Homeland – “Iron in the Fire” Review. The Reason Behind Bachman’s Death.

Season 4, Episode 4

Air Date: Sunday, October 19, 2014, 9:00 pm ET/PT on Showtime

Rating: ★★★★★

“So, what? We lodge a formal protest…so Pakistan issues a formal denial and we expel a bunch of their diplomats, they expel a bunch of ours, and in the end, no one’s held accountable.” – Carrie

Wow, what a game changer “Iron in the Fire” is! And, in more ways than one with two giant reveals in this fourth episode of the season. I’m not sure what Carrie (Claire Danes) is going to do with all this new information, but she certainly makes it known she’s the woman in charge.

In last week’s “Shalwar Kameez,” Quinn (Rupert Friend) discovered an unknown man orchestrated Sandy Bachman’s (Corey Stoll) brutal mob beating and ultimate death. But neither he nor Carrie recognized the man. The one person who is not in Carrie’s corner, John Redmond (Michael O’Keefe), delivers this very important piece of information in “Iron in the Fire.” “Farhad Ghazi” (Tamer Burjaq) isn’t just “a pretty face;” he’s a hit man of sorts—the kind the Pakistani government utilizes when they don’t want to get their hands dirty. What I don’t understand is why Redmond helps Carrie. There must be a reason he willingly passes on this vital intel, right? I don’t trust him one iota, and I don’t think Carrie should either.

Saul has a heart-to-heart with Khan that doesn’t yield the results Saul was hoping for.

Carrie isn’t above using whomever and whatever means she can to get what she wants. So it comes as no surprise that she reaches out to Saul (Mandy Patinkin) just as he’s about to return to America. I find it reprehensible that Saul, of all people, questions Carrie’s mental health simply because she’s so adamant about solving Bachman’s death. I understand her bipolar disease has led to her being single-minded, almost to a fault, in the past but I don’t think that’s what’s going on here. Let’s face it, Carrie has always been right in the past despite her disease. At least Saul does her the courtesy of reaching out to a retired Pakistani general (Art Malik), who reluctantly puts him in touch with Aasar Khan (Raza Jaffrey), a high level person inside the ISI, Pakistan’s secretive Inter-Services Intelligence agency. We already know someone in the Pakistani government authorized Ghazi’s hit on Bachman but could Khan be the link? I’m sure this conspiracy goes deeper than we could ever imagine.

Fara does her best to make Aayan stay until Carrie returns.

Kiran’s (Shavani Seth) poor job of hiding Aayan’s (Suraj Sharma) package leads to dire repercussions after her father (Riaz Stolker) finds it. What he does provides the impetus Aayan needs to search out “Carrie McPherson” and ask for her help. Carrie is nothing short of brilliant when it comes to handling assets so she gives in to Aayan’s monetary request, but has Fara (Nazanin Boniadi) and Max (Maury Sterling) follow him. What Fara discovers is a deep-rooted conspiracy, and one of the biggest shocks Homeland has given us this season.

Dennis thinks Nasneem is just another student. Man, is he in for a surprise!

Another shocking reveal comes when a young woman named Nasneem (Nimrat Kaur) approaches Ambassador Martha Boyd’s (Laila Robins) husband, Professor Dennis Boyd (Mark Moses). The person who passed along the information Bachman used to afford the CIA so many successful drone strikes is revealed at this point. I suppose I should have figured this out because it’s so obvious. Did any of you know who it was before watching “Iron in the Fire?” And what about the key Nasneem gives Dennis; what could it possibly unlock? There is so much more going on here than meets the eye and I can’t wait to find out what it is.

Overall

Not every Homeland episode can be as intense as “The Drone Queen,” but “Iron in the Fire” has two extremely suspenseful scenes in particular where I couldn’t tear my eyes from my screen. From cloning phones to following people, these are absolutely captivating moments. “The Iron in the Fire” also provides some interesting backstory about Ambassador and Professor Boyd’s marriage, as well as an informative scene where Quinn confesses something to Carrie. Speaking of Carrie, what do you think of her ‘mothering’ skills with Aayan in the safe house? What is she thinking? It’s not the first time Carrie has used this tactic. Hasn’t she learned from her past mistakes?

What did you think of “Iron in the Fire?” I’d love to discuss it with you so leave me a comment below or hit me up on Twitter @SeasideTV.

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Linda

Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!