S07.E12: Paean To The People

[ElectricBoogaloo]

SEASON FINALE!

Quote

Carrie and Saul's mission doesn't go as planned. Elizabeth Keane fights for her presidency.

Promo:

Clip:

[mwell345]

I would have liked it much better if we hadn’t ended up with psychotic Carrie....again.

Hopefully the next season will start with a time jump.  

[Joan van Snark]

so i wonder what happened to the guy Carrie was in the car with?  Guess he was not so lucky?  The part with Saul at the airport was very tense and I love what the Vice President did.  Little too much Keane for me.

Edited April 30, 2018 by Joan van Snark

[Guest]

While it appears the Russians withheld Carrie's meds, it didn't appear as if they withheld hair-coloring services. Her roots should have been atrocious.

The In-Out-In-Again-Out-Again President Keane was a disappointment.

[Pallas]

6 minutes ago, Joan van Snark said:

so i wonder what happened to the guy Carrie was in the car with

Anson made it to the Embassy and was later in the room with the rest of the team when the President came to thank them. He'll be part of next year and Carrie's future, I'm pretty sure, perhaps along with President Beau. Keane finished strong, not tough: well done.  

[magemaud]

14 minutes ago, Giant Misfit said:

 

While it appears the Russians withheld Carrie's meds, it didn't appear as if they withheld hair-coloring services. Her roots should have been atrocious.

 

And I guess that carrot and cauliflower stroganoff diet made her hair grow! I’ll have to try that...

[healthnut]

The first twenty minutes were so intense. Seems like a lot for nothing since Keane ended up resigning but I suppose she went out a good note and at least on her own terms. 

Carrie has been crazy all season, what’s another scene. But I really hope we’re spared of “off her meds Carrie” next season. 

[Lemons]

Did they mention Syria in previews for the next season?  

[magemaud]

They just showed some clips of the current season and really didn’t say anything other than Homeland would return for another season. 

Edited April 30, 2018 by magemaud

[Bannon]

That was kind of boring, and the last scene hideous.

[tpplay]

What?  That was the last episode?  (Or am I reading these posts wrong?)

If so, I fear we're in for a ton of boredom at the beginning of the next season.  Carrie all demented???  Here's the problem with an actress also being an Executive Producer.  It's all about highlighting what interests her as an actress.

And - perversely I guess - I was delighted that the Russian guard actually DIDN'T want to fuck our heroine.  Because that thing?  I am just over it.

 

I think Beau Bridges has done an extraordinary job in the show this season.  I called the lady president's decision to resign and I like that twist a lot.  I feel hopeful that Beau Bridges will be back to play the president.

 

Broken record-wise, was that really the last episode of the season??? Egads.

[ruby24]

You know, allowing Carrie to go insane would seem to make it a lot harder on her jailers to keep her alive for months too. I thought for sure he would just threaten Frannie to get her to make the tape.

I think Homeland was trying to send a message with Keane's resignation for the "good of the country" speech. If only.

Did Saul tell Maggie and Frannie that Carrie was being held in a Russian prison all that time?

[Pallas]

11 hours ago, Lemons said:

Did they mention Syria in previews for the next season?  

I believe that's where Carrie's guard Aleksei was said to be headed (of course, our source for that was Yevgeny, so...). We also know the season 8 setting.

Spoiler

Israel. In part, I imagine, as an homage to the origins of the show, and in part because they successfully shot there for season 2. 

 

Keane's resignation might seem more like a gesture from parliamentary democracy. But it does speak to the Presidential mandate to defend and protect the Constitution -- an oath that Keane had honored earlier, when the 25th Amendment was invoked against her presidency. Along with Keane, Carrie also "swore an oath to defend it" (the nation), as she repeated each week in the opening credits.

Carrie told Simone that both of them -- Carrie and Simone -- had signed on to be sacrificed for the sake of their homelands, if they became the problem. As President, Keane too had become the problem: only one of many, but one with the power to take action against the problem with her name and face. Carrie told Yevgeny to go to hell, then suffered; Keane spat in Paley's eye, then resigned. They did so to help bring peace to the country, and they lived to labor again.

[txhorns79]

Quote

While it appears the Russians withheld Carrie's meds, it didn't appear as if they withheld hair-coloring services.

The Russians have a motto for all their prisons: "Being insane is no excuse not to look your best!"

[Quark]

Superb episode with incredible acting. Carrie broke my heart at the end.

On another note, I like the hats that Russian policeman wear.

[Ina123]

The big takeaway from the episode for me was when Carrie told Not-Oleg that making a confessional tape wouldn't change anything. Not-Oleg told her it didn't need to change anything. All he needed was to plant the seed and let the conspiracy theorists run with it. So true.

[ahpny]

Why didn’t Carrie loose the wig in the subway? If she was worried they’d recognize her as “Carrie,” why wasn’t she also worried about being, bewigged notwithstanding, recognized as “not Simone?”

And also, isn’t part of the deal with keeping captives alive and well for trade, keeping them well, which would include not insane? If the US has enough leaverage  to broker the trade, why didn’t the US have enough leaverage to insure she got her meds? Maybe that leaverage went to hair coloring products.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The first half of the episode was really tense which made the rest of the episode seem a bit anticlimactic. I know they were wrapping up loose ends but it felt like it took so long to get to the actual ending (Keane resigning and Saul getting Carrie back).

I'm glad the VP did the right thing instead of the selfish thing. I was not at all surprised that Keane was totally stone faced while Paley begged her not to let his family suffer. Maybe you should have thought about your sick wife before you started doing all that shady shit, Paley!

Even though the Russians lost Simone, they did end up getting a pretty sweet deal at the end. They got back three of their guys in exchange for just Carrie - and they even got Goran, the guy who they initially asked for.

10 hours ago, Joan van Snark said:

so i wonder what happened to the guy Carrie was in the car with?  Guess he was not so lucky? 

While Carrie was still hiding, Max told her that Anson had made it to the embassy.

[parandroid]

For once, Homeland had a decent ending where the good guys mostly won. Yeah, Carrie suffered, but the good of the many outweighs the needs of the few, and so on. Plus, Carrie _always_ suffers. This ending didn't spend any time with her while she suffered. I'm more than fine with that. This episode reminds me of the season 4 finale, where people were given enough time to draw a deep breath and think it through. Unlike season 4 though, it was not the aftermath of a disaster. Me likey. There is only so much dark I can take.

I did wonder about Keane spitting in Paley's face. Not that he didn't deserve it, but I wondered where the writer's were going, portraying her heart of stone. Her resignation speech answered my question.

[Deanie87]

I thought this season started so strong but other than the President Keane stuff, there wasn't single focus holding the season together.  The Alex Jones-like guy was completely forgotten beyond the Russian bots that were on the periphery of his story,  Carrie got the never before heard of band back together in the middle of the season and Frannie was in and out of Carrie's thoughts until she, too, was completely tossed aside and forgotten.  Between all of that and the time jumps this seemed like two separate seasons rather than one unified whole.  So much time and detail was put into things that didn't really matter in the end, and then the last episode so much had to be handwaved by time jumps and inference.

I really liked that Keane went to the bunker to thank all of the moles but this finale didn't work for me much.  Meh, I still miss Quinn. 

Edited April 30, 2018 by Deanie87

[ShannaB]

I think the ending indicates that Carrie will be okay because despite the wild eyes and hair, she had enough presence of mind to take a running dive to the 'safe side' during the exchange.

I found it down right chilling when Yevgeny said that all he needs is a seed and conspiracy theorists will do the rest.  

[attica]

11 hours ago, magemaud said:

And I guess that carrot and cauliflower stroganoff diet made her hair grow!

My hair would have grown that much in seven months, with or without carrots. FWIW.

I would have hoped Carrie would have anticipated Good Cop / Bad Cop between Aleksandr and Yevgeny and been better prepared, but I'm willing to fanwank that she was just throwing the only hail-mary pass she had left. Also: that cell she was is was bigger than my whole apartment. I didn't think the Russians use Open Concept floorplans in their prisons!

[slowpoked]

Well, that was that. It was a mildly disappointing finale for me. While it had a lot more action than some of the previous season finales - Seasons 4 and 5 come to mind, where it was more of a slow burn, laidback finale - I was disappointed by the writing choices made in here.

That interplay between the White House and Saul at the airfield was the best scene last night. Saul calling the new president to ask for a huge favor, while weaselly Paley listens in. That suspense of whether the Russian soldiers will recognize Simone, of whether the new Prez will side with Saul or Paley, and the entire payoff of Prez finally telling Paley to get the fuck out of his white house was all kinds of awesome.

A few things disappointed me - first, why did Carrie not ditch the wig sooner? She ditched the scarf but not the wig?? And why would she choose to lock herself up instead of mingling with the people as a blonde? At this point, the Russians are looking for Simone, not Carrie Mathison. It's not like Carrie was the target, and she could not get away with any other disguise.

Second, Anson was able to get to the US embassy after crashing head on with a police car??? How the heck did that happen? Are we supposed to think the Russian police just let him go after they saw he was not with NotSimone?! I find that part preposterous. 

Third, I'm disappointed Paley's COS didn't go down with him. considering she had more to do with pulling the trigger on the treasonous act of informing the Russian ambassador of the covert op. But oh well, that's Wasthington for all of us regular folks.

Lastly, while I understand the choices made behind Keane resigning, I don't agree with it. Sure, she got vindicated that she's not some just deranged power hungry authoritarian. There was a threat to her life, and a foreign power wanting to subvert the office. But I think by resigning, in the end Russia still got what they wanted, being outed as a hostile foreign power be damned. I would have liked it better if she stayed in the office and weathered through the rest of her presidency in mostly boring fashion. 

A side note, I do like it that they revealed Keane to be vindictive and petty at times. I know we all want our world leaders to be noble and magnanimous, but no one is perfect, world leaders are also human beings having flawed characteristics and feelings. I'm actually glad that the writers didn't think Keane is above feeling petty for people who have wronged her. 

Edited April 30, 2018 by slowpoked

[magemaud]

I was almost shouting at my TV during the police chase through the subway, first "Lose that red scarf!" which she finally did. Then, "Ditch that brunette wig!" Blonde Carrie could have blended into the crowd and slipped away at that point. 

[Foghorn Leghorn]

So glad Keene will be gone, a bit too much of Aunt Lydia in that performance!  Good episode.  Yes, please can we have a season without worrying whether Carrie is on her meds and also no Franny!  Why did they give her a kid in the first place!

[RandomX]

I accepted that Carrie chose to keep the wig on until she heard that Saul and the team were safely away. She wanted the active focus to be on tracking Not-Simone's very warm trail, not on wondering how Simone Actual could have disappeared into thin air, which could have led to the correct conclusion too quickly. 

[Loandbehold]

8 hours ago, ahpny said:

Why didn’t Carrie loose the wig in the subway? If she was worried they’d recognize her as “Carrie,” why wasn’t she also worried about being, bewigged notwithstanding, recognized as “not Simone?”

I was thinking the same thing, but I believe she needed to maintain the ruse, and keep the Russians close enough, that they would still be chasing her and not stopping Saul and Simone at the airport (even though they had, once they thought they had the car with "Simone"), they let Saul drive away. 

 

6 hours ago, parandroid said:

I did wonder about Keane spitting in Paley's face. Not that he didn't deserve it, but I wondered where the writer's were going, portraying her heart of stone. Her resignation speech answered my question.

I was amazed that for most of that scene, she didn't blink (they might have done something in post, but still, she had to stare for a long time), so long that I half thought she'd be revealed to be a hologram.

 

2 hours ago, slowpoked said:

Third, I'm disappointed Paley's COS didn't go down with him. considering she had more to do with pulling the trigger on the treasonous act of informing the Russian ambassador of the covert op. But oh well, that's Wasthington for all of us regular folks.

Prosecutors want the biggest fish, so they're willing to make deals with underlings. While his CoS, in the real world, might have had to plead guilty to some lesser charge, she'd likely get a reduced sentence, or possibly even no jail time, if she agreed to testify against Paley. 

[Bcharmer]

17 hours ago, magemaud said:

And I guess that carrot and cauliflower stroganoff diet made her hair grow! I’ll have to try that...

And has anyone noticed? We never see Carrie actually eating. Ever. I've been noticing this for many seasons now.

[JocelynCavanaugh]

9 minutes ago, Bcharmer said:

And has anyone noticed? We never see Carrie actually eating. Ever. I've been noticing this for many seasons now.

I’ve never thought about it but that’s fine with me. Shows usually aren’t enhanced by scenes of people smacking and talking with their mouths full, plus all the cutlery noise. Ugh. I’m still working through the trauma of Carrie Bradshaw and Twizzlers. 

[magemaud]

I thought that after Carrie put the red scarf on that poor woman the police tackled, once they realized their mistake that would buy enough time for her to lose the wig and blend into the crowd as a blonde. At that point they'd still be looking for a brunette in a black coat since even the woman that got the scarf would describe her that way. 

[snarts]

Petty point I realize, but my biggest issue with Keane was her schoolmarm look.  Same freaking hairstyle, day after day...

I was also yelling at the screen for Carrie to ditch the scarf & wig.  I thought Yevgeny would resort to threats when the offer of pills didn't work.  I wonder, did  Aleksandr show up to fuck Carrie the night he brought her the sugar pill?  A little goodbye party before his new assignment in Syria?

[preeya]

Best line of the series:

VP/Temporary President Warner to Sen. Paley

"And you, Senator, you can get the fuck out of my White House."

[babs1226]

3 hours ago, Foghorn Leghorn said:

Why did they give her a kid in the first place!

Because Clare Danes was pregnant.

[chocolatine]

In the exchange between Saul and the Russian ambassador in the "three days later" part, the ambassador asked for three Russian prisoners in exchange for Carrie, and Saul vetoed one of them. Then, "seven months later", Saul gives the Russians three prisoners in exchange for Carrie, including the guy he didn't want to give up. So Carrie rotted in a Russian prison for sevens moths without her meds pretty much for nothing? She could have been out after three days at the same expense to the US. Not cool, Saul.

[SuprSuprElevated]

17 hours ago, ruby24 said:

I think Homeland was trying to send a message with Keane's resignation for the "good of the country" speech. If only.

Or a woman is only good if it's the right woman.

[scrb]

14 hours ago, Ina123 said:

The big takeaway from the episode for me was when Carrie told Not-Oleg that making a confessional tape wouldn't change anything. Not-Oleg told her it didn't need to change anything. All he needed was to plant the seed and let the conspiracy theorists run with it. So true.

But I don't recall Russians or Soviets making propaganda tapes.  Or the US holding Russian prisoners.  The fake tapes is more ISIS.

Trying to remember when they introduced this whole Carrie is crazy thing?  Season 2 as a way to explain her getting involved with Brody?

This season it was obvious the manic Carrie episodes were filler.  Homeland does have longer seasons than other premium channel shows.  I guess since it got good ratings, Showtime wanted more of them, which leads to the filler episodes like the hacker one.

And the Keane story ultimately turned out to be filler too.  They gave a lot of time in this episode to what was going on in the WH.  Here they were having nice ceremonies and Keane being contemplative while her car drove by beautifully-lit monuments while Carrie rotted in a Russian prison -- BTW, Saul ended up giving the Russians the guy they wanted so Saul took his sweet time (7 months) to get Carrie free.  

But the show wants us to see again how much Carrie suffers for her art, er mission.  She was even willing to debase herself for her mess, though using the bug-eyed stare didn't seem the best way to seduce her jailor.

[magemaud]

2 hours ago, snarts said:

Petty point I realize, but my biggest issue with Keane was her schoolmarm look.  Same freaking hairstyle, day after day

ITA. She always looked so grim and stone-faced, even on the rare occasions when she was smiling, and that little rolled bun was so severe. 

[SuprSuprElevated]

I really, really disliked Keane, which I guess is a tribute to Elizabeth Marvel.

[ladle]

5 hours ago, Bcharmer said:

And has anyone noticed? We never see Carrie actually eating. Ever. I've been noticing this for many seasons now

She ate a tiny TV-dinner-looking thing in her sterile apartment in one of the Berlin episodes.  Why on earth I remember this is unclear to me...

[KaveDweller]

1 hour ago, scrb said:

Trying to remember when they introduced this whole Carrie is crazy thing?  Season 2 as a way to explain her getting involved with Brody?

I think Carrie is crazy was introduced pretty early in the first season. 

[slowpoked]

16 hours ago, babs1226 said:

Because Clare Danes was pregnant.

Not true. Claire Danes was already 8 months pregnant at the tail-end of Season 2, while she was chasing Abu Nazir in the US. Carrie Mathison got pregnant, or learned she was pregnant, after Brody had passed away in Season 3. I believe she gave birth at the beginning of Season 4. 

Edited May 1, 2018 by slowpoked

[Bcharmer]

1 hour ago, ladle said:

She ate a tiny TV-dinner-looking thing in her sterile apartment in one of the Berlin episodes.  Why on earth I remember this is unclear to me...

I remember her putting that tiny meal in the microwave, and I thought she'd finally eat, but IIRC, I think she got a call, or a text, and dashed out before she took a bite (unless I blinked, and missed it). Once it became noticeable that she never ate food, it became a little game I'd play during the show. Because sometimes that was more fun than what was happening on screen. So in the finale, I would have been shocked if she had actually tasted her dinner. Kind of a contrast with last night's episode of Billions... with fried pig's ears, tiny birds and Twizzlers being enjoyed with gusto.

[dwmarch]

On 4/29/2018 at 11:27 PM, tpplay said:

And - perversely I guess - I was delighted that the Russian guard actually DIDN'T want to fuck our heroine.  Because that thing?  I am just over it.

Oh he fucked her, of that I am sure. That was part of Yvgeniy's plan for breaking Carrie, showing her how her usual charms could be employed to absolutely no effect.

On 4/30/2018 at 12:14 AM, ruby24 said:

I think Homeland was trying to send a message with Keane's resignation for the "good of the country" speech. If only.

Dragging real politics into this forum is generally considered verboten but having said that I am glad I am not the only one who noticed.

8 hours ago, chocolatine said:

In the exchange between Saul and the Russian ambassador in the "three days later" part, the ambassador asked for three Russian prisoners in exchange for Carrie, and Saul vetoed one of them. Then, "seven months later", Saul gives the Russians three prisoners in exchange for Carrie, including the guy he didn't want to give up. So Carrie rotted in a Russian prison for sevens moths without her meds pretty much for nothing? She could have been out after three days at the same expense to the US. Not cool, Saul.

I would laugh if it turned out Carrie's charms worked out after all, Yvegeniy ended up becoming her boyfriend and she was all shell-shocked because after her successes in Russia she was being remanded into the custody of friggin' Saul who always ruins her best plans.

[rlc]

12 hours ago, scrb said:

But I don't recall Russians or Soviets making propaganda tapes.  Or the US holding Russian prisoners.  The fake tapes is more ISIS.

I thought that they were showing not-Oleg as the new Russia, using social media and ISIS-like means of disruption.

[Milburn Stone]

12 hours ago, scrb said:

And the Keane story ultimately turned out to be filler too.  They gave a lot of time in this episode to what was going on in the WH.

For me the Keane story was the essence of the whole season. That even a deeply-flawed president needs to be dealt with constitutionally, or else we might as well just hang it up as a country. The 25th Amendment is constitutional in every sense of the word, but not when its strings are being pulled by a foreign power. That principle of self-rule--not Keane herself--is what Saul, Carrie, et. al. were fighting for. Keane's resignation but only after being restored to power preserved the principle, validated every plot twist and turn that preceded it.

Edited May 1, 2018 by Milburn Stone

[teddysmom]

14 hours ago, preeya said:

Best line of the series:

VP/Temporary President Warner to Sen. Paley

"And you, Senator, you can get the fuck out of my White House."

This!! 

If Ann Dowd ever leaves Handmaid's Tale, the actress playing Keane could take over.   Why did they make her look so harsh all the time? I think she was on House of Cards for a while and she looked much better, not like a guard at a 1930s women's prison. 

Does Russia not observe the Geneva Convention? Wouldn't withholding meds like that be in violation? And why wouldn't someone from the US Embassy be allowed to see her and provide her with the medication she needed? 

I really thought while Keane was giving her speech, a Special Ops Team was going to break in the prison and get Carrie out. 

I feel like they left her dangling. Seven months?  When all they had to do was hand over the Goren guy? 

Her hair grew WAY more than seven months' worth of length. 

The whole hand off seemed really stupid.  I see we got rid of one problem, Francie, but we're going to have Crazy Carrie run into the ground over and over and over.  Please tell me the CIA doesn't allow its agents to self medicate, get drunk off their ass,  not take meds, etc.  She's not THAT brilliant. 

[slowpoked]

2 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

For me the Keane story was the essence of the whole season. That even a deeply-flawed president needs to be dealt with constitutionally, or else we might as well just hang it up as a country. The 25th Amendment is constitutional in every sense of the word, but not when its strings are being pulled by a foreign power. That principle of self-rule--not Keane herself--is what Saul, Carrie, et. al. were fighting for. Keane's resignation but only after being restored to power preserved the principle, validated every plot twist and turn that preceded it.

 

Word to this. I know the concept of Homeland has mostly been about the US national security and foreign policies. But I liked the basic premise of this season because it dealt with, I believe, for the first time, not with terrorist attacks to hurt and/or weaken the country's reputation, but to actually subvert its democracy directly to attack the most powerful position in the world. I just wish that some parts of this season had been executed better. But I had no problems with the Keane story. Like you said, that is what this season tried to protect and fought for. 

Edited May 1, 2018 by slowpoked

[LGGirl]

15 hours ago, chocolatine said:

In the exchange between Saul and the Russian ambassador in the "three days later" part, the ambassador asked for three Russian prisoners in exchange for Carrie, and Saul vetoed one of them. Then, "seven months later", Saul gives the Russians three prisoners in exchange for Carrie, including the guy he didn't want to give up. So Carrie rotted in a Russian prison for sevens moths without her meds pretty much for nothing? She could have been out after three days at the same expense to the US. Not cool, Saul.

Three Russians for Carrie.   Doesn’t sounds like a good deal to me.  

IRL, Carrie would be left in Russia to rot.  The government would do nothing to save her. 

And yes, she should have ditched the wig but I guess the writers wanted to show us how committed she was to the success of the mission.  

I thought Paley’s COS was arrested and didn’t get off.  

While I would have preferred Keane to continue her term, hope Beau Bridges is back next season.  

[Joimiaroxeu]

Was Keane still living in the WH after they "fired" her? If not, where was she that the VP could just waltz in on her and Wellington his shirtsleeves?

FFS, after everything that happened Keane just resigns. What a cop-out plot development. A woman president just isn't man enough for the job, huh?

Poor Carrie. Looks like CD is about to gun hard for another Emmy.

Loved the music over the closing credits.

[Loandbehold]

40 minutes ago, LGGirl said:

I thought Paley’s COS was arrested and didn’t get off.  

The news voiceover said that she was cooperating fully with the investigation. No mention was made of arrest, charges, or plea.