'Homeland' Recap: "Q & A"

The ending of last week’s Homeland was pretty powerful with Brody being arrested after Carrie blew her cover because she thought he knew she was up to something. We’re still not even halfway through the season, so I’m guessing there’s a lot more to happen before, if ever,  Congressman Brody is officially named a terrorist to the media.

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Brody is chained up in a dark room. They seem to be at the surveillance location. Estes gets there, but he doesn’t want to talk to Carrie. He goes to Peter for an explanation. They figure they have twenty four hours before Nazir’s people find out he’s missing. Peter goes in for questioning, Brody is nervous, he tells Peter he’s not what Carrie says he is. Brody knows he’s off the grid. Peter asks him who Issa is, and that makes him stop. He says he was one of the guards. And Peter asks if he knew Nazir’s son was also names Issa. No. He never met the boy. He also says he never converted to Islam. He asks about Walker missing the shot, and his theory is that it was to initiate secret service protocol and avoid a security check, which it did. So he could get in with a bomb. Brody says he wasn’t wearing a bomb. He didn’t conspire to assassinate the VP. Oh Brody, digging yourself in deeper and deeper. So Peter shows him the tape and leaves. Awesome.

Meanwhile, Jess is telling their son about Brody not living at home for a while. She drops him and Dana off at school and she meets up with Finn, apparently Finn’s parents have marital problems too, but they always work it out. She tells him she broke up with Xander, and asks him to take her out tonight.

Estes meets up with the poor guy in charge of trying to get Brody to stick to his schedule. He tells him it’s imperative no one questions Brody’s absence. And that the safest thing to do is to say that he has the flu. Heh. Jess is trying to call Brody but getting the voicemail. Back at the surveillance house, Brody doesn’t look too good. Saul shows Carrie and Peter the three voicemails Jess has left, and Peter is ready to resume questioning.

This time, Brody tells him the truth about who Issa is. That he was killed in a strike ordered by the VP of the United States. Brody says he only made the tape, that he wasn’t wearing a vest. No bomb went off, he has killed no one. Peter asks what he thinks will happen when he shows Jessica the tape. Brody says she will understand, she’s an understanding woman. Yeah, right. And Dana and Chris? What will the rest of their lives look like. Brody will take his chances. Peter says he knows Nazir is planning an attack and that Brody is a part of his American team. He wants to know when and what the target is. Brody keeps saying I don’t know, so Peter grabs a knife and stabs him right through his hand. Holy crap, ow. And Carrie is the unstable one, right? Saul and Carrie bring in guards and they drag Peter away. They give Brody an injection, probably an anesthetic and clean up the wound. Carrie tells Saul it’s her turn.

Jessica is making her way to the hotel, an employee is letting her into Brody’s room, she tells Jess, who seems to be carrying chicken noodle soup, that he hadn’t been there since yesterday. In the room, she finds a newspaper of the previous day, he hasn’t been there. She trashes the soup and calls Brody’s assistant, Greg. Tells him she went to the hotel and there was no Brody and no flu. He says he’ll find him. Once they hand up, he calls Estes, wants to talk to Brody. Estes tells him he is busy and he will call him back.

Brody is all patched up and Carrie is ready to start her questioning. He broke her heart, made her question her sanity. He says he told Estes the truth, she was harassing his family, he wasn’t wearing a bomb. She calls BS. She wants to know if he had no feelings for her, he says he’s sorry he hurt her. She says with him she felt she was where she belonged. He says he knows what she’s doing, but she goes on and says she’s just happy to be talking to him again. Saul asks Peter if what he did with the knife was all theater. Peter says every good cop needs a bad cop. Carrie asks them to bring Brody water and feeds it to him, before turning off all the cameras in the room.

“Alone at last.” but Peter and Saul can still hear them. She uncufs Brody. She asks if he ever found someone to talk to. No. She starts talking about the war, that people ask her if it was as bad as it seems. No one survives intact. She asks him what he tells when people ask him what it was like. He lies, she says the lies are what undo them. She asks when was the last time he told the truth. A few minutes ago when he said he didn’t wear a bomb. And yet he made a suicide tape that he trashed afterward. But it somehow ended up in Beirut. He’s drowning in lies. Is he sure he’s not a monster? He is sure. But she says Nazir is a monster, who causes mass casualties and kills innocent civilians. She knows he thinks Nazir saved him, but he pulled him apart slowly. Then put him back together as someone else. Nazir gave him a boy to love, and Walden took him away. Wouldn’t it be a relief to stop lying?

She says if she were to stop lying she’d tell him to leave his wife and children and be with her. He should try it, it feels good. She says he’s a good man, because he didn’t explode the vest he was wearing. He stares at her for a long moment and says he wasn’t wearing a vest. Bastard. Carrie says Dana called him in the panic room, asks him what she said. She asked him to come home and he said he would. Her voice changed his mind. Maybe because he knew killing himself wouldn’t bring Issa back, because Brody loves his own child, maybe because he was sick of death and that’s the Brody she is talking to. The one who knows the difference between warfare and terrorism. Carrie takes his hand. That’s the Brody she fell in love with.

Carrie asks him once more about Nazir’s plan. He says he doesn’t know what it is. But there is one, to attack America? Yes. Go Carrie! Who does know the plan? Roya, maybe. Awesome, I was hoping he’d tell on her. Carrie goes back to the vest and asks who gave it to him. He finally says it was a tailor from Gettysburg. He gives her more names, including Walker’s and says they are all dead.

Saul comes into the room and asks Brody to call his wife, let her know he will be home tonight. He calls her, she wants to know where he has been, he says he was looking for some answers. He tells her not to worry, that they are gonna be fine. Jess tell them their father is coming home. “Sure he is.” Dana wins. Carrie and Saul help him get up, but his legs give and Brody lays down on the floor, curling up in fetal position. I’d be pretty scared if I was him.

Dana is ready for her date and talking to Jess outside. She says it’s weird, dating the boss’ son, but power hungry Jess doesn’t think so. They are more like colleagues anyway. Jess said she’s sorry about the confusion. Dana says Brody has changed over there, they did something to him.

Brody is still on the floor, he jumps when Carrie touches him and she tells him they need to go over his options. A trial, with all the publicity and a long prison sentence that will change him, the marines, his family and the country. Or he can help them and all of it will go away. Help them how? They send him back as if nothing happened and he helps them figure out what Nazir’s plan is. He quits politics and move to a town away from there. He doesn’t think they have the power to give him that. He better hope they do. Brody is let go, Peter and Saul reorganize their board with suspects, which is basically down to Roya, the tailor and the meet and greet with the woman from season one.

Dana and Finn are on their date, she wants to have some fun, secret service is following them, he runs a red light and cuts in and out of traffic with them trying to keep up. That’s going to end well. He cuts through an alley and the secret service SUV can’t make it through, on the way out of the alley, he hits someone. Seems to be a homeless person. Dana tells him to stop, but if he does, his life is over. Someone else pulls up to the person and she agrees with taking off.

Carrie is in charge of driving Brody home, she asks if he spoke with Roya about her. She is the one who suggested he re-established the relationship. She tells him to tell Roya they were together, that they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. And if he ever needs, he can call her and say he misses her, they can meet at her apartment and she will do the same. He asks if Walden is just going to stand there and get elected president. He could lose. Brody says he will come after his family. Carrie says they will protect his family. Carrie leaves once he gets out of the car, but Virgil and the surveillance van stay behind.

Jess notices Brody’s hand right away. He says he went on a bender. He asks her to come home, she says okay but she wants the truth. And no bullshit about a bender. He asks if it can wait until the morning. No, it can’t. He tells her he’s working for the CIA. He swears it’s the truth. Dana gets home and Jess asks what’s the matter, she says nothing and asks what happened to Brody when she sees him. But Chris comes in and asks if he is back, so Dana takes the opportunity to go to her room.

Carrie is also home and she goes for a glass of wine. She sits down in her living room and doesn’t seem all that relaxed. Guess the questioning with Brody was as hard on her as it was on him.