Homeland: “I’ll Fly Away” Recap

By Chris Hine

Homeland has worn a lot of different hats in its 1.5 season on the air: Psychological profile, in-depth character study, political thriller, but this past Sunday, with “I’ll Fly Away,” Homeland put on a new hat – knee-slapping comedic romp.

You would think, given the show’s history, that pivotal scene in which Saul and Peter decide whether to shut down the operation with Brody and Carrie would have all the trappings of your typical drama: the dramatic, pulsating score, the tense dialogue, the extreme close-ups of their faces. Instead, the coital moans of Carrie served as the backdrop for the debate between Saul and Peter. While Carrie was getting a little ginger in her, all Saul could do was bury his hands in his head and convince Peter that Carrie knew what she was doing – that she was “empowering” Brody to have the resolve and focus to stick with the mission, after he told Roya earlier in the episode that he was done.

That earlier act was the boiling point the show had been setting up for a few episodes – the powerless Brody finally runs out of patience and gives up on the whole thing. He decides prison is better than the hellhole of a situation he’s in now with the suspicious CIA, suspicious Roya and his suspicious family. As Carrie told him in “Q&A,” the lies undo us, and Brody has had enough lying. He’s already undone.

But Carrie gives him some of his mojo back, even if she does draw Brody’s manhood out of him, figuratively speaking, of course. That scene back at the base of the CIA’s operation is just pure gold, a genius juxtaposition of mood and story, showing that “Homeland” isn’t afraid to embrace some of the more absurd elements of its story and tell it like it is. Yes, it’s ridiculous that Carrie and Brody are sleeping with each other — again. Isn’t it hilarious? Homeland thinks it is too, and that’s what makes the joke even funnier. And in typical Homeland fashion, we don’t know to what degree the feelings between Carrie and Brody are genuine, or how much they’re using each other. Great stuff.

Post-ejaculate Brody tells Roya he wants back in, but Roya is (rightfully) suspicious. And she takes Brody to an open field where they meet the dude from the rain on the bomb-maker’s shop, and together the three of them fly away in a helicopter. Like … nobody saw the helicopter coming? And can’t they track this thing via radar? It can’t be that hard for the CIA to lose track of a helicopter on American land, right? Tell me I’m wrong about this. For the security of our country, please tell me I’m wrong about this. But apparently, they got away and Brody is taken to a place where a clean-shaven Abu Nazir greets him and tells him he has heard Brody is wavering in his commitment to the cause.

Now, this is an interesting point in the dynamic between Brody and Abu Nazir. We don’t quite know for sure if Abu Nazir knows Brody is working for the CIA. Based on Roya’s behavior, we have a pretty good idea that they think he is. But maybe Roya was just being overly cautious by acting suspiciously in the car and doing things like removing Brody’s cell phone battery to avoid the GPS tracking. And if Brody was turned, why haven’t they killed him yet? They whisk him away in the helicopter, but don’t do anything to him? My guess is that Abu Nazir knows Brody was discovered by the CIA, but that Brody is still in a position to help Abu Nazir or that Brody is central to whatever plot Abu Nazir has. This trip to the warehouse on American soil is one last attempt on Abu Nazir’s part to try and sway Brody back to his side, or else his plan falls apart. Just as Carrie played with Brody’s emotions to get him to work for the CIA, now it’s Abu Nazir’s turn to exploit Brody’s soft spot for Isa and turn him back into a terrorist out for revenge on Vice President Walden. Though, if this episode was any indication, Brody doesn’t have many soft spots left. Boom.

Other thoughts:
— Dana returns to her second father, Mike, the father she wishes Brody could be, for some comfort and advice concerning what to do about the hit-and-run accident. She visits the victim’s daughter, who was more than happy to receive whatever cash reward Walden was willing to pay. There, Dana, she’s going to be fine. You don’t have to tell the police or you’ll ruin her life. You don’t want that, do you? Just drop it, already, and this storyline can end. It served its purpose, now let’s move on.
— David Estes says he doesn’t want the day to come that he has to explain to the Senate who Carrie was fucking. Well, if I remember correctly from Season 1, he would be on that list …. Awkward!
— Once again, Chris is a total waste of space that has no clue what the hell is happening around him. This time, he’s all excited to tell Mike his NBA team, I presume the Wizards, is beating Miami, while tense drama is happening around him. Oh, how ignorance is wasted on the young.