Review: #Homeland Season Finale - "Marine One" (“Why kill a man when you can kill an idea?”)

Review: Homeland, S1, E12 – Season Finale – “Marine One”

Air Date: Sunday, December 18, 2011, 10:00 pm ET/PT on Showtime

Rating: ★★★★★★

Review: #Homeland Season Finale - "Marine One" (“Why kill a man when you can kill an idea?”) 1

Brody prepares to blow up Vice President Walden

Rarely do I give six stars to an episode I’m reviewing, but “Marine One” more than deserves it. From the minute the episode begins, it’s clear we’re in for another roller coaster ride of an episode—which makes sense since we’ve been on them all season long. As the episode opens, Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) stands before a camera in a rented storage room shooting a video that begins with “By the time you watch this….” At this point, contrary to what I thought last week, I know Brody plans to don the suicide bomb vest and blow up Vice President Walden (Jamey Sheridan). He doesn’t realize it, but he’s been totally brainwashed. What else could explain his reason for wanting to kill Walden? I know Brody doesn’t see himself as a terrorist; instead, he thinks he’s righting a wrong by making Walden pay for his role in Issa’s murder. Carrie (Claire Danes), on the other hand, sits in her bedroom, a broken woman who practically admits to Saul (Mandy Patinkin) she’s in love with Brody. But no matter how despondent she appears, somehow I know she’s not going to give up on her quest to keep Tom Walker (Chris Chalk)—and Brody—from annihilating Walden and everyone around him.

Highlights and Observations:

Walker slips unnoticed into the back seat of an elderly woman’s car and successfully gets into her apartment which is conveniently located two blocks from the State Department. He’s a man with a mission as he positions his high-powered rifle at the front window. I could quibble with the writers over how Walker knows this woman lives so close to his intended target, but I won’t. I will merely think Walker has done his research. There are so many positive aspects to “Marine One,” I won’t bother to nitpick…this time.

Review: #Homeland Season Finale - "Marine One" (“Why kill a man when you can kill an idea?”) 2

A happy Dana (Morgan Saylor) and Chris (Jackson Pace) – before their father leaves

At home, Brody spends the day saying his good-byes to his family under the guise of leaving for his meeting with Walden. It’s clear he’s made up his mind to go forward with his mission. After sending Chris (Jackson Pace) off to his karate tournament, Dana (Morgan Saylor) catches him preparing for his nightly prayers to Allah. She’s much closer to her father than anyone else in the family—something Carrie later uses to stop things from moving forward. I like that Brody tells Dana the truth—well, a modified version of the truth. He admits to his new religion but stops short of explaining how it came to be…for obvious reasons. I don’t understand how he puts avenging Issa’s death before his own children, but I suppose that’s what brainwashing does to a man.

While Brody dresses for the meeting with Walden, Dana realizes something isn’t right and tries to keep him from going. The conversation she has with her dad through the locked door is heart-wrenching, not only for the viewer, but for Brody as well. He knows he’ll never see his family again. Saylor does a terrific job conveying the uneasiness and fear her character is feeling and the closeness Dana feels to Brody. What I wonder at this point is how he’s going to get through the security checkpoints with that bomb under his shirt. Surely it will set off all kinds of alarms.

Danes outdoes herself in this episode. First, Carrie won’t eat, can’t sleep and is generally a non-functioning mess. But as “Day Two” arrives, we get an energized Carrie after she hears a radio announcing the arrival of the Vice President at the State Department. After coercing Virgil (David Marciano) to drive her there, she realizes something is wrong when she sees Brody. Somewhere in a moment of lucidity, she figures out there is more than one sniper, giving a new meaning to the title of this episode. No one transitions from a manic depressive state to absolute sheer brilliance as well or as easily as Danes does.

Review: #Homeland Season Finale - "Marine One" (“Why kill a man when you can kill an idea?”) 3

Estes (David Harewood) approaches Brody and Elizabeth Gaines (unseen)

Saul (Mandy Patinkin) finally figures out what took place during the missing period of time in Carrie’s timeline and takes his findings to Estes (David Harewood). His dismissing Saul’s theory confirms my contention all along that Estes is more heavily involved than we thought. I knew Estes was a much bigger player than we have been led to believe. He is totally complicit with the covering up of the drone strike all these years. I’m still not sure who the mole is though. While I can imagine Estes providing the razor to Hamid, I don’t see him warning Aileen Morgan about her husband being tailed.

Saul blackmails Walden into giving him the details behind the drone strike. I didn’t think Saul would stoop that low, but he’s not one to let things lie, as Walden suggests. Kudos to Patinkin for another strong performance. You can easily see the disgust on his face and the loathing in his eyes as his character listens to Estes explain why he won’t reveal the cover-up after all.

Walker takes his shot and misses, instead hitting Elizabeth Gaines (Linda Purl). No way does a sharpshooter the likes of Walker miss so it’s apparent he’s done so on purpose. I get a much needed chuckle over the way Walker ruffles the elderly woman’s hair when he leaves her apartment. There’s no reason to kill her because the entire country knows who he is. Total chaos reigns as Carrie realizes what is going to happen next. Everyone, including Brody, is rushed inside the building right through the metal detector and into a secure room. Brody is now able to take everyone out with his bomb. Clearly, Nazir set up what looks to be a perfect plan for Marine One (Brody) and Marine Two (Walker). That’s right—Marine One is not the Vice President’s helicopter as previously thought.

From the moment Brody enters the secure room, everything seems to move in slow motion. Lewis’ most superb acting of the entire series takes place throughout the next few scenes—the anxiety in his voice when Brody asks where Walden is, the deep breaths as he prepares to detonate the bomb, the fear in his eyes as he realizes what he’s about to do, and the profuse sweating as he flips the switch. Lewis’ performance at this point is riveting. You can see Brody wrestle with the decision to try again after the misfire or go home as Dana implores. Does he put Nazir’s (Navid Negahban) son before his own children? Thankfully, no. You would think the episode would wind down from here, but that’s not what happens.

Review: #Homeland Season Finale - "Marine One" (“Why kill a man when you can kill an idea?”) 4

Brody explains the necessity of leaving his family alone to Carrie

Brody visits Carrie explicitly explaining why she must stay away from his family. He could press charges for all manner of things, but chooses not to. I wonder if it’s because he truly has feelings for her and wants to protect her. I feel so bad for Carrie. No one knows she figured out the exact plan because it doesn’t come to fruition. The most gut-wrenching scene happens when Carrie gets into her sister Maggie’s (Amy Hargreaves) van and totally breaks down. She knows how deeply her feelings for Brody run and that she’ll never see him again (maybe). She’s also headed to the hospital where she’s agreed to undergo electroshock therapy because she “can’t live like this.”

I love that Saul, remaining Carrie’s only real friend outside of Virgil, heads to the hospital to try and stop Carrie from having the procedure done, but to no avail. She’s determined to go through with it because she knows she can’t keep on going the way she is. But what does this mean for next season? What role will Carrie play? Perhaps a consultant to the CIA? Or a freelance operative Saul uses at his will? Too bad just as the shock therapy treatment begins, Carrie’s subconscious mind recalls Brody calling out “Issa!” in his sleep. Most likely, that important piece of information is gone forever and no one will ever know how close Brody came to killing Walden and himself.

What an exciting season finale! “Marine One” successfully builds the tension and intrigue throughout, taking us on a series of highs and lows which had me barely breathing through key scenes and ultimately had me on the edge of my seat for the entire 90 minutes. I can’t remember the last time a series did that for me. It was thrilling, compelling, intriguing, and mesmerizing all at the same time. Next season, we can look forward to what Carrie’s new role might be, how Brody will work from the inside to do Nazir’s bidding, and what Saul will do with the knowledge of Walden’s cover-up. And perhaps, just perhaps, we’ll learn the identity of the mole.

Homeland returns in 2012 (sadly, not the early part of the year). Keep in touch with the show on the Homeland site at http://www.sho.com/site/homeland/home.sho.

Follow Homeland on Twitter @sho_homeland and Like the show on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/HomelandOnShowtime.

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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!