With the whole stabbing thing out of the way, Carrie was given the clean slate she needed. Claire Danes’ conviction in her words were pure magic. It wasn’t necessarily the way she handled herself, it was the way she treated the situation as if she was being interrogated herself. She left her heart and soul on that table and sadly admitted her obsession over Brody. Even with Brody continuously denying his treason, Carrie didn’t flinch for one second. She wasn’t acting, she was living.
The whole environment was hers to control the minute she turned off the cameras. We all knew it. Brody was hers to tear apart and we as the viewers were in no better place. Carrie proved through all the psychotic breakdowns that she was a CIA agent for a reason. She commanded the interrogation with confidence and empathy over the relationship she once had with Brody. Like Brody, I wasn’t initially impressed with her questioning over his guilt, but when she seamlessly asked of his truths and lies, my heart dropped. When she finally broke Brody with the incredibly well-timed question of the attack on America, it was like Christmas morning. A new day had arisen.
Equaling the tearjerker monster of a moment from last season’s finale, Brody was extremely painful to watch. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: when Damian Lewis just stands there and lets his emotions speak for himself, it is more rewarding than any cliffhanger could ever be. I was on the edge of my seat last year and this year was no different. The slow “reeking” of his tears and guilt were almost too much for me to handle. Seeing as how Lewis won his Emmy for the whole bunker scene, he might as well be handed another one.
Everything about Brody was finally revealed and it was clear that it really was the lies that undid him. They undid him so well that he succumbed to the guilt of it all and fell to the floor with its weight. It was so rewarding to see Brody curl into fetal position and to be left alone – not because I was glad the CIA won, but because I was glad he finally found release. When he finally went home to his family, the heartwarming return was the beginning of the next phase in his life. My only hope is that he doesn’t become a…re-doubled double agent?
Seeing Brody turn was as triumphant as I thought it would be. After last week’s jaw-dropping cliffhanger, the only way to go forward was to have Brody become a re-doubled agent. But even with the outcome as obvious as it was, the process of getting there was the focal point. They didn’t make a big deal of the end result as huge as it was in terms of story progression because this was an episode about character development and a ways to give closure upon some aspects of the show before it became too convoluted. In one of the final scenes with Saul and Peter redoing the tackboard, Homeland made it clear that it had given itself a clean slate. If there was ever a show that could do it successfully, it’s Homeland. Let’s all rest and await the coming episode.
By the way Carrie, we might need to talk about all the wine.