Homeland Review: “Two Hats” (Season 2, Episode 9)

We finally see why that handsome man above has been so quietly intimidating this entire season. Though Quinn was a welcome balance of humor that Homeland desperately needed, the air of mystery was never lifted until now. We knew he was “something else” this entire time, but the direness of knowing his backstory was always second or third to the events leading up to the big finale. So who is he?

Well, we still don’t really know. The only thing we learned was his involvement in the grand scheme of things, something that Estes had planned behind Saul and Carrie’s back. Not only do we have an operation involving a double agent, we have an operation involving the assassination of said double agent. I’m not sure how I feel about the Quinn’s reveal as an assassin of sorts, but it wasn’t like I was expecting anything less….wild. If the plan is to take Brody out when he is no longer useful, then that immediately makes Quinn useless as well. I’m seeing a death in the makings….and it isn’t that of Brody. I for one, will be very sad if they waste such a good character.

Saul is and has always been the rock of the show. He almost always does no wrong, but it doesn’t feel fake or even perfect. Saul’s investigation into Quinn with Virgil and Max did take about half of the episode, but it was well worth it. With Saul basically revealing his investigations on Quinn to Estes, it seems the CIA is about to self-implode. There will undoubtedly be a confrontation of sorts between Saul and the new character, Dar Adul.

With Quinn’s role in the story finally revealing its fangs, Mike’s is not far behind. The show doesn’t hide the fact that Jessica and Mike have a clear chemistry and it was only a matter of time before they went back into bed. Looking back, the whole purpose behind Mike’s investigations was solely so that the CIA had a way to connect to Brody’s family, evident of the role Mike played in getting Jessica, Dana, and Chris to safety.

However, much like Dana’s story, was it really worth it? I do enjoy Mike’s presence as he calms down the frantic mess that is Jessica and Dana, but I almost wish there was something…more to the result of everything Mike went through this season. He could have easily been the go to guy for this situation without his involvement in the CIA, but for believability, I guess it was the right move.

Looking at the preview for next week’s episode, it seems Nazir is on to Brody, but previews are just previews. I’ll wait and see if Brody’s cover really has been blown. Quinn is shown in his regular attire as if nothing has happened and Carrie is missing. Next week will be fun.