Starting right from the first frames of Episode 1, Showtime's Homeland has been on an amazing streak. The intense CIA drama didn't seem to falter even once throughout the entire debut season and, pausing only to collect the Best Drama Emmy, managed to rediscover the award winning formula for the first two episodes of the second. The third, however, started to put a strain on the storytelling's believability by making Brody run through a few unrealistic hoops but thankfully, Carrie's thread remained firmly grounded not to mention incredibly emotional.
The real shame is that Brody's 'hoops' don't even seem to have any effect on the overarching story since killing the Tailor (and covering it up) ultimately does nothing to change the fact that Saul has the tape. That's why I thought Mr. Barenson was the one in trouble when the preview for "State of Independence" was released but then the snippets from the episode (especially the one titled "The Tailor") did a quick job of clearing up that misconception. The clips for this week's "New Car Smell" also immediately answer a few lingering questions so proceed at your own Sunday-spoiler risk.
First, Saul visits Estes home to personally deliver the video recording of Brody that Carrie recovered from the home in Beirut (when she went mission OCD). As a man of mystery, Saul doesn't want to spoil the surprise so he simply tells his superior "He Made a Tape"...
I like how the preview cuts off right before the footage rolls, as if to leave some question as to whether the information might have been deleted (or some reason why it won't play properly) so that Estes can continue to rag on Carrie but going by "A Lot of Eyes," the second clip, I'd say she's all but reinstated. Take a look.
Homeland returns with Episode 4, “New Car Smell,” Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime. It stars Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, Mandy Patinkin and Morena Baccarin. It was adapted for American television by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon from the Israeli series Prisoners of War (or Hatufim) by Gideon Raff.
