Homeland, Season 1, Episode 5 – “Blind Spot”
Air Date: Sunday, October 30, 2011, 10:00 pm ET/PT on Showtime
Rating:
Saul interrogating Hamid
Has he or hasn’t he been turned? The plot thickens as we are given someone other than Sgt. Brody (Damian Lewis) who may be a member of Abu Nazir’s (Navid Negahban) sleeper cell. Afzal Hamid (Hrach Titizian), one of Nazir’s top level aides and Brody’s guard when he was a POW, is the sole survivor of the safe house where Brody was kept. Now he’s been released into the custody of the CIA. Everyone is called in to help with the interrogation of the guy, including Brody. While Saul (Mandy Patinkin) does the actual questioning, Brody watches on a monitor alongside Carrie (Claire Danes). The CIA needs Brody’s help to confirm Hamid’s identification and provide them with information “we can use to unsettle him, to prove we have complete control, to demonstrate our omnipotence,” as Carrie explains.
There’s also a lot of family interaction in “Blind Spot,” involving not only Brody’s family, but Saul’s and Carrie’s as well. It’s good to see our main characters outside of work, especially given how driven they are.
Observations:
Through a flashback, we see Hamid urinate all over Brody when he was a POW. How gross is that!?
I think Brody asking Carrie whether Hamid talked during the time he was imprisoned by the Pakistani police is very telling. Why is it that Brody is so concerned about that? Is he afraid Hamid might have given something away that will link Brody to Nazir?
Carrie watches the monitor which shows Hamid being deprived of sleep.
The torture scenes Brody relives are so horrendous, I can hardly watch. I can’t imagine how anyone could survive that and have any semblance of a ‘normal’ life thereafter.
Mandy Patinkin once again proves what a fantastic actor he is during his character’s interrogation of Hamid. His voice is calm and soothing, yet strong and threatening all at the same time. I swear, I’d tell him everything I knew if I were being questioned by him.
I would love to know what Hamid says in Arabic to Brody after their confrontation, wouldn’t you? For that matter, I’d love to know what Saul says in Hebrew as he looks at Hamid’s prone body. Although I think it’s Kaddish, a prayer Jews say when someone is dead. There are only two people who could have given Hamid the fragment of razor blade he uses to commit suicide: Brody and Saul. I get why Brody may have done it, especially since we see Brody shaving earlier in the episode, but what about Saul? Is he something other than what we think he is? There has to be a reason the camera pans on the rug in Saul’s office. It looks just like a prayer rug. But what possible motive could Saul have for wanting Hamid dead? Moreover, is this why he has such a detached demeanor when it comes to helping Carrie? He certainly isn’t as enthused as he was when Homeland first began.
Jessica (Morena Baccarin) shows off her new short haircut to Nick.
With Saul’s wife Mira (Sarita Choudrey) returning home after spending a month in India with her family, how could Saul not take her home from the airport? I get that he’s being called into work because of Hamid, but really? Did he have to send her home in a cab? What does that say about their relationship? We learn later that Mira wants to have her own life, separate from Saul, because of his dedication to obsession with his job. The writers do a nice job of not making Mira into the typical shrew with the usual you-don’t-pay-enough-attention-to-me complaint. She totally understands how important Saul’s job is to him but apparently, she’s had enough.
It’s nice to see the interaction between Carrie and her sister Maggie (Amy Hargreaves) after Carrie’s near meltdown following the argument she has with Saul. At least Carrie is using her family for something other than raiding her father’s (James Rebhorn) medication. How cute that her two nieces (Renee and Rachel St. Gelais) jump into bed with her.
After being there when Chris earns his blue belt, Mike celebrates with Chris with a nice bowl of ice cream.
Brody tries to make up for missing his son Chris’ (Jackson Pace) karate competition. While it’s a nice father/son moment, especially when Chris explains what he’s praying for, Brody needs to do more than apologize for his screw-ups where his son is concerned. A son needs to know he can count on his dad and so far, that hasn’t happened. You can see how much the boy wants—needs—their relationship to go back to the way it was before Brody was captured, which speaks tons about young Pace’s acting abilities.
Memorable lines:
A tech, after successfully tracking a phantom email sent to the address Hamid gave up: “I think you owe me dinner, Carrie; possibly even sex.”
***
Brody to Hamid: “You beat me. You humiliated me. You killed my friend. But you did not break me. You should have killed me when you had the chance. But now, here we are. I’m a sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, you shitbird. How did you think this would end?”
***
Carrie to Saul: “When did you become such a pussy, Saul?”
“Blind Spot” does a nice job of character development, especially with Carrie and Saul. They are both such hard-driven people; it’s refreshing to see their softer, more vulnerable sides. The episode also leads us to another possibility: is Saul the one who’s been turned, and if so, why? Or is there a mole in Estes’ (David Harwood) office? Although the show alone is enough to keep me tuning in week after week, this turn of events makes me even more invested in Homeland. In my opinion, Homeland is the best new show this season on all the networks—broadcast, cable and premium.
Tune in to Homeland, Sundays at 10:00 pm ET/PT only on Showtime. Follow Homeland on
Twitter @sho_homeland and Like the show on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/HomelandOnShowtime.
All photos © 2011 Showtime. All Rights Reserved.
Linda
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It is indeed Kaddish that Saul says for the dead terrorist, but many contemporary Jews say Kaddish in all kinds of complicated situations; it is NOT the case that “a Jew would never say the Kaddish” over a suicide (or the body of a Gentile, etc etc).
(Yes, I’m a bit behind in this show – just started watching last week).
Hi Spikele,
I’m glad you’re watching Homeland; it is truly an excellent show. I look forward to reading more comments from you as you progress through the seasons.
Author
Hi Richard,
Thanks for your comments! We are led to believe Hamid commits suicide, not that he is murdered. A murder would be on the surveillance tape, don’t you think? I don’t think Hamid commits suicide because he gives up information. Terrorists are trained to commit suicide if captured to prevent themselves from giving up important information.
You are right that a Jew would never say the Kaddish over someone who commits suicide as suicide is against G-d’s law. A Jew also would never say Kaddish over a gentile or Muslim, unless that person had done something honorable for a Jew, which, as we know, a terrorist would never do.
Thank you so much for your interest in my reviews, and YEC in general. I look forward to more discussions with you.
Yes Saul said Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, after the terrorist suicide (? was it a suicide or murder). That is something a Jew would never say over a dead Muslim terrorist.
Also was the terrorist suicidal after giving up information or was he murdered.