S07.E02: Rebel Rebel

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Carrie makes a discovery; Wellington protects Keane; O'Keefe continues to broadcast.

Promo:

Clip

[Ina123]

Why is Carrie staying with her sister? Is she under some requirement to see that shrink. The shrink seemed hostile toward Carrie.

[HollyG]

3 minutes ago, Ina123 said:

Why is Carrie staying with her sister? Is she under some requirement to see that shrink. The shrink seemed hostile toward Carrie.

She went to live with her sister's family after her apt. was shot up last season. Apparently she can't afford a place of her own right now. I don't remember if she has any requirements about seeing a psychiatrist and taking meds. 

[LoveLeigh]

This was a great episode but.... how did Carrie know that the "ransom hacker" even lived near her? He could have lived on the other side of the world especially since he was asking to be paid in bitcoins. That was a stretch. 

[WaltersHair]

Personally, I was grossed out too much by the forced soft core porn to see what else was going on. Was this supposed to show female empowerment? I'll show you some PG13 porno and in exchange I beat you half to death?

Maybe it's just me.

[tjcletzgo]

I am a Homeland fan from the first episode.   I cried over Brody, I cried over Quinn and have loved every season with the exception of season 3 and season 6.  I HATE the first two episodes on season 7!  WTF?  One more boring episode and and I'm done!

[parandroid]

Sigh. I do not want another crazy-Carrie-makes-for-the-best-ever-spy story line, but it seems like the writers are laying the foundations for just such a story line. Could I ask for something new please?

Nevertheless, I have to admire their craft. The bitter president who isn't quite ready to forgive. The political spin master relying on conspiracy theorists to keep him safe and saying whatever he needs to say to keep himself up on top. The crazy spy who knows exactly how to use her body to manipulate ("About a Boy"). And the master spy who knows exactly how to extract secrets. These are all written to perfection.

I don't really mind the sullen teenager plot lines. Teenagers are sullen and rebellious in real life. We may want them to have less of an attitude, and more rationality, but such is life. Even at the heights of Dana-hate, I didn't really mind. In fact, I thought that her last scene with Brody was the payoff: the writers made her rejection of him, the final straw that made Brody commit to the mission. To me, that was a job well done.

But crazy Carrie plot lines just give me the heebie jeebies. I would prefer a sane Carrie saving the world. Please don't make her crazy and then have her save the world. I cringed in season 5 when she deliberately went off of her pills. Urgh.

[The Bullpen]

31 minutes ago, WaltersHair said:

Personally, I was grossed out too much by the forced soft core porn to see what else was going on. Was this supposed to show female empowerment? I'll show you some PG13 porno and in exchange I beat you half to death?

Maybe it's just me.

I don't think Carrie has ever been held up by the Homeland Powers That Be as a shining example of female empowerment.  She's very much a flawed protagonist, and they make no secret about that.  As for this particular plot line: same deal.  It was Carrie being Carrie, warts and all.  For me, the question after watching this episode (and the preview for next week) is whether or not her bipolar disorder is playing a role in her decision-making.

The first two episodes have been slow, but there have been MANY slow episodes over the course of this show's run.  I'm missing Quinn, but I'm still invested.  Honestly, of all the plots Homeland has presented over the years, I think this is the scariest (and maybe the most realistic) of them all.  O'Keefe is craven to the point that he sees truth as nothing more than a toy to be used, abused, and thrown out.  He clearly has no conscience whatsoever.  Sound familiar, folks?  (I'm actually not drawing a direct line to anyone in real life, because there are far too many real people to choose from.)  The guy is intimately involved in an attempt to assassinate the president-elect because... well, why?  As Keane said herself in tonight's episode, the only apparent reason she was targeted was because some people in the military/gov't felt "disrespected" by her.  I want to know more about what really makes O'Keefe tick, though.  Why did *he* want her dead?  Anyway, this attempt on Keane's life results in her becoming exactly the monster her would-be assassins tried to make her out to be in the first place.  Completely chilling stuff. 

I don't know - am I alone in finding this whole story really upsetting?  What it says about human nature and our society is really tough to swallow.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Seemed to me that the woman in the CoS' house knew she was on camera and wanted to be seen. The question is who she wanted to see her.

Surely Saul knows he's being played and is playing them even harder. Surely.

Carrie opened a random jpg from a total stranger on one of the most most outlaw sites on the internet. She was asking for trouble.

What kind of loser would go through that much trouble just to feel some live boobs? And how did he not know Carrie was some kind of fed since he knew pretty much everything else about her from what was on her laptop? Whatever, it was funny to me that he didn't fit the "400 lb. basement-dweller" profile. Even Carrie seemed a little surprised.

[DiabLOL]

2 hours ago, WaltersHair said:

Personally, I was grossed out too much by the forced soft core porn to see what else was going on. Was this supposed to show female empowerment? I'll show you some PG13 porno and in exchange I beat you half to death?

Maybe it's just me.

Nope not just you at all.

[scrb]

2 hours ago, WaltersHair said:

Personally, I was grossed out too much by the forced soft core porn to see what else was going on. Was this supposed to show female empowerment? I'll show you some PG13 porno and in exchange I beat you half to death?

Maybe it's just me.

That was way too quick to encrypt all her files unless she only had like 5 files on her laptop.

As former CIA, you'd think she was backing up her files all the time or Max would set her up with some automated backups for her scatterbrained self.

I haven't heard of a ransom ware hack that allows the hacker to get all her files to his computer that quick.  Again, unless she had virtually nothing on her drive.  

I thought this story line was embarrassing, not for the technical implausibility but the soft core aspects.  I started laughing when she realized that he was watching her through the webcam and she was going to give him a show, first smiling directly at the camera  -- are they for real going to go there, which of course they did.

They're not ready to have Carrie spring into action yet so this story seems like a detour from the season arcs.  

Maybe in the wake of #MeToo, this was suppose to be some kind of cathartic revenge enacted against a greedy pig?

[dwmarch]

I find myself wondering if "I'M CIA MOTHERFUCKER!" was foreshadowing. As we are being repeatedly reminded, Carrie doesn't have a job... or does she? She spent months pretending to be mentally ill a few seasons back and as I recall she let the CIA crap all over her career on television as part of some deep cover op. If the same is true this time around it might explain her shock at seeing Saul become the National Security Advisor. That wasn't part of the plan!

Did I miss something with that telescoping billy club? Was it just laying around? I thought she'd have it hidden in her boots or something but she picked it up from over by a desk as if she had put it there herself.

I assume the computer sequences should include that same disclaimer you see in Apple commercials: sequences shortened.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was rolling my eyes (as usual) at O'Keefe. Although he is technically correct about McClendon's official cause of death not being true, ANYONE can die of a heart attack. My friend's boyfriend was under 40, in great physical shape (ate healthy, ran marathons), and died suddenly of a heart attack. We were all shocked because there was NOTHING to indicate this would happen. Not everyone who has a heart attack is an old obese smoker with a history of heart problems and stuffing their faces with cheeseburgers.

I am one of the people who hates the music for the opening credits so I usually watch it once at the beginning of the season and then skip it for the rest of the season. I love all the pictures of young Claire though!

I'm glad that Maggie made Carrie go to therapy. I just wish she would have talked more about Quinn because I think that she needs to process her grief.

I was half expecting the 4chan guy to be some pimply faced teenager in his mom's basement, but when he sent her to that creepy neighborhood I was afraid it was a crazy serial killer who was going to lock her in his sex dungeon, which made me hope that she had Max implant a tracking chip in her arm so that he could find her. I don't know if it was her lack of money or her meds not working that made her think that going to meet this guy was a good idea. She hasn't always made the best choices, so I was really afraid she was going to end up having to make a sex tape with this asshole. I've never been so happy to see someone get head butted.

Heh, I laughed when Carrie yelled, "I'm CIA, motherfucker!"

4 hours ago, dwmarch said:

Did I miss something with that telescoping billy club? Was it just laying around? I thought she'd have it hidden in her boots or something but she picked it up from over by a desk as if she had put it there herself.

She pulled it out of her boot. You can see it at the 52:55 mark.

Edited February 19, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[EtheltoTillie]

10 hours ago, tjcletzgo said:

I am a Homeland fan from the first episode.   I cried over Brody, I cried over Quinn and have loved every season with the exception of season 3 and season 6.  I HATE the first two episodes on season 7!  WTF?  One more boring episode and and I'm done!

This! I cannot follow the plot at all!

[grommit2]

12 hours ago, WaltersHair said:

Personally, I was grossed out too much by the forced soft core porn to see what else was going on. Was this supposed to show female empowerment? I'll show you some PG13 porno and in exchange I beat you half to death?

Maybe it's just me.

Agreed...but apparently the writers needed to amp up the storyline, so they did what Hollywood does...take the woman's clothes off. 
Now, what was really good was Carrie beating the crap out of the hacker.  I've managed web sites that were hacked by idiots and I desperately wanted to hunt them down.  Alas, no such luck.  But, Carrie really got the bad guy.  Now, if they would bring back Quinn for some "wet work", then the show would take off again. 

[slowpoked]

I also didn't get the hacker plot line. Was it there to show that Carrie still got it out on the field to be the badass CIA field agent she used to be, even though she's been years removed from the job? I would have been more surprised if the hacker really did know something about that woman Carrie was looking information for. 

I was LOL'ing at the revelation of Wellington getting caught with two escorts at a club years ago, considering all the security clearances issues our real life administration is having right now. 

Bret O'Keefe has gotten so cartoonish now, but sigh, totally not out of reality. When he got caught calling his supporters lunatic crazies, and was still able to gaslight that poor young kid into believing he's really on their side..it struck a sad chord for me. Is Homeland imitating real life, or is real life imitating Homeland?

[scrb]

O'Keefe is a phony.  Probably from NY but using a Southern accent.  He doesn't even like his fans, think of them as fringe.

So does he even believe the crap he's spewing, like being such a second amendment solutions guy but can't handle a gun?

I can see if he was faking these ideas for ratings, making money selling crap like Alex Jones.

But he's on the run now and fomenting overthrow of the US govt.  How does he think that will end?  He's not going to get his old job back.

And those hicks are going to raise their arms at federal officers, being nostalgic about places where the South fought the oppressors from the North?

I think the show runners are trying to say there are enough people who'd take up arms to protect O'Keefe, keep this dumb story line alive.  But they don't want to get too controversial by having them wave Confederate flags and get too close to what's happening IRL.

So Saul is trying to reason with the local cop who stashed O'Keefe, saying we can't have Americans look at FBI like those real enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq who look at US soldiers with hate in their eyes.

Anyone who openly raises their guns at federal cops are going to get mowed down and shouldn't be depicted in more sympathetic light than the Branch Davidians or these other paramilitary groups who got into shootouts with the feds or were prepared to.  I'm sure they'll have these country people pull back at the last minute rather than actually shoot at the feds.

[Ina123]

3 hours ago, grommit2 said:

Now, what was really good was Carrie beating the crap out of the hacker.  I've managed web sites that were hacked by idiots and I desperately wanted to hunt them down.  Alas, no such luck.  

I hate hackers. It's B&E. They all should be tracked down and prosecuted.

[Ina123]

The location of the country yahoos hiding the useless Alex Jones character is supposedly Philippi, WV. Note one of the young men mentioned it being the spot of the first land battle of the Civil War. It was more like a skirmish. The Confederates high tailed out, McClellan made a name for himself and the idea of West Virginia separating from Virginia began. I'm from the area.

[ruby24]

Carrie vs a 4chan troll? WTF.

I think what they've missed about the Brett O'Keefe character is that the real guys he's based on (the Alex Jones's, the Hannitys, the Rush Limbaughs) is that those dudes do what they do for MONEY. Their sponsors. This guy is apparently a true believer, yet he's also aware enough to know he's playing to the lunatic fringe? If it's just an act, then it's an act for money. If it isn't, then he IS one of them.

Otherwise why would he be doing it, for the fun of being chased into hiding by the feds? The real dudes are cowards, they'd give up the second it cost them anything like their lavish lifestyle.

[Quark]

There aren't many people to root for this season.

I'm still quite enjoying it though.

[One Imaginary Girl]

How did the therapist know about Carrie's credit card debt?  If her sister ratted her out, that doesn't seem kosher.

Every time O'Keefe refers to "the resistance," I cringe.  I hope they aren't going to make him sympathetic in any way or I'll be otherwise occupied on Sundays at 9.  Seems unlikely, though.

[Ina123]

25 minutes ago, One Imaginary Girl said:

How did the therapist know about Carrie's credit card debt?  If her sister ratted her out, that doesn't seem kosher.

Every time O'Keefe refers to "the resistance," I cringe.  I hope they aren't going to make him sympathetic in any way or I'll be otherwise occupied on Sundays at 9.  Seems unlikely, though.

I'm so confused about the therapist. She knows things you don't think Carrie told her and she seems hostile toward Carrie. Was this something mandated? Did her Dr. Sister demand it for her to live with her? Maybe it was mandated from when Franny was taken away by children's services? But that was found to be fraudulent,wasn't it?Inquiring minds want to know.

Edited February 19, 2018 by Ina123

[CoachWristletJen]

Did Brett O'Keefe make some remark about seeing his soul transcend above some canned peaches in the basement or something like that? 

Could that be foreshadowing that he, too, is on the precipice of a full blown psychological meltdown? 

[slowpoked]

4 hours ago, ruby24 said:

I think what they've missed about the Brett O'Keefe character is that the real guys he's based on (the Alex Jones's, the Hannitys, the Rush Limbaughs) is that those dudes do what they do for MONEY. Their sponsors. This guy is apparently a true believer, yet he's also aware enough to know he's playing to the lunatic fringe? If it's just an act, then it's an act for money. If it isn't, then he IS one of them.

Otherwise why would he be doing it, for the fun of being chased into hiding by the feds? The real dudes are cowards, they'd give up the second it cost them anything like their lavish lifestyle.

I think there's some layers to O'Keefe that would have been interesting if his accent weren't so distracting. You're right that it doesn't seem like he's in it for the money - living a life on the run doesn't seem fun for someone who was already at the top of the world when he operated the troll farm, so that indicates to me that he really believes in his cause. Is his cause, just to overthrow Keane? Or to overthrow the entire government? Who is he wanting to replace Keane with?

About playing to the lunatic fringe - I think it's a case of having your cake and eating it too. Deep down, while he may share some belief with those people, he knows they're crazy, and once he gets the opportunity, he would dump them in a heartbeat. But right now, they're all he has, he needs them, so he panders to them. If he alienates both sides of the coin, he would have been long captured or dead. 

With that said, I do hope there will be a real national security threat this season, not just O'Keefe and his gun-toting crazies. I know his kind has been quasi-successful in rallying people to go against the government. But it will be highly disappointing if the big bad villain is Alex Jones-lite.

[TrininisaScorp]

Though I still feel like the actor playing O'Keefe is weak sauce, I adore the despicable ass.  The second we saw him with the gun vomiting that "your God given right" stuff, my husband and I started laughing that he had never actually shot a gun.  And sure enough...  He's desperate, he thinks these hicks are crazy, but this is his base and he needs them.  It makes for interesting parallels.

I miss Quinn so much.  I didn't miss Brody, but I do miss the hole Quinn has left in the show.

[pfk505]

2 hours ago, slowpoked said:

With that said, I do hope there will be a real national security threat this season, not just O'Keefe and his gun-toting crazies. I know his kind has been quasi-successful in rallying people to go against the government. But it will be highly disappointing if the big bad villain is Alex Jones-lite.

I'm betting he'll be the instigator with the "national security threat" being some kind of halfway organized "armed resistance" made up of the "lunatic fringe," survivalists and thinly veiled Trump supporters. I mean what else could it be at this point? Especially with all the civil war talk.

29 minutes ago, TrininisaScorp said:

I miss Quinn so much.  I didn't miss Brody, but I do miss the hole Quinn has left in the show.

I'd go with asteroid-sized crater but I agree with the sentiment.

Edited February 20, 2018 by pfk505

[EyesGlazed]

Just once, I'd like to yell at someone annoying:  I'M CIA, MOTHERFUCKER!

And no, the beating the crap out of the 4chan troll was not meant to be "female empowerment."  Carrie was out of control, and the previews for next week appear to show that she realizes it.  I'd like to know how the hacking subplot plays into the season as a whole.  Carrie did take the troll's computer on her way out, right?  Maybe she finds useful information on it, or she and Max use it to snoop, I mean investigate.

But I must admit, I cheered when Carrie head-butted that scumbag.

Carrie's sister is a saint.  Having Carrie around is a daily strain on her whole family.

I miss Quinn too.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

11 minutes ago, EyesGlazed said:

Carrie did take the troll's computer on her way out, right?

Yes, she took his laptop before she ran out of there!

[Ottis]

On 2/18/2018 at 8:18 PM, tjcletzgo said:

I HATE the first two episodes on season 7!

This ep is why I struggle so much with this show - Carrie did a whole bunch of stupid here. Let's leave aside putting cameras in the chief of staff's house. She posts a pic on 4Chan, openly. Think no one in power will see that and make figuring out who did it a priority? And she posted it from her own laptop, which ... smh. Then she opens a jpg, on a site where pics are normally posted and visible. IT security 101. THEN she reveals herself to the guy, no wigs (and she just had one last week, where did it go?) and because he miraculously lives near her, goes to see him where she beats him up, TELLS HIM she is CIA and let's him live. If he goes to authorities and says a crazy blonde woman claiming to be CIA beat him and took his laptop, how long do you think it would take for people to realize it is Carrie? And how will she come off in this, given her history? And how does she know he doesn't have her info in the cloud or elsewhere? For that matter, how does she know that, when he said, "It's done," he didn't mean he released her hard drive online, or take some other step in retribution? You can't be a great spy and do these things. It makes it feel like she stumbles onto truths more than finds them through any particular talent. 

[teddysmom]

I turned it off after she clicked on the jpeg file and her computer was ransomed. It appears she figured out who did it from the comments but FFS most 8th graders know not to click on something if you don't know who it's from. 

I miss Quinn too.  Why would someone on that web site know who that woman was? 

We think it was the Chief of Staff behind the general death right? Is POTUS just pretending to not know? 

I almost forgot what happened last season. Dar was working with that OKeefe guy at the troll farm? Dar was behind the assassination attempt?  But what did the President do? I need to go find a last season summary. brb. 

[Loandbehold]

18 hours ago, Ina123 said:

I'm so confused about the therapist. She knows things you don't think Carrie told her and she seems hostile toward Carrie. Was this something mandated? Did her Dr. Sister demand it for her to live with her?

The new therapist/psychiatrist (*I'm not sure if she is able to prescribe meds or not) is OK here. As for Doc!Sis, that's probably shakier ground. She's not officially Carrie's doctor. However, she does prescribe meds. So, she can be in a lot of trouble for this alone, not to mention she might not be keeping adequate records. Not to mention that treating your own family is not looked upon favorably. Putting that aside, is there doctor-patient privilege when it comes to the credit card debt? Does revealing the debt to the new therapist violate HIPPA? Probably not, since this wasn't revealed during the course of any treatment. Doc!Sisfound out about it when she was snooping about in Carrie's room. And, while highly unlikely, she could have received authorization and permission from Carrie to discuss her case w/ the new therapist.

As soon as hacker approached Carrie from behind, I knew we were going to get a head butt. I didn't foresee the collapsible baton. I highly doubt hacker will go to the police. She has his computer now and Max will be able to show that the software is there for the computer hacking. It's too great a risk for him to file a criminal complaint against her. But, yeah, she was incredibly stupid in clicking on the link.

[PreBabylonia]

On 19/02/2018 at 10:57 PM, TrininisaScorp said:

Though I still feel like the actor playing O'Keefe is weak sauce, I adore the despicable ass.  The second we saw him with the gun vomiting that "your God given right" stuff, my husband and I started laughing that he had never actually shot a gun.  And sure enough...  He's desperate, he thinks these hicks are crazy, but this is his base and he needs them.  It makes for interesting parallels.

I miss Quinn so much.  I didn't miss Brody, but I do miss the hole Quinn has left in the show.

 

On 19/02/2018 at 11:24 PM, pfk505 said:

I'm betting he'll be the instigator with the "national security threat" being some kind of halfway organized "armed resistance" made up of the "lunatic fringe," survivalists and thinly veiled Trump supporters. I mean what else could it be at this point? Especially with all the civil war talk.

I'd go with asteroid-sized crater but I agree with the sentiment.

I miss Quinn so much as well. I don't think we'll find another actor come in with a paper thin character and add so much depth and background. I think it was a giant mistake to torture and slowly kill him off. I find him more essential than Saul or Brody ever was. So far I am staying with the show but my heart isn't in it like it was last season. RF was so good, that I easily overlooked any plot holes. I won't be as forgiving this season.

[Bannon]

This show has once again become too stupid for words. Carrie, superspy, is now apparently such an idiot as to use the same computer she uses to surveil the President's chief of staff as she does to go to internet chat rooms, and post photos of that surveillance, and then clicks on jpeg files from complete strangers. This is the laziest damned writing imaginable, and that is before we get to the Bret Stephens character, which has never been well written or acted.

I had some hope for the final season after last week. No more. I'm done.

[EtheltoTillie]

16 hours ago, PreBabylonia said:

 

I miss Quinn so much as well. I don't think we'll find another actor come in with a paper thin character and add so much depth and background. I think it was a giant mistake to torture and slowly kill him off. I find him more essential than Saul or Brody ever was. So far I am staying with the show but my heart isn't in it like it was last season. RF was so good, that I easily overlooked any plot holes. I won't be as forgiving this season.

Speaking of Quinn, last night I saw a trailer for a movie he's in--The Death of Stalin.  It looks AWFUL!  It's supposed to be a comedy. 

[garyvp]

I predict that Carrie will either employ the hacker or what's on his laptop (with Max's help).

[PreBabylonia]

3 hours ago, GussieK said:

Speaking of Quinn, last night I saw a trailer for a movie he's in--The Death of Stalin.  It looks AWFUL!  It's supposed to be a comedy. 

Yes, it looks like a Mel Brooks comedy. Not funny at all. Pretty good rating though on Rotten Tomatoes, and the cast has some really big names besides Rupert. Also a few nominations for the BAFTAs. It was nice to see him in a few scenes too. Don't think I could ever sit thru it, despite my feelings for RF. Guess I'll wait for the next thing he shows up in.

Edited February 22, 2018 by PreBabylonia
Noticed BAFTA noms.

[chocolatine]

When O'Keefe works himself into a rage while doing his broadcasts he sounds like Adolf Hitler. I grew up in Germany and we had to listen to and analyze some of Hitler's speeches in history class, and hearing that kind of speech pattern still makes me sick. I don't care that he's putting on an act for the "fringe," he's an evil man.

Speaking of "fringe," is it realistic for an entire small town to be comprised of ultra-right-wingers? (I've only lived in the US for nine years, and only in big, coastal cities, so please pardon my ignorance.) I get that West Virginia is conservative on average, but for seemingly everyone, including the town police, to be right-wing doesn't ring true for me.

I agree that there were a million things wrong with how Carrie handled the hacker - and got herself into that situation in the first place - but I still loved "I'm CIA, motherfucker!" 

[CatfishMan]

On 2/18/2018 at 10:03 PM, DakotaLavender said:

This was a great episode but....

No, it wasn't.  This show has been on a steady decline since like season 3 and this episode might have been the last straw for me. I think the writers have completely run out of material, especially with Carrie (kind of like the end of Brody's run). I do still like Saul's character but man, I don't think even he can save this show.

[Milburn Stone]

I see an interesting resonance between Saul taking the NSA job and our own current events. At first I thought his decision made no sense. Even though it meant his getting out of jail, I figured that working for a president he probably considers batshit crazy would make him think twice. But then I thought about some of the capable people working around our current president, who have probably taken the job not despite that they consider him batshit crazy but because they consider him batshit crazy. So maybe that's going on with Saul.

[Ottis]

On 2/20/2018 at 11:23 AM, Loandbehold said:

I highly doubt hacker will go to the police. She has his computer now and Max will be able to show that the software is there for the computer hacking. It's too great a risk for him to file a criminal complaint against her.

Possibly, but consider: The guy knows Carrie has cameras in the chief of staff's house. All he has to do is say that to any number of CIA, FBI or White House staff, and I highly doubt the authorities will give a shit about what the hacker did to Carrie. Aside from that, Carrie is on thin ice with lots and lots of people in the CIA and elsewhere. The hacker may or may not realize it, but all he has to do is send an email to any number of people with his claim and Carrie is done and the hacker is likely free and clear. Carrie gave him that on a platter. Dumb, meds or no meds.

[Loandbehold]

1 hour ago, Ottis said:

Possibly, but consider: The guy knows Carrie has cameras in the chief of staff's house. All he has to do is say that to any number of CIA, FBI or White House staff, and I highly doubt the authorities will give a shit about what the hacker did to Carrie. Aside from that, Carrie is on thin ice with lots and lots of people in the CIA and elsewhere. The hacker may or may not realize it, but all he has to do is send an email to any number of people with his claim and Carrie is done and the hacker is likely free and clear. Carrie gave him that on a platter. Dumb, meds or no meds.

Except, I doubt Carrie is the only person he's hacked and held their computer for ransom. The FBI takes a rather dim view to this sort of thing. He may be able to leverage Carrie's acts to help him reduce or possibly avoid jail time. But, he also might end up being charged and sentenced to more time than Carrie if she pleads guilty or is even convicted. Basically, this is a case of MAD. Carrie's at serious risk if she goes to the authorities to report him, and he is just as much at risk if he does the same.

[Bannon]

23 hours ago, chocolatine said:

When O'Keefe works himself into a rage while doing his broadcasts he sounds like Adolf Hitler. I grew up in Germany and we had to listen to and analyze some of Hitler's speeches in history class, and hearing that kind of speech pattern still makes me sick. I don't care that he's putting on an act for the "fringe," he's an evil man.

Speaking of "fringe," is it realistic for an entire small town to be comprised of ultra-right-wingers? (I've only lived in the US for nine years, and only in big, coastal cities, so please pardon my ignorance.) I get that West Virginia is conservative on average, but for seemingly everyone, including the town police, to be right-wing doesn't ring true for me.

I agree that there were a million things wrong with how Carrie handled the hacker - and got herself into that situation in the first place - but I still loved "I'm CIA, motherfucker!" 

The overwhelming majority of places in this country have a large percentage of people who are sick to death politics, or were always apathetic.

[Bannon]

21 hours ago, CatfishMan said:

No, it wasn't.  This show has been on a steady decline since like season 3 and this episode might have been the last straw for me. I think the writers have completely run out of material, especially with Carrie (kind of like the end of Brody's run). I do still like Saul's character but man, I don't think even he can save this show.

To me, the show went down the drain the moment Carrie got the thumb drive proof of Brody being a terrorist. Then, it was pure idiocy through the bombing at the CIA, started to get just a little better, and once Carrie was in Pakistan it was ok again. The season in Germany was good. Last season it started to slide again, and now we're back in the dreck, only worse. You just know creepy computer hacker made a copy of topless Carrie, that will end up in some antagonist's hands, which will then be used to threaten  Carrie with loss of custody of Frannie. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

Edited February 23, 2018 by Bannon

[Ottis]

2 hours ago, Loandbehold said:

Except, I doubt Carrie is the only person he's hacked and held their computer for ransom. The FBI takes a rather dim view to this sort of thing. He may be able to leverage Carrie's acts to help him reduce or possibly avoid jail time. But, he also might end up being charged and sentenced to more time than Carrie if she pleads guilty or is even convicted. Basically, this is a case of MAD. Carrie's at serious risk if she goes to the authorities to report him, and he is just as much at risk if he does the same.

While it’s possible that some by-the-book fed would think to investigate a local hacker who reponded to a post of an illegally taken photo at a White House official’s house by an unstable CIA agent after an attempted coup against the president, I’m going to say that it’s far more likely that the hacker gets a medal and is hailed as a hero by an administration seeking public relations wins and validity. 

[Kel Varnsen]

The thing with the hacker was probably the biggest waste of time thing the show has done, since it didn't really have any connection to the main plot. Which is extra annoying since fancy cable shows with their short seasons were supposed to mean less filler. The only way they could have actually made it interesting was if the hacker had turned out to be Chris Brody.

[Bannon]

11 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

The thing with the hacker was probably the biggest waste of time thing the show has done, since it didn't really have any connection to the main plot. Which is extra annoying since fancy cable shows with their short seasons were supposed to mean less filler. The only way they could have actually made it interesting was if the hacker had turned out to be Chris Brody.

It's just plain lazy a$$ed writing, by people who are getting paid large sums of money, but are just phoning it in. It reflects poorly on Claire Daines as well, and anyone else who takes a producers credit.  Somebody with a molecule of professionalism needed to lock the door to the writer's room, and say that nobody leaves, until something resembling a story written by a person with a 3 digit I.Q. emerges. 

[Milburn Stone]

3 hours ago, Bannon said:

It's just plain lazy a$$ed writing, by people who are getting paid large sums of money, but are just phoning it in. It reflects poorly on Claire Daines as well, and anyone else who takes a producers credit.  Somebody with a molecule of professionalism needed to lock the door to the writer's room, and say that nobody leaves, until something resembling a story written by a person with a 3 digit I.Q. emerges. 

The only caveat I'd attach to this judgment is that past seasons contained elements in early episodes that seemed like they had nothing to do with anything, and later turned out to have something to do with something.

[Bannon]

23 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

The only caveat I'd attach to this judgment is that past seasons contained elements in early episodes that seemed like they had nothing to do with anything, and later turned out to have something to do with something.

Oh, I have little doubt that Superspy Stripper Carrie's performance is going to show up again, and I expect it will be used to threaten her custody of her child, yet again. No doubt the writers were all stretched out in recliners  when they brainstormed through this uncharted territory.

[snarts]

The main plot is so damn interesting, wish the writing was as good.  Agree with many that hacker deal was poorly thought out & executed.  I can only hope that it's somehow tied in later on.