“Representative Brody” (Season 1 | Episode 10)

What’s worse than getting dumped by your “possibly” terrorist, returning POW after 8 years, soon to be running for political office, married, secretly Islamic, on/off, and ginger boyfriend? That’s right getting blown up, or just about anyway. This week Carrie literally went straight from the frying pan and into the fire in another eventful episode of Homeland.

The bombing in the park was a stark reminder of the kind of subject matter that this show is dealing with in terrorism and extremism. What’s scary about all this is just how quickly things shift up a gear, we’re lured into thinking that this is going to be a game of politics only to see half a dozen people exposed to a suitcase bomb. The way Carrie had twisted the Saudi diplomat into a meeting seemed like the perfect way to move on Walker and see if they can get any intel on Nazir out of him, what a huge setback in the CIA’s quest to capture this turned American.

As Carrie’s anxiety mounted so did the tension, something about the whole setting just felt floored, as the guy with the suitcase got closer the writing was slowly being plastered on the wall for poor Al-Zahrani. The explosion was shocking, the reality of an act of terrorism visualised across all those dismembered survivors and scattered body parts. Carrie came close and it does make you think, is this show going to pull a similar stunt in one of the final episode with one of the main characters? 24 was never afraid to kill of a popular character (even Jack Bauer, twice! But because he’s Jack Bauer dying won’t kill him) so it makes you think if Howard Gordon will do the same here.

As well as dumping Carrie, if you can call it a relationship that the two had, Brody was doing his political rounds this week paving the way for his political campaign. Clearing the air with Mike, talking things over with Jess and seemingly admitting his fling with Carrie. That was a surprise, Jess is very perceptive and I was racking my brain thinking I’d missed a scene where Brody must have confessed about his weekend away. But he hasn’t, if Jess is capable of reading him like that what else is she on to – his new found religion? The truth about his time in Iraq or even that he’s a sleeper agent?

Saul was on fire this week especially when it came to kicking some ass with the FBI, he owned the stooge in Estes office and then used this adrenaline to rally up Carrie when it was time for her interrogation of Al-Zahrani. He’s confirmed that there is definitely an active mole in the agency and it’s doubtful he would have put Carrie in harms way so for me that leaves Estes, Danny or possibly Virgil. Alternatively, it could be someone we’ve barely heard from or it could be something that we don’t find out this season.

With just two episodes to go there are definitely a lot of questions to be answered, how far will the show go with the Nazir storyline? Will they capture Walker? Who’s the mole? More importantly, are we in this for the long haul with Brody’s journey just beginning or is this all going to end somehow with another act of terrorism?

9/10

Scene of the Episode | The Fountain – No contest this week, a devastating scene that was well written and executed from all sides. Carrie’s left staring at the TV where her former number 1 suspect is making his way to the Whitehouse…but for what reason?

Reviewed by Rich Jepson, cult TV enthusiast and author of 24: Terrorism Through Television.