Well guys, they finally did it. Nicholas Brody is no more. After all his pain and suffering he finally departs this earth in what turns out to be rather anticlimactic fashion, at least in my opinion, but we'll get to that later. First we start off with him dragging the body of Akbari under the desk where no one will see it, as he races to cover the evidence left in the room, like blood on the floor and pillow he used to smother the guy. We see Carrie presumably racing herself to go get him (?) as well as Javadi departing his office in a car (although he can't possibly know yet, can he?). Brody then grabs a gun from Akbari's desk and hides it in his pants, before casually walking out of the room. Huh? Did Carrie tell him to do this? Last we saw he told her to get him out and then hung up, but he seems to have a plan of his own all set in motion at this point.
So Brody just walks out of the building and past the willing guards, smiling at everyone, only stopped for his building pass. It seems weird that anyone would just let him walk out like this, but ok, we'll buy it. He then gets outside as someone finally knocks on Akbari's door and discovers him dead on the floor (took you long enough- Brody's still got amazing luck), while he hops in the car escorting him back. But suddenly the commotion he's waiting for finally occurs and guards are now chasing him, so Brody holds the gun to the driver's head and forces him to floor it out of there.
Carrie calls Saul on her way and tells him what happened. Saul doesn't believe it, but Carrie's insistent, telling him to put together their extraction plan. Saul thinks Brody probably betrayed her and says he has to confirm Akbari's death before doing anything. Carrie hangs up as she gets to the spot where she's apparently meeting Brody (I'd still like to know when and how they put this whole meet up together). Brody eventually gets rid of the driver on the side of a road (not by killing him, just pushing him out of the car) and takes off in the vehicle to meet Carrie. When he gets to the spot Carrie isn't there, but as he sits back in his car she appears at his window and shoves him over to take the wheel herself. She's now driving them to a safe house 50 miles away, and hoping Saul comes through.
Javadi confirms to Saul that Akbari's dead, but says he has to get Brody in front of a magistrate because he's been put in charge of the manhunt, and if he fails he's unlikely to get chosen as Akbari's replacement. He rightly assumes Brody's with Carrie, and says if he can capture Brody he can at least protect Carrie. Saul hangs up on him and asks Dar Adal's advice, who says to give Brody up to protect the success of the mission. Saul won't do it though, and tells Adal to initiate the extraction plan.
Carrie and Brody are driving to the safe house now, where Brody confesses to Carrie that he was born in the desert, and that he's glad his dad isn't alive to see what's become of him. Carrie looks on sadly as Brody gazes out the window in a daze. When they finally get to the safe house, Carrie checks the place out while Brody stares at himself in the mirror, contemplating what he's done (although he wasn't nearly so upset about killing the vice-president last year). Back at the CIA, Adal gets the details on the extraction plan based in Afghanistan, but is told it's a high risk, unrehearsed operation. Adal is sketchy on it, but still confirms that Saul's the acting director for 11 more hours and they're following his orders.
Carrie and Brody are at the safe house now, talking about what happened. Brody confesses he's upset about killing a guy, and Carrie confirms Akbari's evil nature, but he's still upset (again, the vice-president was a bad guy too, and that didn't bother him). Saul calls Carrie to tell them they're getting pulled out tonight, and Carrie's relieved to hear it, relaying the good news to Brody. He seems ambivalent about the future now, and Carrie's unsure herself but says she's thought about it at least. Brody tells her what the guy in Caracas called him (the cockroach who survives) and says he doesn't believe in his redemption anymore, and that he hasn't been a marine in ages. Carrie's upset that he doesn't know what the point of it all was, and finally, FINALLY tells him she's pregnant. He's appropriately surprised but not given much time to react as Carrie goes into a rant about how she believes she was put on this earth to cross paths with him. Brody buys that much and says it's the only sane thing left to hold onto.
Later that night, Brody sleeps with his head on Carrie's lap, but suddenly there's noises around them and Carrie thinks it's the extraction team. They go outside but it turns out to be Javadi's guys, who promptly arrest Brody and take him away. Carrie freaks and drops Javadi's name, but a soldier tells her that he's already aware. Carrie's extremely angry and calls Saul, telling him what happened. But Saul had no idea and takes off for the control room, where he finds Adal and Lockhart together, with Lockhart having given the order to Javadi to go ahead and take Brody. Turns out the President overruled Saul's command and put Lockhart in charge early. Adal tells him this is about protecting his legacy and the Javadi asset in Iran, but Saul is angry that they no longer show loyalty to their own people. Adal confirms that the mission comes first, as always.
Carrie is now magically back at her hotel and taking off, but she's again accosted by Javadi's guys, who bring her directly to him in an isolated meeting place. Javadi lectures her on basically letting Brody go for the sake of the mission. He makes a compelling case, as he also tells her there's no point left anyway, because Brody was sentenced to die by hanging at a tribunal that morning (that all happened offscreen?). Carrie's stunned, but he tells her that if Brody dies for the mission it was all a success, and now everyone can see him as a hero, through her eyes, like she always wanted them to. He figures out that Brody is really the only thing she cares about and essentially persuades her to let him go. Carrie begs to at least talk to him one last time, so he somehow gets her a phone call (not believable, but I guess he's already been promoted). Brody's in a jail cell, washing himself when he's handed the phone. Carrie first promises to get him out, but he shuts her down, saying it's over and that it's ok, because he wants it to be. He tells her not to come to his execution, but she says she has to and that she'll be there no matter what. Their last few seconds are quiet, as Brody stays on just so Carrie can hear him breathing before handing off the phone to the guard.
Carrie's cryface has made a massive resurgence in this episode, as she's starting to come to terms with Brody's impending death. She calls Saul one more time, but he admits there's nothing he can do, since he's been ousted as director. Carrie's shock sets in for real now, as any last minute options have now been erased and she cries out in pain, while Saul says he's so sorry for what's happened. So now the crowds gather for Brody's public execution, and Carrie makes her way through the people to see the area where Brody will be hung by a construction beam. Brody is escorted by the guards to the square and hauled out in front of everyone, as he scans the crowd, looking for Carrie behind the fence and the throngs of chanting people. Carrie looks on with her hands on the wires as Nazir's widow spits on Brody before the rope is wrapped around his neck. And then it happens. He's slowly dragged upwards and hung to death as Carrie climbs the wires and calls out his name. It looks as though he does see her before he dies, as she's pushed down from the wire and knocked to the ground (no damage to the baby still, of course). Then he's gone. Carrie cries and slowly makes her way out of the crowd. And here's my reaction to this. That whole scene was incredibly anticlimactic, as I said earlier, and they gave us a LAME final moment between Carrie and Brody. I mean seriously, that was it? A few seconds on the phone with nothing meaningful exchanged between them at all, no last request, no take care of the baby, nothing? Ugh. Brody's big death was hugely, hugely disappointing as far as I'm concerned.
So now, it's 4 months later and Saul is on a beach with Mira, who's reading in the papers that Iran has opened its doors to nuclear inspectors. She tells him it's his legacy, but he laughs that it cost him his career. He's going back to Washington for the commemorative star ceremony, but Mira doesn't want to go because of the way the CIA treated him. Saul confirms he hasn't spoken to Carrie in months. Meanwhile, Carrie, now heavily pregnant, makes her way into Lockhart's office, who has called her in to offer her the position of station chief in Istanbul, to keep managing Javadi. She's excited about it and accepts, but asks him for a star for Brody at the ceremony. He turns her down flat, saying that his actions before the mission can't allow him to be commemorated at the CIA. Carrie accepts this sadly and exits the building, running into Quinn in the parking lot. He refuses to give her a cigarette when she asks, but she just wants to suck on it and vent about Lockhart. She says the baby thing is in the way of her new position, and finally admits out loud that the only reason she wanted it was to have a part of Brody, but she'd be a terrible mother. Quinn tells her the baby is a gift and not to screw it up like he did with his kid, and then he takes off. Ok, I can see the Carrie/Quinn relationship coming a mile away now, and I am NOT looking forward to it.
Saul meets Adal at a diner, where they congratulate each other on the Iran achievement, and Adal manages to get out of Saul that he'd come back to the agency if he was needed. Saul denies it and says he's happy in the private sector, but obviously he's lying, so we the audience know that Saul will of course be back at work eventually. Carrie's at home worrying, as Maggie and Frank come in with baby gear- a crib and a bjorn, while Carrie grows increasingly weary. She ends up telling them about Istanbul and says she can't keep the baby, but Maggie and Frank protest loudly, telling her she'll feel differently when the baby (a girl) is born. Carrie's too scared and says she doesn't feel love for her, but Frank tells her she can't abandon the kid like her mom did to her, offering to raise her himself. Carrie seems willing to hear that idea, but Maggie again insists that Carrie at least wait until after the birth. Carrie cries, saying all she feels is scared and sad when she thinks of the baby.
At the ceremony, Lockhart gives a speech commemorating the fallen heroes, while Carrie, Quinn and Saul look on from the audience. When it's over, Saul comes over to see Carrie and congratulate her on her new job, telling her he's happy living in New York now and it was time to put up his boots. Carrie doesn't quite believe it, seeing as he won and everything, but they're interrupted by someone telling Carrie the director wants to see her in his office. Carrie and Saul hug goodbye, and she walks off into the lobby, pausing by the wall with the commemorative stars on it. She takes out a pen and draws in another one, and the camera pans in on it as she walks away, showing us the anonymous extra star for the fallen hero, Nicholas Brody.
And that's it, everyone. Brody's dead, reports are that Morena Baccarin and Morgan Saylor will no longer be regulars on the show next year (thank god for that, although I fear Dana having a sister will be reason to see her again unfortunately), and the possibilities are pretty wide open for a rebooted Homeland without Damian Lewis. I'm ambivalent about the whole thing, because to me this show was always better when Lewis was on it, and one of the things that made the show was the chemistry between him and Claire Danes. Without that, I fear it's going to become essentially a 24 knockoff. As for this season, I think it was uneven but usually interesting (aside from Dana), and the fact that it improved when Damian Lewis made his big return doesn't bode all that well for the future, in my opinion. Of course, he could always reappear in a dream sequence (I'd bet you anything that happens before the end of the show's run)- but I'll keep watching anyway, and I'll be back next year to whine, complain, or praise whatever happens to occur. See you next September!
