Homeland - Super Powers - Review: "Crazy Good."

This week’s “Homeland” was arguably (or not!) the best of the season to date, and by a long shot. “Super Powers,” titled this way in honor of Carrie’s heightened ability to see clearly when she’s off her meds, was great only partially because of Claire Danes brilliancy at playing crazy. Every other aspect of this episode also worked in symbiosis to create something great, playing on a huge range of emotions. It had tension and suspense, it had shock. “Super Powers” had heart felt moments and heart gripping ones. Most of all, this episode had continuity, seemed like the culmination of Carrie’s life, of Carrie’s deeds, or misdeeds.

“A Tradition of Hospitality” made it abundantly clear that someone is after Carrie. But, it’s most probably someones, as “off her rockers Carrie” seems to think. Okay, so it’s probably not ALL of them, but can we really assume the CIA, if they even are the ones behind Peter’s mission, are the ones who planted the bomb at the refugee camp? If not, then we can assume more than one party wants Carrie’s head on a stake. Did Saul figure this out, and sent Quinn after Carrie to save her? It’s the theory I’m favoring at the time.

“She doesn’t work for you anymore. I know how frustrating that must be, she’s a remarkable person.” -Otto During

Saul pays a visit to the During Foundation looking for Carrie, but Otto, more than happy to mess with Saul, protects her and her whereabouts. This episode was host to some A+ acting from Claire Danes, but I also feel the need to point out Mandy Patinkin. After During tells him The scene upon being told Carrie didn’t wor for him anymore, he didn’t talk, he didn’t even move, yet, we could see the hurt, the emotion in his eyes. That, my friends, is the mark of a remarkable actor. Saul definitely has a hidden agenda, an endgame, whether it is related to Carrie, to Allison, or both. He clearly still cares about Carrie, and he let Allison off way to easy. It’s not just about the sex. It’s never just about the sex. What's the operation he got the green light on? Any theories?

The hacker and the journalist storyline didn’t have much link to the main happenings this week. There was already so much going on, we could have probably gone on without. Laura is still under strict surveillance by the CIA, but Neuman still managed to give her the rest of the documents or so he thought. His partner swapped the drives, wanting to sell the information to the highest bidder. For now, what we can see, the Russians are the ones in the game, does that mean the Russians will make their entrance into the storyline within the next few episodes, probably.

For Carrie, back from Beirut, figuring out who is behind the attack, who wants her dead, is of upmost importance, and she’s willing to go down the rabbit hole to find her answers. Carrie seemed stable during the first two episodes of the season, too stable. I was waiting for her to go off her meds; she’s so much more entertaining this way. She’s much more entertaining, but it’s hard to understand her rational behind wanting to put herself through it when she, deep inside, knew it could only end badly. It’s not like she’s a completely useless without them, and it’s not like going off them really gave her any answers. I guess for her, it was worth a shot.It was an adrenaline shot, like a junkie looking for her next shot, and that sentiment, for me, was only heightened during Carrie’s explanation of how she feels off the drugs.

After sending her daughter away to her sister in the States, in order to keep her safe from the threat, Carrie confides in her boyfriend (I still don’t trust the guy!) that she has already been off her meds for 3 days. She asks for help, help in monitoring her, and make sure she doesn’t go full pledge crazy. Like that had any chance of working.

“Is that really necessary?” – Jonas Happich

His job is to give her the pills when she starts not making any sense. If only it was that simple. It was easy to predict that there was no way Carrie, high on adrenaline, in her manic phase, was going to willfully take her pills. It was bound to get ugly, and it did, quite fast. Jonas did handle her refusal to take her pills quite well though; we have to give him at least that. It was the fastest change in behavior we’ve witnessed in Carrie; it’s usually a lot more subtle.

Her speeded mental status degradation is probably due to her new lifestyle, she seems to have a lot more weight on her shoulders than when she was alone, or when she didn’t care for her daughter (remember the almost drowning baby in the bath incident, because I do.) She used to be able to handle shit a lot better, I’m sure in her 10+ years she’s been targeted by some bad guys. It’s more than just having trouble dealing with pressure and stress. She’s scared, it’s no longer an adventure like in her younger years, she has much more to lose.

She throws 9 months of sobriety down the drain, and finishes a bottle of vodka by herself, miraculously not going into an alcohol induced coma, which obviously does not help with her mental capacities. Carrie off her meds is blunt, and quite mean when she doesn’t get her way, but the boyfriend isn’t really nice either. I understand his reaction, but could he have put a cap on it for a couple of days, until he got to deal with normal Carrie again. It’s not like her was news to him, did he or did he not do her background check? After seeing, black on white, the names of the 167 civilians Carrie directly or indirectly killed, he walks out on her and she’s left alone to piece together her life or death puzzle. I felt like his reaction was purposely engineered to make her go over the edge, because it did. It sped up the process.

“I figured it out. It’s all of them, the sum of my sins, each a dot on a canvas of avenging angels.” -Carrie

Something I enjoy, and find different about this season, is instead of only looking forward, at what’s to come, we get to be remembered what happened, who happened. It’s one of my favorite things about the show, the continuity between the seasons, and the storylines. This season in particular is filled with it. In “Super Powers,” ghosts from Carrie’s past come to haunt her, and Aayan appears in her drug depraved mind, in order to help her figure out who’s after her. The scene between the two was positively brilliant acting on both parts, and the editing and way the scene was shot made their dialogue even more punching. One emotion is predominant, it’s guilt, and you can feel it through your whole body during the dialogue. Carrie’s crazy, but the guilt comes from inside, from somewhere real.

Peter Quinn, in the last moments of last week’s episode, was tasked with killing Carrie. The woman doesn’t make it easy for him as she, a trained spy, goes off grid in order to stay safe while figuring out who wants her dead. Quinn is nothing if not imaginative. He manages to get her location by engineering a phone call by Carries new boyfriend and his ex, by kidnapping his son, posing as a police officer. It was so freakin’ genius.

I absolutely loved the scene where Carrie grabs the sniper bag and runs through the woods to a vantage point where she could protect herself. It was equal parts crazy and awesome. When the sun is down, Carrie, off her meds, and still instable mental capacities, but seemingly a lot calmer, is still waiting for her assailant in the woods surrounding her hide-out, with the gun. As the hitman creeps up to the house, she manages to shoot him in the back, unknowing of the person’s identity. For a second there, I thought Quinn was dead, just like that. It’s another thing I love about the show, except Carrie, I don’t think anyone is safe. I feel real anxiety about the character’s faith. It’s not constructed tension for tension’s sake, like other shows out there. After Brody’s death, I truly believe anyone could be a goner.

“Motherfucker.” -Quinn

After this episode, Quinn isn’t dead, and neither is Carrie, a proof that there is something bigger going on behind the scenes, and making me crazy excited for next week.