In this week’s episode of Homeland, things with Carrie aren’t as they seem. Meanwhile, Saul and Fara make headway on who is laundering the money they find moving around. Carrie has a mystery helper, and Dana runs away with Leo. Josh provides this week’s Homeland episode recap for Season 3 Episode 4, titled Game On, to prepare for this week’s episode. Josh and Violet both provide commentary, so check out our summary and thoughts after the jump!
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Homeland, Season 3 Episode 4: Game On Recap Overview
Need a quick Homeland episode recap of Season 3 Episode 4, titled Game On? Here is a summary of events for the episode. Each event is linked to the more detailed Homeland episode recap for Game On if you need more information!
Homeland Episode Recap: Game On, the Details
Troubled Carrie, Fara Follows The Iranian Money
This episode of Homeland begins with Carrie watching the forceful drugging of a fellow “patient” and she has a very afraid look on her face as the girl being injected is screaming and thrashing as she is being held down. One of the guards looks her direction, and she bolts for her bed, lays down, and a guard asks if everything is ok. Carrie “confirms” it is, but clearly is jolted by what just happened.
Meanwhile, back with the agency, Saul and Fara discuss where the money has gone that she has been investing, and where it is going. Fara describes how the money moves, and they find that it is eventually moved to Caracas, Venezuela. Fara names a person she feels may be behind the money, but he is supposedly dead. Dar Adal walks in at the moment, asking for Saul. Saul tells him to give him a minute. Saul then thinks that perhaps this dead man may not be so dead after all. Or at least the name. Saul guesses that someone has assumed the identity of the dead soccer legend Fara suspected.
Carrie Gets to Leave–Or Not
Back at the hospital, Carrie’s lawyer says she is a shoe-in to get out of there, and they are heading to her release hearing. In her hearing, she seems to nail it, as everyone says she is ready to go. Her father and sister for some reason do not show up as they were supposed to. The judge tells Carrie they will review the case and let her know shortly. Waiting outside, Carrie spots Dar Adal walk from the hearing room, and Carrie becomes agitated.
The bailiff calls Carrie back in, and Carrie gets some bad news–she is being held indefinitely since she has tried to release national security secrets. The judge says his hands are tied, since she signed documents giving away her liberties when she joined the CIA. The lawyer tries to fight for her, but she does not get anywhere. Carrie is told to go back to her room, but Carrie borrows her lawyer’s cell phone to call her father. She asks why he didn’t show up. He says that he was told the hearing was cancelled. Carrie tells her father to tell Sal she’s given up and needs out. At this point the lawyer takes the phone from her, and she goes back to her room, takes her meds and lays down.
Or Maybe Carrie Does Get to Leave
Later in the episode, a nurse tells Carrie she is free to go, due to an emergency appeal. She packs up, and gets out of there. In her house is the man who offered to get her out of the hospital before, last episode. Carrie tells him to get out. We learn it is a 24 hour furlough for Carrie’s release, and to get full release, she has to attend a meeting with his bosses. She concedes, and the man leaves.
Carrie then immediately begins packing, and grabs her passport. Her car is missing from her parking spot however, and no one knows why.
Dar Adal pays a visit to Saul in his office, and he tells his about Carrie’s release, and how he is concerned about her telling CIA secrets. Saul tells Dar Adal to find her. Meanwhile, Carrie’s ATM card isn’t working. She goes into the bank to make a withdrawal, but the Justice Department has put a hold on all of her money.
Carrie calls Virgil to borrow some money to get out of town, but he will not help her considering how explosive she has been. She asks to borrow his van, and he says no. We then learn Virgil is being watched, and his watchers motion to him to let her borrow his van, and he tells her he’ll leave the keys for her. He then says, “Say hello to your mom for me”, which Carrie releases was a code for him being watched. Carrie then spots the car waiting for her, and promptly evades it.
Carrie Turns Traitor?
Carrie then pays a visit to the dude she slept with a couple episodes ago. She begs for a place to stay, and since he has one bed, we can assume what happened next. She wakes up the next morning, quietly gets dressed, “borrows” some of the guy’s money without his knowing, and leaves. Outside, she is quickly picked up by the man she was hoping to avoid.
Back with Fara and Saul, they examine a photo of their suspected Iranian official that is laundering the money. The photo is from 2009, and we learn he has visited Venezuela two times. Fara wants to get deeper in the investigation, but Saul wants to back off so that he doesn’t get caught by the Iranian officials, so he can capture and interrogate the man himself.
In the meantime, Carrie has been taken to a house, and talks with a man named Bennett. Bennett tries to claim that he isn’t trying to buy her, and won’t make her do anything she is not willing. Carrie says she is worried this s a sting, so they step outside to talk. We learn Bennett’s firm wants to talk to her about stuff she may know. He then asks her about how 6 people disappeared, which tips Carrie off to realize that Iran is the country these people are working for. Carrie refuses to help, and Bennett threatens her, saying that the people she is protecting are marginalizing her, and putting her back in lock up. Bennett then warns her that the CIA will eventually kill her to keep her quiet. Carrie contemplates this, and Bennett tries to ask to help her again. She seems to change her mind on the helping, and demands to never see Bennett again, and only the client. She also says she will never name specific people, so she can keep them safe. He agrees, and tries to reassure her.
Carrie the Double Agent?
Carrie is then dropped off, and given some compensation to start with from Mr. Bennett. We learn Carrie is on a no fly list, so escape is not going to happen.
Later that night, Carrie has come to visit Saul. He asks what she is doing there. She says, “It worked”, and tells him about Franklin, the man who picked her up, and talks to Saul about Bennett. We learn through their conversation that they have been working together the entire time. Saul then says she is amazing and brave as Carrie breaks down. She does say to Saul, “You should have gotten me out of the hospital Saul, you shouldn’t have left me in there”. She also feels she can’t go on, and Saul tries to reassure her.
Dana’s Road Trip
At the reform school where Dana had been, we see Leo in the lunch line. He makes a detour through the industrial area of the building, and sneaks off with Dana. They are driving through a rural area, and we learn they are running away together. Dana’s mother calls, and Leo chucks the phone out the window so no one can track their GPS.
Moving to Jessica, Mike has come to visit. Mike leaves Dana a voicemail asking her to come home as well. They meet up with Leo’s parents and the police, and Leo’s parents tell Jessica to report the car stolen. The cops will not file a missing persons until the kids have been gone for 24 hours. Leo’s parents then call Dana a bad influence due to her father’s actions.
Back with Dana and Leo, they have gone to a chop shop to sell the car for another. They get screwed in the deal, as they need a quick buy. The mechanics begin to recognize Dana, so they hurry the deal along, and drive away in their new beat up Camry.
Dana and Leo have gone to a cemetery, and we learn it is Leo’s brother’s grave. Leo seems to feel guilty about his death, and we learn it was a suicide. Mike says he will get the search by, “making some calls”. Mike tries to calm her down, as Jessica wallows. Meanwhile, Dana has taken Leo to the last place she feels her father last told her the truth–the base he was deployed to Iraq from, and last saw Dana before he left.
Mike comes by Jessica’s house some time later, and they learn about Leo’s brother through Mike’s investigating. Flashing to Leo and Dana, it seems their plan is to keep running forever.
Josh’s Thoughts: Homeland, Season 3 Episode 4: Game On
The scenes with Carrie in the hospital are hard to watch! All that I can say is, I hope I never have a mental breakdown. What is funny about Carrie is I just knew Saul would not sell out Carrie like we have seen so far this season. Saul seems like way too much of a good hearted person for that to be the case. When it is finally revealed in the end, I couldn’t really believe I didn’t put it together sooner. There are a couple things that did bother me about the way this “undercover” operation worked, however. For example, why did Carrie have to steal that guy’s money? The only conclusion I can come up with is that perhaps that guy was possibly deep cover, watching Carrie, and her stealing the money helps the story. One question I also have is this: is Dar Adal aware of this operation, or is this something only between Saul and Carrie? So far I would have to think it is only Saul and Carrie, otherwise the scenes between only Dar Adal and Saul make no sense–they have no need to keep up appearances regarding Carrie between just the two of them.
So far I am really enjoying this season of Homeland, at least from the perspectives of Carrie, Saul and Brody. So far I am not that drawn to Dana and Jessica’s story. I almost feel like they have been kept on the show because the showrunners felt they had to. I do not feel their story is compelling enough, or fits the rest of the story so far. Dana’s story is sad for sure, but I just can’t find how it meshes with the show as a whole, unless something brings things together later.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 3 Episode 4 of Homeland: Game On
What an interesting twist! I did not see that one coming, though it makes me feel better about the way that Saul has been treating Carrie lately. Saul has always seemed like such a good guy, so it pained me to see him turning on Carrie this season, even if it was for the so-called greater good. However, my question is, how far back does this plan go? Exactly when did they come up with and start implementing this plan? Because things have seemed pretty genuine from Carrie’s perspective from the beginning of the season, especially when Carrie is watching Saul on TV during the Senate hearing, and he throws her under the bus. I remember the betrayed look that she got on her face, and she was all alone, so it’s not like she was doing it for show. So many of her reactions have seemed real, that it’s hard to pinpoint just when this plan got underway. I hope that the show reveals the details to us, instead of just leaving us to wonder.
As for the Brody family story, finally we get to see Mike! Where has he been the past few episodes anyway? It’s like he just popped up out of nowhere, like he was there all along. I think he must have been too busy with his new job at the FBI, working with Red Reddington. Oh wait, that’s a different show (The Blacklist). I wonder if we’re going to get to see much more of Mike, or if the actor’s obligations to The Blacklist have caused him to be virtually absent this season in Homeland. Mike’s investigations uncovered information suggesting that Leo may have actually murdered his brother, or it was a suicide pact gone wrong, so now he and Jessica are all worried about Dana’s safety with Leo. However, he seems to be pretty into Dana, so I don’t think he would do anything to hurt her. However, a suicide pact could be in the works. I’m still waiting to see how Dana’s story fits into the overarching storyline.
I’m definitely interested in where things go from here. What exactly does Saul hope to discover with Carrie’s undercover work? Where will Carrie’s undercover work take her? Will she have another breakdown as a result? What about the discovery that Fara made about the money laundering, which eventually led to Caracas, Venezuela? We know that’s where Brody is, so what connection does that have to him and the guys that are holding him? Speaking of Brody, we didn’t get to see him this episode. I guess we are to assume he’s still stuck in his cell, becoming a heroin addict. Looking forward to seeing what comes next on Homeland!
Scenes from Homeland, Sesaon 3 Episode 5: The Yoga Play
Here are scenes from the week Homeland episode, titled The Yoga Play:
Scenes from Homeland, Season 3 Episode 5: The Yoga Play
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