Homeland - Season 2 Episode 3 - State of Independence

Here’s the recap for Season 2 Episode 3 of Homeland: "State of Independence" on SHOWTIME.

At The Beirut International Airport, Saul’s (Mandy Patinkin)  bag is searched during a security checkpoint and a memory card is taken away by the officials.  Saul is smart though, the real memory card was in the handle of the briefcase, making it back to the US with Saul.

The CIA has received intel and are now onto the tailor who made the exploding vest for Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) to use to assassinate the vice president and other top officials in the US government. Roya (Zuleikha Robinson) calls Nicholas and tells him that he needs to go and inform the tailor that he may be in trouble and needs to go to a safe house immediately. Brody is the ONLY one who can do this because he is the only one who the tailor knows.

He gets the tailor from the shop and forces him to get in his car. As they head to the house, the man, who says his name is Bassel, asks questions to try and understand what is happening. Brody’s truck gets a flat tire and without a jack, Brody needs to think quick on his feet to fix the car and make it back in time to speak at his wife’s big event for wounded soldiers. While fixing the car, we see the tailor contemplate escaping from Brody’s watch multiple times. Finally, when they get the tire fixed, they stop at a gas station to fuel up. While Brody is inside paying, his companion takes off running. Brody hunts him down into the woods and after being knocked in the head, chases him down and tackles him to the ground. The problem for Brody is the fact that when he tackled Bassel, the tailor fell on a metal stake in the ground causing him to be impaled.

While patching up his wound with the sleeve from his shirt, Brody gets a call from Jessica asking for his whereabouts and how long he will be. Bassel starts moaning out, loud enough for Jessica to hear something in the background, causing Brody to snap his neck (killing him instantly).

At the event, Jessica Brody (Morena Baccarin) has to think on her feet when she realizes her husband and MAIN speaker will not be making it in time. In a last ditch effort, she gets up to the podium and speaks to the guests herself. Sharing her experiences with Brody to the veterans, she proposes the money raised at the event be used to fund a center for families coping with the return of their loved ones from war. She is a HUGE success and everyone loves her ideas.

When she gets home, she invites Mike (Diego Klattenhoff), Brody’s former best friend and Jessica’s ex fling, in for a “nightcap.” As they head inside for a drink, Brody pulls up. Mike leaves and Jessica and Brody head inside to talk about what happened.  Jessica is on to Brody. He is acting very shady.

Jessica: You’re hiding something. I can see it in your eyes.

Brody: There is nothing going on.

Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) is confused why she hasn’t been contacted for the debrief meeting from her trip to Lebanon. She shows up to the CIA offices and when she gets to Estes’ office, her “Visitor” tag is prominently displayed. While waiting for the 6pm debrief, we can see Carrie’s anxiety building within. She takes off her visitor tag and walks in on the debrief meeting (already in progress). She questions David Estes (David Harewood) as to why she was not included and he explains that her write up was very thorough and she has done an AMAZING job on the detail. He asks her if she expected to be reinstated, and she plays dumb and says, “Absolutely not.”

She heads home, unstable as ever, and takes two handfuls of her prescription pills with 2 HUGE glasses of wine. After stumbling upstairs to her bed, she realizes she made a mistake, and forces herself to vomit up the pills. She passes out and is awakened by knocks at the door and multiple rings of the doorbell. As we contemplate who we think it could be, Carrie rushes to hide the pill bottles and wine before opening the door.

Carrie and Saul review the video of Brody's confession

The door opens and Saul is there (straight from the airport), to share with Carrie the video from the memory card. He tells her she deserves to see it first and that she is going to be very surprised by the contents of the video.  The video shows Sergeant Nicholas Brody confessing to his plot to kill the head leaders of government in the name of Abu Nazir (Navid Neghaban). Realizing she was right all along, we see the joy and life return to her rather dead body.

How will this new intel affect Carrie’s and Brody’s futures? Only time will tell…