Reviewed by Rich Jepson.

Well how many of us saw that coming? Saul has been helping to orchestrate Carrie’s demise not for political reasons but for the greater good. Now she’s installed herself into a backhand deal with the Iranians, go figure.

This was a classic 24-esk twist that on the surface is fantastic and brings Carrie back into the centre of the action rather than spinning away from it so dramatically. But when you look a little deeper, there’s a lot to this that feels clumsy and don’t really add up.

For example, with the CIA’s reputation hanging by a thread, why public denounce Carrie at such a magnitude that the last thread of confidence in the CIA could have been destroyed. Also, why did Carrie self-medicate so heavily during her institutionalization? Especially with the ‘Uh…oh…ah’ moment, did she clearly hate Saul at that point or was it just for show incase there was someone listening in? During the final few moments where they were on the patio, she tells Saul that he shouldn’t have left her there, so clearly there’s been a miscommunication and Saul’s gone too far on his part of the act.

Regardless of this though, it was key point in the season and a really clever twist that has given Carrie the chance to take control of the drama once more. With no sign of Brody this week, a little frustrating given his re-introduction in last week’s ‘Tower of David’ chapter, we need Carrie’s segment of the show to be full of intensity and intrigue, but hey, at least we got Virgil back in on the action so there’s a bonus.

The roadmap for season 3 has clearly been laid out by the money trail. All roads will surely lead to Caracas and that will be where we see the two stories meet. The involvement of Brody’s captor is still in the grey area, his connection to Carrie will no doubt be the key to matching up events in the latter part of the season but whether that will be on a positive note is unforeseen.

Outside of the main bulk of action we had the continuation of the rest of the Brody clan’s storyline. Dana is treading on thin ice when it comes to her part in proceedings. Her new boyfriend Leo, played by Sam Underwood, potentially murdered his own brother it seems which doesn’t surprise me at all giving the producers choice of casting. Underwood recently played a serial killer in Dexter’s final season so as soon as he appeared on screen most people who’ve seen him before would instantly think there’s something sinister about him, and now that’s been confirmed. It’s a little corny and an obvious threat that’s got to keep the Brodys busy for the next few weeks.

Jess on the other hand is going to be limited to simply worrying about her daughter and dealing with the aftermath of Brody’s exposing. I can’t see too much ahead for her at this point, however, Mike has at least made a return so it looks like the two can reform their relationship at least.

One last thing to point out this week was the lack of Quinn. He had a definitive position on Carrie’s treatment so will that change in the weeks ahead now that Carrie is out? And what role will Dar Adal play giving his new position as a key member of the CIA? Plenty of food for thought as we begin to reach the mid-way point in the season, I just hope we don’t se Leo and Dana run over anyone on their journey of teen angst.

8/10

Scene of the Episode: “It worked” – A superb twist in many ways but the lead up to it has felt a little too deviating. Nonetheless, Carrie is back on track and now has a predominant role in the events to come.