Just a small-town girl…
Warning: Full spoilers below.
Oh Allison! Now I feel sorry for you…
The latest Homeland made good on its title, “All About Allison,” as we finally learned how Miranda Otto’s character became the double-crossing double-agent that she is. Despite the various conspiracy theories out there about her living a The Americans type life, it seems Allison is just a small-town girl living in a lonely world. She’s from Wisconsin, you see, not Moscow. And her biggest interest seems to be expensive handbags, not world domination.
How boring. And yet, how refreshing that Allison is not some kind of super-spy trained in a KGB camp from birth to become the Ultimate Anti-USA Weapon. No, she simply got frustrated by her experiences in the CIA, specifically by the mess in Iraq 10 years ago, and when she was offered just the right temptation, she fell for it and was ultimately trapped. Eight million dollars can replace a lot of sand-ruined wardrobe, you know.
This explanation of Allison’s current situation (told via several flashbacks) may not make her terribly appealing as a person, since she didn’t do the heroic or self-sacrificing thing. She’s all about self-preservation, not self-sacrifice. But you can see her frustration and desperation to get out of Baghdad in those flashbacks, and how the entire experience has soured her on her chosen career and life. And you can’t blame her for feeling that way. What good is she doing in the CIA, anyway? This all tracks with Homeland’s overall thematic exploration of how service to the greater cause can and likely will ruin you. Look at these guys, all of them: Carrie, Saul, Quinn, Allison, and of course Brody. How much better off would they have been if they had stayed home and taken typical jobs and made typical lives for themselves?
So I found the Allison revelations pretty intriguing, even if the rest of the episode kind of went in a big circle. Saul’s purgatory in his Israeli buddy’s cushy living room was a real stop-gap of a story thread, as by the end of it all he apparently is being ushered out to another destination. (Although I did enjoy seeing a confused Saul being woken up like an old grandfather. “Huh, wuh, heh?”) Ditto Carrie, who did most of her busy work this week while driving back from Amsterdam, making phone calls during the long trip like Tom Hardy’s Locke.
Quinn spent much of this week living in a van down by the river. O.K., well, not by the river, but the pit stop his fan club insisted on making on the way to Syria took a long time to get to the point, which is that ain’t nobody going to Syria. And these guys aren’t such big fans of Quinn, or as gullible as they at first seemed, it turns out. Nope, they’re actually heading back to Berlin with gas masks and some kind of toxic weapon. How any of this will tie into the bigger story of the season involving Carrie remains unclear, as does Quinn’s thoughts on where his friend — who as far as he last knew was in serious trouble — is now.
And speaking of Carrie, why didn’t Allison light that cigarette and allow the trigger to be pulled on her old comrade during their meeting? Is she actually feeling guilty over the situation and trying to protect Carrie? Could this be her key to getting out of this weird relationship she’s stuck in with Ivan the Russian? Whatever the case, by episode’s end Carrie now knows the truth about Allison. Banana Joe’s doesn’t lie!
Some notes:
- Yes, I know Wisconsin has cities. I’m more just making the point that Allison was a normal gal once.
- Brody: Never forget.
- Also never forget that if you want to play 10 years younger, put on a really long wig.
- I enjoyed the flashback stuff, and seeing Claire Danes’ approach to the younger Carrie.
An episode that was half-interesting and half going around in circles, “All About Allison” finally allowed Carrie to learn the truth about the titular character. Whether or not this will lead to Saul, Carrie and maybe even Quinn getting on the same page remains to be seen. But Miranda Otto’s take on Allison was as strong as always and the revelations about how she wound up where she is today were worth the wait.
