Reviewed by Rich Jepson.

As the Guinness advertising campaigns have so often told us, “Good things come to those who wait”, and tonight it certainly did. It’s only the third episode in but it feels like an age since we’ve seen Brody. Finally he’s back and in what was a brilliant showcase of the power of the series lead actors and characters, we were once again treated to a cleverly scripted episode, even if it left us feeling a little trapped.

As the episode did, let’s start with Brody. Since he left it seems he’s managed to make his way to South America and somewhere along the way in Columbia, he swapped a head of hair for a belly of bullets. Now he’s the guest of a mysterious captor who owes Carrie a favour; a favour that exchanges to $10million dollars in currency. What the back-story is there will certainly have an impact on Brody’s future once or if Carrie becomes aware of the situation.

In a comparable situation to the events of Prison Break, Brody is now beginning the third season of the show in what is effectively a Latin American prison, albeit a vertical one. The pedophile doctor carefully explained the situation throughout, dropping in to remind Brody that he’s now reached the last stop on the line.

From a political standpoint, the most significant part of tonight’s Homeland came with the line “You’re not a Muslim, you’re a terrorist”. Brody’s confidence in the mosque to take him in and aid him was staggering and it would’ve proved a very controversial plotline if the writers would have allowed Islam to be represented like this. There have been many cases in the past 10 years where in reality the outcome of this situation could’ve gone either way (depending on the location and circumstances) so it wasn’t a surprise to see Brody being hauled out of by the police. Event if the show had taken the opposite route it would’ve painted a bad picture of Islam, which in this event would’ve been unfair and ignorant.

So what’s next for Brody? There is surely room for him to escape from his surroundings again and if not then I’d expect a higher power to come into play in this environment. Having a $10million paycheck locked away is going to bring into question the value of the favour that Carrie is owed. I for one can’t see these criminals just holding Brody indefinitely when there is such money to be made.

Back in the States, Carrie is forced to play the game with Saul about her mental state. From out right opposing her own captivity she’s now in the second phase of appearing as ‘fixed’ as possible given her incarceration. The ‘representative’ that approached her poses an interesting avenue for her to potentially find an escape route. Could this be related to Brody’s situation? Or is it from another threat or source?

Overall, this was a fantastic edition of the show that relied upon its two core components to deliver and they did substantially. A few weeks ago I spoke about how the show has shifted focus to Carrie and I still believe that to be true but one thing for sure is that Homeland wouldn’t be the same without Brody, his future looks bleak to say the least at the moment but we need him to be part of this story in as larger capacity as possible.

9/10

Scene of the Episode: “No Salvation” – Brody’s plan to escape based solely on his affiliation with Islam was deeply flawed and I’m glad the show chose to punish his misguided understanding.