Homeland Series 2 Episode 8 REVIEW

Has Brody's time of playing a double agent finally run out in this week's episode? Warning: MAJOR spoilers ahead!

 The women of Homeland have a particularly difficult time this week - not that they've exactly been in Disneyland for 1.5 seasons. But it does seem that in each particular strand, this week's episode sees our fragile, wounded heroines suffering or wrestling with difficult decisions brought about by the men in their lives.

If last week's episode could be considered a case study on the failure to reach masculine ideals, this week considers the ramifications for a group of women who are all, in their own way, just trying to do the right thing. 

Dana's guilt over the death of the female pedestrian a few weeks back threatens to reach Lady Macbeth proportions here, as she finds herself barred at every opportunity from revealing her involvement in the hit and run. Never has a teenager had to struggle so hard to reveal the truth of a mistake they have made. This culminates with Dana's visit to the daughter of the woman she inadvertently killed. Quite uncomfortably, Dana is offered no salve for her conscience; the daughter hates her for her involvement in her mother's death, but reveals that she has already been paid off to keep her mouth shut. The one person that Dana could have relied upon to expose the truth has taken a vow of silence, and now she has no choice but to remain silent. 

Although it works as a get out of jail free card for the producers (who are seemingly as compelled by her character as I am, and don't want her to get busted!) there's certainly no sense of relief for Dana. Instead she will be forced to live with what she has done, to struggle with the conscience she can never escape. 

Carrie proves once again she'll do anything to prevent an attack.

Things aren't going well for Jessica Brody either. Morena Baccarin's performances have been sadly overlooked to date, but she's been consistently good since the series' start, struggling to remain malleable and adaptable to the changes in Brody's life. Another of Brody's lies is exposed this week - I'm starting to think she needs a designated drawer to store the various gems of deceit he has been giving her episode after episode. But when Dana mentions Carrie's intervention at the police station, another piece of the puzzle falls into place for Jessica. It's another dreaded development in a marriage that is very quickly sinking. 

Sadly, the viewer is in the unenviable position of seeing the hard reality behind Jessica's suspicions. After all, Brody is in a motel having sex with Carrie, who is seemingly trying to turn him back over to Team CIA following a rather public breakdown in front of his Nazir contact - or is that all she's doing? 

It worried me that this week's episode illustrates how often decisions made by people in power can be dictated by very personal flaws, misconceptions and misguided desires. Sure, Homeland is a work of fiction, but fact is often stranger - and real life rarely resolves its major issues over a 12-hour arc.

This was another compelling episode with a great final scene - Nazir is on American soil, Carrie is distraught, and Homeland has turned up the heat as the series finale finally hovers on the horizon. 

What did you think of this week's episode? Do you sympathise with Dana's story? What are your speculations of the next step in Nazir's plans? Leave your thoughts below!