
The other day I rewatched the Homeland pilot. A friend of mine, who told me heās really into spy shows and political dramas, mentioned that heād never seen any of it. Naturally, I recommended to him one of the best shows of that subgenre, and he wanted to see it. It had been a while since I watched it last, and Iām here to report that Homelandās pilot is phenomenal. The story is intriguing and propulsive, and thereās not an ounce of fat to be found on the entire episode. On one hand, itās arguably unfair to compare the current season to the pilot. But weāre at a point in the showās history where each season premiere is presented as though it is, in fact, a new pilot. The characters and themes are familiar, but the tone, pace, and intensity get reset every year.
āThe Return,ā like much of season six, is mostly shocking because of just how little happens in it. And itās one of the most exciting episodes of the season. Thereās a shocking death, some improvisational reconnaissance work, and a secret meeting on a pier between legendary intelligence agents. But it feels like literally nothing of circumstance has happened since the season began, and itās halfway over. The episode begins in the immediate aftermath of Quinnās meltdown, with Carrie trying to track him down and make sure heās okay. Meanwhile, sheās trying to convince Conlin to investigate the photos on Quinnās phone to figure out whoās really behind the bombing. The two former rivals team up after Conlinās initial inquiries into the van and Carrieās mystery neighbor turn up more questions than answers.
Unfortunately, itās Conlin who winds up doing all the legwork on the investigation. Obviously whoever is behind the framing of Sekou Bah are very familiar with Carrie, and thereās no way she would have been able to slip in undetected at the non-descript office building listed on the registration for Mystery Neighborās van. But as Conlin skulked around the shadowy organization, posing as a potential hire for some sort of data analysis job, I couldnāt help but think āCarrie needs to be doing this.ā She excelled at these kinds of situations and would have likely gotten more information than the nothingburger Conlin was able to extract. Now Carrie is sidelined while a transient character gets to do all the fun stuff.
Carrieās biggest responsibility is to get into the psychiatric facility where Quinn is being held in order to question him about the pictures in his phone. Honestly, Iām so done with the pincushioning of Peter Quinn. The last time Carrie and Quinn were in this position, Carrie was shouting questions into Quinnās face as he coughed up some sort of licorice plasma. As I recall, that didnāt end well, and yet hereās Carrie again attempting to question Quinn when heās obviously distressed. I donāt understand the purpose of keeping Quinn around as a character if it continues to be the story of a man whose life is slowly destroyed because of his proximity to Carrie Mathison. Adding another layer of pathos, when Carrie interrogates him, she reveals that sheās shown the photos to Conlin, and Quinn accuses her of being āone of them.ā
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Carrie eventually gets into the action when Conlin invites her to his house to talk about what he discovered in his investigation. By the time she arrives, Conlin is dead and Mystery Neighbor is creeping around the house with his gun drawn. The sequence is well-shot and reasonably suspenseful, but it ends with Carrie dashing straight to her car and peeling off before she gets hurt. Carrieās got a daughter to think about now, so sheās understandably not as willing to put herself in harmās way, but her decision to bolt rather than try to get the jump on the guy is baffling. Franny is still living at home after the Quinn incident, and therefore, whoever has been keeping tabs on her and tampering with her clientās van still lives directly across the street. Running away from the situation doesnāt do much to kick the can down the road.
Speaking of roads, the episodeās title presumably refers to President-Elect Keaneās trek back to New York City after growing suspicious and tired of the creepy, compulsory bunker she was being housed at. Long stretches of the episode are just the road trip back to the city, with Keane talking to the woman who tends to the property and didnāt support Keane during the election. They have a heart-to-heart about their sons, both of whom died in combat, and the woman says she felt she couldnāt trust Keane in part because of Keaneās refusal to talk about her son on the campaign trail. When they arrive back in the city, Keane steps in front of a gaggle of reporters and gives a rousing speech about how New Yorkers are tough, and pays a rare tribute to her son.
Thoughtful scenes like these have always been part of Homelandās DNA, but to watch the pilot again is to be shocked by how little else of the original series is left here. The only thing I can hope is that when pilot season comes around again, the Homeland team will look back on the showās glory days and figure out how to get the show theyāre making now to feel more like the show they were making then.
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Stray observations
- Saul now knows about the connection between Dar Adal and the Mossad agent, so thereās trouble brewing between this showās version of Murtaugh and Riggs.
- Why is Franny back at home again? That seems like such a bad idea.
- So long Ray Conlin, you will oddly be missed. Dominic Fumusa had solid chemistry with Claire Danes and I would have liked to see more of that pairing.
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