Homeland - "The Man in the Basement" - Review

"Homeland" is at its creative best when it builds up the central mystery of the season with a subtle yet forceful execution of the story. "The Man in the Basement" was the first step in that direction for season 6. In the second episode of the sixth season, we see Carrie Matheson reunite with Saul Berenson. Their friendship is most definitely one of the best parts of the show, even when it's rocky, which is exactly what it is right now.

Saul is positive that Carrie is secretly assisting all the security protocols of President-elect Elizabeth Keane. How does he know this? He knows her handiwork very well by now to understand what she's thinking. So, when the two come face to face when he visits her at her new office, it may be all smiles and greetings at first but things quickly take a turn for the worse when he expresses his accusations to Carrie. Well, guess what? Carrie is not one to take any of this lightly, as we already know. She makes it clear that she has nothing to do Keane. In fact, all of this is the reason she left the CIA.

I guess Carrie also got proficient in the art of lying because she dodged Saul so well that he believed her, even telling Dar Adal that he trusts her. Obviously, the devious mind of Dar Adal considers Carrie to be nothing but a menace. More on his devious mind in a minute, though.
We see Carrie secretly meeting Keane, anyway, and letting her know that Saul is onto them. Doesn't mean she doesn't trust Saul because she recommends him to head the investigation of the Iran nuclear deal. They believe that Iran is double-crossing them by running their program in another country secretly.

She has so much more on her plate right now with two other men, Quinn, who is living in her basement, and Sekou, her client who has been arrested. Quinn's condition hasn't improved at all and because Carrie cannot babysit him all the time, Max steps in to do the job. Even if he haven't seen the guy in a while, we already know it's going to be easy for Quinn to trick him and escape...which is exactly what happens. He doesn't get too far and Max catches him trying to buy a six-pack. Why all the fuss for his health, you ask? It's because Quinn obviously refuses to take medicines, which can cause seizures. After he has one at the store, Max drags him back home.

Quinn tells him not to tell Carrie, which is a request you should know won't be met. Max tells her and admits that Quinn "has a weird thing for her." Welcome to the party, Max! They both have the "weird thing" for each other. A fact that is made obvious when Carrie, with the facial expressions that only Claire Danes can pull off, cries and holds up her hand to Quinn's cheek when he asks why she saved him from everything: the sarin gas attack, everything that happened in Berling (last season), and from life, in general. Heartbreaking.

However, I cannot wait till Quinn rises back up and starts acting normal. He has been through so much so that grief of it all I can understand, but making him sulk all season is a waste for the character, the actor, and the story. Quinn is a badass, after all.

As for Sekou, her client who was arrested in the premiere for filming videos about terrorist attacks in America, he reminds Carrie of his innocence when she asks about the money found under his mattress. It's for a trip to Nigeria to visit his father who was deported back there, he claims. He got the money from the friend who helped him make those videos. Turns out, this friend was also dating Simone, Sekou's sister. When they run a background check on him, they realize he's changed his name because he's an informant who snitched on his gang in Pittsburg. Carrie uses Simone to trick him and when she starts questioning him, he lets her know that Sekou is no terrorist. This is something he already told Conlin, who had strictly told Carrie not to speak with the informant. By doing so, she's "f*cked up bad." But how bad?

Circling back to Dar Adal and his wicked plot, because he's definitely planning one, he knows about Carrie helping Keane because of some photos of the visit she paid to the President-elect. He doesn't let Saul know about this. I wonder why? He's going to do something big and evil, I feel it. He lies about where he was during 9/11, "helping people in the streets to safety," to Keane's chief-of-staff. That's quite a twisted lie.

What did you think of the episode? How deep do you think Carrie is involved with POTUS-to-be and how did it all start? Do you want her to team up with Saul again because I know I do? And what are your thoughts about the season that lies ahead?

The next episode of "Homeland," called "The Covenant," airs on January 29, 2017.