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Homeland S5 Episode 1: Marching a Billionaire into a Warzone


This episode is called "Separation Anxiety," written by Chip Johannessen  and Ted Mann and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter. The episode title is a direct reference to Carrie's new life away from the CIA and the psychology and emotions that goes with it.

I know this is a long time coming. (My god, I can't believe I totally missed the season's premier!) But I'm going to try to catch up to the show. I'm so excited to find out that this show is airing already. Just the other day, I was looking at the air dates of the usual shows I watch and they're all due for next year. I totally forgot to check this one out. Anyway, now that, we're here. On to the episode.

The season starts two years after Carrie left the CIA. She's now in Berlin, working as head of security for the During Foundation, a philantrophic organization. She's quite domesticated now. She sends Franny to her playgroup on a bike and has a new guy, a lawyer at the the Foundation. Her nice and quiet life in Berlin, however, gets shaken when her boss, Otto During, informs her that he wants to go to a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon. He does not say right away why but eventually he tells Carrie that it is to secure relief funds for the camp. As head of security, Carrie has to make it possible for him to go there.

So Carrie goes to Allison, the CIA Berlin station chief, to obtain some intel on the situation in Lebanon. But Allison is only willing to share if Carrie gives her info on the Foundation's activities. On her way out, Carrie runs into Saul. Now, last I know of this two is that they weren't talking to each other so their reunion is quite tense. Saul accuses Carrie of working for "the other side" and calls her "naive and stupid." This, along with Allison's quid pro quo attitude, shakes Carrie.

Meanwhile, a couple of hackers access an ISIS website in order to post a satirical video. While there, they run into a CIA guy who has been monitoring traffic to the site. As the CIA tries to identify the hackers, the latter counterattacks and accesses valuable documents. The documents reveal a surveillance agreement between German and US intelligence in which the US, through the CIA, will spy on German citizens in order to identify jihadists. The documents end up with Laura, a journalist at the Foundation who wants to publish it. She enlists Carrie's help to vet it but Carrie refuses. Nevertheless, she spills the beans that Saul is in Berlin, which pretty much confirms the truth.

The breach and the threat of disclosure prompts Saul and Allison to meet with German intelligence and propose to continue the operation. But the Germans want the operation shut down, leaving Saul to continue without German cooperation. He enlists Quinn to target and terminate the jihadists they identify. Quinn agrees without qualms.

Unable to get help from Allison, Carrie makes contact with Hezbollah in Berlin. She is taken captive and meets Al-Amin, who remembers her from her CIA days. Al-Amin appears to reject her plea for safe passage to Lebanon but later that night, she gets a call from an anonymous caller who tells her that Otto During has been invited by the council to Lebanon.

Great episode! I loved it. It's got everything I need in a Homeland episode. We have Carrie, being less crazy but towards the end, we get the shaky chin and that's when I knew we were on. Carrie back in action. Can't wait. We have a Saul-Carrie reunion. So much ground to mine there. Awesome. And of course, there's Quin.. Hi, Quinn! I remember that last season Carrie destroyed him. He wanted out and wanted Carrie to go with him but Carrie bolted, and poor, lost Quinn went on a suicide mission with his old buddies. But I'm glad to see he's still alive and still in action. I hope he's not too destroyed though. My precious bb.




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