Homeland: Standoff clarifies positions, leverage, and conspiracies

Homeland gets literal with the episode title “Standoff,” as multiple characters are forced into unwanted negotiations.

Homeland clarifies positions and leverage on “Standoff.” Carrie (Claire Danes) is back into the game, but she is faced with a decision that could change her life. Meanwhile, Saul (Mandy Patinkin) & O’Keefe (Jake Weber) play a dangerous cat and mouse game of their own.

Carrie’s situation may be the most distressing. She has not only a standoff with authorities, but also one with the realities of returning to the spook game. Conversely, a standoff in the Oval Office could lead to actual war.

Crazy Carrie is good Carrie.

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Carries visits her psychotherapist and lets her know there has been a lot of drinking, fast speech, and all the old symptoms are returning. Impulse control is an issue. The therapist thinks the lithium definitely isn’t working, and given Carrie’s past proclivities, an HIV screening may be necessary.

Furthermore, she’s concerned Carrie may be a risk to self-harm, or potentially a risk to others.

Her sister Maggie (Amy Hargreaves) has similar concerns. She doesn’t think Carrie is well, and actually called the cops to locate Carrie. Eventually Carrie comes home completely manic with a new prescription for Seroquel, an intense new medication. A confession to Maggie reveals that Carrie would rather Frannie think she’s dead than see her in her worst state.

(Claire Danes is fantastic in this scene. Her performance is frantic and completely believable. One of her most distressing and heartbreaking of the series. If she weren’t an actress, the performance could probably be in a documentary about bipolar disorder.)

Negotiations begin.

Saul gets a chauffeured ride from the FBI to meet with Brett O’Keefe at the compound. After an initial pretense that O’Keefe is not present, the two meet. Saul let’s him know the compound is walled off, the roads are blocked, and O’Keefe is a fugitive from justice. Undeterred, O’Keefe is willing to bet on his side putting up at least a good fight.

O’Keefe appears to be willing to act as a martyr, or at least let others die in his name, in order to make a point and bring down President Keane (Elizabeth Marvel).

O’Keefe dares Saul because he knows the world is watching. If the Stormtroopers, as he calls them, come in, O’Keefe believes will have public opinion on his side. (Maybe, maybe not.) Conversely, Saul says they will just jam all communication, leave O’Keefe voiceless, and it’s all over.

Amnesty

Saul let’s O’Keefe know he’s never been in a stronger negotiating position, and asks what it would take to surrender. As a result, Saul negotiates amnesty for O’Keefe and all who have harbored him. O’Keefe also wants a televised trial. Initially Keane is not keen on the idea, but Saul says the trial would get delayed for a year or two, which is a lifetime away.

While all this is being deliberated, O’Keefe has reinforcements come. About 30 armed men in pickup trucks. Initially they storm in and snatch Saul, but threats of sniper fire cease hostilities. They release Saul and we’re back to a Mexican standoff.

There is a debate at the White House.

After Saul calls the President, she wants O’Keefe in custody. She goes so far as to call him a menace. Wellington disagrees. In fact, Wellington wants her to drop all charges. If blood boiling were visible, Keane would look like Lewis Black’s character from Inside Out.

Carrie finally gets a break, but does she want it?

Dante Allen (Morgan Spector) shows up with a revelation. He knows who the woman in the photo from Wellington’s house is. It’s Simone Martin (Sandrine Holt), and she’s bad news. Too bad Carrie’s manic, and on some crazy meds that have her sleeping like Rip Van Winkle. As it turns out, Dante has even more information on Simone Martin.

In fact, it turns out Simone got a parking ticket in Hazelton, WV, just three miles from the prison where Gen. McClendon was murdered. It was also the day before McClendon’s death. He also knows where she lives.

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Carrie is suddenly back in the spy game.

Unfortunately for Carrie, her first mission back has issues. After she and Dante stakeout Simone’s apartment, they split up. Dante follows the perp and Carrie goes to scrub the apartment. After collecting intel she exits through the window and is quickly picked up by police officers. Completely uncooperative, she eventually gets booked, but not before throwing a fit and flailing about. Here’s a reenactment of her actions when inside the police station.

Lucky for Carrie, Dante still has some juice in the town. He gets her released that evening, but not before she’s had a lot of time to ponder her future. Ultimately, however, she begins to realize her exploits may eventually cost her what she values most: Frannie. (Shocker.)

There are further debates in the White House.

Say what you will about President Keane, but she doesn’t put up with anyone’s s**t. During a military briefing, some Generals try to persuade her to give a go ahead on an Syrian bombing mission. She’s angry immediately because it’s a plan she’s already rejected.

Consequently, Wellington once again attempts to go beyond advisement, insisting on her next move. Even after she rejects the play – the same bombing mission – he persists two, three more times. She all but tells him to F-Off.

In either case, Wellington dismisses her wishes and later calls in the bomb order himself. Are we sure he wasn’t part of the assassination plot? Because he sure wants to kill her Presidency. Expect the next episode, “Like Bad at Things,” to be “Standoff” 2.0.

Next: Rebel Rebel brings back crazy Carrie

There is a direct parallel to modern day social politics in Standoff. At one point, O’Keefe goes off on a rant about jobs shipped overseas, regular people sent to Vietnam, rural kids bused to schools in ghetto, and boy and girls who think they are the opposite sex. They attempt to make him seem irrational and/or crazy, and it’s sure to disappoint roughly half the viewers. It’s the type of polarization I was hoping the series would steer clear of when they decided to focus domestically.

Homeland airs Sunday nights on Showtime.