Contributor: Edmund B.
Written by Meredith Stiehm
Directed by David Semel
“Homeland” begins the CIA’s pursuit of Brody with in a familiar vein. Saul takes the video to Estes and convinces him to run a stealth operation. Between the mole and Estes’ fear of losing the Vice President’s patronage, these are all justified decisions. Most importantly, it means Carrie can participate, along with her fellow CIA-estranged surveillance crew, Virgil and Max. Everything is set for a reprise of season one’s Brody Watch, only with CIA supervision from Estes’ snarky, hand-picked man, Peter Quinn. And then, everything gets turned on its head. Apparently, the episode title, “New Car Smell”, refers to the whole series, as it sets out into unexpected and uncharted waters.
In addition to resurrecting Brodywatch, the episode also seemed to be pointing to a reprise of Carrie and Brody’s affair. The producers have admitted they tossed out their original plot, where Brody did blow himself up, a few episodes in, once they saw the sparks flying everytime Claire Danes and Damien Lewis shared the screen. That chemistry is palpable again during their brief, staged encounter, designed to tweak his suspicions. They’re both playing a role, but their desire to turn the conversation, and the clock, back keeps shining through. It’s no surprise when Brody’s call from the hotel bar goes not to his handler, Roya, but to Carrie.
The path to that non-booty booty call is littered with the debris from Brody’s disintegrating marriage. Jess has found her self-confidence after her triumph at the fundraiser, and won’t put up with Brody’s lies any longer. Her challenge to him to come clean is a win-win for her. Either he does, and they can continue to ride his ascendant star. Or not, which probably leads to a public fall from grace, and her moving on to Mike, the man she was a heartbeat away from marrying anyway.
At this point, his antagonist, Carrie, is the only person who really knows Brody. What friends and family he still has are completely in the dark. The possible threat Lauder represented is largely neutralized, now that he and Mike have gotten the wrong end of the stick and think Brody is working for the CIA. It will be interesting to see how Brody’s detention plays into that. Mike will probably be poking around, but any Agency caginess may just reinforce their theory.
In the midst of all this mistrust and betrayal, Dana and Finn are playing out their more innocent version, as she prepares to dump Xander. What’s instructive is how much concern and compassion they show, compared to the emotional hardball being played by their elders. When you’re young, you still think there’s a right way to do this. Only later do you realize there is no good way to assuage that pain and anger. And sometimes you find yourself still wanting someone in the very moments before they’re dragged off in a hood.
So, now we have Brody hauled off to an undisclosed location. From last season, as well as “24″ and “Rubicon”, we know these producers know their way around interrogation and psychological warfare, even torture. I think the play has to be to try to turn him (provided they realize he doesn’t know yet the details of Abu Nasir’s plot.) But after moving things this far, this fast, this unexpectedly, I think I’ll give up trying to predict anything. We’re in good hands. Time to relax, and enjoy the ride.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Directing: 2/2
Style: 3/4
Total Score: 9/10
