Homeland stirs memories of 24 with a tightly-wound episode

Nimrat Kaur, Mohammed Barki

Photograph: Sifeddine Elamine (Showtime)

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Simply as lean as “Chalk One Up” however a bit meaner, “Chalk Two Down” finds two males thrust into energy and responding in very other ways. These back-to-back episodes convey Homeland as near 24 territory because it’s been in a very long time, with occasions occurring in near actual time and characters racing in opposition to the clock on all fronts. Though Carrie’s Russia storyline appears all however forgotten, the “beforehand on” section hints at the way it will come again into play: It was Carrie, in spite of everything, who advised that President Warner come to Afghanistan within the first place, and in some unspecified time in the future suspicion goes to fall on her once more.

Confusion spreads within the aftermath of the helicopter crash. Some are fast guilty the Taliban, a simple conclusion to succeed in since they did shoot down the escort chopper. Nonetheless, there’s no proof that’s what occurred to Chalk One, so a group from the Military submit is shipped out to seek out the wreckage and any doable survivors. Max is amongst them, however his time as a fortunate appeal has come to an finish. When the group reaches Chalk One, they quickly verify that there are not any survivors, and that features each presidents aboard.

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When Vice President Hayes will get the information, his brash cockiness evaporates straight away. His first intuition is to run and conceal, forcing David Wellington into wartime consigliere mode. As soon as Taliban forces arrive on the crash web site, the query on the desk is that this: Retreat and permit them to take management of the positioning, together with the president’s corpse, or drop a bomb and guarantee Warner’s physique isn’t recovered by anybody? Carrie is in opposition to the latter plan, not a lot as a result of any concerns in regards to the correct disposal of the president’s stays, however as a result of destroying the helicopter will eradicate any proof of the reason for its crash. Enter Max Piotrowski, reluctant motion hero, who manages to retrieve the black field (“It’s orange,” he notes, although it appears crimson on my display screen) below fireplace. Sticking round that lengthy leads to a lot of the group getting killed, and maybe spending their ultimate seconds on earth regretting that point they talked their good luck appeal out of leaving.

Maury Sterling

Photograph: Warrick Web page (Showtime)

On the White Home, the feckless Hayes is attempting to cross the buck to the army and keep away from making a choice, however Wellington isn’t having it. He basically bullies Hayes into calling for the airstrike, and even then Hayes tries to offer the order with out really saying it. As a result of that is Homeland, there’s each purpose to suspect that is all an act and that Hayes could possibly be behind the chopper crash, however for the second it serves as a stark distinction with G’ulom, who will get the information again in Kabul. No less than whereas in one another’s firm, he and Tasneem plead ignorance in regards to the crash, which means that even when one among them is accountable, they weren’t engaged on it collectively. The U.S. ambassador needs to coordinate any announcement in regards to the crash with G’ulom, however he has plans of his personal. He makes a speech breaking the information, declaring martial legislation, and asserting a manhunt for Haqqani, who he publicly blames for the deaths of each presidents.

Is it doable nobody is accountable? That’s Carrie’s hunch as she investigates the crash and finds that the president’s helicopter was swapped out on the final second, and that the engineer who signed off on the swap has vanished from the bottom. For a couple of tense moments this performs like the primary thread of a conspiracy being pulled, but it surely seems the engineer is along with his pregnant girlfriend off-base, and that the transport swap was a routine matter as a result of their mechanical unreliability. I anticipate we’ll discover out ultimately that it was no accident, simply because that’s not Homeland’s type. Nonetheless, wouldn’t or not it’s the last word twist, within the ultimate season, if it turned on the market was no conspiracy in any respect—simply disparate gamers prepared and desirous to capitalize on the opportunity of one?

Stray Observations

• Talking of 24, Homeland has gone by presidents so rapidly of late, I couldn’t assist questioning if it has come near the prior present’s complete. Not shut! So far as I can inform, 24 had a complete of eight presidents throughout its run. (I’m not together with the reboot 24: Legacy right here, which can or might not have had one other president. My analysis is inconclusive.) Homeland stored the president offscreen for a lot of its run, with solely Keane, Warner, and now Hayes really showing on the present. (I feel! Be happy to appropriate me if I’m incorrect.)