Homeland Season 3, Episode 2 Review: “Uh … Ooo … Aw…”
First off, what is with the title of this episode? Did the writers/showrunners just run out of ideas? How do you even pronounce it without sounding like a complete lunatic? Regardless of the title, this episode was kind of a drag. It’s hard to make out the direction this season is going to take, since right now all we’re seeing is Carrie hit rock bottom (again) and Dana Brody getting it on with … wait for it … Leo. Ladies and gentlemen, his name is Leo.
CIA: There’s a new girl in town and her name is Fara (Nazanin Boniadi). She was on to something juicy when she connected the Langley bombing with bank transactions made to an unknown figure in Iran, courtesy of two guilty American bankers. The problem was, no one was taking her seriously because she’d only been working at the CIA for eight days. She also wears a headscarf, something that Saul just had to point out. He basically told her that her scarf meant she was worthless as a CIA agent unless she proved herself, which brought her to tears. By default, Saul’s now the worst. We really didn’t need a scene that spells out the intolerance many Americans have against those from the Middle East, based on their appearance. That was just silly and unnecessary, and it made Saul seem like a complete jerk.
Quinn continued to be this show’s highlight when he smoothly threatened one of the crooked bankers. He was also the only person who truly stood up for Carrie. Speaking of Carrie, to say she’s having it rough would be an understatement. She unwittingly went to a reporter and almost gave her important classified information about Brody (who’s still MIA), but she was forcefully escorted to a psych ward by the police. This had Dar Adal written all over it.
Carrie rejected Quinn’s offer to help and rejected her family’s help as well, as they wanted her to get back on her meds. To top it off, Carrie’s trial went exactly as you expected. She shouted some expletives, tried to run away and was thus, sedated. In the final scene, which was somewhat chilling, Carrie, drugged up in a psych ward, gave Saul a cold and cotton-mouthed “F.U.”
Brody family update: Dana’s been a bad girl. What’s new? She couldn’t stand her mother’s lack of understanding, and decided to run off into the night to hook up with Leo in the laundry room of his rehab center. So romantic. They were then caught by security.
The whole point of this was to finally present a confrontation with Dana and her mother about how she truly wanted to kill herself, but now she doesn’t thanks to Leo and his influx of NSFW texts. And in case you were wondering, the brother still exists. He got in a line or two about leaving Dana alone, or something.
Best moment: Fara telling the guilty bankers that they were the ones responsible for the Langley bombing. She may have failed to get them to confess, but her confidence in telling them off, given that she’s currently the underdog at the CIA, was refreshing to watch.
The Goldbergs Season 1, Episode 2: “Daddy Daughter Day”
This show has yet to make me laugh. It’s still watchable, but it’s trying to get laughs from the characters’ overreactions instead of jokes that are actually funny. There’s only so much of Jeff Garlin’s angry face I can take.
What happened: Murray took Erica on a roller-skating outing, which used to be a fun tradition of theirs until Erica became a teenager. Now, all she talks about is “girl problems,” which Murray apparently isn’t mature enough to handle. Meanwhile, Bev insisted on picking out Adam’s clothes for him even though he’s going into seventh grade. The outfit, which was the funniest part of the episode, involved a sweater with a picture of a train embroidered on the front. In the end, both parents realized their children are growing up and they’re just going to have to grow up with them. Also, in case anyone cared, Barry continued to be super annoying.
Verdict: Still loud and still not that funny. I found it hard to believe that a mom would pick out that atrocity of an outfit for her seventh-grade son. I found it even harder to believe that a father couldn’t even deal with his teenage daughter’s issues about friends, boys and her time of the month. Didn’t they both know what they were getting into when they decided to have kids?
