22 December 2024: The three latest written interviews of me are here, here and here.
Showing posts with label Homeland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeland. Show all posts

Friday, April 3, 2026

For All Mankind 5.2: Actor Reunions



It's great to see Joel Kinnaman as Admiral Baldwin in For All Mankind Season 5 still flying morally high, still shaking things up, defying authority to do the right thing, still causing good trouble (as John Lewis put it so well down here on Earth in our off-screen reality), in his advanced age.   Kinnaman is especially impressive in the role, given that he's now also playing a character much closer to his real age in Imperfect Women, which I'll review as soon as its first season is over.

[And there will be spoilers ahead ... ]

Baldwin in Season 5 of For All Mankind has stage-three cancer, and is not supposed to fly.   All the more the impressive that he risks his life in this condition to save Lee Jung-Gil (played by C. S. Lee -- Vince Masuka from Dexter old and new!).  And episode 5.2 concludes with Baldwin's plan to save Lee on the way to working, though as that happens, Mireille Enos's character Celia Boyd -- Enos starred with Joel Kinnaman in The Killing around the same time the original Dexter was concluding -- finds Baldwin unconscious at the controls.

Now if For All Mankind were made by Taylor Sheridan, this might be the end of Baldwin.  But given that Ronald D. Moore is its creator, I'd be stunned if Baldwin didn't survive until at least the end of this season.  In fact, given that Joel Kinnaman has been reported to return as Baldwin in the final season 6 of the series, and though, again, apropos of Sheridan, this could be in flashbacks, I'm thinking we'll see Baldwin in real current time in the final season.  (And while we're at it, in the alternate history spin-off Star City to debut in May, though probably at a younger age.)

Anyway, Celia Boyd is a great new character, so is Leonid played Costa Ronan (from Homeland and The Americans), and all the continuing characters are good to see in this 5th season of For All Mankind. And I'll see you back next week with my review of the next episode.

See also For All Mankind 5.1: On the Intersection of Alternate and Real Histories

And see also For All Mankind 4.1: Back in Business and Alternate Reality ... 4.2: The Fate of Gorbachev ... 4.3-4.4: The Soviet Union in the 21st Century, On Earth and Mars ... 4.5: Al Gore as President and AI ... 4.6: Aleida and Margot ... 4.7: Dev on Mars ... 4.8: Sergei and Margot ... 4.9: Progress ... 4.10: Earth vs. Mars

And see also For All Mankind 3.1: The Alternate Reality Progresses ... 3.2: D-Mail ... 3.3-3.4: The Race

And see also For All Mankind, Season 1 and Episode 2.1: Alternate Space Race Reality ... For All Mankind 2.2: The Peanut Butter Sandwich ... For All Mankind 2.3: "Guns to the Moon" ... For All Mankind 2.4: Close to Reality ... For All Mankind 2.5: Johnny and the Wrath of Kahn ... For All Mankind 2.6: Couplings ... For All Mankind 2.7: Alternate History Surges ... For All Mankind 2.8: Really Lost in Translation ... For All Mankind 2.9: Relationships ... For All Mankind 2.10: Definitely Not the End

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Sunday, April 26, 2020

Homeland series finale: Continuity



Well, it was a thoroughly satisfying series finale for Homeland, just finished on Showtime.

First, I knew Carrie could never kill Saul, even to stave off a nuclear war, as I said in my review of last week's show.  But tonight's finale had me faked out, cursing at Carrie, until it became clear that she had tried to make Saul believe that she would kill him, which entailed making the viewers believe the same, all to apply maximum pressure to get Saul to give up his beloved Russian agent.  And when that failed, Carrie got what she wanted, anyway, with a Plan B that worked like a charm.  That's what I call a nice piece of writing in this series.

But the very ending was even better, and I sort of guessed it the moment I saw Carrie two years later in Moscow with Yevgeny.  Wouldn't it be cool, I said to my wife, if Carrie redeemed herself by replacing the Russian agent she had handed to Yevgeny on a deadly silver platter?  That would be just like Carrie.  And sure enough, that's exactly what she did.  With all the trimmings Saul could expect, down to the message inside the spine of a conveyed book, the same way information had flowed from the previous Russian agent to Saul.

And this opens up all kinds of possibilities for movie and television sequels.  Saul, though he's for the most out of the CIA now, now has golden agent in Moscow, someone he can trust, well, at least with his life.  And it will take a long time before Yevgeny and the Russians catch on,

Saul says, earlier in this finale, that the Russians have already tried to chew up our democracy.  The world seems very different now, in the pandemic age.  The Coronavirus now is much more of an enemy than Russia.  But the world will prevail over the virus, and that will leave Russia and its hacking still in play as a despoiler of our democracy.  And I'm glad to know that Carrie will be there, on our side with her brilliance and passion.

See also Homeland 8.1: Lost Time ... Homeland 8.3: Ohio ... Homeland 8.4: Helicopter Down ... Homeland 8.5: Is Carrie Another Brody? ... Homeland 8.6: Carrie vs. the World ... Homeland 8.7: The Vice Tightens ... Homeland 8.8: The Black Box ... Homeland 8.9: The Red Box and the Black Russian ... Homeland 8.10: Carrie vs. Saul, As Never Before ... Homeland 8.9: Kill Saul

And see also Homeland 7.1: The Worse Threat ... Homeland 7.2: Carrie vs. 4chan ... Homeland 7.3: Separating Truth from Hyperthinking ... Homeland 7.4: Fake News! ... Homeland 7.5: "The Russian Angle" ... Homeland 7.6: Meets The Americans, Literally ... Homeland 7.7: Meets The Americans ... Homeland 7.8: Evenly Matched ... Homeland 7.9: Franny vs. the Job or the U.S. Hacks Twitter ... Homeland 7.10: President Trump and President Keane ... Homeland 7.11: Carrie in Action ... Homeland Season 7 Finale: The President






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


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Monday, April 20, 2020

Homeland 8.11: Kill Saul



My title for the review of Homeland 8.11 - the penultimate episode in the series - almost sounds like something out of combination of Homeland and Killing Eve, which I'll also be watching later tonight, and reviewing here even later tonight or tomorrow.  But it's not.  It's pretty much the last thing Yevgeny says to Carrie - even if it isn't, it burns out anything he says after - as she receives her marching orders about what she needs to do get back the black (red) box, for the purpose of stopping a nuclear war.

Pretty high stakes.  But I don't think Carrie will do it.  In fact, I think there's no way she'll do it.  So here are some possible ways out of this, for Carrie (because I don't think the series will end with a nuclear war):

  1. Saul kills himself, as a way doing what Yevgeny wants, but getting Carrie off the hook.  Nah, I don't think this will happen, either.  Saul won't do this, if only to protect his asset, not to mention that I don't think he's the suicidal type, for any reason, however noble.
  2. Yevgeny backs down.  Don't think this will happen, either.  He's shown himself to be ruthless, almost beyond belief.
  3. Saul figures out what's going on.  He and the asset, with Carrie's help, figure out how to get the fight recorder back, despite Yevgeny's opposition.  This seems to me to be the most likely.  But I'm an incurable optimist.
We'll just have to wait and see what happens next week.  In the meantime, I really like Saul cursing his head off at the UN - hats off to Mandy Patinkin for a standout performance tonight - and young Saul put in a pretty fine performance (the character and the actor, whose name I'd mention here but there's no one identified as "Young Saul" in the credits - thanks Showtime - I have seen it suggested that maybe Patinkin was de-aged ala The Irishman - but a little research done by my wife reveals that Ben Savage played this part).  Anyway, what I was saying?  Yeah, that Saul was outstanding tonight, in his older and younger selves.  (My wife did some more research and discovered that Savage played a young Jason Gideon in Criminal Minds back around 2014 - the older character was played by Patinkin.)

Ok, enough about Savage.  See you here after next week's series finale.

See also Homeland 8.1: Lost Time ... Homeland 8.3: Ohio ... Homeland 8.4: Helicopter Down ... Homeland 8.5: Is Carrie Another Brody? ... Homeland 8.6: Carrie vs. the World ... Homeland 8.7: The Vice Tightens ... Homeland 8.8: The Black Box ... Homeland 8.9: The Red Box and the Black Russian ... Homeland 8.10: Carrie vs. Saul, As Never Before

And see also Homeland 7.1: The Worse Threat ... Homeland 7.2: Carrie vs. 4chan ... Homeland 7.3: Separating Truth from Hyperthinking ... Homeland 7.4: Fake News! ... Homeland 7.5: "The Russian Angle" ... Homeland 7.6: Meets The Americans, Literally ... Homeland 7.7: Meets The Americans ... Homeland 7.8: Evenly Matched ... Homeland 7.9: Franny vs. the Job or the U.S. Hacks Twitter ... Homeland 7.10: President Trump and President Keane ... Homeland 7.11: Carrie in Action ... Homeland Season 7 Finale: The President






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


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Monday, April 13, 2020

Homeland 8.10: Carrie vs. Saul, as Never Before



With just two more episodes to go after tonight, Homeland checked in with episode 8.10, which managed to set up Carrie vs. Saul in a way we and they have never been before.

The two have been on opposite sides of an issue any number of times over the years, not a likely situation, given that they basically want the same thing, a sane world in which the United States is safe without unduly imposing on other countries, peoples, and their cultures.  But now near the very end of the series, we get them on opposite sides of an issue which just couldn't be more fundamental: Carrie's on a path to betray an agent in Russia, who has been feeding us crucially valuable information, and whom Saul has been protecting to the point of not even admitting to the agent's existence, for years.

This is the price that the Russians want for return of the flight recorder that Yevgeny took from Carrie after knocking her out with an injection in the neck and a "sorry baby" last week.  And with the Taliban under new leadership blowing up the bus filled with the American team on the edge of returning to American safety, the stakes couldn't be higher.

It's a tribute to how tightly the characters and the plot has been drawn this year, not to mention in previous seasons, that it's all but impossible to predict how this will turn out.  Will Carrie really betray Saul to avoid a nuclear war?  Logic says she would.  But Carrie runs deeper than logic.

I'm guessing/betting/hoping that Carrie will figure out a way to have both - both the flight recorder and the agent in Russia not killed.  I have no idea how she'll do it, but I can't see her so badly betraying Saul, for whatever the undeniably good reason.

But I'm an optimist.  And I'll see you back here next week.

See also Homeland 8.1: Lost Time ... Homeland 8.3: Ohio ... Homeland 8.4: Helicopter Down ... Homeland 8.5: Is Carrie Another Brody? ... Homeland 8.6: Carrie vs. the World ... Homeland 8.7: The Vice Tightens ... Homeland 8.8: The Black Box ... Homeland 8.9: The Red Box and the Black Russian

And see also Homeland 7.1: The Worse Threat ... Homeland 7.2: Carrie vs. 4chan ... Homeland 7.3: Separating Truth from Hyperthinking ... Homeland 7.4: Fake News! ... Homeland 7.5: "The Russian Angle" ... Homeland 7.6: Meets The Americans, Literally ... Homeland 7.7: Meets The Americans ... Homeland 7.8: Evenly Matched ... Homeland 7.9: Franny vs. the Job or the U.S. Hacks Twitter ... Homeland 7.10: President Trump and President Keane ... Homeland 7.11: Carrie in Action ... Homeland Season 7 Finale: The President






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


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Monday, April 6, 2020

Homeland 8.9: The Red Box and the Black Russian



A fast-moving episode 8.9 of Homeland last night, in which Carrie finally gets her hands on the crucial black box that actually is red, and is betrayed.

The red box tells her what she suspected: no one brought down the Presidential helicopter, the crash was an accident.  We learned this even before she listened to the red box's recording, when Carrie indicated that there had been problems with that model of helicopter.  (And that's what they used for such a crucial flight?)

But she needs to get this evidence to the US government, and the public, to avoid what could even be worse than the Coronavirus we now are battling in reality - a nuclear war - and, before she can do that, Yevgeny knocks her out with an injection in the neck, and carries her and the flight recorder to some safe place.  Safe for him.

Yevgeny continues to evolve as a character.  He clearly cares for Carrie.  He strokes her face after he puts her unconscious body as comfortably as possible in bed.  But he's more loyal to Mother Russia than to Carrie.  Assuming that was his motive, or his only motive.

It's also possible that Yevgeny's understandable mistrust of the U. S. government led to inject and abscond with Carrie and the red box to protect Carrie, and the world.  He certainly would not be crazy to be concerned that the U. S. might not accept the evidence of the flight recorder, and put Carrie in prison for all of her heroism.

I'm sorry this is the final season of Homeland.  It's a good diversion from the real news.







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


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