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Homeland - Season 5 - Sundays on Showtime

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Zaph

Member
Wouldn't be surprised if Quinn's sub-plot is going the way of No Russian in MW2. The Doctor and Mr Friendly Terrorist probably knew who Quinn was all along and are using him to pull off a false flag chemical attack in Berlin. Overhearing the plot and killing Mr Angry Terrorist way probably a ploy to make them look dumb and 'harmless'. Still dumb.

Alison's storyline just keeps getting sillier. If the Russians are willing to go to such lengths, including murder and shootouts in a major European city, to protect her as a double-agent, why on earth would Alison use the killbox to take out Carrie? If she knew who set the box up and who did the hits, she's stupid thinking Saul/Quinn wouldn't ask questions. And if she didn't know? She's even stupider for exposing herself to such an unknown.
 

Saty

Member
'05 Allison mentions shopping spree at Milan on her way to a vacation. Present day Allison buys a $500 handbag online. What seemingly pushes '05 Allison to agree to Ahmed's idea of fleeing together (and setting up the logistics of it) is him flashing $8M. DAT CHARACTERIZATION.

Russians ready to kill Carrie at any sign she might know more of the whole situation. Russians (and Ahmed himself) fail to note Ahmed's personal computer is missing, likely with Carrie and surely containing info that might nudge her to the truth. Russians show no intention to find out if Carrie indeed has the computer, if she accessed it or contacted others to help her. If i were them, Ahmed's computer missing would be enough for me to order killing Carrie on the off-chance she has the laptop and digging in it.

Carrie continues to 100% not suspect Allison's involvement in the killbox and the Ahmed situation. Thank god Allison said what she said to her 10 years ago and Carrie remembered. Ahmed keeps 10-year old photographs on his screen saver rotations. Impressive. lol @ connecting the two things just because of the Banana Joe stand, which even going by the pictures would a stretch. They couldn't even had Carrie ask Numan to tell her when was picture was taken to make the conclusion more solid.

I guess that's what the writers meant when they had Carrie say the Russians want her out specifically: it's not because the inane reason Carrie's source sat on his intel - it's because only Carrie has been part of this exchange with Allison in '05 that would finally make her see Allison's true colors.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
I don't get how Carrie doesn't know what Allison is up to when you have that earlier scene where Carrier calls the number on the phone and Allison picks up. Like, what?
 
'05 Allison mentions shopping spree at Milan on her way to a vacation. Present day Allison buys a $500 handbag online. What seemingly pushes '05 Allison to agree to Ahmed's idea of fleeing together (and setting up the logistics of it) is him flashing $8M. DAT CHARACTERIZATION.

Russians ready to kill Carrie at any sign she might know more of the whole situation. Russians (and Ahmed himself) fail to note Ahmed's personal computer is missing, likely with Carrie and surely containing info that might nudge her to the truth. Russians show no intention to find out if Carrie indeed has the computer, if she accessed it or contacted others to help her. If i were them, Ahmed's computer missing would be enough for me to order killing Carrie on the off-chance she has the laptop and digging in it.

Carrie continues to 100% not suspect Allison's involvement in the killbox and the Ahmed situation. Thank god Allison said what she said to her 10 years ago and Carrie remembered. Ahmed keeps 10-year old photographs on his screen saver rotations. Impressive. lol @ connecting the two things just because of the Banana Joe stand, which even going by the pictures would a stretch. They couldn't even had Carrie ask Numan to tell her when was picture was taken to make the conclusion more solid.

I guess that's what the writers meant when they had Carrie say the Russians want her out specifically: it's not because the inane reason Carrie's source sat on his intel - it's because only Carrie has been part of this exchange with Allison in '05 that would finally make her see Allison's true colors.
The Russians knew Banana Joe was the key all along

Give the writers that Emmy RIGHT NOW :-0
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
The funny part is that Carrie is only tipped off about the whole thing because the Russians (well, Allison) tried to kill her. Via Quinn of all methods. If they had left her alone she would have never cared about the documents and they'd be completely in the clear.

And Ahmed apparently did go to St.Lucia with Allison after all this? Why would Allison go with him after he delivered her to the Russian boss? She didn't actually love him for real.

Also really convenient than the other hacker, the dumb one who got killed, decided to sell the info to Russians of all people, who just happened to be those who have a serious vulnerability from the documents.

Eh. Worst season yet?

I don't get how Carrie doesn't know what Allison is up to when you have that earlier scene where Carrier calls the number on the phone and Allison picks up. Like, what?
She didn't recognize the voice from one "da?", obviously.
 

Saty

Member
The funny part is that Carrie is only tipped off about the whole thing because the Russians (well, Allison) tried to kill her. Via Quinn of all methods. If they had left her alone she would have never cared about the documents and they'd be completely in the clear.
Don't forget how quickly the Russians acted to try and take Carrie out in Lebanon.

And Ahmed apparently did go to St.Lucia with Allison after all this? Why would Allison go with him after he delivered her to the Russian boss? She didn't actually love him for real.
Allison needed to keep appearance. If she already notified the CIA she's going to St. Lucia for a vacation then it's best she did that instead of raising suspicion\confusion\doubt by actually going elsewhere.
Now, it's a good question why Ahmed is there. Russians faked his death so maybe they sent him with her for a cooldown. Maybe he insisted on it as part of his deal with the Russians. But at the very least, it's careless sending a thought-to-dead asset to the same place Allison is when the US authorities know she's there. What if they need to contact her and happen to learn Ahmed is still alive. Anyhow, that's the least of this season's problems.

Also really convenient than the other hacker, the dumb one who got killed, decided to sell the info to Russians of all people, who just happened to be those who have a serious vulnerability from the documents.
That's what i'm yet to be clear on. The only way the timeline of the Lebanon attack and the killbox assignment works is if the Russians knew about the seriousness of the leak straightaway. So Allison sees the list of the files that have been stolen and notifies right away her contact about the troublesome file. Killing the hacker's friend was just a means to insure there are no more copies of the files so it doesn't change much. But yeah, it was convenient.

This season has been a farce top to bottom.
 
So... Quinn gonna stop the bomb, or will it still happen? I'm pretty sure the dirty bomb is going to get detonated, and setup the next season of 24 Homeland for Carrie to go all Zero Dark Thirty on ISIS.

I just hope Quinn survives :(

Carrie's ex-boss is really weird too, like he doesn't have any other shit to do other than hang out with Newman watching him crack laptop passwords.

Did anyone believe Dar Adal is coming to kill Saul? That makes no sense. Is Saul's jewish buddy about to betray him? Makes sense, since Saul has literally zero survival senses apparently.
 
Saul was my favoirite character for a while in the early season, now he is just an idiot that cant spot anything. wtf happened.

This season is fucking stupid.
 
Well this week's episode was a whole load of boring nothing. At least, finally somebody, anybody has found out Alison is not one of the good guys. What the fuck are they doing with Quinn's storyline?

This season has been such a disappointment, especially after how great last season was.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Am I the only one who thought it was hilarious that Carrie asked the hacker to Google something for her? Like she couldn't use Google by herself? XD

Numan is such a 1337 haxx0r, he can use teh Google!! And find pics!
 

NeoGiff

Member
Am I the only one who thought it was hilarious that Carrie asked the hacker to Google something for her? Like she couldn't use Google by herself? XD

Newman is such a 1337 haxx0r, he can use teh Google!! And find pics!

But he's a "hacker", of course he'll be better at Googling.
 

rtcn63

Member
That keyser soze moment

tumblr_inline_nkpu5imAJM1r87q24.gif
 

sangreal

Member
Am I the only one who thought it was hilarious that Carrie asked the hacker to Google something for her? Like she couldn't use Google by herself? XD

Numan is such a 1337 haxx0r, he can use teh Google!! And find pics!

I think it is funny that he even gives a shit what Carrie wants

but then, I have no idea why anyone helps Carrie. For me, it was glorious seeing her get shot down repeatedly by Acrobat

I wonder where they are going with this Otto thing. Is it because he is in love with her, or something more sinister?
 

sangreal

Member
So... Quinn gonna stop the bomb, or will it still happen? I'm pretty sure the dirty bomb is going to get detonated, and setup the next season of 24 Homeland for Carrie to go all Zero Dark Thirty on ISIS.

I just hope Quinn survives :(

Carrie's ex-boss is really weird too, like he doesn't have any other shit to do other than hang out with Newman watching him crack laptop passwords.

Did anyone believe Dar Adal is coming to kill Saul? That makes no sense. Is Saul's jewish buddy about to betray him? Makes sense, since Saul has literally zero survival senses apparently.

It's gonna happen. This show is never been shy about that sort of thing, what with the Langley bombing and then the embassy attack. Has any attack ever been foiled other than the dud suicide vest?

The funny part is that Carrie is only tipped off about the whole thing because the Russians (well, Allison) tried to kill her. Via Quinn of all methods. If they had left her alone she would have never cared about the documents and they'd be completely in the clear.

To be fair, she tried to kill Carrie because she was convinced that Carrie was the one who stole the documents. Even still though, the only relevant part of the document cache was that someone tried to check in with Carrie and they didn't tell her (shocking seeing as how she is no longer in the agency). Its hard to believe it would have raised any suspicion without the repeated assassination attempts
 

rtcn63

Member
I think it is funny that he even gives a shit what Carrie wants

He wants revenge against the Russians for killing his friend and the sister.

But yeah, Carrie's the manic pixie everyone in the show can't help but... help. She is the star.
 

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
That was a long fucking walk for Carrie to recall a conversation about a damn bar that she sees in a screensaver. And then Carrie proceeds to crumble into a quivering, crying mess, as usual.

If only supposed world-class hackers can use Google Images, I must be a super blackhat.

LOL at Dar Adal explicitly saying that some music and running water completely countered modern surveillance equipment. Also, Dar Adal continues to implicitly trust every single thing Allison says, which is more moronic with each passing episode.

The SVR has been openly assassinating people all across Europe for knowing absolutely nothing, but Carrie, who they know actually has and somewhat understands the information, keeps getting a pass because somehow that's one body too many.

To be fair, she tried to kill Carrie because she was convinced that Carrie was the one who stole the documents.
Which was based solely on photos of Carrie and the journalist, right? Carrie has a chat with someone who works at the same damn company, so they immediately jump to her being involved, which would be so obvious and stupid of Carrie that... well, I guess in this world that means it'd be something that might happen.

Likewise, Saul is a traitor conspiring with Israel because he was photographed openly speaking to someone with whom it'd be perfectly normal to speak as part of his job.

Even still though, the only relevant part of the document cache was that someone tried to check in with Carrie and they didn't tell her (shocking seeing as how she is no longer in the agency). Its hard to believe it would have raised any suspicion without the repeated assassination attempts
This season is basically the intelligence agencies falling into the trap of the Streisand Effect.
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
This season is rapidly going off the rails. I was really digging it, but some of the stuff here is such a huge stretch. Like the reason that someone finally figured out Allison was a traitor is a small conversation about a bar that Carrie had 10 years ago? And the Quinn storyline is just beyond ridiculous to me. He accidentally fell into a terror cell, so now he is going to stop their attack in Berlin. It feels like something the writers would throw in so there is a big action piece near the end of the season. It feels so disjointed. I could swallow that storyline if Quinn had been entirely separate from the jump, but he was interwoven heavily into this whole thing and got sidelined.

I'm not even bothered by nobody figuring it out until now. What bothers me is that it feels like they wrote everyone into a corner and the only way to get Carrie to the correct conclusion was to do an asspull in this episode. Really unsatisfying as a viewer.

The more I think about any of this, the more stupid it all becomes. Like why even bother using the killbox to take out Carrie if you don't mind sending goons. "Blah blah bodycount." Obviously that isn't a concern now. And wouldn't Allison at least have an idea about Quinn and Carrie knowing each other. Not to mention Saul being there. It makes zero sense to me.
 
'05 Allison mentions shopping spree at Milan on her way to a vacation. Present day Allison buys a $500 handbag online. What seemingly pushes '05 Allison to agree to Ahmed's idea of fleeing together (and setting up the logistics of it) is him flashing $8M. DAT CHARACTERIZATION.

Russians ready to kill Carrie at any sign she might know more of the whole situation. Russians (and Ahmed himself) fail to note Ahmed's personal computer is missing, likely with Carrie and surely containing info that might nudge her to the truth. Russians show no intention to find out if Carrie indeed has the computer, if she accessed it or contacted others to help her. If i were them, Ahmed's computer missing would be enough for me to order killing Carrie on the off-chance she has the laptop and digging in it.

Carrie continues to 100% not suspect Allison's involvement in the killbox and the Ahmed situation. Thank god Allison said what she said to her 10 years ago and Carrie remembered. Ahmed keeps 10-year old photographs on his screen saver rotations. Impressive. lol @ connecting the two things just because of the Banana Joe stand, which even going by the pictures would a stretch. They couldn't even had Carrie ask Numan to tell her when was picture was taken to make the conclusion more solid.

I guess that's what the writers meant when they had Carrie say the Russians want her out specifically: it's not because the inane reason Carrie's source sat on his intel - it's because only Carrie has been part of this exchange with Allison in '05 that would finally make her see Allison's true colors.
hahaha it's pretty funny when you lay it out
 

Fliesen

Member
The Banana Joe's reveal made me shake my head IRL.

It was almost comically dumb.

Still loving the show.
except for the Quinn subplot.
 

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
The continued adventures of the dumbest spies in the West.

a) Carrie stopped looking for evidence on the laptop after seeing a single frame of a screensaver. Two episodes spent around her getting and cracking that laptop, and she gets nothing but the very first fucking image that popped up.

b) That Israeli guy lets Saul go, then keeps in touch with him despite now overtly violating the demands of his own country and the US.

c) Somehow in between episodes Carrie gets in touch with him and he agrees to put the two together.

d) Germany begins a fairly large scale surveillance operation on America's Berlin station chief based on allegations from a CIA division chief who's on the run and someone not even part of the intelligence game anymore. Also, again, based on a photo of a man at a bar, although that entire angle of Allison and the Iraqi asset will have nothing to do with the rest of this super rushed investigation.

e) The Germans give Saul operational authority over a mission that they're running in their own country. To Saul, who is sleeping with the target and clearly not thinking straight. To Saul, last seen fleeing from American hands not once but twice.

f) Dar Adal immediately lays his entire hand on the table, spilling all of their specific surveillance, letting her once again play him like a fool.
 
That was a good episode. Better than these past couple episodes.

Allison with the plays again lol. Of course, I should have seen that coming.

I just feel so bad for Quinn though.... Everything happenng to him sucks and I just want him to blast these fools.
 

jtb

Banned
Good episode. Back to basics, really just replaying those vintage Homeland S1 greatest hits: illegal mass surveillance and voyeuristic watching other people fucking, with some soft 24 on the side.
 

sangreal

Member
I knew as soon as she said "Think!" what her plan was going to be. Christ these people are naive. Of course, they've already told her the entirety of the weak evidence against her
 

SwolBro

Banned
Even though i'll finish the season, and there has been entertaining parts, i still hold firm that the show should have ended after season 3.

And can someone explain to me what relevance season 4 has here? Or did they just completely scrap that entire plot from season 4. it means virtually nothing so far
 

sangreal

Member
Even though i'll finish the season, and there has been entertaining parts, i still hold firm that the show should have ended after season 3.

And can someone explain to me what relevance season 4 has here? Or did they just completely scrap that entire plot from season 4. it means virtually nothing so far

the show jumped a year or 2 after that. the only relevance it has to this season is saul being back in the agency, and carrie being out (after tanking the plans to make saul director which is where 4 left off)

That is pretty normal for this show though. I mean in Season 3, they killed off Brody to get that guy in place as an asset and I don't think we've ever heard of him since. I guess you could say continuity across seasons died with Brody.
 
That was the first really good episode in quite a while last night! This show can be great when it sticks to actual spying and espionage.
 

rtcn63

Member
So it was Allison's love of expensive handbags that got her? She dumped her phone but not the bag. She couldn't.

And Dar is an idiot if he falls for that shit. Didn't he watch Tinker Tailor? Handlers will often give their agents classified information to help them move up the ranks, so they can get access to better secret stuffs.

EDIT: Wait, the bug wasn't that useful since she stopped talking after a certain point. And they already had the drone on her.
 

Zaph

Member
On one hand, at least something happened this episode. On the other - it means everything up until now with Dar/Saul/Alison was played straight and not a ruse. Dar and Saul, apparent veterans of the CIA, who can install puppet dictators in Iran and negotiate a peace deal with one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. Right.

Quinn has just reached Jack Bauer levels of body trauma in a season without dying.
 
I knew as soon as she said "Think!" what her plan was going to be. Christ these people are naive. Of course, they've already told her the entirety of the weak evidence against her

Yeah Allison's "plan" makes zero sense, I am not a spy but I have to assume you can't just recruit assets and not tell another single soul about it. Even in the episode, the Russian guy tells Allison only 2 station chiefs know about her plus him. But the CIA requires 0 other people to know if she had recruited the Berlin SVR station chief? Yes, in Allison's cover up the Russian's are more bureaucratic than the CIA.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
On one hand, at least something happened this episode. On the other - it means everything up until now with Dar/Saul/Alison was played straight and not a ruse. Dar and Saul, apparent veterans of the CIA, who can install puppet dictators in Iran and negotiate a peace deal with one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. Right.

Quinn has just reached Jack Bauer levels of body trauma in a season without dying.
This is the problem. They're supposed to be the most credible people in the show, but they're fucking chumps.
 

rtcn63

Member
This is the problem. They're supposed to be the most credible people in the show, but they're fucking chumps.

Well Saul was hitting that, and I wouldn't be surprised if Dar wished he was as well. Love/lust clouds even the clearest minds.

But no it's all spotty as fuck.
 

woen

Member
The twists are clichés over clichés. It started well, but 12 episodes is too much when you have that amount of narrative incoherence. Good points raised by a fellow gafer above.

At least no bullshit hacker parts this episode.
 

harSon

Banned
I think he faked it. Or if not, he still survives (barely) because of the shot.

I thought he was faking it considering he knows what the symptoms look like, until dude started foaming at the mouth. Dude's one badass motherfucking actor if he pulled off foam on queue. I think it's more likely that he's showing legitimate symptoms, but will be spared due to the shot he was given.
 
I kind of want this show to go the True Detective & Fargo route. Have each season focus on a new plot and characters. Each could take place in the same universe, and maybe the occasional character or event crosses paths with the old ones.
 

tauroxd

Member
I kind of want this show to go the True Detective & Fargo route. Have each season focus on a new plot and characters. Each could take place in the same universe, and maybe the occasional character or event crosses paths with the old ones.

They are kind of doing that since a while and, in my opinion is working: Season 3 doesn't really affects season 4, and season 4 doesn't really affects season 5. They can continue this one season storylines and keep it varied and good. Like one gaffer on this page said, continuity (in all the sense of the word) between seasons died with Brody.
 
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