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Your Brief Homeland Refresher Course

Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody and Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison in Homeland (Season 2, Episode 12).
Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody and Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison in Homeland (Season 2, Episode 12). Photo: Kent Smith/Showtime

Sunday is the Breaking Bad finale. But it’s also the season premiere of Homeland. (And the Lord’s day.) Before jumping back into things with Carrie, Brody, Saul, Quinn, global terrorist networks, the CIA, and Dana’s huffy pouting, it’s time to refresh our memories about where things left off last season. There was a big bombing. Remember?

Brody was framed for a bombing. At least that’s what he claims. But Carrie’s the only one who believes him — everyone else thinks Brody bombed the CIA and killed 200 people who were attending Vice-President Walden’s memorial service. (The confession tape he made in season one sure came back to bite him in the ass.) Because of her enduring love, Carrie helped Brody disappear, and it seemed for a moment like she was going to disappear along with him. Instead, she helped him get some fake paperwork together and dropped him off near Canada, then headed back to her life at the CIA.

Quinn was supposed to kill Brody, but he changed his mind. Estes had ordered Quinn to take out Brody, and Quinn was going to — until the last second, when he decided to have Carrie’s back instead, knowing that killing Brody would destroy her. Quinn’s threats to Estes don’t matter anymore, since Estes died in the bombing, but at least we know where Quinn’s loyalties (mostly) lie.

Dana knew the real deal about her father. “She isn’t crazy, is she?” Dana asked Brody, referencing Carrie’s accusations from the end of the first season. “You were gonna do those things.” (Recall that “those things” included a suicide bombing.) Brody doesn’t deny it; Dana knows his big bad secrets.

Saul and Carrie had a big fight. Carrie said she was picking Brody over the CIA; Saul called her stupid; things got heated. After the bombing, Saul thought Carrie was dead — until she showed up at the investigation site after being missing for 24 hours. Was he happy to see her? Yes, very. But does this mean things are okay between the mentor and his protegée? Doubtful.

Estes and a lot of other CIA employees are dead. The bombing killed a lot of people, which means Saul is now pretty high up in the ranks and Carrie — who ought to be on the outs with the agency — might seem more valuable than ever.

Your Brief Homeland Refresher Course