6x09 Sock Puppets

[8.3/10] Just like that, it seems that Dar Adal has won. The nature of serialized television tells us that the good guys aren’t just going to wallow in defeat for the last third of the season. But still, Homeland teases us with the idea that everything’s gone according to Dar’s plan, that he’s in control, that everything has fallen into place, just long enough for it have meaning when Carrie is, once again, able to turn everything on its head.

The interim is devilishly enjoyable though. There is something so unctuously smooth about the way Dar approaches his first meeting with the President-Elect, acting surprised and taken aback that she’s on board with his view of Iran, while still subtly pushing his agenda. He is so good at this evil game that it’s hard not to be a little in awe of it.

The same goes for him turning on Javadi. If you get into bed with a snake, you’re going to get bit, and there is something shamefully satisfying at Javadi getting a measure of comeuppance after betraying Saul, even if it comes at the hands of the guy who’s made things so difficult for Saul in the first place. Dar is ruthless, and just so damn smug and collected about it, that it has a villainous charm here.

But Javadi doesn’t go down quietly. Making the phone the macguffin of this little storyline is a nice touch, with Javadi being clever enough to clue Carrie in with it, and the evidence on the phone itself working as a follow up on what we’ve already seen. After what happened in the last episode, I don’t know that it would really be enough to change Keane’s mind, but it’s nicely set up as the thing that saves Carrie and Saul’s crusade from obsolescence and ostracism.

Of course, this is Homeland so any measure of success leads to further problems and fissures. I appreciated that despite the circumstantial evidence that Carrie and Saul have gathered, the Dept. of Justice representative points out that it’s not enough to prosecute Dar for what he’s done without more. It serves two functions. The first is it injects a dose of reality here, that helps avoid the “and then they uncovered the conspiracy and everything was all better” vibe that lots of thrillers and espionage stories default to. The second is that it puts a wedge between Carrie and Saul, turning a professional success into a personal blow, which is a very interesting tack.

Every now and then, Homeland really remembers its own history, and brings it up in the context of its main characters. The events of Season 5 -- Saul’s relationship with Allison and the ensuing cover up -- coming back to haunt him as a way to nail Dar is a canny way to both find a path to defanging Dar while creating personal conflict between Saul and Carrie.

The exchange of the episode, and maybe the season, comes when Saul pushes back on Carrie, she tells him that if he wanted to avoid this, he “shouldn’t have fucked a Russian agent,” and he tells that such an admonition means a lot coming from someone who slept with a guy in a suicide vest. It’s raw and cutting on both sides, showing how well these characters know one another, and how they have the ammunition to hurt and tear at one another when they feel threatened. There’s always been a caring but combative connection between them, and it’s nice to have the show exploring the richness of that, both when they succeed together and when things get darker.

That is not, however, the only time that Brody gets invoked in “Sock Puppets.” The stellar opening scene features Carrie talking to her therapist, speaking of a man known only as “Frannie’s Father.” The conversation makes the parallels between Brody and Quinn explicit, particularly as they relate to Carrie. She accepts the idea that she has intense relationships with people, relationships where she pushes them too far in the name of some greater good and then loses them in the process. It’s a powerful admission, one put into stark relief by the therapist’s advice that Carrie, like all parents, has to learn to put the greater good and the personal good aside for her child.

It’s a complex, fraught area of thought to probe, and I don’t know that I 100% agree with the therapist’s (and by extension the show’s) assessment of Carrie’s behavior. But one thing is clear, Carrie has a great deal of baggage, and a propensity to go pedal to the metal in pursuit of her goals, with people close to her, even people who’ve made their own beds, often paying a price for it, whether it be Brody, Quinn, Saul, Frannie, or Farah (who’s obliquely referenced here).

The episode takes that idea of someone pushing, spurring others to action it its insane and possibly absurd conclusion. I’m similarly uncertain as to how I feel about the reveal that the Alex Jones talk show host analog is not just a blowhard propagandist, but also a conspiring mastermind. Still, I like the idea of Max (who gets the most shading he’s had in a while) infiltrating the mysterious company where Conlin died. The reveal -- that the company is astroturfing, or using a bunch of fake social media profiles to stoke public opinion -- is a little out there, but has some strong thematic resonance.

It is not, however, the most striking reveal in the episode. That comes after Quinn (who is apparently Wolverine with the kind of crap he can survive) confronts Dar Adal in the episode’s final frame. Dar has a second meeting with Keane, one where she overplays her hand and he realizes he’s been found out. It’s in that state of frustration at his carefully constructed plot falling apart (as seen in his brusque response to his cab driver) that he faces a man who think’s Dar ordered his death.

It’s then that we get the most surprising revelation -- as much as it seems like Dar has been the chessmaster here, moving all the pieces around the board until it was to his liking, he was not behind the attempt on Quinn’s life. (The implication is that the man pulling the strings is actually Brett O’Keefe, though with this show, who knows.) I didn’t believe it at first, but his phone call to the hitman confirms it -- Dar genuinely loves Quinn, and specifically told his co-conspirators to leave Quinn alone. He never wanted Quinn to get hurt, things just spiraled out beyond his control.

And that’s the theme of “Sock Puppets.” Sometimes we think we have all the answers, that we have everything ready to go and planned out. Then, even when it seems we’ve succeeded, even when it seems like things are going to go according to plan, even after we’ve pushed others to act on our behalf in service of it, something can happen to throw it all into chaos. And in the fall out, the people we care about the most can be the victims.