Homeland - 13 Hours in Islamabad - Review:"Epic"

Homeland continues to deliver, to up its game with every episode passing. “13 Hours in Islamabad” was epic, in its acting, its plot, its effects. It was epic in its everything. The episode was the beautifully crafted culmination of the happenings in the past nine episodes and it had me glued to the screen for the whole, incredible, hour, my heart pounding and my breaths short. “Homeland” has never been afraid to be violent, never been afraid of gore, and this episode left a trail of bloody bodies and tears behind.

The ending of the “There’s Something Else Going On” revealed Haqqani’s plan to take over the embassy, as missiles were launched at the convoy bringing back Carrie and Saul. Luckily, their car wasn’t directly hit, their bodies not burned to a crisp. The emotions are already running high when, in the mist of chaos, during the first minutes of the episode, Carrie wakes up, her ears ringing, to John, her second, with a piece of glass in stuck in his neck, dead. It was at that moment, I knew, this episode would, sooner or later, bring me to tears.

An enemy to one is a friend to another. Khan could have been described as an ally to Carrie in the past episodes, going against the ISI, against his people to tell Carrie who the mole was. He seemed to have a different understanding of what was right or wrong, what was worthy, or not. He’d proved himself worthy of Carrie’s trust, and had Tasleem not been in the car with him, he probably would have continued to, ordering for back-up when Carrie called, in need of help.

The plan wasn’t only to get all the Marines at the accident site, but to pin them down there, long enough for Haqqani to get what he wants, leaving the embassy, and the people in it, defenseless. The back-up isn’t coming, or at least isn’t coming right away, because Khan sided with Tasleem, sided with his people, his country and their in-grown terrorists. He sided with them even though he doesn’t approve of their methods, doesn’t think Haqqani is in the right. Is this the last we’ll see of him, of his internal struggle to find who’s in right in the senseless war? Will he try to redeem himself, help Carrie out, to free his own conscience of the brutality that went on at the embassy?

The Marines are falling like flies, unable to shoot at the snipers that have them surrounded, making it impossible to flee, to go and help, and when they’re out of man power, they hand over Carrie and Saul a gun. “Homeland” isn’t one that usually make me laugh, but the Carrie and Saul’s exchange was great.

“I’m trying to kill the motherfucker trying to kill us. What does it look like I’m doing?” –Carrie

In the meantime, the embassy is being over turned by Haqqani and his men. While Quinn steps up, becomes the badass, we haven’t witnessed much during this season, Lockhart cracks under the pressure. In the first moments of the breach, his attitude changed, from the man in control, to one unsure, scared.

There’s protocol, Lockhart is usually all about it, doing what it takes for the greater good, for the good of his country, but he can’t stomach it, not with death staring at him in the face, with the repercussions of his choices just a few feet away. We’ve seen him in his office, making the calls, making what he thinks are the hard choices, from the comfort of his chair. In the field, in action, he isn’t the same man. He’s scared. While all of them are, he’s the one to break, to break protocol and put the life of all of their assets in danger.

Because when Haqqani got to the vault, decided he was going to set an example out of Farrah, with the knife to her throat, threatening to behead her in front of them all, Lockhart cracks, breaks down, decides it best to give Haqqani what he wants. At first I saw it as an act of humanity, of selflessness, but really, what else is it other than reckless and stupid? Protocol is there for a reason, especially in times of wars, in moments like these, and it wasn’t his call to make.

Farah and Max were in the command room at the time of the breach, destroying what they could while they could. I’ve never been a fan of Farrah’s character, but it’s always when they die that they seem to grow on you, right? She exited the show on a high note. She was strong, unblinking to Haqqani’s power play, to his mind games. She was posed, braver than Lockhart was, and shined in her last moments.

Quinn, alongside a military guard, is witness to Lockhart’s actions, to the handing over of the list of assets in the hope of saving Farrah’s life. But Lockhart should know better than to trust a terrorist. Haqqani plunges his knife in Farrah’s back moments after the exchange. Had Quinn and his gun not been there, they’d all be dead, just like the ambassador said. I have to wonder if Farrah’s death, the stabbing before his eyes has anything to do with the extreme behavior Quinn demonstrates afterwards. Is catching Haqqani motivated more by his vendetta, his need for revenge over Farrah’s death, than by the safety of the assets?

Having a full screen shot of Rupert Friend’s face, internally struggling as he watches Max with Farrah, with no background music, nothing except his facial expression was pure genius. It was absolutely the best choice they could have done with this scene. It was poignant, made my heart clench. What finally made a tear stream down my cheek was, moments later, when Carrie patted Max’s back as he watched the sea of dead bodies before him. At what moment in the episode did you crack?

Carrie regrets not having said nicer things, not having been encouraging, positive. She regrets haven given a hard time to the women who had her in admiration. And those feelings surely influenced her exchange with Lockhart, who, after announcing they’re moving out of Pakistan, tells her he was in the wrong, that he made the wrong call. And he’s right, he did. He shouldn’t have given the contact list of all their assets. Carrie tells him it was a tough call, one she’s unsure how she would have reacted to. Maybe she’s being truthful, that she really doesn’t know how she would have reacted, but I doubt it. She would have done what was expected of her, she would have made the harder choice, because there shouldn’t have been a choice.

What Carrie tells him makes him feel better, though he doesn’t really believe her either, he knows he’s screwed up, big time. He put the life of all their assets in jeopardy, how is this supposed to encourage people to betray their countries when they know, he’d choose to protect one of his own over protecting all of them? It can’t be the end for Lockhart; he’ll need to justify his actions to someone higher. Will he get fired for it? Probably. Will Saul get his old position back, will he want it? Tough call.

I’m still unsure whether I’m relieved or angry that Dennis didn’t end his life, didn’t take his belt and strangle himself with it. Of all the people to blame, he’s the one that should feel it, the guilt. Forty people are dead because of him, and he deserves nothing less than a long, painful live. What possibly could have been his motivation for making his wife choose whether he should live or die? What sort of twisted game was he playing with her? He convinced her, it was best for everyone if he was to just die before getting to the States, and she gave him the belt. Did her reaction make him change his mind? Or is he really just a coward?

“I’m old. I’ve made a fool of my time.” - Saul

Saul is broken, broken down in the interrogation room as Quinn tries to get as much information out of him as possible and pushing a little bit too hard. He doesn’t remember, or chooses not to. Saul blames himself for the happenings at the embassy. Carrie’s the one to talk him out of it and her character has never been more human. She makes him feel better, relieving him of some of the guilt that’s been eating at him, and contrary to her conversation with Lockhart, this one actually resonates truth. It would have happened whether he had been captured or not.

Quinn and Carrie disagree on how to handle the fact that the government is calling them back home, but not really. Quinn wants to stay to catch Haqqani before he hunts down the assets, and that’s exactly what she’d said to Lockhart when he told her they were being called back. So, it’s no surprise Carrie is staying behind to help Quinn, out, and I’m really looking forward to Carrie and Quinn against the world.

The persona Quinn has spent the last season trying to erase is back. He’s a badass, and he’s going to torture the hell out of Farad Ghazi. After what happened with Sandy Bachman in the first episode of the season, he had been trying to prove to others, to himself that he is a better man. Surely he’s not throwing it all the window, to save the assets, he has to be motivated by something bigger, no?