'An Origin Story' - Fringe, Season Five

Fringe

Season Five

Episode Five

'An Origin Story' - 6.5

Anna Torv is my world right now. 

I think I've decided what this season needs: an enemy. No, not The Observers in general, I mean a singular, ultimate antagonist who we can picture and who can represent exactly who our heroes need to defeat. I am aware that there is that one Observer who seems to be the leader, but I don't remember his name and he has to say something vaguely authoritarian before I realise who he is. We desperately need someone different, someone who stands out as the ultimate bad guy, who will be defeated in the series finale and take his entire race down with him.

I'm not saying 'An Origin Story' was bad. In fact, in terms of acting, originality, direction and story this season of Fringe has been universally (except 'The Recordist) well done, except there is a notable lack of heart and an almost isolating shift from the tone of the first four seasons. The death of Etta had the potential to put that sense of character back into the show, and bring us back to the ultimate success: it's characters. And yeah, in that sense we get a good going, with Olivia, Peter and Walter all handling the loss in their own ways.

Walter is quick to remind his son and daughter-in-law (I think?) that he has actually suffered through the death of a child before, and though he handles the death fairly well, he is the one who throws himself into preserving her memory. This is demonstrated early on as our heroes clean out Etta's apartment, as he takes a bottle of her perfume because his sense of smell is what best feeds his memory, while Olivia and Peter take photos and guns, respectively. Later on his presents Olivia with a videotape showing one of Etta's birthdays (they totally used videotape on home cameras into the mid-2010s), and suggests she give it a proper look in order to embrace the pain, since it is 'proof that she was here'.

Olivia and Peter are the real focuses though, with both taking a big hit from the death. Olivia mostly holds her dignity, apart from a brief moment in the opening scene, until Walter presents her with the tape, which prompts her to warn him that she's 'holding on by a thread'. Of the parents, I have to say I appreciated Anna Torv's portrayal more, as the few moments of anguished grief she did have managed to remain understated yet powerful. 'An Origin Story' doesn't choose to present displaced or over-the-top emotion, rather we get the views of two people who were somewhat prepared for this eventuality, and who had essentially been through it before. I don't think either really expected to be fighting the battle with their daughter anyhow, and it was largely icing on an unsavoury cake, or maybe even a brick or something.

Olivia's best scene was when she did finally decide to give the tape a go, breaking into Olivia-tears and pretty much drunk-dialling Peter to tell him how much she loves him. It was depressing, but like the rest of the episode it was also believable. On a deeper level, they aren't surprised, which does explain why the two at times are functioning better than most TV parents would. 

Peter is having just a few issues though, with the biggest one being rage. All he wants is to stick it to the Observers and watch them suffer, and he does get to engage in some eerie Observer-torture tonight. After a delivery from the future arrives, bringing new components for the CO2 generators, the resistance comes up with a plan to try and destroy the wormhole allowing these time travelling freights to come through. It involves deciphering both a strange wormhole-opening box and a book, which had come from a captured Observer.

Peter gets down to business trying to pull information from the unnamed enemy, who spends the entire episode strapped to a bed. He takes obvious pleasure in his treatment of his subject, clearly hell bent on avenging the loss of his daughter, using 'tells' to try and get him to inadvertently reveal how to utilise the device.

In the end though, the Observer reveals that Peter had put meaning in things that do not have meaning, and had misread the tells, meaning that when the group tries to use the device to destroy the wormhole it doesn't work. In revenge, Peter decides to steal the technology that makes a human into one of these Observers and implant it into itself. We don't get the implications of this tonight, but it was worth it just to see the Observer in its death throes as Peter cut into his back. Gross and violent, but so rewarding.

There are a couple of ways this could go: Peter is granted the powers of an Observer, including super speed and such, but also is given the dependence on CO2, the loss of hair, all that shit meaning that once they defeat them he will die. The tech could react badly to him as he is kind of an anomaly, resulting in him either dying or forcing Walter to remove it from him, which might also kill him. Maybe. Conversely, it could react strangely but give him even more intense powers, allowing him to easily overcome the other Observers, with no adverse side effects. This last one could also lead to a different, more interesting tangent: if he became an all-powerful Observer, perhaps the tech will also cause him to sway to their side, becoming the recognisable and distinctive face of the enemy for the final showdown. Of course, only one or two of these doesn't result in the death of Peter, but it is the final season so who cares about death?

'The Transformation' - Fringe, Season One

Fringe

Season One

Episode Thirteen

'The Transformation' -9.0

I've grown weary of the blue tinge. MY KINGDOM FOR SOME WARM COLOURS!

I do slightly remember watching this episode from the first time, and I remember thinking how stupid the idea of a man turning into the porcupine thing was. How then was I so impressed this time around? My best guess is that I didn't actually remember how I really felt about 'the Transformation', since the start of the episode bears so little resemblance to how it goes out.

It is always logical to start a review with the start of the movie, or episode. Whatever. In this case, the cold open was... interesting. Some guy for some reason or another, decides to freak out an airplane of crew and passengers by asking for weapons and sedatives, you know, pretty standard airplane protocol. Next thing you know, he's a giant porcupine.

What did I think? Well, as I said in the introduction, it's a bit stupid. Nonetheless, the creature's reveal was very well handled - a brief lull in the hushed conversation between two stewards heralds his eruption from the lavatory, followed by a hazy rampage through the passengers. It was a bit like something out of a creature feature, the old cheap ones that couldn't afford to show us the beast because he looked like a man in a costume. The last three or so seconds of the opener are what make it worthwhile, as well as the short scene after the title sequence which shows the plane careening down over a soccer pitch and landing in a fiery explosion behind a nearby forest. For a brief moment, all we could see was the reflection of the doomed jet in the tinted glass of some soccer mum's SUV, and it was terrific.

Somehow, this plane crash turns into a bioweapons sale in Chicago; something about the man's transformation being caused by a synthetic compound which has been weaponised. Maybe? Anyway, that doesn't really matter, what matters is that by some weird John Scott-related means they discover another man who is on the cusp of his own crazy metamorphosis and Walter is able to slow the transition down. But who cares about that?

John Scott? Yes, his memories are still stuck in Olivia's pretty head, and they mean she knows that John knew the man who transformed on the plane, and thus so does she. Being Olivia and completely selfless, she goes back into the tank she enters in the Pilot and 'the Dreamscape', endangering herself to the horrible side effects associated. So far all these sequences have been fantastic, very atmospheric and foreign, and at first this one seems comparatively more rushed and erratic. By its end, however, things get weirder than they have in the others. John Scott full on talks to Olivia while Peter and Walter start to worry about her signs. Before we now it, John Scott is actually aiding his former partner in finding 'Conrad', the mastermind looking to see the porcupine-serum. Turns out Scott isn't as evil as we thought, and that in reality he is an undercover NSA agent who's task was to take out Conrad while infiltrating the FBI for some reason. Who knows, right?

With the help of some other NSA guy John Scott's memories led them to, we find out where the sale of the weapon is going down, and we are presented with one of the finest pieces of television I have watched; Olivia and Peter head in on a sting operation to find the weapon and apprehend all involved, perhaps even Conrad. It is so well written and so well acted, one of the tensest and most captivating things I've seen in a long time, and credit should be given to the writing staff and to Anna Torv and Joshua Jackson. Everyone did an amazing job crafting one sequence that makes the entire episode worth watching. I can't stress enough how perfect it was.

I enjoyed the ending as well, since it seemed to be built as the final time we will see John Scott, which is a great thought. Walter revealed to Olivia that her brain was ridding itself of Scott, and that soon her mind will purge itself completely of him. Olivia being Olivia, she turns it into a reason to go back in the tank. I think it's her favourite place now, she always ends up there somehow. The location for their final meeting was well scouted, it was truly a beautiful stagnant lake - and no, that isn't sarcasm, it was really pretty. As much as I hate Mark Valley, the scene - which was essentially a marriage proposal - was heartbreaking for Olivia, as the second he said those clichéd words he vanished, and she was free of him forever, even though that's not what she wanted anymore. Ah, I thought it was well done, despite it being about Scott.

'The Milkmaid's Lot' - Boardwalk Empire, Season Three

Boardwalk Empire

Season Three

Episode Nine

'Where's My Funny Hat? The Milkmaid's Lot' - 9.0

Groin-grabbingly transcendent

What is particularly fun about this terrific children's tale of a sadistic and sociopathic gangster's longing hunt for a particularly audacious head dress is Nucky's fall from grace, to be clichéd. The Nucky Thompson we know: in control, sly, focused and witty, the master of a double life; is broken following a concussion suffered in the explosion of Babette's as well as the loss of his current love, Billy Kent.

Billy Kent represented Nucky's complete lack of awareness and cohesion, as throughout the episode his worst moments are signified by a dream-like flashback to the peroxide-haired flapper standing amidst sinking ashes, as her surviving lover's mind only hears the whining of acute tinnitus. It's powerful stuff, but also a bit of a cliché in itself, although it is used to full and worthwhile effect. Sometimes it is just unavoidable to use a cliché, but when it works it works, so who cares?

To be honest, Nucky's verbal and mental slips came thick and fast and I absolutely adored it. I'm certainly not saying I enjoyed his apparent dementia, but I found the massive contrast between this post-trauma version of the character with the normal, strong Nucky was so intense that it couldn't have failed. We have never seen the man this down-and-out, and it was marvellous. Has Steve Buscemi won any awards for this role yet, because sometimes I feel like they should just give him the big Emmy statue that stands behind the hosts. Probably split it with Claire Danes... 

Let's try and compile a list of Nucky's brain farts: (in no particular order)

• ·         Tried to get his doctor to call Eddie over, except he was actually looking for Eli
• ·         Thought he said 'Eli'
• ·         Wants to know why there isn't a pony for Emily's birthday party, after telling Owen and Margaret not to buy one last week.
• ·         Mistakes Chalky White (WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?) for a servant
• ·         Goes absolutely over the top after Gyp calls up to mock the loss of Billy
• ·         Has to be held back by Eli, whom he fails to recognise.
• ·         Doesn't understand why there's a party in his suite when he walks in on Emily's birthday.
• ·         Calls Margaret 'Mabel' - My personal favourite
• ·         Asks if Emily's ridden her pony
• ·         Gives her like half the birthday cake after he tears it apart. 
• ·         Gets confused by Margaret and starts talking about the explosion.
• ·         Collapses.
• ·         He asks Margaret if she found her missing earring, as in Billy's from last episode.
• ·         Returns it to her once he finds it in the bathroom, to her confusion. 

This last event leads to Margaret - who I think is feeling a tad guilty after seemingly agreeing to run away with Owen - coming clean about his current condition by informing him about the earrings' real owner's demise. With this now burnt into his mind, Nucky finally recalls the death of Billy in a brilliantly beautiful flashback, and he is able to regain a large part of his composure before strutting out to call his fellow gangsters to arms against the Gyp Rosetti and Joe Masseria threat.

I was equally impressed by the complete brush off his business partners gave him, essentially damning our hero to dying alone. Surely now would be the time to remember 'Sunday Best', in which Rosetti made an oath to Masseria to kill every single one of the other big league masters. We'll come to that later, and that will bring Torrio, Rothstein and the other guys back into the war. Rosetti just has to fuck up by attacking one of them.

What did you think of Gyp Rosetti's hat? I liked its outlandish and completely-off-his-rocker aesthetic. I'm sure captain's hats or whatever the fuck that was will be an amazing fashion trend that will sweep the universe over the next few years. His plan to get the Tabor Heights people on his side was a bit weird, it seemed to be like an expensive way of achieving something he could have done with fear. Didn't he immolate the last sheriff and beat this one? You'd think the residents of this sleepy coastal town would have cottoned onto the sheer intimidating force that is Gyp Rosetti.

And Margaret and Owen? Who cares? I'd rather see Margaret with Nucky, Owen is an entirely uninteresting character now that we've gotten to know him, and he's annoyingly soft-spoken for a known killer. Similarly, I've come to dislike Richard Harrow's story because it seems largely irrelevant and boring. We go from Nucky having to organise a war while suffering from a concussion to a guy with a burnt facing getting some lip action. Also, nice standards girl. I get that you are noble because you are willing to look past his imperfections and see the beautiful man within, but we all have limits. I like my prospective partners to have at least 90% of their face NOT made of plastic or metal or something artificial. Also, preferably I like most of the face to still be present. It may be asking a lot, but I'm happy to have high standards.

Before I bow out for the night, let's discuss two scenes. First, my 'that-poor-actor' scene of the night goes to the poor child actor playing young Tommy, who walks in on his favourite whore engaging in less-than-vanilla sex with her current customer. It was a rotating shot that went from the two going at it doggy-style to the boy coming in through the door, the man's arse still gyrating in the adjacent mirror. Unless there was an annoying level of CGI, they just put the kid in the middle of a very unfriendly scene. I don't know how I feel about that.

Second, my favourite moment, and that would have to go to another so-far-unmentioned brain fart, as Nucky asks Margaret to stay with him will he conducts his business with Eli and Owen. The poor woman has to sit there while he loudly exclaims wonderful images such as 'I'll wear that fucking dago's guts as a neck tie', giving Margaret a nice cold dip in the waters of Nucky's gangster life. It was probably a deciding moment for the woman, who shortly after tells Owen they are hightailing it out of Atlantic City as soon as possible.

TADAH!!! Funny hat dance! No, not really, but I could never put anything past Gyp Rosetti, and that's why he's such a fun character to see on screen. Gods be good he'll pipe up for the final few episodes before taking a wondrous and memorable bow out. Anyone with me? 

'Belle Femme' - Boardwalk Empire, Season One

Boardwalk Empire

Season One

Episode Nine

'Belle Femme' - 8.0

Pictures are getting harder and harder to find as the series goes on

These recaps are beginning to eat away at my soul. I occasionally enjoy venting my feelings about these episodes, but in reality I feel like I need some sort of work to keep me going, something to stop myself watching like ten episodes of things a day.

'Belle Femme' doesn't really have any faults. We have definitely continued on from the constant exposition and entire lack of action, with the episode featuring a major character's incarceration and another D'Alessio brother attack.

Margaret's character has grown considerably over the last few instalments, and she’s really beginning to come into her own as a woman in a position of power. Tonight her power is finally called upon as Madame Jeunet of La Belle Femme desires for her to convince Nucky to cut her some slack. It's by no means high risk, but it is good to see her really learning - and enjoying - having influence and say in society. After at first being entirely ignored by Nucky, she manages to convince him when she pretends that she personally wants the store to remain where and what it is. At her next visit, she even unsubtly asks for remuneration for herself once Madame Jeunet offers her something for her daughter instead. In her own words 'My daughter didn't help you'. This new Margaret could be fun.

As usual there is a lot of political conversations I understand very little of. For whatever reason, Nucky doesn't want to keep the current Mayor of Atlantic City in his position, offering Bader the position. I don't know who that is, really, all I know is that I recall hearing the name before. Perhaps he's evil, and can raise the dead? Dragons? The Bringer of fire and darkness? I don't care, to be honest. Unless he's one of those things. I'm sorry, but I really am a genre guy, I like a little degree of the impossible thrown into my shows, pure drama generally bores me. That said, I do enjoy Boardwalk Empire, and for a drama it is pretty fantastic, even if I don't understand everything that's said.

Jimmy doesn't have too much fun tonight, arriving back in Atlantic City with his own conditions for re-employment under Nucky's regime, that being that he wants Richard Harrow on the job with him. Nucky doesn't appear to give a rat's arse about his conditions, he only wants his protégé back in the fold, initiating him with a simple chore; rid the world of the D'Alessio brothers, who have been identified as the culprits behind the casino heist last episode. Jimmy starts his job by using his mother to trap Lucky Luciano with his pants down. Gillian is able to take his gun and leave him entirely unarmed and unaware, as Jimmy walks in with a splash of boiling hot coffee and a pointed gun.

It wasn't meant to be, however. I don't have any big issues with Lucky, he's actually kind of cool, but the show wouldn't be overly damaged by the loss of the secondary character. Lucky gets away, regardless, as while Jimmy heads out of his mother's apartment, Agent Van Alden bursts in, taking Jimmy in for the massacre from the first episode.

Agent Sepso had actually intercepted the telegrams Jimmy had tried to send to Nucky and his wife, but had failed to inform his partner as early as he could, hiding the messages and claiming that a higher officer was nervous about the investigation into Hans Schroeder's murder, and that he feared that the case may jeopardise both their jobs. Van Alden doesn't take that shit, throwing one of his trademark tantrums by throwing a bagel or something at the floor, and tearing into his colleague. It works out fine though, and with Jimmy in custody and a witness from the massacre on hand, the agents look set to make a serious conviction. It doesn't work out that way, with Sepso taking the witness out on a long trip to a safer location, obviously on Nucky's money roll. Intriguing.

That's not the only shooting however, as in the final sequence of 'Belle Femme', Nucky, Margaret and Eddie are exiting a dinner with Bader. This might be a good point to explain how much I love the 1920s entertainment, it's so vaudeville and over-the-top, and the comedy routines are often laugh-out-loud funny, especially the one we see tonight. Sorry, sidetracked, but as the three characters stroll down the thriving and colourful boardwalk they are distracted by a man interested in Nucky. Next second, a man in the crowd pulls out a gun and points it right at Mr. Thompson. Luckily Eddie reacts quickly, pushing it out of the way, with the shooter getting some poor innocent lady instead, who falls into Margaret's arms and spills blood all over her free dress from Madame Jeunet. Eddie manages to put a bullet in the shooter's leg as he gets away, so that will no doubt be a plot point later on, but as of right now the killer or attempted-such has escaped. We don't even get confirmation that it was the D'Alessio's responsible, considering shows like this like to pull such manipulative moves. We shall see.

If anything, it was like the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the true beginning of what is bound to be all out warfare between two rival factions in Atlantic City. I certainly can't wait for the real fighting to get going, as this show is pretty fucking awesome without constant action, so imagine what it will be like when people start hitting the ground. There are still the odd characters who haven't grown from their expository phases, like Angela, who I'd be interested in seeing in the thick of things, but I guess this show can't focus on everyone. It is unfortunate though, since there are a hell of a lot of fantastic actors and actresses here, many of whom are simply standing on the sidelines waiting for the right moment to do something.

'Q&A' - Homeland, Season Two

Homeland

Season Two

Episode Five

'Q & A' - 9.5

I had so much trouble locating an interesting image from this episode, so endure a photo of Morena Baccarin. 

Like 'The Weekend', 'Q & A' shows Homeland doing what it does best: showcasing its uber talented cast and crew, with the writers and actors being at the forefronts of their respective fields. Claire Danes and Damien Lewis have been almost consistently fantastic, so it would be almost redundant to heap praise on them like dirt on a fresh grave, but they truly, truly deserve it, especially considering that most of their scenes tonight are spent in one location, having one extended dialogue.

Oh, and what a dialogue it was. When Carrie walks into her home once it's all said and done, then takes out a bottle of wine and pours herself a glass it was possibly the most deserved drink of all time. That was some prime delivery of some amazing writing, it is possibly impossible to pick which one of the two actors was stronger. I can imagine how tough that would have been to film. Well, I can't really, but it sure as hell didn't look easy. 

I actually stopped taking notes during the interrogation because it was all in the eyes, and looking down at a page I was just missing out on the awesome. Just the sheer emotion, weariness and desperation that was contained in both pairs was astounding, and I was happy to see the tears took forever to come out. Tears are the easiest emotion to fake, in my book. I can fake cry and I've never had a single acting class outside of compulsory school drama. Luckily 'Q & A' waited until the tension and drama reached an absolute peak before bringing out the water works in both Carrie and Brody. 

It was highly pleasing to see Brody give in and admit to it all. Sure, it leaves us wondering where we can go from here, but I have been wondering where we're going since about the third episode. One ultimately negative aspect about this series is the finite premise, which will one day be forced to retire or fade into dragging, convoluted nonsense that people will eventually give up on. Looking at the speed of the major arc, especially over the last few episodes, Homeland may only last one or two more seasons before it will have to gracefully bow out of the ring. Heaven forbid they try to shift the focus to another major plotline - Maybe Jess has been a terrorist this whole time! - *shudder*. 

I have to wonder the feasibility of allowing Brody back out into the world. It makes sense from an audience perspective, I mean they aren't just gonna shove off one of the two major players just as his story hits its high, but in reality I don't know if a confirmed and confessed would-be terrorist would be granted the ability to walk freely amongst the non-Jihadists. And no, I'm not saying all terrorists are Jihadists, just this one. Of course, I guess he hasn't actually committed any acts of terrorism yet. And he is a direct (ish) link to Abu Nazir, and their first man on the inside. I can definitely see the advantages in letting him go about his business, but what about the risk of him being a triple agent and just going in and telling Nazir that he's a part of the CIA now?

In terms of plot, I wasn't sure how I felt about Dana and the Vice President's son getting into some potentially life changing shit, as Finn Walder accidentally runs down a pedestrian before not-so-accidentally driving away from the scene, against the initial protests of his young date. This focus on young love - perhaps squandered now - is a tad bizarre to me, and feels largely out of place in this tale of terrorism and political intrigue. I'm happy for there to be little references to it or the odd line of dialogue, but really I don't care. Dana's pretty annoying as well, and Finn's kind of an ass. Hopefully he'll be put in jail and never heard from again.

Obviously the focus of 'Q & A' was the interchange between the down-and-out Brody and the high-horse-hoisted Carrie, and I'd say two thirds of the episode was devoted to them in some way. My favourite bit was when Carrie began talking about monsters, and how Brody's decision to not blow himself up demonstrated that unlike Nazir, he isn't one. Nazir on the other hand kills civilians, or as she puts it 'Danas and Chrises and Jessicas'. Carrie then goes on to warn him about the weight of lying, and decides to demonstrate the power of honesty by telling him the flat truth: she wants him to leave his wife and children and be with her. 

Dialogue and performances meld together so soundly it's immaculate, and unfairly intense. You aren't gripping the armrests in agonising discomfort, but you're unable to avert your gaze as these two amazing people and amazing actors manage to create something truly spectacular, and you can just tell that Danes and Lewis will no doubt take the Emmy's again next time. Fuck, they are so awesome. I wish I was one of them.

It seems that's why we watch Homeland, not for the Brody family drama, not for Abu Nazir's winding staircase of a terrorist plot and not for Carrie's insanity. We watch it to see Claire Danes and Damien Lewis deal with the Brody's, Abu Nazir and their failing psyches, because what would this show be without the two best lead actors on television? 

'Blind Spot' - Homeland, Season One

Homeland

Season One

Episode Five

‘Blind Spot’ – 9.5

Claire Danes giving her best pedobear impersonation. 

In just one episode, Homeland turned from an OK television show with a great pilot to an all round fantastic series. ‘Blind Spot’ brings back the sense of suspense and mystery that had been allowed to fall to way side in the last few weeks, interrogating a terrorist and one of Brody’s captors in some tremendous scenes.

The first thing we see in ‘Blind Spot’ is the apprehending of Afzal Hamid in Islamabad, Pakistan, the last known survivor of the compound from which Sergeant Brody was rescued from. Hamid’s capture interrupts the personal lives of two of our major characters; Carrie’s malicious visit to her father is cut short, even though she had really only gone to try and pilfer some of his meds, while Saul is called in while trying to drive his wife Mira home, who has just arrived at the airport from India. 

Something that Homeland strives at is creating realistic and well-rounded characters, every single person in the show could easily be someone we know, will all of them having both beneficial and negative character attributes. For example, Saul is nurturing and wise, but he is also patronising and distant. Jessica Brody is loving and patient, but she is also judgemental and difficult to please. The ability to not only write such detailed characters, but also to depict them easily and accessibly is a true gift, something as a writer I would love to have. It is refreshing to see a show with both a gripping storyline and enthralling characters, as a lot of shows have either one or the other.

Tonight, however, the dialogue and atmosphere are on display, because ‘Blind Spot’ is all about the interrogation of Hamid, which Carrie and Saul are tasked with. For a second it looks like we are going to finally get some answers, as the two characters who suspect that Brody may not be who he says he is will be able to question someone who would know the truth, but it doesn’t work out that way for two reasons; Estes is watching the entire thing by feed, and worse, he’s put Brody on the job as well. He believes – quite logically, really – that Brody will be able to provide detailed information about Hamid, things that they can use in the interrogation. Carrie is obviously pissed by this development and she worries Brody will compromise the subject, while Saul sees it as an opportunity, since they will be putting him under a high pressure environment that they essentially control.

Everyone meets up at a secure location, which is interestingly not at Langley. When Brody arrives Carrie pretends that the two of them have not meet or interacted outside of the briefing in the first episode, an act that throws Brody off just a little bit. Damien Lewis does an especially good job, especially once he gets a look at Hamid, who turns out to be none other than his own guard, who at times peed on him and beat him with a stick wrapped in barb wire. Lewis appears legitimately angry, but there is that level of doubt that we are afforded; is he genuine? Frightened by him? Frightened he might be found out? Angry about the eight years of torture? Angry about Hamid actually getting captured? We don’t know, and that’s the whole point.

When the actual interrogation happens, it is a thing of beauty, even if Brody isn’t actually in the room. Saul is the one who asks the questions, with each one being answered by Brody through a headset while Hamid gives little but silence. The idea is that the information gives Hamid the idea that his questioners already have all the answers, they just need him to admit to them. It was impressive how quickly Mandy Patinkin went from being the father-figure to being this intimidating authority who has all the answers. He was the CIA Wizard of Oz or something. Despite Patinkin’s magical abilities, Hamid does not budge, and Saul calls it for the night leaving Carrie to take the night shift watching for any flinches.

The filming of Hamid’s torture was amazing. It isn’t brutal or foggy like Brody’s torture, rather it was modern and clean, but nonetheless cruel. I don’t know if this is what the CIA actually does to people, but Hamid had to sit in a room all night in his underwear with the air-conditioning on full, while the lights flicked on and off slowly and booming heavy metal music is played intermittently. Impossible conditions to get comfortable in, let alone sleep, and it is the next morning before the poor guy makes a move. The blaring noises and the ever changing conditions in the room are presented to us like we are there as well, a clear anti-torture message that comes through like the screaming of the musician Hamid is forced to listen to. 

The team manages to get eight names from the guy, all written with the crayon he was given to prevent him from killing himself with a pen or pencil. Saul says it isn’t enough, explaining in no uncertain terms that they will need more, or Hamid’s family will not be protected from the inevitable wrath of Abu Nazir. Hamid caves, providing an email address that leads – eventually – to one place; the department of Raqim Faisel at Bryden University, the man Carrie cased out the last episode. They all jump on this revelation, with Carrie sending Virgil into his office to try and find his house, discovering that it is where they had driven past while tailing Faisel only days before. Virgil, Carrie and that other guy all sit in their little van outside the house waiting for signs of life, but hearing none.

While Raqim Faisel is tracked down, Brody tries to organise one-on-one time with Hamid. He tells Estes that all he requires is to look the guy in the eye and prove that he won, which is fair enough I guess, but what’s weird is that Estes LETS HIM IN. WHAT?!! The morning after Hamid’s night of undesirable noises, the guy he freaking tortured saunters in with a smug grin on his face. Yeah, that was worth it for Brody, but is there not a serious potential security breach lurking under the surface here? Whether or not Brody is an evil terrorist bent on bringing the American government to its knees – again – someone without training as an interrogator shouldn’t be allowed to visit with the prisoners. I know he was a soldier, but wasn’t he a sniper? That doesn’t scream liaison or anything.

Sure enough, fighting ensues. Brody says some things and takes away Hamid’s dinner/breakfast/I-don’t-know-what-the-time-is, getting a nice big loogey in the face and entirely beating on his former captor. Hilarious yo! It seems that’s all Brody wanted though, and he cheerfully exits the room after the fight’s been broken up. Sadly though, it’s shown Brody chose to punch his tormentor in the face rather than watch his kid get a new belt in karate, though I’m sure this is only relevant because Matt went instead.

Not too long after, Carrie receives a worried call from Saul, who has gone back to Hamid’s compound to find him dead on the floor of the interrogation room, a tiny fragment of a razor blade used to slice his arms open. Gross people. Carrie uses this bad news to get authorisation from Saul to storm Faisel’s house, worried that whoever slipped Hamid the blade could have warned him. As it turns out, that may have been the exact case, since the house is completely abandoned.

Saul and Carrie have a lovely, emotional confrontation in Saul’s home regarding Estes’ decision to let Brody in to see Hamid. It doesn’t help that it happens immediately after – well, kind of during – a soft-spoken semi-break up between Saul and Mira, who wants to take a job in India because of her husband’s long, arduous and never-ending hours at the CIA. Anyway, Carrie essentially tells Saul she is going to take the investigation into Brody higher up, informing Estes, which he believes would jeopardise both their careers. The two get in a heated argument that shows Claire Danes and Patinkin at their respective bests, with both characters damaging a relationship with someone they trust dearly, as well as threatening the jobs that mean everything to them.

Following the argument, Carrie turns up at her sister’s in the middle of a breakdown, worried that she has effectively quit her job and ruined her and Saul’s rapport forever. It is really hard to describe just how good Danes is as the so-obviously mentally ill CIA agent, it’s just one of those performances that hits you with a tonne of bricks and forces you to pay attention. In the final few sequences of the night, Carrie decides to stay the night at Maggie’s, receiving a warm and excited welcome from her two nieces. Watching Carrie be jovial and caring with her family is like watching butter slay a butter knife, it just doesn’t seem right, yet Danes is able to make it look like a realistic facet of her character’s personality, and that’s really it with this show. Yes, the story is amazing, the intrigue is strong and the characters are fascinating, but for those who tuned in for any of that stayed just for Claire Danes and Carrie. This is her show, rather than Lewis’ or Brody’s, and it’s becoming more and more apparent.