figure he was after he accidentally killed a child.

Seems someone sorta already had that idea when they cast the actor in the recent Hitman movie. The movie didn't do very well domestically despite its star being arguably made for the role.

 

ETA: GMTA, attica.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Joimiaroxeu

[Kel Varnsen]

 

I love Miranda Otto, but I didn't buy the retcon that her character and Carrie are supposed to be such good friends going back to Baghdad. If that's true, why have we never seen or heard of her before?

 

That didn't bother me. Carrie has pretty much had zero social life since season 1, so I can buy her having friends and a life in her pre-Brody days that viewers have never seen. Also how pissed off is that station chief going to be when she finds out that Saul is running off the books assassinations in Berlin without her knowing?

 

So let me get this straight - all those backhanded deals that Dar Adal made with Haqqani was all for nothing, since Saul failed to get the director position at the CIA anyway? So a terrorist who bombed and attacked a US embassy remains free and unpunished and rules the mountains wherever he is in exchange for a tape that was pretty much useless anyway? Good job 'Murica.

 

I really do wonder how much more follow up we are going to get to what happened during season 4. I mean is Haqqani still alive, does the US still have no diplomatic relations with Pakistan? Although considering we never found out if Saul's big intel play in Iran in season 3 actually worked, I doubt there will be any season 4 follow up.

Edited October 7, 2015 by Kel Varnsen

[jeansheridan]

I liked this as an opener. I like seeing a happyish Carrie. Quinn breaks my heart a bit but he was never a warm character. Berlin is a great setting too.

I was happy to see Frannie in that if anything could possibly chance Carrie, it would be the Daily routine of motherhood. I like that her skills aren't sharp. That she seemed rattled when the guys tossed her from the van. She has never been a great field agent after all.

Quinn climbed that wall like a boss.