S05.E08: All About Allison

[parandroid]

From this article, the rationale for why Carrie changed her last name:

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/11/22/homeland-season-5-episode-8-an-intelligence-expert-weighs-in/

 

From the linked article, this caught my eye:

 

...there is that line from Dar Adal talking about not being able to hear what Saul Berenson said inside the hotel room, saying how there’s a two-and-a-half-minute gap in the tape because he turned on the faucet in the bathroom. It’s complete and utter nonsense. Unless they took a time machine back to the 1950s, they have audio-surveillance capabilities that can get through running water.

Sloppy.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Alli Oops
As Team Bibi's plan evolves, flashbacks to the Allison-Carrie changeover in Baghdad tell us -- and Carrie -- how we got here.

[LCanterbury]

He also turned on music, but yeah, seems sloppy. I was trying to fill my husband in on what happened after our episode cut out early and the current plotlines seem even more convoluted and implausible out loud!

[roughing it]

If I had to explain to someone what was this season about, I don't think I'd be able to tell them.  Just when I think I know what is going on, I don't.

[Helena Dax]

I just wrote  that sadly the terrorists weren't that dumb in RL and... it turns out  they weren't that dumb  in Homeland either. I think  it's unfair to  say that they're  just driving around because the plan makes sense; if  everyone thinks they're going to Syria, no  one will be looking for them at Berlin.  I guess Biibi was never fooled by Quinn.

 

Loved that Carrie found  out the truth about Allison. I  guess the Russians thought that if she wasn't with the CIA  anymore, they didn't have to worry about her. But  the info can  lead to Allison and if the Russians think she could end up directing the CIA, no wonder they're willing to  do whatever it takes to protect her.  My  only  problem  with  that plot  is that in  order to be so worried about the leaked documents, the  Russians should have been aware of the  information the Iraqi judge had,   but they weren't because he didn't tell anyone. 

Edited November 25, 2015 by Helena Dax

[mrspidey]

Can I just say that I love that "SGLATSCHTGLEI" (Youreabouttobewhooped)-Sticker on Numan's Laptop? Totally something someone like him would have on his computer. 

[piequinn35]

So if Quinn is Jack Bauer then Carrie is Chloe (minus the computer skills).......... 

[LoveLeigh]

OK.... Carrie sees Nazir in that screen saver with Banana Joe's setting and recalls Alison telling her she loved Banana Joe's in St. Lucia. Woudln't the connection more likely be that Alison and Nazir took a vacation together as lovers? Carrie knows Nazir is working for them and Carrie herself slept with informants. Why would she conclude Alison turned and is working for the Russians when at the end she said all shocked "Alison?" 

[Mozelle]

OK.... Carrie sees Nazir in that screen saver with Banana Joe's setting and recalls Alison telling her she loved Banana Joe's in St. Lucia. Woudln't the connection more likely be that Alison and Nazir took a vacation together as lovers? Carrie knows Nazir is working for them and Carrie herself slept with informants. Why would she conclude Alison turned and is working for the Russians when at the end she said all shocked "Alison?" 

 

I think because Allison tried to convince her that there was no reason for her not to trust the original intel from 10 years ago, the one that said that Ahmed Nazir had died in the blast. When in Baghdad Carrie asked Allison if Nazir might have been in the vicinity, Allison said that his name was on the list of the dead. There's also the fact that Allison tried to play like Nazir wouldn't have had reason to lie about anything (telling Carrie that they were being good to him, so why?). She also was hesitant about checking some things out when Carrie asked, giving the "Oh, that's classified information" as a reason as though they all haven't tried to access classified info when it suits them. Also, getting Carrie to assure that none of the hacked documents would see the light of day and checking to make sure that Carrie had not contacted anyone else.

 

I mean, it all boils down to Allison saying and doing things that reek of CYA-ness, which is probably what helped Carrie filter the information down to *whispers* "Allison."

[Boundary]

Well, the good news is that Carrie's earnest plea to Allison will serve to make Allison underestimate her. I was getting tired of Allison winning most rounds.

[bunnywithanaxe]

Why did we see Allison shopping online? Was it supposed to show her eeeeeevil mercenary nature? I mean she was buying a purse that was discounted and all. A $500 purse to someone making six figures doesn't seem so extravagant to me (I know she's a civil servant but she's high level so I'm sure it's that high; she has no kids to support, etc. etc.). It just seemed like unnecessary "look how venal she is!" And in such a cliched kind of female way.

Product placement, I'll bet my ass. Just like Skippy for Saul.

Doesn't make it any less cliche' d, though.

[John Potts]

I'm wondering if TPTB have read "The Honourable Schoolboy", because Allison's recruitment really reminded me of that, what with the attempting to "help" her career while exploiting it for their own ends. I'm also guessing that the KGB (or whatever they're now called) are providing her with real intelligence on (eg) al-Quaeda, because they don't have conflicting interests there, rather than pure "Chickenfeed" that they might provide to somebody whose career they don't care about. Though I'm starting to wish we were following them, because the KGB (or come to that, Mossad) seem to be far more business-like than the CIA! 

 

Did think the reveal of "Banana Joe's" was at least vaguely believable - it was on a Laptop the guy had encrypted, so it wasn't a huge red flag and it required Carrie to piece together a random conversation she'd had years ago (and it's exactly the sort of little detail that causes lies to fall apart). That said, it's nothing probative, but it's definitely enough for people to start investigating Allison's backstory, which should undermine her position.

 

lucindabelle Why did we see Allison shopping online? Was it supposed to show her eeeeeevil mercenary nature?

 

 

I thought it was just to say "Just because she's a spy (and double agent) doesn't mean she doesn't do normal stuff too!" - and I guess using a work computer for (presumably) personal purchases is pretty normal. Not that I'd ever buy handbags online from a work computer.*

 

NorthStar So, no matter what happened, a smoking ban would have saved Carrie's life?

choclatine Why did the sniper end up not shooting Carrie?

 

Even in rule-abiding Germany, you can still light up a cigarette - it's just you'll get told to put it out (I imagine). Though that probably won't happen if somebody's just been shot. As for why it didn't happen, aside from Allison not giving the signal, I presume it's because the Russians don't want to attract any unnecessary attention - and if there's one thing that dead bodies attract, it's attention!

 

I'm glad Quinn's on his way back to everyone else in Germany, but I'm wondering why they let him live.

 

* Because for me, it's Gucci or nothing!

[33kaitykaity]

I felt like we had to suffer through every single second/foot of Allison's journey to the Russian safe house -- just so we can admire her spy-craft or some shit -- and I was bored out of my skull!  Get a move on, we don't seen to see this nonsense.  

 

I hope Showtime puts this show out of its misery after this disaster of a season.  I love Miranda Otto as much as the next person, but there's no drama compared to, oh, I don't know, a psychotic Brody being blamed for assassinating the VP and most of the brass at the CIA.  I'm just not feeling it.  

[kikaha]

I was enjoying the season a great deal.  Then Dar almost immediately accepts a photo of Saul as proof that he can't be trusted and must be sent back to the US (where he likely will get hung up for years in CIA investigations)... while he catches Allison red-handed but apparently buys her lame story that she, in fact, had turned the Russian spy. 

 

The writers have made idiots of Dar and Saul.

[Roseanna]

On ‎24‎.‎11‎.‎2015 at 4:12 AM, EyesGlazed said:

Am I the only one who thinks Miranda Otto gave a great performance in this episode?!  First the flashbacks showed Allison's disillusionment with the "rebuilding" effort and the hard life she's been living.  Then when she met with Nazari, you could see that she was in a a weak moment, and in that weak moment the idea of running off with $8 million was too tempting (Nazari, not so much).  I believe that if she'd had another day to think about it, she wouldn't have done it.  Then when Allison's trapped by Ivan, and he's talking to her back about how it won't be so bad, he'll give her intelligence too, etc etc, you can see by her face that she doesn't believe any of it and knows that she's selling her soul.  But she does it anyway.  And the episode explained why she's so perfectly put together and dressed in the present day:  she sold her soul for this shit so she might as well look good.

It wasn't only weakness or greed. I believe that there was much truth in what her controller said earlier: Allison likes to be two-faced. She likes playing the game and she especially likes power betraying people like Saul gives her. After all, a good double-agent who serves two sides well is the best of the spies.

I think that Allison's recruiment shows the intelligence agencies should be more forgiving to minor lapses like falling in a honey trap. If a person knew that he or she could confess them without too great a sentence, they would have less reason to continue to conscious treason .