A Really Big Shoe

I just caught this week's Homeland.  I don't know if I'll be covering the show each week, but this episode, "Beirut Is Back," the second of the season, shows they're willing to go full blast.

One of the big questions in dramatic serials is how long must viewers wait for the other shoe to drop?  We know what's going on, but when will the characters find out?  When will Tony discover Livia wants him dead, when will Skyler discover Walt cooks meth, etc. Sometimes they never do.  The trickiest dramatic irony, I'd say, isn't when a character is in trouble but doesn't know, but when a lead character is justified but doesn't know.  Letting viewers dangle too long can become painful.

Yet that's what Homeland did.  Yes, it gave Carrie Mathison her victories, but the biggest of all eluded her--she suspected Sergeant Brody was a terrorist, but couldn't prove it.  (This is one of the reasons many viewers felt it was a copout when Brody pulled back from killing the Vice President.)   Her supposed failure helped destroy her career at the CIA, but also, as we learned in a monologue from this week's show, destroyed her confidence in herself.

The main action of the episode deals with Carrie, back doing what she needs to do, aiding the CIA (hard to see her getting back as a regular employee since not only was she suffering from mental problems, but also lied about it).  She gets back with an old contact who gives her big information--the woman knows when and where terrorist mastermind Abu Nazir will be.  Trouble is the CIA doesn't know if it's good intel or a trap.  Ultimately, Saul has to trust Carrie, even though he knows how crazy she can be.

At this point, we watch from the Situation Room as the drama unfolds.  Kidnaping is impossible, so they'll have to shoot Nazir.  Homeland then manages to have it both ways--Carrie's faith in her contact is justified since Nazir shows up, but Brody (whom the clueless Veep has invited to watch) warns Nazir with a secret Mayday text, and he gets away.

For most shows, that would be enough.  Soon after, Saul and Carrie pick up the contact who has asked for the $5 million reward and a trip to Detroit where she has relatives.  (Detroit has a large Arab population.  As for the $5 million, I wonder what she'll get?  Her info was good, it's not her fault Brody screwed up the mission.) But before she can leave her home crazy Carrie insists she rummage through her husband's papers (he's Nazir's contact), almost getting killed in the process.

This'll have to lead to something, but I doubt many guessed how quickly it would pay off.  The papers don't show much, but the sack they're carried in contains a flash drive with the video Brody made meant to be shown after his suicide bombing.  It was easy to imagine any discoveries about Brody could wait well into the season, but that's not how they decided to play it.

So for the viewer, Carrie's action are finally justified--not to us, but in the eyes of the authorities.  Yes, only Saul know right now, but (unless he's some sort of double agent) he'll have to share this information.  Presumably, Carrie will find out soon as well.  And the show will go in a new direction.  But the main thing is the biggest shoe has dropped.