I'll stick with the show because I still enjoy it, but the twist was sort of ridiculous (even in the context of Homeland's first 2 seasons).

Dana's storyline has to relate somehow with whatever happens later in the season with Brody returning, as I can't believe they are just setting aside time each show to cater to a teenage audience with a plotline they might be interested in?

The show has really lost its luster, and Homeland will become a TV adjective for 'shows with great first seasons' that went down in quality real fast.

The biggest twist for me was in the preview

I didn't like it. Tim Goodman can express my dislike better than I can

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bas...damaged-649817

Here's a similarly-themed article from NPR :
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2...of-withholding

I get their points, I guess it just doesn't bother me as much as the alternative (that Saul was actually a slime bag condemning Carrie to save his agency and his own skin)

I can see the point. Perhaps it would have been better if everything played out the same, except when carrie showed up at sauls house instead of saying it all worked as planned, she says I'm broken and desperate saul and about to crack, and the iranians contacted me, he just says, I thought they might.

Basically same story and same ending place, except she didn't know anything about it. I think that would be more authentic, except it makes saul more of a dick, and I think that would be ok too.

Renewed for Season 4 http://www.deadline.com/2013/10/show...asters-of-sex/

Good, now if only they make Dana the central part of the show, rather than wasting our time with Carrie and Saul.

Kill off Brody and start with a new threat. This Brody arc has really run it's course. Hopefully it ends this season. I hope the Prez of Showtime doesn't feel pressured to keep things safe and familiar.

And especially, give Peter Quinn more to do. Send him on some more covert missions.

Couldn't agree more. Been saying it pretty much every week.

The twist... how far back was this set up?

I assumed Carrie was really thrown under the bus by Saul, really tried to leak the information to the press and was really put in the hospital against her will. Only after when Saul came to see her (ie. "fuck you Saul") that the plan came about. If it was part of the plan from the beginning, Carrie's reactions when no-one was around wouldn't make sense.

There were people around when she said "fuck you Saul". It was pretty much a public visiting area.

Yeah, this was the first good episode of the season. I liked the twist. Sure, it's been done and isn't all that original, but it brings everything back to having Carrie do what she does best.

It was set up a long time ago, (probably between seasons in the timeline). Her reactions when she's alone make sense because of 3 thiings, 1: She's living the role. You can't be undercover -some of the time-. 2: She really is crazy and was off her meds and 3: Saul did betray her by taking things a lot farther than she expected.

D

Not exactly high praise for this episode or the show this season

I think I'm out. I'll probably return to see if they get back on track for season 4.

I think the her not knowing is more believable. Else one problem I have is the CIA is looking for Carrie, knows she has a cell phone, but can't track her down with all of their resources but we're to believe the lawyer has better resources and can find her at some random apartment in a couple of hours?

That stretches the imagination. Unless the CIA had her under watch to prevent harm as part of the master plan. In which case her not knowing she was being played fits the storyline better than her being part of it. And her friend wasn't part of the plan so he tipped her off that the CIA was listening.

The lawyer and his group knew she'd be getting out of the hospital, so they probably just followed her. The CIA didn't find out about her release until after it already had happened.

I don't think it was part of the script. I think it was done to placate Dar Adal. With a plan like that, they could have only come up with a basic overview, and the rest would have just been improvised.

So the money trail is pointing to the Venezuela where Brody is - wondering if the money trail might lead to the drug lord who would also happen to the boss of Brody's protection...?

Whether the twist was 'cheap' or not, I don't think any of us saw it coming. How many TV shows can we say that about these days? As far as I'm concerned, this was a 'game changer' episode in the same way LOST's flash-forward cliffhanger was (okay, maybe I shouldn't have brought up THAT show).

For that reason, I think this was one of their best episodes.

Well, the twist could've been that Brody is really a Martian, and no one would've seen that coming either - it's all about how believable something is and if they cheated or not. Though I don't think they really cheated in this instance.

I don't think they cheated either, I just think it could have been more authentic had carrie not known why everything was happening. Basically saul making more of a gamble on her.

good to see Virgil again, I've liked that actor since the shield
nice little tip off he gave Carrie

Just watched this one last night. If this was all planned, why did they show Carrie visibly upset when she was by herself and Saul was shoving her under the bus when he was being questioned? Wouldn't that have been all part of the plan?

It might have been part of the plan, that doesn't mean it doesn't sting when you see it on live TV. Also, she was being observed by her family at the time who weren't in on the long con.

wasn't she already off her meds at that point? part of it or not, she is crazy.