Brigette Watches Homeland, S4/Ep12: "Long Time Coming"

Well, um, I guess that’s it for Homeland? Happy season 4, everybody!

I must say, I thought the reveal that Dar Adal was Haqqani’s bro was going to be a really big deal. And I thought that Quinn’s assassination plan thwarted was going to be a really big deal. And I expected the finale to take place in Pakistan. Buuuut…. the whole episode took place back in the American suburbs.

The most anti-climatic storyline of the finale belonged to Dar Adal. He just outright confessed to Saul over pancakes that he was making deals with Haqqani. So…no secret double agent stuff after all, I guess? And now Saul has possession of the embarrassing footage of being Haqqani’s prisoner as part of one of these said deals, so he’s like, “Okay, I guess.” And Carrie hates him for that. I get it. I mean, it’s not admirable of Saul, but it makes sense for him; the prisoner exchange was way worse than actually being a prisoner, and owning footage of being a hostage helps to ease some of that shame. Okay, whatever. I don’t really care about that.

I care more about what the heck this season was about anyway. If you put a lot of stake in the finale, you would think it was all about family: Carrie reconnecting with Franny (was I the only one who was freaked out every time there was a scene where the two of them were alone? I have NOT forgotten the near-drowning in the bathtub thing); reconnecting (if it can be called that) with her long-lost mother, who ditched her family to have another family, and the possibility of having a normal family life with Quinn. Yes, they finally kissed. I mean, I get it, but it’s sort of out of nowhere at the same time, as I’ve always thought. Oh, and of course it was also about Carrie mourning the death of her father. FAMILY!

I think this episode signified the beginning of the end. I’m guessing one more season, two tops, since the whole thing revolved around the ideas of being grounded, having a normal life, getting out of the crazy C.I.A. game. After Quinn proposed this very idea, Carrie seemed to be kind of into it, which was unexpected, but I guess the emotionally depleting terrorist raid and the death of her father shifted things for her a bit.

But we know that Carrie’s not going to get out of it just yet, because Quinn did a 180 and isn’t out of it just yet himself. Most likely, Carrie will chase Quinn to the depths. This may be good TV, but it’s a STUPID move as a human. I thought it was completely reasonable, as Carrie was tracking down her mother, when she told Quinn she couldn’t think about a relationship that second, that she had a lot going on, that she needed a few days. But this was not reasonable to Quinn; within a matter of HOURS, he went from wanting to fly out to meet Carrie and have a committed relationship to completely ditching her for a top-secret mission. A MATTER OF HOURS. I’m sorry Quinn, are you a psycho, emo, teenage girl? Carrie should NOT be chasing that. NO ONE should be chasing that. But Carrie is not one to make smart decisions about men, is she? So she probably will.

Well guys, this whole season was weird, from start to finish. It was emotionally disconnected, the plot went from being boring and one-dimensional to super exciting and back to dull, and there was just a lot of dead space: Carrie putting in her retainer, Carrie walking down a dark hall. I’m surprised they never showed Carrie taking a dump and then plucking her eyebrows. There were so many scenes like that which I thought would be significant, and then they just weren’t.  Shrug.

Choose your own adventure:

A) Do you think the show should have ended after three seasons with Brody’s death? B) Do you think it should have continued, but we still should have followed his family to give the show some cohesiveness (and so it felt like the same show)? C) Did you dig this season?  D) Are you excited for what will happen next season?

I think I'm the only person in the world who thought Dana was interesting.

Here are my answers:

A) Maybe B) Yes C) No D) No

Yours?

Regardless, I must confess, I’m kind of relieved this season is over.

Stacie watches "Scorpion"

I'm not going to lie, I love TV. I don't just love it for the stories, I love it for the behind the scenes, the acting, and the pure thrill I get when watching a new episode of something I love.  I love it because the many times I have been sick and in the hospital, I have a distraction.

All of this being said, tonight's episode of "Scorpion" perfectly named "Dominoes" left me feeling all sorts of feelings.  This is one of my absolute favorite new shows, and this episode proved it.

A 10 year old boy gets caught when a landslide while looking for shells on the beach.  Thankfully for the boy (Owen), Walter is there to help.  He calls his team of genius Homeland squad to help.  Here are my thoughts....
-the acting could not get any better on this show
-the dramatic tension is palpable as Owen is trapped under rocks, only has one lung working and struggling to survive.
-Paige does such a good job keeping him calm
-Walter saves the day!
-Happy meets her dad
-the Christmas party at the end was,awesome!

Can't wait until it comes back!

Stacie watches Castle and The Fosters

1. Castle "Bad Santa"

I am currently watching Castle and I must say that I only slightly like this episode.  I don't like the fact that they did the whole mob thing again...I feel it was already done with Ryan when he went back under cover and with Castle, the whole Vinny thing in the Hampton's and the 70's episode.  That being said, here is what I liked...
-I of course love that they do the Christmas poem thing.  I like that Kate hasn't started hers yet and Martha started to do hers in July.
-I am a fan of the holiday episodes (i.e. The Good the Bad and the Baby which is still probably my favorite episode to date) so I appreciated that this episode was about the Holiday season.
-I loved that Lanie faked being engaged for her parents, but even more so that Ryan made up their fake engagement story.
-"Well..Hello Bad Santa"-Kate
-I knew it was that stupid cop guy from the very beginning, which means I haven't lost my touch
Ok, now that I have watched the whole thing, I am so mad that they took Castle off the squad for working with the mob guys!!!  That is the end of my Castle piece for today...I know you all wanted more, but I am too angry....the kind of angry I was when it took 4 years for Castle and Beckett to finally get together.


The Foster's Christmas Special

I am a huge The Fosters fan, and I have to say I was a little let down by the episode this week.  Maybe I just have my expectations too high for my favorite shows (trust me, I know my expectations are hard to fill), but although I enjoyed bits and pieces, I did not enjoy the set-up.  They take us from a huge cliffhanger where Callie and Brandon kiss and Sophia goes into the bathroom crying to a Christmas episode set last year.  Brandon suddenly sits down after kissing Callie and recalls all of the events of that previous Christmas...it was just a little weird to me.  That being said, here is what I liked...
-I loved that they were all together for Christmas
-I liked that Jude stole the bracelet initially, but went back to give it to the cashier who gave it to him for 60% off because that is all that he could afford.
-The fact that Lena was showing true emotion and happened to say something she didn't mean when Jude was listening made me happy, because that is something we do as humans that doesn't get shown much in TV world.
-Steph getting all mad about her mom using all the money made me frustrated at first, but I started to understand where she was coming from.  I was so happy her mom actually was using the money for good and saving for the kids college funds.
-I feel bad for Daphne not getting to be with her little girl for Christmas, but her doing the right thing made me happy.
- I like that Callie got the metronome for Brandon.
As I said at the beginning, I did not like the set up and thought that they should have given more thought to the drama surrounding Callie's biological father and sister, but I am sure they will do more with that in January.  They start to hint at it when the ambulance shows up, which makes me think it was attempted suicide (which I thought from the beginning).  Although I am sad that this is most likely the route they will take, I know that teen suicides are happening a lot in our world today.  I also know that Bailee Madison (Sophia) is one of the most amazing teen actresses and she does a great job with crying scenes, so I am sure January episodes will be real tear jerkers.

Brigette Watches Homeland, S4/Ep10: "13 Hours in Islamabad"

Homeland was the source of 37 heart attacks last night.

I hadn't watched the previous episode until about an hour before this one aired, so for me, it was a double-dose of heart attacks. First, we barely get a resigned Saul back alive in exchange for prisioners, and then right when he takes his glasses back from Carrie-- symbolizing his re-acceptance of his life and  identity-- the convoy they are traveling in gets blown to shreds.

But Saul and Carrie weren't the target! It was just a distraction so the terrorists could crawl through the tunnels and STORM THE EMBASSY.

Then, pretty much the scariest thing that could have happened happened: as Lockhart and the like are scrambling to delete everything and get out of there, the terrorist march right into into drone-central and start shooting everybody! Ahhh!

Those who survived the attack make to the safe room, which of course the terrorists find, and then they begin systematically shooting Americans, insisting for Lockhart to step outside and turn over the ONLY copy of the CIA's list of assets. (Did we know about this before? Seems a little convenient.) Seeing everyone get shot on the camera feed showing the other side of the door is horrifying, but it's not until Haqqani threatens to behead Fara in front of all of them that Lockhart agrees to step outside and hand over the list. What results is just the worst: they kill Fara anyway. Quinn and another worker shoot at the terrorists, the terrorists shoot at them, and then some of the terrorists--including an injured Haqqani-- get away.

After all of this goes down, Boyd convinces his wife to give him his belt so he can hang himself. She struggles with this, agrees... but he doesn't go through with it! I'm not one for hanging yourself, but talk about adding insult to injury. How much has he put his wife through by this point?  Boyd is basically the worst person ever.

Americans are ordered to GTFO of Pakistan, and for once, Carrie seems to agree-- especially considering it's no secret that the Pakistani military didn't rush to their aid-- but Carrie can't go just yet. She has to go find Quinn who has gone rogue, hunting the streets to avenge Fara's death and find where those terrorists are, one white Motorola phone at a time. (I mean, they looked like Motorolas.)

For a season that has been weird, to say the least, and arguably emotionally disconnected, this episode payed off in a big way. I have not screamed at my TV watching Homeland in quite some time, so, mad applause for that.

Questions:

Am I the only one who felt like Boyd wasn't being monitored that closely? Not only was he slipping information to the terrorists and giving Carrie fancy LSD, but he gave information about the TUNNELS, which was HUGE. Boyd is basically responsible for all of those people dying. And he was just chillin' in that cell, talking to his wife. At one point the bars weren't even closed, and I think at another point he was walking around. Did I miss something??? Was none of this as weird as I thought it was??

Why was Lockhart so emotionally attached to Fara? Why was that where he drew the line? Did I miss something where they bonded at some point? I get that someone had to die-- this was a very big event, and the fact that Carrie and Saul survived the car bombs and then the shower of snipper rifle was kind of unrealistic, so whoever died had to be someone we would feel. But do we feel for Fara ourselves? I always liked her, don't get me wrong, but I don't think we got to know her enough to be truly destroyed that she's gone.

And now, the most important question: didn't that part in the safe room remind you of Panic Room with Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart? Remember how when that movie first came out, you couldn't tell if Kristen Stewart was a boy or a girl, and after watching the entire movie you still had no idea? Was anyone else so distracted by remembering Kristen Stewart's once ambiguous gender that they almost forgot what was happening for a minute on Homeland? No? Just me then?

Well, anyway. There are only two episodes left, so it's down to the wire! Will Quinn die in his quest to get the bad guys on his own, further supporting the idea that anyone who is even remotely interested in Carrie will die? Did Carrie mean it when she said she wanted to go home? Was this the final straw? Will she try to live a normal life with her Brody baby? Somehow I doubt it. All I know is that no one is safe!