Don’t mess with Saul.
Warning: Full spoilers below.
Saul Berenson (and Mandy Patinkin) got the spotlight in the latest Homeland, “Parabiosis,” as the double-cross being arranged by Allison has kicked into gear and put our favorite furry CIA boss on the defensive. And, you know, there’s really no such thing as too much Saul.
It all starts with a stone-faced Saul not giving an inch to Carrie, which was really a bit sad considering their past relationship. We’ve known the two are on bad terms all season, but for her to come to him under such dire circumstances — someone within the agency ordered her killed! — and for Saul to basically refuse to help, well, that hurts (both Carrie and us). “There’s a line between us that you drew,” he says. “Forget that. It’s a f#@king wall.” That’s why the final moments of the episode are so effective, as Saul — having finally realized Carrie was right — reached out to his former friend and protégé, and we saw that look on Carrie’s face. She really, really needed that, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Saul has been in complete control this season, calling the shots and playing hardball, so it was interesting to see him suddenly having to grapple with things on his own once Dar Adal turned on him. He very quickly realized Carrie was right about his being followed, and Allison went ahead and confirmed it for him (of course she did, as it serves her purposes for Saul to know Dar doesn’t trust him anymore). Saul’s desperation and paranoia were very effective, with him first ordering a full sweep of the Berlin office for bugs, and later freaking out in his hotel room (that poor cleaning lady!). Patinkin’s restrained, tightly wound performance, as always, is one of the best aspects of this show.
The confrontation between Dar and Saul, former adversaries who have become close allies for the past couple of seasons, was also excellent. I’ve said it before, but F. Murray Abraham is very underutilized on this show. Hopefully this is an indication that we’ll be getting more of Dar from here on in. We also got another kernel of The History of the World According to Saul, as we learned that one of the reasons why Dar may distrust his buddy when it comes to Israel has to do with an incident from 30 years ago where Saul leaked some names to the Mossad. “You hang onto it like it was yesterday,” yells Saul. And all the while, sneaky Allison is eavesdropping on the two of them. She’s a snake.
It all led to a forced lie detector test for Saul that was to never be (at least not this week), as the old instincts kicked in for The Bear and he did a total end run around the whole office, managing to get a copy of those leaked documents for Carrie despite being locked out of the system by Dar.
Meanwhile, Quinn’s situation went from bad to… still bad? But maybe getting better by episode’s end? The guardian angel he encountered at the end of last week’s segment seems to be a genuine good guy who wants to help (he gave Quinn his blood and told his origin story about his dead wife and ex-career as a doctor). And yet, he also rents his building out to some scary terrorists, one of whom was just released from jail due to the intelligence leak. This angry fellow, one Zayd, sort of seemed like he could be getting set up here to be a big player this season… until a weakened and pale Quinn still managed to ruin the guy with a chop to the throat (Zayd proved to be way too optimistic about that whole cutting Quinn’s prick off and shoving it down his throat thing). “Remove the remains of our martyred brother,” says a seemingly thankful dude at the sight of his dead buddy. Hey, did Quinn just make friends with these guys?
And Carrie, as mentioned above, finished the episode in a somewhat better place than where she started, now in possession of those documents which should give some indication of why the Russians want her dead. Still, she did delete all her text messages, which is a total bummer! Also a bummer: her whole speech about how she brings everyone around her down. But Saul’s act of kindness in the end seems to have given her some new confidence. She’s gonna need it.
Some notes:
- Still don’t trust Düring. Just saying.
- I wish we could learn more about what caused Saul and Carrie’s estrangement. We got a hint at the start of the season, about Carrie throwing Saul under the bus back home, but why did Carrie do what she did? Presumably it had something to do with Saul and Dar’s alliance with Haqqani from the end of last year…
- Even Saul’s hotel key card doesn’t work on the first try! I knew it wasn’t just me.
- “You’re f#@king him! You must have a way to get in touch!”
- I guess the theory that’s been floating around that perhaps Saul and Dar know of Allison’s treachery and have been pretending to be at odds doesn’t really fly anymore after this episode, since Saul was clearly flustered and freaked out by the situation.
- Quinn’s put-down to Zayd was great. “Real jihad is in Syria. But there you’d have to fight.”
Saul received most of the focus in this episode of Homeland, as we saw how the CIA veteran dealt with his own people turning on him. Watching Mandy Patinkin take the character from paranoid to helpless to complete mastery of the situation was great. Meanwhile, Carrie and Saul may have finally found the common ground that they need to work together again, and Quinn found himself in a unique situation that still has a lot of questions surrounding it.
