With the exception of the silly hit and run thing that seemed tacked on, it was an excellent episode.

The whole setup for the good cop/bad cop was great. at Quinn channeling his inner Jack Bauer with that Knife going through Brody's hand.

Carrie's interrogation of Brody was absolutely riveting. Great acting by Lewis and especially Danes. The scene was a great mixture of her being a spurned ex-lover and psychological battle between the two.

As mentioned, I'm not 100% convinced yet that Brody has turned on Nazir. He has still kept his link to Roya Hammad secret.

Well, he threw her name out there, but only as a "maybe" someone who would know what was happening. He has to assume if they know of the tape, then she has probably been 'made' anyway. He only gave them what it's possible they already know.

Not to mention Patinkin's limited yet powerful setups.

Yeah, that's not exactly going to win over the droves of fans already not too thrilled with the daughter subplot as it was.

his wife calling him by his last name has got to be the strangest thing in the world. I know it's been mentioned before but it's starting to really get to me for some reason
I can see his friends doing it, but his wife?

Damn, what an awesome episode. I started to cook food and forgot to set the timer, and continued to forget about it during the entire episode. So it burned.

The interrogation was brilliant. And the reaction in this thread highlights what is so good about this show. Brody's motivations remain unclear, because I don't think even he knows what he truly feels. He is of course an experienced victim of torture and interrogation, and knew how to get out of it with as little damage to himself as possible. But I don't think he is convinced either way to abandon his vengeance for Issa, or to return to his family who obviously need him. But for now he survives another day.

The same holds true for Carrie. It seems obvious she isn't over Brody, even though she might want to be. At the same time she is committed to protecting America from an attack. And can she really trust him? And can he trust her, or is Brody's similarly apparent affection just another ruse?

The writers and actors are great at making the audience as uncertain as the characters.

It's great that Brody wasn't able to be broken by Nasir, yet Carrie and the new guy cracked him in what 1/2 a day?

The only way he converted was because he came to really like Issa, and was distraught. And that took 5 years.

The got him to beat Walker his fellow teammate and close friend to death with his bare hands (as far as he knew). That wasnt even that long after they were captured. He also had the opportunity to escape via an open door and chose to stay and pray instead. They broke him long before Nasir brought him to live at that house with his son. He may not have been ready to strap a bomb to his chest but he was broken.

It was also "easier" for the CIA. When he was with Nasir, if he tries to escape and dies he's a hero in America.

In the current situation he know that the CIA has all the cards, and Carrie showed them in a masterful way. They may even make Nasir kill him, if the USA doesn't kill him first. He's really fucked up now. He knows that.

Excellent episode. It's stretching my disbelief a little, however, that they would send him back into politics, even briefly. The guy tried to blow up the vice president and numerous others, and he was directly involved in several murders. There's no way on God's green earth he ever comes near the VP again, regardless of intelligence value.

So he's so upset that a drone attack killed Issa that he's able to overlook all of the innocent citizens that Nazir kills and is willing to kill the VP and his best friend. They just need to put him down like a mad dog and get it over with.

As to the hit and run most likely that is setting something else up that hasn't been revealed yet. I don't think it was just tacked on. I do think it was handled wrong. He would have called his protection team who would have spirited the body away, not to be found much less connected back to the kid.

If you believe he actually cracked, then I guess. I don't believe it. I think he was prepared in case this happened.

I didn't have an issue with the hit-and-run as much as I did the silliness that the VP's kid could get away from two trained Secret Service agents like that.

Clearly, you haven't seen First Kid or First Daughter.

You make it sound like someone who was broken and manipulated the way Brody was would still think about things like that in a normal way. He can't, he is emotionally conflicted and obviously has multiple identities.

I've worked with several Secret Service guys. After hearing their stories, it's not unrealistic at all.

At the very least, the secret service agents will know he drove down that alley around the time the victim was found on the other side of it. Not hard to piece that puzzle together. Hit and runs tend to make the news. This has the potential to be a really lame storyline.

I mentioned this in an earlier thread but I've seen it with military couples. I had a friend in grad school who was married to an Air Force officer and she called him by their last name.

I don't think Brody is fully on board with the CIA... he's holding stuff back.

I don't buy they would let Brody run free like that. At best, he's an accomplice to terrorists - letting him go is extremely dangerous. I know they don't want Nazir to suspect anything, but still... this seems way too much of a stretch.

I assumed the only reason we're seeing the Dana out with the VP's son is for a future episode in which Nazir seeks revenge on the VP by killing his son. Figured Dana would be close to the line of fire on that. This hit and run now? Ugh... hope it's going somewhere interesting.

Like everyone has said, the scene with Carrie and Brody was incredible. Danes just wrapped up another Emmy.

This season has been awesome so far.

I wonder if Brody will be around for next season. Could the show survive without him?

Easily. I'd rather see him go than Saul.

I'm all for them rotating the major domestic suspect next year. In spite of how good Lewis has been as Brody.

My Dad would hate this show. For one of the main reasons I love it: for how well they're still doing with humanizing an ambiguous Brody. A show that makes you care about serial killers is one thing, but terrorists are another story.

We almost didn't notice the improbable plotting last year due to the novelty of the great complex characters. It's showing at the seams more this season, so I don't want them keeping Damion Lewis around at the expense of any additional contrivance for S3.

I wasn't thrilled with the new Doogie Howser CIA agent but he was pretty good in that episode.

Hated the 'Bonfire of the Vanities' hit and run setup. at all the bogus tension over that in the upcoming episodes.

I can only see the show going on with Saul. Even if they catch/kill Nazir, I doubt Carrie will ever be back in the CIA. Heck, given Carrie's impulsiveness, I fully expect her to put herself in a situation that gets her killed.

It's a valid point, but it might help to remember that Carrie has had a long career in the CIA and didn't suddenly become impulsive overnight. She's been a thorn in their side forever, but she delivers. The problem is they thought she finally completely lost it, but it turns out she didn't. In some ways, it's the old House dilemma. What do you do if you have someone uniquely qualified to save lives, but who is a colossal pain in the rear end?

I'm always open to seeing where the show goes, so I'll be able to accept Carrie's reinstatement if they deliver it in a believable way. But if Carrie and Brody both leave the show, I can't see it being the show it is.