By NEEVA SHAFIIAN
On October 5th, 2014, hardcore “Homeland” fans anxiously awaited the arrival of the new season immediately following the death of Brody. The season opened with a bang, literally and figuratively, in “The Drone Queen.” All our favorite CIA agents were relocated to the mean streets of Islamabad, targeting a valued Taliban leader, Haqqani. Carrie makes an extremely Carrie-like move and made a rash decision to bomb a wedding. It turns out that the terrorist actually wasn’t there (oops?), but the mass destruction and killing of innocent civilians set off the frenzied tone of season 4.
Opinions about this shift from a Brody-ful show to a Brody-less show vary greatly. Senior Jon Lanz said, “I think the writers made the right choice in transitioning the storyline. Instead of working in America, Carrie is CIA station chief in Afghanistan. She is literally on the ‘front lines’ fighting terrorism.” Business teacher Ms. Nicole Izzo agreed that the writers made an excellent transition between the seasons and stated, “I miss Brody, but the writers did a great job of engaging viewers in the new storyline.” On the other hand, some “Homeland” fans were disappointed with the loss of Brody and relocation of the show. Senior Steve Lastihenos said that he “liked it better when Brody was alive.”
This season, Carrie is more Carrie than ever. She completely abandons her child, and shuts off her emotional switch in order to deal with the loss of Brody so she can focus on locating her target. Her manipulative manner leads to an affair with the target’s nephew and survivor of the drone strike, Aayan. However, her elaborate plan fails when the boy’s oh-so-loving uncle shoots him in the head to send a warning to the CIA. Kind of harsh, don’t you think?
When asked what was their favorite storyline of this season, both Lastihenos and Izzo replied with Carrie’s pill fiasco. A widely popular segment among viewers is Carrie’s hallucination scene in episode 7, “Redux,” when we see a very distressed and confused Carrie stumbling through the streets pretending to shoot people and even imagining she was with Brody (I think we all freaked out a bit when we saw his face). This of course was a result of the ambassador’s husband, Dennis Boyd, committing treason by working with the terrorist organization and switching Carrie’s medication.
Hearts were broken worldwide when our beloved Saul is captured by the terrorist group. In a risky attempt to flee, Saul fakes his death, walks miles to safety, almost shoots himself, and scrambles around town to avoid the Taliban, all just to end up back in the terrorists’ arms because Carrie wants to save him, well, from himself. Of the entire season, this chase was probably one of the scenes that got us all fidgeting in fear and excitement. Racing to save his life, Carrie and the gang agree to a compromise with the corrupt Pakistani government: the American government trades several terrorist prisoners for Saul. But, not surprisingly, the plan fails when the Taliban breaks their pinky promise and bombs Carrie and Saul’s car as a distraction while they simultaneously launch an attack on the US Embassy. All fingers point to the now-revealed leak in the agency, the ambassador’s husband, who is drowning in guilt and shame.
With this heartbreaking attack, we lost some of our favorite characters like Fara, who died in the arms of an angered Max. Disappointed and defeated, the agency comes back home. Many viewers can attribute the show’s accuracy in portraying real life terrorist situations to scenes like this. For instance, Lanz said that the story is very realistic “almost to the point of horrifying the viewer” since this episode portrays an attack on the US Embassy which is similar to what recently happened in Libya.
Peter Quinn’s blue-eyed courage is revealed when he decides to remain in Islamabad to kill Haqqani. In a dramatic scene when both Quinn and Carrie fight their urges to kill Haqqani, Carrie is shocked to find Dar Adal in the backseat of Haqqani’s car. With all this drama, we were left awaiting the season finale.
On the twelfth and final episode of the season, our favorite agents return home. Carrie comes back to mourn her father, reunite with her child, and discovers her absentee-mom has returned home after 15 years. Dar Adal explains his role in Islamabad to Saul, and offers him his former position as the Chief of the CIA. Surprise, Carrie! And, I bet we were all jumping with joy when Quinn and Carrie shared their first kiss. However, feeling rejected by Carrie, Quinn decides to take a mission in Syria which could leave him dead. And so the most uneventful episode of the season ends season 4.