Homeland: Active Measures means calling on friends.
Active Measures means calling on friends. Both Carrie and Saul reach out to old friends for information. Meanwhile, the President makes a plea.
Last we saw the gang on Homeland, everyone was “bad at things.” Carrie (Claire Danes) was trying to figure out a conspiracy, but her bipolar disorder was demanding more of her focus and time. Meanwhile, Saul (Mandy Patinkin) couldn’t control the standoff at Waco 2.0, and a deadly firefight ensued with those protecting O’Keefe (Jake Weber).
Consequently, President Keane (Elizabeth Marvel) looks completely embroiled in conspiracy and incompetence. Both the General’s (Robert Knepper) assassination, and her Chief of Staff David Wellington’s (Linus Roache) decision to push the Syrian bombing, makes her Presidency look paper thin. Ruby Ridge on steroids was just an extra black eye.
Saul and O’Keefe finally have a heart to heart
Now that O’Keefe is in custody, Saul gets to put the screws to him. He places the blame squarely on O’Keefe and his barrage of incendiary comments. Saul believes O’Keefe could have stopped the massacre. Much like his last moments at the compound, O’Keefe is defiant to the end. He swears it still isn’t his fault, and he even attempted to talk the families out of their ultimate demise.
Carrie puts a plan in motion
Carrie meets a drunk guy in trailer. They have history. His wife left him because Carrie screws every third person she meets when her meds are being skipped. She attempts to convince him to join a team. He seems a little crazy, so we’ll call him “Murdock” for now.
In a matter of minutes, Carrie has the entire gang compiled. She’s got Face, B.A., and Hannibal there along with Dante Allen (Morgan Spector). I’m sure we’ll learn their names later when it becomes important. For the time being, they’ll be working on the Simone Martin (Sandrine Holt) mystery, and trying to link her to the General’s death.
The first order of business for Dante and Carrie is a little stake-out bonding time outside Simone’s apartment. They get a head count of all people in Simone’s building, and plan to interrogate her when everyone leaves. Ultimately, Murdock roughs her up and gets her to nod confirmation about the McClendon assassination. He also extorts her for an extra $100K.
Saul has suspicions
President Keane, Saul, and Wellington meet with pertinent parties about the aftermath. They expect the planned rioting and demonstrations, neither of which makes Keane happy. Afterwards there will be a rally in front of state capitol building, with support rallies in other cities.
One of the President’s underlings plans on following the lead of local law enforcement for crowd control, which pisses President Keane off. She wants a better solution.
All of this happens while Saul warns everyone of possible Russian collusion. He believes it’s feasible the Russians took the discrete photo at the hospital just to stir the pot. Apparently, everyone else thinks crowd control and potential rioting are more important issues than a second Cold War.
Saul visits a source
Who would have figured Majid Javadi (Shaun Toub) would make a reappearance?! Last we saw of him he was in the middle of a Saul and Dar Adal (Abraham) feud regarding their attempts to uncover Iranian secrets. He had information about their compliance with nuclear testing. He subsequently defected.
This time, however, he’s set up in a nice house with an American wife. He’s living the good WitSec life. His name is probably John Smith now. Nonetheless, Saul leans on him to get information regarding the mystery hospital photographer, who ultimately lit the powder keg between O’Keefe’s supporters and the government agents.
Ultimately, Saul thinks it looks like a Russian plot to sow discord in the U.S. government. Javadi thinks Saul is giving the Russians too much credit.
Keane makes a desperate plea
Wishing to minimize backlash, the President visits fallen FBI Agent Goodman’s wife. After some empathetic statements, the President gets her to agree to show up to the resistance funeral. It’s purely for the optics. After some resistance, she agrees.
At the front of the funeral, Mary Elkins weeps with her family. She was the level head at the compound, hated O’Keefe, and proves her worth once more. There is definite animosity when an agent’s wife shows up. She invites her “enemies” up front, and the show of solidarity quells the consternation. Mary’s bravery, however, ultimately leads to virtually no aftermath from the demonstrations.
Furthermore, the President gives a speech of unity about the Lucasville, VA siege in an attempt to galvanize support. Maybe she’s about to gain support?
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Carrie and Max make a shocking discovery.
Carrie and her A-Team have their ups and downs (two bugs go down in one op.), but they know Simone is unequivocally linked to Wellington. It’s only a matter of time before they get legal evidence linking the two. Once she arrives at Wellington’s house, however, things change drastically.
Simone doesn’t tell Wellington about the attack or the financial demand. Instead she pushes him down on the couch and hops on for a ride. Either Simone is playing Wellington, or he’s playing her. If it’s the latter, she may become a female fall guy. Maybe Jackie Ruby?
Next: O'Keefe created the standoff
Carrie and Max are the only ones who know about the results of Simone’s visit with Wellington. Sooner or later, however, they’ll have to invite someone in on the surveillance secret. When they do, expect there to be fireworks. If those fireworks also demonstrate who’s behind the General’s murder (President Keane? Russians?), then even better.
Homeland airs Sundays on Showtime.