Shalwar Kameez explored how Sandy’s death, his beating, affected two central characters, the two people directly implicated, as they try to make sense of it all. Homeland’s focus in its fourth season will be about finding out what happened to Sandy Bachman, and why. Why was he killed? Who wanted him dead? What he was into? Who was he talking to? These are the questions we’ll be dwelling over in the next episodes, what’s going to drive the storyline, the characters.
Just a little information, because I didn’t know what the title of this episode actually meant, and I probably am not the only one. Shalwar Kameez is the official dress of South and Central Asia, usually worn by women, especially in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It consists of a long tunic and baggy trousers. And with that, I’ll be going to bed a little less stupid.
The episode starts off in Islamabad with Carrie. She asks to go back, go back to the spot where it happened, where she and Quinn had to leave Sandy, where he got stomped to death in the middle of the street. When we last saw her last week, she was convincing herself she was fine, but really it didn’t seem like she was, and with reason. She lost the man she loved, can’t find it in herself to love her daughter. Anyone would crumble to the ground, roll into a ball and cry, but that’s just not Carrie. She throws herself in her work, in her love for it, what she can actually control, what she’s actually good at. It’s nice to see she still has a bit of humanity left in her, that the events didn’t leave her cold, detached, that she’s actually feeling what looks like remorse. With Carrie I always find it hard to know if she’s driven by her love for her job, the mission, or if she’s actually feeling this on a personal level, but at that moment I thought it was affecting her, personally. Am I the only one? She’s having flashbacks, trying to understand what happened, and it’s nice to see her heart didn’t die with Brody, that there’s still a human, not a machine, that she feels for others.
Carrie’s the new chief officer, just like she wanted, just like she orchestrated, but she doesn’t get a particularly warm welcome. She’s the one to blame for the botched air strike, for the uprisings, the precarious relations Pakistan and the Us Embassy are in. She knows it and they know it. They also know how it works, know that she didn’t get that promotion with a please and thank you, and they’re not happy about it. The ambassador, she isn’t very fond of her either, she doesn’t like her actually, because she too, seems to be blaming only Carrie. The one who’s really to blame is dead, so why not? Being two women working together, Carrie hopes they can help each other out, female comradery and all, but really the ambassador isn’t interested in befriending the women who caused all this, and when it looks like it’s going to be p*ssing contest between them for the rest of the season, it’s Saul to the rescue. (Am I the only one that thinks that this almost married, once engaged, bit of history will be brought up again, maybe making Saul chose to stay in Pakistan over going back to New York?) I’m grateful for Saul being there because Carrie going head to head with her boss gets old quickly, very quickly.
It turns out Saul went to Pakistan, delivering the security Carrie asked him to help out with, as could be predicted. He’s bored in the US, bored with his wife, so of course he’s going to come, he’s going to help, he’s freakin’ Saul, ex-CIA director, and he can do anything. But most of all, he cares for Carrie, and he’s going to help. He supposed to stay one week, but I have a feeling his stay will be prolonged. Actually, I really hope his stay will be prolonged because I have always loved the dynamic between him and Carrie. He’s the friendly father figure, one of the only people she truly cares for, truly trusts. They’re friends, allies and they’re talks, they’re conversations, they bring a smile to my face.
Saul still has it, and he gets it right when he states, she can’t trust anyone in the Station just yet, but Carrie’s one step ahead of him. There’s an operation on the way, and she recruits the help of some US friends, Farrah and Max. They need to know what Aayan knows, who he’s terrified of. The boy’s part of it, he has to be. Maybe it wasn’t sheer luck that had him survive the bomb, he’s part of it somehow, I just have absolutely no idea how. He’s a pawn, that’s for sure. It’s Farrah’s mission to get Aayan to open up, but he’s terrified and she doesn’t manage to get more than a couple of words out of him, so it’s up to Carrie, and she’s the pro, she’ll get him to talk.
While all this is happening, halfway across the world, Quinn, he’s still dwelling over what happened. He wants out, out of the CIA, out of the game, out of everything. He’s drinking, and pouting and all in all, not going so well. I didn’t understand last week what exactly was so hard for him to digest. I guess he doesn’t fully understand it either or doesn’t want to, isn’t ready to. Because he knows what’s hard for him, is the Carrie Mathison of it all, but he just isn’t ready to say it out loud, even when everybody around him is.
He doesn’t to hear it; he just wants to know he did the right thing. And if he doesn’t prove he can keep his sh*t together, he’ll be doing “Retraining.” I have absolutely no idea what retraining actually is, but it seems creepy as hell, black ops, leaving you alone in a cave for 10 days kind of creepy. But Peter Quinn doesn’t care about that, the only thing he wants, he yearns for, is the certitude that he did the right thing, that he did everything he could. It’s after hours of watching the videos, re-watching and starting over again that he finally finds it, the proof that they didn’t stand a chance, that Sandy’s death wasn’t on him, it was planned, all of it. He did the right thing, because if he hadn’t they’d probably all be dead. Even with knowing they didn’t stand a chance, he doesn’t want to go back, but when Carrie asks, when she begs, he can’t say no to her. Of course not, he f*cking loves her. And he’s the one that’s going to get hurt in all this, because Carrie doesn’t, not like he does.
Oops Carrie?
I'd love to hear what you guys think!
Is Saul going to stay in Pakistan? Do you want him to?
Will that last line come and blow up in Carrie’s face?
What’s the deal with Aayan and what did he hide at his girlfriend’s house?
