"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Homeland 7.7: Meets 24

There was a lot of 24 in this episode of Homeland - 7.7, just finished on Showtime tonight - not surprising, given Howard Gordon's role as Executive Producer for both masterful series.

But tonight's episode of Homeland really felt like 24 - the best of 24 - with a President beset on all sides, America at its greatest risk since 9/11 according to Saul, and our agent both hunting and sleeping with the apparent enemy agent.

Let's look a little more closely at that last point.  Carrie and Dante almost slept with each other last week.  But he passed out from Carrie's drugging before that happened.  Tonight they're - well, in flagrante delicto - I just love that phrase - when the CIA under Saul's knowing supervision (that is, he knows Carrie and Dante are literally together) busts in and breaks them apart to arrest Dante.  (Not only that, but the ruthless Saul - or at least, more ruthless than he's been in past seasons - knows that Carrie's daughter Franny's in the next room, too.  Like I said, Saul is ruthless.)

Now Dante, unless I'm missing something, is an interesting character indeed - more inscrutable and complex, with a more seamless and thus appealing mix of good and evil than in any character we've seen on Homeland since Brody himself.   On the good side, Dante really seems to be attentive to Franny (who, as many reviewers have aptly remarked, really looks like her late father Brody).  He even seems somewhat protective of Carrie.

On the bad side, Carrie learns (if Dante's ex-wife is telling the truth) that Dante has had a negative obsession with Carrie for years.   And he has apparently played Carrie in the Russians aiming to bring down the Elizabeth Keane Presidency thing.   Or at least, that's what Saul and I guess we the audience are supposed to believe.

But I'm not so sure.  There seems something stubbornly good about Dante - more than if we just add up the good things that he's done.  In the end, Brody himself turned out to be a hero who redeemed himself.  I'm guessing, more on hunch than evidence, that's we'll see the same with Dante.

Meanwhile, though on the one hand it's good to see Saul take such charge - much better than the wimp he's sometimes been in parts of previous seasons - I don't like seeing him be, well, such a dick to Carrie either.   Without Carrie, Saul would not be where he now is.  And vice versa.  The two are mutually dependent, in usually a good way.

We'll see what happens next week.







And see also  Homeland on Showtime ... Homeland 1.8: Surprises ... Homeland Concludes First Season: Exceptional



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