Homeland: New show on Showtime

While the last episode was a good watch I agree on the kid storyline - becomes a bit annoying and totally unbelievable by now. Way more logical thing would be for Carrie to ask her sis to take care of Frannie while she will be away for a couple of weeks to save the country or something. And yes, the Simone breakout was way too easy - just 2 guards for the most important witness in the whole country, huh? Plus the whole "novichok" (pun intended) scene - a bit unprofessional given the experience of everyone involved.

 

If the main bad Russian dude and the chick who was going to give false evidence against the President's aid were lovers why did he have to blackmail the lawyer to find out where she was?

 

Not to mention him showing up in the embassy basement is rather unwise for the most wanted spy on US territory given how every inch around Russian Embassy is under 24/8 CIA surveillance.

 

Without giving anything away I'll just say towards the end, it was just a little too easy, lol. That required a whole other level of suspension of disbelief. smh

 

I dunno about that. We were well primed that Carrie's meds were becoming ineffectual and that things were going to hit the fan sooner or later. It was obvious earlier on when she took what looked like half a pill (to make the meds last longer) that she was going to go off the rails.

I don't particularly like her being bipolar as it's often an excuse for cheap histrionics and drama, but I felt that the latest events in the episode were earned given the earlier revelations about her developing a resistance to her medication.

I liked the episode.

 

There’s no way she could have told him where she was being held before testifying.

 

oh gawd i just about turned this one off when it went back to the franny & co angle.

 

Spoilers, don't read if you haven't seen the episode (not you Deesky as you've obviously seen it) -

Agreed about Carrie. I was alluding to the scene with Yevgeny and agent Allen in the hospital. The only witness who can save the presidency with no guards outside his door. Still liked the episode but that knocked it down, for me, from 9* to 8* on my IMDB rating.

 

Next week's the finale isn't it? Don't possibly see how they're gonna be able to wrap this season up in an hour. In which case this 'finale' is going to feel more like one of those mid-season 'breaks' that seems to be the norm among regular network dramas these days. Did I mention how I HATE those kind of breaks!?

 

Late to the discussion, but I've been enjoying the season a lot--tenuous believability and all--but I have a question for those of you who don't live where I do.

I've been living in Richmond, Va for almost 30 years now, and some of you may know that this whole season was filmed in and around the city (for a while there, you couldn't go out to pick up some milk without running into a shoot). I find it both distracting and entertaining that, to someone familiar with Richmond, the locations not only look nothing like Washington DC, but have been left so obviously the way they are. No post production CGI, etc, to even hide street names and the names of businesses. Lots of familiar interiors, too--plus using the Va. Capitol as a pretty bad stand-in for the Whitehouse lawn, etc.. Like I said, I've been enjoying the season, and it's more fun than annoying to recognize the locations, but it is distracting.

Do most of you find it convincing (or convincing enough) as far as locations go?

L.

 

Ah okay, but I think that was also sort of covered. Remember earlier on, Yevgeny had a conversation in the car about whether there were guards at the hospital and whether they were rent-a-cops or pros. They were the latter, feds. So to level the playing field, Yevgeny needed a big distraction, which is why he shot the old dude to create an emergency. And while all the medical staff were scrambling around, Yevgeny lifted a security ID which gave him access to the locked, secure area where Allen was recovering.

So there was some justification in how he gained access, though you could argue even inside the locked, secure area there should have been guards around 24/7. That particular detail didn't really worry me too much in the grand scheme of things though...

 

I haven't paid much attention to the locations, so I guess it didn't bother me.

 

the only thing that bugged me was the obviously hokey press conference at the white house that looked nothing like the actual white house property.

 

That was certainly the most obvious bit for people outside of Richmond. It was on the hill right outside the Va Capitol building. The Whitehouse isn't even on a hill!

L.

 

exactly!

 

Powerful episode, but Oleg's Yevgeny's entry to Dante's room was way too easy. I'm assuming he got away.
I don't think we've ever seen this representation of Carrie's psychosis in quite this way. She really is off the deep end. It had to catch up with her sometime.

 

You had me worried. I looked it up, there are 3 more episodes.

 

i was actually hoping there'd be only one more. yeesh.

 

Not to be insensitive to those with mental issues, but I'm getting a little weary of Carrie's. That and not really being part of the CIA but seemingly having full access to their resources strikes me as wholly unrealistic and reduces the enjoyment for me.

 

Guess I'm glad to be wrong for once, they should be able to wrap it up (somewhat!)

 

agree. at least this season hasn't been a slog to get through like the last though.

 

Nope, I know DC and Richmond too well.

 

Yes, that's utterly unbelievable. There would have been multiple armed guards outside the room, and possibly inside the room as well. Actually, given that he was stable, they would probably have moved him to a secure medical facility by then. But the lack of guards was just silly.

Unlike a lot of you, I don't have an issue with the Frannie stuff.

Looks, from the previews, that by next episode Saul finally starts to warm up to Carry again.

 

It's been filmed in some other places way far from the ones in which the fiction takes place (the Berlin and New York of seasons 5 and 6 were exceptions--I know NYC well enough to be able to tell when they were playing fast and loose with the logic of the actual geography, but at least it was actually NYC), but this is the first time they're using a "stand-in" location I really know well. Charlotte, NC and environs stood in for the U.S. locations of the first 3 seasons, with San Juan, Puerto Rico playing Caracas in season 3. Season 4 was filmed mostly in Capetown, South Africa. Middle eastern scenes have often been shot in Morocco, Pakistan, and Israel. They got some attractive economic incentives to film around here this year--and I know people who were very happy to get the work (including my wife's cousin who got a job rounding up props).

If any of you live in any of the other locations: were they as unconcerned about hiding that fact as they have been so far this season? I'm more curious about this than critical, but it's amazing to me how often street-signs and other identifying markers have been left in as they are.

L.

 

I agree on both counts.

L.