Homeland: “New Car Smell” Recap

By Chris Hine

Every great show has moments that stay with you for a long time, moments that get inside your brain and make you involuntarily react physically – maybe your jaw will drop, maybe you’ll cry or maybe you get chills down your back. Homeland had a moment in “New Car Smell” that caused two of those three reactions (no tears) and ranks, for me, among the all-time great moments in TV history.

I can think of some moments that still surpass that electrifying scene in the hotel when Carrie confronts Brody and reveals all: A couple of key deaths in Season 1 and Season 3 of The Wire ( I won’t ruin it for those that haven’t seen it), Matt Saracen seeing his father’s corpse on Friday Night Lights, a couple of key deaths at the end of Season 4 and Season 5 of Breaking Bad, and the reveal at the end of “Walkabout” in Lost that Locke was paralyzed before crashing on the island. That’s about it, for me. I’m still not ready to place Homeland in the pantheon of great shows, but it is well on its way there.

To set up the scene, Brody has been having marital problems with Jessica because, you know, he’s a terrorist living a double life trying to hide that from her. Jessica kicks him out, and Brody is staying at a hotel. It seems he wants a little booty call in addition to info from Carrie, who riles his suspicion when he sees her on the grounds at the CIA. Carrie does that as the main piece of the operation against Brody, an operation started quietly by David Estes after Saul shows the damning confession tape to David. So, the meeting serves a number of purposes for both Brody and Carrie.

What was so impressive about that scene (and I include the prelude when Carrie and Brody share a drink in the bar) is that the dialogue only tells a small part of the story. It was the looks in their eyes, the double meaning of everything they said and the underlying tension of the scene, both from the standpoint of the cat-and-mouse spy game between Brody and Carrie and the romantic past they shared, that made it so great. The only scene I can think of that combined this amount of tension and emotion between two characters was a certain balcony scene in Season 3 of The Wire. (Again, I don’t want to spoil the surprise for those that have yet to experience the awesomeness that is The Wire.) Both were Shakespearean in how they were crafted.

Then, with the reveal in the hotel room where Carrie calls Brody on his double life, blowing the operation – I honestly couldn’t believe Carrie would go through with it. I thought she’d come to her senses and keep her cover. But out it came, and what a wonderful job of acting from both Damien Lewis and Claire Danes. Because of the nature of the show, these two don’t get to spend a lot of time on screen together, but man, when they do, the chemistry explodes in your living room. That was TV at its finest. The Demo was lucky enough to see this episode in advance along with next week’s episode, and those that like to see Brody and Carrie on screen together, like me, won’t be disappointed next week either.

What surprised me the most about this scene, and what has surprised me about this season of Homeland so far, is just how quickly it came. This was the sort of moment, like Saul seeing the confession video, that could have easily come in the season finale. Maybe we’re just conditioned by the slow, plodding, meticulous pace of shows like Breaking Bad and The Wire to think that big, show-defining moments between main characters have to come at the end of a season instead of Episode 4. Those shows “earn” their big moments by careful character development and plot maneuvering throughout a season. Homeland has been able to get it both ways. It earns its big moments while keeping a swift sense of pacing that keeps casual viewers interested and the plot humming. And that’s a very good thing.

Other thoughts:
– There actually was other stuff that happened in the episode. David brings aboard Peter Quinn (played by Rupert Friend, another feisty Brit playing an American) to head the Brody investigation. We’ll table discussion on him until next week.
– Brody’s Marine frenemy, Lauder, invades the Brody home to confront Brody with his (correct) conspiracy theories on Brody, except he and Mike come to the conclusion that Brody is working for the CIA.
– Brody’s daughter, Dana, and the VP’s son, Finn, finally kiss in the Washington Monument … smooth move by Finn there. Countdown clock to Dana’s pregnancy has now started.
– David sees the tape and realizes no matter what he does with it, he’s monumentally screwed. His only option is to try and nab the world’s No. 1 terrorist as an excuse for allowing a lesser terrorist roam the halls of Congress. But isn’t that exactly what a mole would do?
– Honestly, why can’t cab drivers just take credit cards without rolling their eyes or begging for cash? Just deal with it.