S05.E04: Why Is This Night Different?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Carrie cannot find answers; Saul and Allison run an operation.

 

Promo:

 

Clips:

 

[JennB]

Every time Laura opens her mouth, I just want her to shut up. Do you think that's what the writers intended?

I like that we saw Saul and Allison at a Passover Seder, and then minutes later, Quinn smeared blood on Carrie. She will be passed over by death.

This was the first week I was really impressed with Miranda Otto. She's perfect in this role.

Edited October 26, 2015 by JennB

[Primetimer]

As Saul puts one plan in motion, Quinn and Carrie discover another he may not know about.

Read the story

[attica]

So, Carrie's fallback disguise was to look like Franka Potente in the first Bourne movie? I kinda love that!

Good hair game for Carr. Who knew "Swiss" "Doctors" would manage a swanky updo for a simple admit?

Edited October 26, 2015 by attica

[Pallas]

I really hope Allison gets some of the rich character development as well, especially since I think Miranda Otto is very capable of playing that complexity

I'm hoping the reveal about Allison (if it is her) comes fairly early, and that she is proven to be more complex than it appears at the moment.

 

Paramitch, yesterday, on the previous ep's thread.  Well played!

[Artsda]

Loved seeing Quinn & Carrie reunited.

Predictable as to who planted Carrie's name. She must have had no idea of the Carrie/Quinn connection, because it was a stupid move as Carrie pointed out that Saul wouldn't do. Because hence her being alive, because Saul knows that no way Quinn would kill Carrie.

[Mistletoe]

F U Miranda Otto with something hard and sandpapery!

For reals though, that was predictable. Sooo, wondering if Allison is THE CIA mole, Saul suspected it, and ripping a page out of Carrie's book..bedded her.

Also, if Quinn dies, I will quit the ish out of this show cold turkey.

[lvbalgurl]

WOW, the plane blew up!  Did not see that coming!

 

Damn. 

 

This was good stuff.  And because it's fucking Homeland, I have no idea if Quinn will survive this.  I just need him to.  When he laid his head on Carrie's shoulder, it was as if he'd found some kind of (sleepy) peace.  It was nice to see, particularly since we rarely get those kinds of moments from Peter Quinn.

 

Thank you, show, for giving me the Carrie I love.  Smart, intuitive, questioning, instinctive, capable.  I really enjoyed her this ep, loved her reaction at the drop spot.  Ramming the car, grabbing the phone, taking the pic, dragging Quinn away to safety.  She was awesome. 

 

Goodbye, Hacker #2.  Should have gotten out of the car when you were warned.  Ah well.

 

I'm anxious for Saul to find out what's up with Allison.  He thinks he's holding the cards but he really has no idea what's going on.  Would not surprise me if Dar was in bed with Allison, but I hope not.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Rule #1 of hiding in plain sight is to alter your appearance so at least Carrie already had her wig ready to go. But sitting on the street in front of the mailboxes with her face completely uncovered was just stupid. You need to add some sunglasses and a few hats to your go bag.

 

Thank goodness for Quinn's awesomeness. Poor guy got shot for his troubles. I loved that even while he was bleeding all over his car, he was insisting that Carrie go to the train station and get out. On the plus side, getting shot means some shirtless Quinn! [/shallow]

 

Karzy, you idiot. It's too bad his stupidity also took out his girlfriend too.

 

Not at all surprised that Miranda was behind Carrie's assassination but I definitely didn't expect the plane to blow up.

[dwmarch]

So those surgeons did all that work for nothing? Damn, that's some 24 Season 1 ruthlessness right there.

 

I thought the plane Frannie was on last week was going to explode so I guess that was a set up for this week.

 

I wonder if that $10 million actually did get loaded onto the plane or if Allison now has a fun fund.

 

I liked that even though last week Carrie shot Quinn, this week she's saving him from a bullet wound.

 

If they know Saul's operation has been compromised by his top lieutenant why not just call Saul? Or show up at his office or something. It would be pretty obvious what was going on if assassins were chasing Carrie and Quinn through the halls of Berlin Station.

[norask]

They meet! They finally meet.

 

Quinn the most dangerous and the sweetest assasin in the world. Did anyone actually believe that Quinn would hurt Carrie? And he actually cut his own hand to get the blood to make her look dead instead of hers. A foreshadow for the blood he later shed for her?

 

For reals though, that was predictable.

 

 

Personally I didn't mind. I appreciated the fact that instead of some ridiculous twist, the show went with the most logical person to have ordered the hit. It had to be someone high-up in the food chain who'd have a personal reason to take out Carrie and be close enough to Saul to know about Quinn's ongoing operation. It could have only person. But why is she doing this? Just jealousy or she genuinely believes that Carrie is a threat? As Carries told Quinn over and over again, she had done nothing to endanger her new life.

 

Thank you, show, for giving me the Carrie I love.  Smart, intuitive, questioning, instinctive, capable.  I really enjoyed her this ep, loved her reaction at the drop spot.  Ramming the car, grabbing the phone, taking the pic, dragging Quinn away to safety.  She was awesome.

 

 

 

 

 

Yes this. I loved the fact that she saved Quinn life right after he spared hers. And now they are together! Allison better start running. You do not want Peter Quinn coming after you. Also, Bland Boyfriend, you're history!

 

I did not see the Syrian General getting blown up with his family. Now, who ordered this hit? The israelis or the russians?

 

I didn't feel sorry for the hacker who died. Being stupid on top of greedy will get you killed everytime on a show like this. Trying to make a deal with the Russians was the height of stupidity. But I did feel sorry for his girl-friend. She had no idea what was going on - poor girl died because her boyfriend was an idiot.

 

Laura bugged me every time she appeared. I had defended her in a previous episode but I guess I have reached my limit for idiotic self-righteousness. I'm scared that she will get the main hacker killed.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I did not see the Syrian General getting blown up with his family. Now, who ordered this hit? The israelis or the russians?

Probably Allison. She is just having everyone murdered!

[yourmomiseasy]

The cigarettes or whatever Allison gave the Syrian that she said were from Saul were too small to have been the bomb that blew up the plane, right?

[Mama No Life]

I wondered the same thing.  ^

 

I am amused that Carrie is suddenly okay off her meds, unless Quinn gave them to her and we didn't see that.  It was a distraction for me during the Quinn/Carrie scenes, even though I'm super happy to see them together.

 

Hate Laura.  Just her face makes me want to smack the shit out of her.  What is it that bugs me so much?

 

I am enjoying this season a lot....anytime I have Saul doing more than chasing Carrie I am happy. :) 

[norask]

Probably Allison. She is just having everyone murdered!

 

yes. Probably. But on whose orders?

[FurryFury]

I kinda dug that wig on Carrie. And to the person who said she looked like Franka Potente, spot-on!

 

An OK episode, but I've been waiting for the storylines to converge. Allison being the one to go after Carrie was logical, but I didn't expect her to be a traitor. So now her despair at being recalled from Berlin makes sense, and so does the sleeping with Saul and going behind his back. Still liking Miranda Otto in the role.

 

Carrie/Quinn were good. It's interesting that Carrie has never even mentioned or thought about Johan or whathisname. 

 

Poor poor camwhore GF of the hacker. Now she was really just collateral damage. And so was the Syrian general's daughter (ugh, being blown up just after receiving a kidney transplant...)

[penelope79]

yes. Probably. But on whose orders?

Since Allison, unless I'm mistaken, answered the phone speaking Russian, I'd say she's a double agent for them.

 

Very good episode, I'm sooo glad that Carrie & Quinn finally met. I'm quite positive he's going to live (fingers crossed). Also, the shipper inside of me was happy to hear Carrie telling Quinn that she searched for him, that never stopped thinking about him and that, this time, she was going to be by his side. :)

 

I found quite interesting the whole exchange between Saul and the Syrian General, when they were discussing how to depose Assad: considering how close to real facts they are this year, sometimes I wonder if authors are picking any particular side or voicing their own doubts/concerns/beliefs through the actors.

[teddysmom]

Allison - called it!!!  

 

This was a great episode.  I was afraid after last week we were going to have crazy slutty drunk Carrie again, but they redeemed themselves nicely. 

 

Note to Homeland PTB - kill Quinn and we are done! 

[ihartcoffee]

Quinn is so freaking hot! I actually like him and Carrie together, they fit. They have both killed a lot of people. The understand each others job. Plus I think they have chemistry.

Couldn't believe it when that plane blew!

[Boundary]

Every time Laura opens her mouth, I just want her to shut up. Do you think that's what the writers intended?

 

If she does something heroic I really wouldn't care. She really bugs me, I think it's her holier-than-thou attitude.

 

yes. Probably. But on whose orders?.

 

Good call on the Russians penelope79. But if the Russians have someone on the inside, then the hacked documents have little value. And who blew up the plane, the Syrians? Israel, since they suggested they don't like this regime change plot? Didn't Allison seem very-interested-but-pretending-not-to-be in Saul's conversation in that Jewish home?

 

I'm glad this year we have 3 or 4 separate story threads, bound to converge no doubt, unlike the Carrie centric show we've had so far.

[cali1981]

Since Allison, unless I'm mistaken, answered the phone speaking Russian, I'd say she's a double agent for them.

 

 

She did indeed and said "da?", yes in Russian. It raises that possibility that Allison is actually Russian, was trained to be an American as a child and was planted in the CIA as a mole.  If so, it sounds like the movie "Salt" with Angelina Jolie and Liev Schreiber both playing deep cover Russian moles in the FBI.  She could also be a legit CIA operative who was turned by the Russians into a double agent for any of a number of reasons. It did appear that Carrie recognized Allison's voice so I'd imagine that she'll try to contact Saul in some way.  Who knows what involvement Dar Adal has in this situation.  He's a pretty slimy character.

Edited October 26, 2015 by cali1981

[Constantinople]

But if the Russians have someone on the inside, then the hacked documents have little value.

 

As you suggested, the documents may have little value to the Russians since they may already know their contents if they have someone on the inside, particularly if that someone is the CIA's station chief for Berlin.

 

Perhaps the Russians killed Korzenik because they were concerned he might discover the existence and identity of their inside (wo)man and sell that information to the Americans.  Rather than risk that, they eliminated him to protect their agent.

 

All speculation, of course, and I'm usually terrible at that sort of thing.

[paramitch]

I loved this episode. Lots of Quinn! Lots of running!  Bonus: Lots of running Quinn!

The (especially fabulous) PTV recap for this episode did make a great point: I want to see Carrie navigating bullets and bad guys and grayscale, tension-filled suspenseful situations (bonus points if they involve lots of running with Quinn, which is why I give this episode 5 stars). I don't want to see her raising a baby or throwing birthday parties, and I admit that at the start of this season, I was really kind of angry at the show for insisting on Carrie pursuing the Mom-thing, when I just don't think she really would have. But I guess I can buy it as a kind of interlude.

 

I mean, I realize it makes me a terrible person, but I actually find myself hoping this story will eventually mean that Carrie doesn't keep Frannie in her life. I mean, I was so relieved last week when she put the child on the plane. It just immediately frees the show up to return to more interesting storylines.

Paramitch, yesterday, on the previous ep's thread.  Well played!

 

YAYYY! Thanks, Pallas, I actually did a Snoopy dance over that. It was awesome. And I'm very interested to see (thanks to this early reveal) where Allison goes from here.

 

It also offers a lot of potential for Saul. For instance, I keep wondering -- what if there's a deeper game being played here? What if Saul is actually playing Allison? As others have noted, he's slightly out of character this season and a lot of that could certainly be explained by the fact that he's actually under cover to a degree. (What's that line from Dune? "A feint within a feint within a feint.") I'm betting Saul is aware of at least some of the stuff that's happening right now even if it looks like he's not.

 

WOW, the plane blew up!  Did not see that coming!

 

Damn. 

 

This was good stuff.  And because it's fucking Homeland, I have no idea if Quinn will survive this.  I just need him to.  When he laid his head on Carrie's shoulder, it was as if he'd found some kind of (sleepy) peace.  It was nice to see, particularly since we rarely get those kinds of moments from Peter Quinn.

 

Thank you, show, for giving me the Carrie I love.  Smart, intuitive, questioning, instinctive, capable.  I really enjoyed her this ep, loved her reaction at the drop spot.  Ramming the car, grabbing the phone, taking the pic, dragging Quinn away to safety.  She was awesome. 

 

The plane exploding got an actual jaw-drop from me. I didn't see that coming at all. Even better with that final shot of a subtly unsurprised Allison.

 

I liked seeing capable Carrie as well, and loved the little moment when Quinn just kind of sagged on her shoulder (even though it also kind of broke my heart). He'd dropped the mask for a moment, and the look on his face was just so transparently loving and hopeless; it's not an expression he would have let Carrie see.

 

So those surgeons did all that work for nothing? Damn, that's some 24 Season 1 ruthlessness right there.

 

I liked that even though last week Carrie shot Quinn, this week she's saving him from a bullet wound.

It's funny you mentiond "24," because I felt like this episode had a very "24"-like feel to it. Great detail that last week Carrie shot Quinn (but it wouldn't be "Homeland" if one of them wasn't shooting the other). I especially loved that she wouldn't leave him.

 

They meet! They finally meet.

 

Quinn the most dangerous and the sweetest assasin in the world. Did anyone actually believe that Quinn would hurt Carrie? And he actually cut his own hand to get the blood to make her look dead instead of hers. A foreshadow for the blood he later shed for her?

 

I appreciated the fact that instead of some ridiculous twist, the show went with the most logical person to have ordered the hit. It had to be someone high-up in the food chain who'd have a personal reason to take out Carrie and be close enough to Saul to know about Quinn's ongoing operation. It could have only person. But why is she doing this? Just jealousy or she genuinely believes that Carrie is a threat? As Carries told Quinn over and over again, she had done nothing to endanger her new life.

 

Yes this. I loved the fact that she saved Quinn life right after he spared hers. And now they are together! Allison better start running. You do not want Peter Quinn coming after you. Also, Bland Boyfriend, you're history!

 

I did not see the Syrian General getting blown up with his family. Now, who ordered this hit? The israelis or the russians?

Great catch -- I remember that I was surprised Quinn cut his own hand instead of Carrie's to do the proof-of-death thing. In assassin's terms, that's practically a valentine! And I agree -- I think Jonas (Carrie's Boring Boyfriend) is most definitely history. He might have stood a chance if Quinn hadn't gotten wounded helping Carrie, but come on, no way Carrie's gonna resist a Quinn who's also vulnerable and bleeding.

 

I kinda dug that wig on Carrie. And to the person who said she looked like Franka Potente, spot-on!

 

An OK episode, but I've been waiting for the storylines to converge. Allison being the one to go after Carrie was logical, but I didn't expect her to be a traitor. So now her despair at being recalled from Berlin makes sense, and so does the sleeping with Saul and going behind his back. Still liking Miranda Otto in the role.

I love seeing the usually warm Otto play such a cold character -- she's got to be having fun with this, and I think she's sensational thus far. Speaking from the shallow end, I also think she has the most gorgeous hair (I spent way too much time gazing at her beautiful updo in all the hospital scenes here).

 

And since I'm already in the shallow end of the pool, Mandy Patinkin has some serious guns. I mean, I'm used to Saul looking rather soft and paunchy, so it was interesting here to notice that somebody's been working out.

 

Good call on the Russians penelope79. But if the Russians have someone on the inside, then the hacked documents have little value. And who blew up the plane, the Syrians? Israel, since they suggested they don't like this regime change plot? Didn't Allison seem very-interested-but-pretending-not-to-be in Saul's conversation in that Jewish home?

 

I'm glad this year we have 3 or 4 separate story threads, bound to converge no doubt, unlike the Carrie centric show we've had so far.

 

I definitely agree with Penelope79 that Allison's tied to the Russians since we had the document intrigue with them here, as well as Allison's reveal as a double agent, combined with her speaking Russian at the end to what she thought was her assassin.

 

But you asked the same question I'm wondering about -- if Allison is with the Russians, how does her allegiance really work in terms of those documents? It appears now that the storyline is not as separate as it might appear -- is there more we don't know about the opening hack job? Was she maybe already selling documents, and will the hack reveal anything about her or the Russians? Or is it all just the German wiretapping stuff? Because otherwise, it's a roundabout way for stuff to reach the Russians, if they already had an agent with access. If that makes sense.

I thought this was a terrific episode, and I'm looking forward to next week.

[slowpoked]

Huge, HUGE improvement from last week's dud episode. I'm not a shipper, but Carrie and Quinn working together makes the series much better. And I don't think it's a coincidence that the best episode of the season so far, IMO, is the one that finally put them together. 

 

So is this episode exactly the next day after Quinn kidnapped Carrie? Because if so, Carrie did make quite a recovery from her bumbling, incoherent self to her more normal self, even with just one pill. I guess Quinn could have given her some off camera. But see, this episode shows why we don't need crazy Carrie anymore - Quinn's smart, but even he didn't figure out that Saul would NEVER send him to off Carrie, which Carrie did. And Carrie acted swiftly and remarkably in that shooting scene, not only saving Quinn, but having the brainpower to take something from the other guy which would give them clues later on. Carrie doesn't give herself enough credit - she's more than capable enough if she stays on course with her medication. 

 

Did Allison just say hello in Russian? Or did she say something else? Because while I immediately believed that the number Carrie called was Allison's, a few minutes after the episode, I thought what if the scenes between Carrie calling and Allison answering is just a red herring, to make it look like Allison's the bad guy? What if Carrie called someone else's number, and the show just thought of showing Allison answering her phone, but in reality she's answering someone else's call? A call related to the bombing perhaps? I dunno, I just don't quite get why it would be Allison. It's predictable, like most have said here. But why? Sure, she's shown to be a shady character, but I would think an elite intelligence officer like her would be above jealousy, which looks like the only motive so far. And it's not like she seems to be crazy in love with Saul, it looks like more a convenient arrangement for her own career than something really genuine.

 

Homeland just turned a corner. I hope it would be for good.

Edited October 26, 2015 by slowpoked

[cali1981]

In regard to the plane explosion, this kind of blatant assassination may be in Israel's deep, dark playbook but I don't think that it was the case here. I doubt that the Israelis would kill the wife and daughter except in the most extreme circumstances.  If Mossad wanted the General dead, it would probably have been a more surgical operation.  The show is following current events in the Middle East very closely and since Asad is a protected client of the Russians it would follow that the big bear would not favor a regime change in Syria.  It looks like Allison may have planted the bomb on the plane (given her sly lack of shock when it blowed up real good) and given her apparent ties to the Russians, Putin and company look like the prime suspects.

Edited October 26, 2015 by cali1981

[HollaMcDollar]

Allison answered the phone by saying "Da" which is Russian for "yes".

[FurryFury]

It's also sometimes used as a generic "Hello" line when answering the phone. Kinda like "Well?" or "So?"

 

It did make me think Allison could be a Russian mole or working with them or something. I mean, what if she really was the one to instigate the leak in the first place? It was her operation that sprung it, even if it did look like an accident.

Edited October 26, 2015 by FurryFury

[fastiller]

In the recap, Quinn is referred to as "Rupert Quinn" - is that intentional?

[cali1981]

Allison answered the phone by saying "Da" which is Russian for "yes".

Yup but she said something else that I can't quite understand.  It sound like some variation of "kill" or "killed" was in the wording.  It actually sounded more like German than Russian but probably not.  Allison must use an untraceable burner phone when she contacts her Russian friends.  There's no way that she could use a "company" phone because the agency would have access to it. 

[MochaJay]

She did indeed and said "da?", yes in Russian. It raises that possibility that Allison is actually Russian, was trained to be an American as a child and was planted in the CIA as a mole.  If so, it sounds like the movie "Salt" with Angelina Jolie and Liev Schreiber both playing deep cover Russian moles in the FBI.  She could also be a legit CIA operative who was turned by the Russians into a double agent for any of a number of reasons. It did appear that Carrie recognized Allison's voice so I'd imagine that she'll try to contact Saul in some way.  Who knows what involvement Dar Adal has in this situation.  He's a pretty slimy character.

 

Dar Adal is ruthless, but he does understand loyalty - he used Quinn's loyalty to the other soldiers in 'Group' to draw Quinn back into the CIA when he sent Quinn's teammate to the motel at the end of last season. Carrie ruled out Saul because he would have to be stupid to send Quinn to kill Carrie, Dar should be ruled out for the same reason.

 

Besides, whilst I do believe Dar would sacrifice his own people to achieve an important enough goal, I don't think Dar would give up an asset like Quinn lightly. He has always emphasised that Quinn is his guy, and at the start of the season he said 'I'm worried about Peter' after Quinn went off-script during the briefing. Presumably the hit was put onto Quinn to prevent Saul finding out who the Quinn's last target was, but as Dar is senior to Saul he didn't need Quinn killed to prevent that - if Quinn had gone through with the killing Dar could have either ordered Quinn to keep quiet about it or ordered Saul to accept it.

 

Huge, HUGE improvement from last week's dud episode. I'm not a shipper, but Carrie and Quinn working together makes the series much better. And I don't think it's a coincidence that the best episode of the season so far, IMO, is the one that finally put them together. 

 

So is this episode exactly the next day after Quinn kidnapped Carrie? Because if so, Carrie did make quite a recovery from her bumbling, incoherent self to her more normal self, even with just one pill. I guess Quinn could have given her some off camera. But see, this episode shows why we don't need crazy Carrie anymore - Quinn's smart, but even he didn't figure out that Saul would NEVER send him to off Carrie, which Carrie did. And Carrie acted swiftly and remarkably in that shooting scene, not only saving Quinn, but having the brainpower to take something from the other guy which would give them clues later on. Carrie doesn't give herself enough credit - she's more than capable enough if she stays on course with her medication. 

 

Did Allison just say hello in Russian? Or did she say something else? Because while I immediately believed that the number Carrie called was Allison's, a few minutes after the episode, I thought what if the scenes between Carrie calling and Allison answering is just a red herring, to make it look like Allison's the bad guy? What if Carrie called someone else's number, and the show just thought of showing Allison answering her phone, but in reality she's answering someone else's call? A call related to the bombing perhaps? I dunno, I just don't quite get why it would be Allison. It's predictable, like most have said here. But why? Sure, she's shown to be a shady character, but I would think an elite intelligence officer like her would be above jealousy, why looks like the only motive so far. And it's not like she seems to be crazy in love with Saul, it looks like more a convenient arrangement for her own career than something really genuine.

 

Homeland just turned a corner. I hope it would be for good.

I think that the pills helped Carrie, but also the sedative Quinn gave her that probably made her sleep several hours. She has been off meds before - at the start of Season 3 before we knew of her pregnancy - and although she wasn't as together as she was at the start of this season she wasn't totally manic either. The first 3 days of the pills she may have kept a stable routine for the sake of Franny, but once the kid was gone she worked on an intense project for many hours and took stimulants instead of sleeping.

 

They cut back between Carrie and Allison a couple of times, so I believe that it was her at the other end. So I am convinced that she ordered the kills, although not necessarily that she is working for the Russians. The guy in the car wasn't given the job of tracking and killing Carrie himself so may not be a highly trained spy. Allison needed him for simpler task of sitting at one location and shooting the target when he comes by - it might be that the only hitman she knew how to hire without using CIA resources happens to be Russian.

[slowpoked]

 

And I'm very interested to see (thanks to this early reveal) where Allison goes from here.

I'm actually glad another female is getting a meaty role on the series. So far it has been a sausage fest and it's only Danes among the ladies who has been doing the heavy-hitting, whether that's deliberate or not, I don't know. Morena Baccarin ended up being just the tormented, confused Brody wife. The Ambassador last season was pretty much useless. 

 

And Otto has been a great surprise in the role. I thought they just brought her in as another CIA character who will be in the background for most of the season, but she's been in the forefront so far. I guess they're also trying to make Laura's character another female badass but I think the actress just can't deliver, she's been mostly annoying so far. When she's whining I just want the next scene STAT on my TV. 

[roughing it]

 

It also offers a lot of potential for Saul. For instance, I keep wondering -- what if there's a deeper game being played here? What if Saul is actually playing Allison? As others have noted, he's slightly out of character this season and a lot of that could certainly be explained by the fact that he's actually under cover to a degree.

I think that is exactly what is going on.  Saul is no fool.

[Loza]

I am Russian. And actresses’ pronunciation is not ideal, but I believe Allison has said “Yes”. (A commonly used alternative to “Hello” in phone conversations). “Is it done?”

[FurryFury]

Sorry for the offtopic, but it's great to have another Russian on these boards! And you're right, I've rewatched and she says "Sdelano?" ("Is it done?"). So it's either the people she's hired to kill Carrie and Quinn are Russians (which is unlikely because they were communicating in German, IIRC), or she's connected to the Russians herself (which I consider more likely, I mean, she's mentioned the war in Ukraine and her assets there... considering that Russian foreign intelligence has already been introduced, I believe she's either been turned or was a Russian mole from the beginning).

[MochaJay]

The message in German was from the guy working in the Deutsche Poste. He may have been an assassin planted in the previous few days, but I think it more likely he was an actual Deutsche Poste worker who was bribed to send a text message when that deposit box was used. It doesn't tell us if the man in the car was also German.

[slowpoked]

The message in German was from the guy working in the Deutsche Poste. He may have been an assassin planted in the previous few days, but I think it more likely he was an actual Deutsche Poste worker who was bribed to send a text message when that deposit box was used. It doesn't tell us if the man in the car was also German.

He sent a text to the guy - was anyone able to read it, and what does it mean in German? Probably just "he's here."

[MochaJay]

He sent a text to the guy - was anyone able to read it, and what does it mean in German? Probably just "he's here."

Pretty much, 'Dein Freund ist hier'. I'm going to go with 'your friend is here' as the translation.

Edited October 26, 2015 by MochaJay

[KittyS]

My first thought when the plane crashed was, "What a waste of a perfectly good kidney!"

With this episode, the season feels like it's hitting its stride - Carrie and Quinn reunited, no Frannie and Mother Carrie (other than the touching goodbye video), fake passports and fun disguises, crosses and double crosses, some serious Miranda Otto awesomeness, limited Düring and Noah. Please kill the annoying journalist and all my dreams will have come true.

[cali1981]

I am Russian. And actresses’ pronunciation is not ideal, but I believe Allison has said “Yes”. (A commonly used alternative to “Hello” in phone conversations). “Is it done?”

Thanks Loza for shedding some light on that.  Of course the additional phrase was probably enough to give Carrie a better shot at identifying Allison's voice.  The look on her face when there was no answer to he question was priceless.

[lvbalgurl]

I liked seeing capable Carrie as well, and loved the little moment when Quinn just kind of sagged on her shoulder (even though it also kind of broke my heart). He'd dropped the mask for a moment, and the look on his face was just so transparently loving and hopeless; it's not an expression he would have let Carrie see.

 

Yeah.  He's still painfully in love with Carrie.  I thought perhaps he'd gotten past it, with the hitting on Astrid last ep, but, no.  He could barely look at her when she was going on about trying to find him and such.  Kept staring daggers at those fucking passports.  It's interesting that Carrie doesn't grasp the extent of how much he does care for her.  She actually thought for a moment that he would kill her at the start of the ep.

 

It's kind of strange that no word would reach Allison about her dead hitman.  Especially since there were tons of people around, including the contact inside the post office.  All of this happened in the morning/afternoon, yet it was night time when she picked up her phone, expecting him to tell her that he'd taken out Quinn.

[Loandbehold]

Maybe someone here with more technical knowledge of current burner phones can tell me, do some of them have cameras? I would think the purpose of a burner phone, at least when I used one for my side projects (I'm kidding - never used a burner. In fact, my knowledge is basically limited to what I saw on The Wire.) would be to have as little information on it as possible. Also, wouldn't you program a password into the phone? Kind of sloppy not to, which not only allowed Carrie to take a picture of him, but also to call Allison. 

 

 

It's kind of strange that no word would reach Allison about her dead hitman.  Especially since there were tons of people around, including the contact inside the post office.  All of this happened in the morning/afternoon, yet it was night time when she picked up her phone, expecting him to tell her that he'd taken out Quinn.

It's possible that the guy inside the building was the hit man's guy and Allison doesn't know who he is. She wouldn't need to. Deniability and all that. Also, since she was in Switzerland nobody else may have had her number to call to let her know the guy was dead and she wasn't watching tv, so she didn't know anything had happened. 

 

For the reasons stated, it was obvious that neither Saul nor Dar Adal would send Quinn to kill Carrie. They would both know that he would never carry out that order. I don't think Carrie was really concerned that he would kill her, she was just trying to figure out what he was doing since he handcuffed her to a bed, then smeared his own blood on her face. 

 

I didn't mind last week's episode, but I loved this one. 

 

RIP Idiot German hacker red shirt that I never bothered to learn your name. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Maybe someone here with more technical knowledge of current burner phones can tell me, do some of them have cameras? I would think the purpose of a burner phone, at least when I used one for my side projects (I'm kidding - never used a burner. In fact, my knowledge is basically limited to what I saw on The Wire.) would be to have as little information on it as possible. Also, wouldn't you program a password into the phone? Kind of sloppy not to, which not only allowed Carrie to take a picture of him, but also to call Allison.

I had to buy a burner phone for work recently and there are super cheap flip phones for $20 but you can also get fancier phones with internet access, cameras, etc. Some people get burner phones because they don't want monthly contracts but they still want all the smartphone options. We got ours at work because it will be used very infrequently and only needs to make/receive phone calls so of course we got the Wire-esque burner phone but a lot of the burner/non-contract phones I saw were actually smartphones. I was like, "No, no, nothing with internet or any of that extra stuff. I just need an actual phone that makes phone calls." And I, too, was expecting my selection to be all crappy cheap phones you could buy at 7/11 so I was surprised that the majority of the available phones were so fancy. I guess even assassins need internet on their phones so they can entertain themselves while they're waiting for their targets to show up.

[Loandbehold]

Thanks ElectricBoogaloo!

[Milburn Stone]

I'm a little disappointed Miranda Otto is turning out to be the bad guy, one, because it's so obvious, and two, because it somehow feels a little "24," and Homeland is better than that.

[regalkinghiddles]

Every time Laura opens her mouth, I just want her to shut up. Do you think that's what the writers intended?

I like that we saw Saul and Allison at a Passover Seder, and then minutes later, Quinn smeared blood on Carrie. She will be passed over by death.

This was the first week I was really impressed with Miranda Otto. She's perfect in this role.

 

The whole blood smearing thing is really deep and so fascinating. What a beautiful gesture --  I'm already in love with Carrie & Quinn but I think this takes it to another level now.

 

"Instead of killing Carrie, Quinn slices into his hand and smears his blood on her face in the most oddly beautiful gesture in the show’s history."

 

Pretty much!

Edited October 27, 2015 by regalkinghiddles

[beeble]

This would be wrong on many, many levels, but I sort of want Dar to glare at Alison and say, "No man can betray me!" only for her to brandish a sword (or a gun), take him out, and say, "I am no man!"

 

I am not a Dar fan.

 

(This would be right before something crazy and mystical leads Carrie to taking out Alison. Saul will brood a lot.)

[Wtfrudoing]

Does Carrie recognize Allison on the phone or is she just surprised that it's the Russians that are after both her and Quinn? I hope this means Quinn and Carrie will work really closely now, not like half of S4 where they were kept apart way too much.

[lvbalgurl]

The whole blood smearing thing is really deep and so fascinating. What a beautiful gesture --  I'm already in love with Carrie & Quinn but I think this takes it to another level now.

 

"Instead of killing Carrie, Quinn slices into his hand and smears his blood on her face in the most oddly beautiful gesture in the show’s history."

 

It was odd and strange, and, yes, there was beauty in the gesture.  I like Carrie & Quinn together, mostly because I like Carrie (most of the time) and I LOVE Quinn.  I think Homeland has done a wonderful job of showing the progression of their relationship as colleagues, to trusted colleagues, to good friends.  They are 100 grand as a friendship, fiercely loyal to each other.

 

There was a rather abrupt shift from friendship to romance early last season, but I suppose I can believe that Quinn was unaware that he had developed feelings for Carrie (until Dar, the psychologist, and the hotel manager he was fucking pointed this out.)  However, I'm not sure I buy that Carrie's feelings for Quinn have grown much past that of a close friend and highly capable, valued colleague.  There was a window in which she seemed to regard him with different eyes in last year's finale and then it was gone.  And now she's with the boring boyfriend.  So I'm not really certain what Homeland is showing us other than the fact that Quinn is really in love with Carrie, and Carrie really values Quinn as an ally and friend.  I suppose things can progress to more in the future, but Homeland always fucks up romances (Carrie/Brody, Mira/Saul, Dana/anybody) so I'm not sure I'm even looking forward to that. 

[slowpoked]

I think Homeland has done a wonderful job of showing the progression of their relationship as colleagues, to trusted colleagues, to good friends.  They are 100 grand as a friendship, fiercely loyal to each other.

 

And looking back, I don't even remember how it started or formed. Quinn was hired to do a side job while Brody was slowly being taken down after the CIA knew he turned. But I do remember the loyal moments of how Quinn wouldn't shoot Carrie when she was going to botch the operation with Javadi's lawyer. Or how Carrie wouldn't leave Pakistan until she's sure Quinn would not push through with bombing Haqqani because she knows there's no way he's getting out alive. I do like how their relationship progressed, and even in the worst of moments, they have each other's back. As much as Quinn hated Carrie on foiling his plan of bombing Haqqani, there is some sense of gratitude in him knowing that she saved his life.

 

Even on the kill order mission - Quinn could have easily gone to Saul and ask him what the fuck is going on about the name on the latest drop. But he chose to protect Carrie first by making sure she disappear before someone else finds out he didn't go through with the plan. 

[paramitch]

It was odd and strange, and, yes, there was beauty in the gesture.  I like Carrie & Quinn together, mostly because I like Carrie (most of the time) and I LOVE Quinn.  I think Homeland has done a wonderful job of showing the progression of their relationship as colleagues, to trusted colleagues, to good friends.  They are 100 grand as a friendship, fiercely loyal to each other.

 

There was a rather abrupt shift from friendship to romance early last season, but I suppose I can believe that Quinn was unaware that he had developed feelings for Carrie (until Dar, the psychologist, and the hotel manager he was fucking pointed this out.)  However, I'm not sure I buy that Carrie's feelings for Quinn have grown much past that of a close friend and highly capable, valued colleague.  There was a window in which she seemed to regard him with different eyes in last year's finale and then it was gone.  And now she's with the boring boyfriend.  So I'm not really certain what Homeland is showing us other than the fact that Quinn is really in love with Carrie, and Carrie really values Quinn as an ally and friend.  I suppose things can progress to more in the future, but Homeland always fucks up romances (Carrie/Brody, Mira/Saul, Dana/anybody) so I'm not sure I'm even looking forward to that. 

 

 

And looking back, I don't even remember how it started or formed. Quinn was hired to do a side job while Brody was slowly being taken down after the CIA knew he turned. But I do remember the loyal moments of how Quinn wouldn't shoot Carrie when she was going to botch the operation with Javadi's lawyer. Or how Carrie wouldn't leave Pakistan until she's sure Quinn would not push through with bombing Haqqani because she knows there's no way he's getting out alive. I do like how their relationship progressed, and even in the worst of moments, they have each other's back. As much as Quinn hated Carrie on foiling his plan of bombing Haqqani, there is some sense of gratitude in him knowing that she saved his life.

 

Even on the kill order mission - Quinn could have easily gone to Saul and ask him what the fuck is going on about the name on the latest drop. But he chose to protect Carrie first by making sure she disappear before someone else finds out he didn't go through with the plan. 

 

What I like about the progression of Quinn's feelings for Carrie is that to me, he subtly mirrored her journey with Brody. My feeling is that Quinn began to fall for Carrie when he was assigned to surveillance on her in Season 2. We just saw these subtle shifts as this went on -- we saw Quinn's loneliness and the relative emptiness of his life, and the ways he became more and more invested in Carrie's bravery as time went on. By the time of the big reveal in season 3 about her willingness to sacrifice her sanity and her good name for the operation with Saul to entrap Javadi, Quinn practically had little hearts in his eyes every time he looked at Carrie. (Who was, of course, oblivious.)

 

So to be fair I think it's believable and has been a slow burn for Quinn for almost three seasons now. But Carrie was at first so completely immersed in the whole Brody situation that it was only at the end of last season that she seemed to realize what the loyalty and affection of someone like Quinn is worth.

 

I'm actually interested to see what happens with them. One subtext I could clearly see in this episode was that Carrie is not a hausfrau at heart; she is far more like Quinn than she wants to admit, and that is the world in which she is most comfortable, if she's honest with herself. That's why Saul's anger at her was so powerful in the season premiere -- she's been naive and stupid and lying to herself. Now it seems like she may be waking up.