Brigette Watches Homeland, S4/Ep05: "About a Boy"

Seriously? They titled this episode "About a Boy?" Sigh.

What we learned:

* Carrie and Aayan actually didn't have sex last week…right? He just "received." Well, okay.
* Saul thought he was one step ahead of pony-tail guy who ordered Sandy's death, but Pony-Tail was actually one step ahead of Saul, so much so that he KIDNAPPED SAUL. OH NO SAUL.
* That one guy and his wife don't like each other and he's being forced to stay where he is or something and then he was snooping through someone's apartment in the dark but kept the CAMERA SOUNDS ENABLED ON HIS PHONE.
* Fara is gaining confidence, and Quinn is well-aware of Carrie's manipulation abilities.

Alright, I should really know and understand the storyline with that guy with the loud phone, but I just don't. I haven't been paying attention and hoped he would go away, but he didn't, and now I feel like he's probably important. I'm assuming he's the double agent who was communicating between Sandy and Pony-Tail. Is this obvious to everyone else, or am I totally wrong? Do I even care? All I know is he needs to divorce his wife because that relationship is soooo depressing.

The car check point scene seemed impossible. Quinn & Fara were in "Taliban territory," and Fara was supposed to put a tracker on Pony-Tail's car? With no one noticing? And was it even his car? I'm so confused. I'm assuming it was, since at the same check point, a trunk is opened and there's SAUL IN THE TRUNK. How CREEPY was that when the guy saw Saul there, and just closed the trunk? Like, "Oh, there's a white American looking guy. He's probably gonna get murdered. That's totally cool." Mad props to Mandi Pantinkin for conveying such desperation and fear with only his eyes in an extremely short shot. I was sufficiently traumatized.

Okay. On to Carrie and Aayan. You guys, I don't even know where to begin.

I understand that when Carrie was telling Aayan about her daughter that it was complete manipulation. Not only did this "sharing" humanize her, but it implied that she wanted to give him-- and owed him-- some piece of her personal life. Pretty low, yes? When Carrie brought up Brody, I think that began as manipulation, but the emotion turned real. How could it not? All of this "bonding" made Aayan want to get busy with Carrie again, even though five minutes before, he was ravaged with guilt. I'm not saying this was unrealistic, I'm just pointing it out.

Question of the night: Why was Carrie crying while she and Aayan had sex?

A) She was starting to feel guilty for manipulating Aayan.
B) She was thinking of Brody. (It's safe to say she probably hadn't been with anyone since him.)
C) Aayan wasn't doing a very good job.

I'm guessing the answer is probably a combination of all three.

The most surprising development for me was that Aayan actually confessed to Carrie that his uncle is alive, which is making me re-think my previous theory that he is actually in cahoots with the terrorists. I'm not completely giving that idea up, but I'm becoming more convinced that maybe he is as innocent as he seems. I hope this isn't true, because it makes the whole storyline less interesting to me. Let's not forget though that after Carrie's convo with Quinn, Aayan was no longer in bed and had disappeared to the balcony. Did he actually hear what happened? I hope so. Which brings us to...

…the best moment of the night.  Quinn shows up at Carrie's and this exchange takes place:

Quinn: Why don't you tell me just what it is you're doing in there?
Carrie: I'm recruiting someone.
Quinn: Really? 'Cus to me, it looks like you're f**king a child!

OHHHH!!! NO HE DI'IN'T! NO HE DI'IN'T! OHHHH! SOLJA BOI SOLJA BOI HEY!

Too good. Then of course, they had to tease that Quinn loves Carrie thing with a typical, "what's it to you anyway?" and "nothing!" response.

Something I've Noticed: Carrie likes to sleep with the enemy, which reminds me of how some cops say, "If I didn't become a cop, I'd be a criminal."Is there a fine line between this type of person versus that type of person? OR is there something artistic or symbolic about how Carrie keeps physically and emotionally "joining" with the same thing that she is supposed to destroy? Does Carrie have a Freudian death wish, desperate to destroy herself while at the same time, striving to preserve her ego and sense of power???? Hmmm.



Dream Time Jump: It's thirty years later. Carrie's daughter is taking care of Carrie, who has been a complete invalid for some time for purely mental reasons. The rest of the series is Carrie's daughter having flashbacks/arguments about all the times Carrie used her to get to others and almost drowned her in bathtubs. It would sort of be like Gray Gardens except they would mostly hate each other, but maybe love each other just a little, because they are a part of each other after all. I would be totally fine watching that series instead of this one.

So what do you think? What will happen to dear Saul?! Is Aayan as innocent as he seems? What's going to happen after those three days that imaginary preparations are being made to go to London? Do you still care?