Homeland-New Season

[cjfrbw]

Didn't suspect at the beginning of the recent series that it would attack the thorny issue of who the intelligence agencies actually represent and how they manipulate and regard the "come and go" elected politicians.

Dar would likely have contingency plans to sanitize himself in the political arena, but who he actually serves I would bet they don't specify, although they currently imply he is at least a double agent for Mossad, if not a triple or quadruple agent for any number of unspecified powers.

They certainly portray him as representing himself as all things to all comers, then playing them off or eliminating them while ultimate loyalties remain mysterious.

 

[still-one]

Didn't suspect at the beginning of the recent series that it would attack the thorny issue of who the intelligence agencies actually represent and how they manipulate and regard the "come and go" elected politicians.

Dar would likely have contingency plans to sanitize himself in the political arena, but who he actually serves I would bet they don't specify, although they currently imply he is at least a double agent for Mossad, if not a triple or quadruple agent for any number of unspecified powers.

They certainly portray him as representing himself as all things to all comers, then playing them off or eliminating them while ultimate loyalties remain mysterious.

You could see that Dar was thinking of his future when he pocketed the envelope during his meeting with the President-elect in the last episode.

 

[cjfrbw]

They have made Dar a much more complex character. His primary ability seems to be that he can ingratiate himself with every malignant spider on the world stage and make them all think he is on their side. The elected politicians are bush league.

He dispatched the hideous Iranian general to Mossad with elan, which means he has some sense of justice if not revenge.

His relationship with the murky false flag assassin and the seemingly right wing political secret operation to create an independent intelligence/ disinformation center is not terribly clear. It never states openly that he condoned the assassination of the FBI agent, and it seems he never ordered the assassination of Quinn or Astrid. He could be an infiltrator offering services, or he could be on board. I would bet he is not on board, but I guess that is what keeps the ole cliff hanger hanging.

 

[jadis]

Since 2 seasons ago when at the end of the season, Dar was shown inside a car of a 'enemy', and was it Carrie or Quinn who wanted to shoot a known enemy in a public place but was stopped, I've had my doubts on the character of Dar, he seems capable of designing his own 'policy'.

 

[Steve Williams]

Since 2 seasons ago when at the end of the season, Dar was shown inside a car of a 'enemy', and was it Carrie or Quinn who wanted to shoot a known enemy in a public place but was stopped, I've had my doubts on the character of Dar, he seems capable of designing his own 'policy'.

I think the last 2 episodes were terrific and finally it is "game on".

F. Murray Abraham is one bad ass evil looking dude.

 

[jadis]

I think the last 2 episodes were terrific and finally it is "game on".

F. Murray Abraham is one bad ass evil looking dude.

Those are the words to describe Dar, bad ass and evil. I liked the past where the President elect asked Carrie and Saul - now how do we take him (Dar) down.

 

[Steve Williams]

Those are the words to describe Dar, bad ass and evil. I liked the past where the President elect asked Carrie and Saul - now how do we take him (Dar) down.

I thought that comment was very odd and said to my wife, "she 's the President Elect and is asking how to take him down" in light of what she knew

 

[jadis]

I thought that comment was very odd and said to my wife, "she 's the President Elect and is asking how to take him down" in light of what she knew

It's kind of odd, Steve, but I thought that that's the signal for more action in the last 3 episodes.

And incidentally, the title of the last episode is America First. Sounds familiar.

 

[cjfrbw]

My guess would be that Dar is trying to head off a right wing coup by elements in the gov/military by pretending to go along. Although they show him at the editing of the film to discredit the President Elect's son, they never actually show him directing or ordering it. He seems mainly interested how many copies of the original film there are. That would indicate military involvement.

The blurring of optics on the Iran treaty are a bit more opaque. Saul is shown as having a shred of vulnerability by wanting to believe in people more than he should, whereas Dar is always the big picture guy. Saul gets in trouble in areas where he shouldn't i.e. kidnapped at an airport, honey trapped by mole etc.

None of the characters are morally pure. Saul orders covert assassinations, and has his ex-girlfriend riddled with bullets in the trunk of a car. Carrie manipulates Brody, and also honey traps a young Arab boy, who is killed by his uncle because of it. She lets Quinn have a dangerous and destructive medical procedure to rally him in the hospital for some information, which does not yield any information but messes Quinn up even more. Dar by implication pulled Quinn out of a bad childhood to become the black bag guy, but also sexually molested him. Quinn, of course, is a boy scout but is also a sanctioned serial killer.

The show is interesting because with the ensemble cast, each season seems to set up the next to go deeper into the rabbit hole. Everything and everybody are in some manner compromised, enemies are not to be underestimated, and ambiguities abound.

Other films come to mind such as "Three Days of the Condor", where the terrorist killer is simply passed around by both sides on a contingency basis, or "Munich", where the shadowy, for hire intelligence networks used by the Mossad agents to locate their targets are used to ultimately target and assassinate them as well.

 

[Steve Williams]

My guess would be that Dar is trying to head off a right wing coup by elements in the gov/military by pretending to go along. Although they show him at the editing of the film to discredit the President Elect's son, they never actually show him directing or ordering it. He seems mainly interested how many copies of the original film there are. That would indicate military involvement.

The blurring of optics on the Iran treaty are a bit more opaque. Saul is shown as having a shred of vulnerability by wanting to believe in people more than he should, whereas Dar is always the big picture guy. Saul gets in trouble in areas where he shouldn't i.e. kidnapped at an airport, honey trapped by mole etc.

None of the characters are morally pure. Saul orders covert assassinations, and has his ex-girlfriend riddled with bullets in the trunk of a car. Carrie manipulates Brody, and also honey traps a young Arab boy, who is killed by his uncle because of it. She lets Quinn have a dangerous and destructive medical procedure to rally him in the hospital for some information, which does not yield any information but messes Quinn up even more. Dar by implication pulled Quinn out of a bad childhood to become the black bag guy, but also sexually molested him. Quinn, of course, is a boy scout but is also a sanctioned serial killer.

The show is interesting because with the ensemble cast, each season seems to set up the next to go deeper into the rabbit hole. Everything and everybody are in some manner compromised, enemies are not to be underestimated, and ambiguities abound.

Other films come to mind such as "Three Days of the Condor", where the terrorist killer is simply passed around by both sides on a contingency basis, or "Munich", where the shadowy, for hire intelligence networks used by the Mossad agents to locate their targets are used to ultimately target and assassinate them as well.

Carl

That was probably the best synopsis of all 6 seasons that I have read. And yes Dar is a perv that sexually molestef Quinn. After all he said " I love you" to Quinn

 

[Ronm1]

I think the last 2 episodes were terrific and finally it is "game on".

F. Murray Abraham is one bad ass evil looking dude.

he can't carry a tune either. Mozart ate his lunch

 

[bonzo75]

ok, that stinks.

I started Westworld, but not a fan so far.

The last few episodes of Westworld were too stretched and ruined it for me. Am liking Designated Survivor now.

 

[still-one]

The last few episodes of Westworld were too stretched and ruined it for me. Am liking Designated Survivor now.

I sit and read when my wife watches Designated Survivor. I gave up after the first couple of episodes. The plot has become more farfetched than House of Cards and without the good acting. Kiefer Sutherland puts me to sleep.

 

[jadis]

2 more episodes to go. Question is, how is Dar going to be taken down? Even the president-elect seems unsure.

 

[Steve Williams]

One more episode to go and just when I thought I had this thing figured out with Dar along comes the last scene from last night's episode with Dar and Max that left me wondering whether Dar is setting up Max or whether Dar is trying to implicate Quinn (either rightly so or as a diversion for Max)

Carrie's chin quivered 3 1/2 times during last night's episode

How will this season end. I'm not feeling confident about Quinn, not about his implication, which I think is unlikely but rather as a diversionary target to take out

 

[still-one]

Another good episode last night. This season has continued to get better after a very slow start. Let's hope we don't get too much of a cliff hanger next week.

What a back-to-back Sunday night with Billions coming on right after Homeland. The dialog in Billions is almost to the level of Aaron Sorkin's work in Newsroom and West Wing.

 

[jeff1225]

Currently the best show on TV. Their depiction of these Fake News and Trolling bullpens set up in Eastern Europe are spot on. I'm also loving the "Info Wars" tie in.

 

[cjfrbw]

It looks like Quinn's old "Black Ops" group has set Quinn up to be the patsy for an assassination attempt, likely on the new female El Presidente.

I still think Dar may just be playing double agent with the fascist coup agents in the government, whoever they are, and will sanctify himself somewhere along the line. He's too good a spider to lose for the next series.

 

[Steve Williams]

I think you're onto something Carl. The reality is Quinn has been shot, poisoned and has been an invalid for the past 4 seasons. I agree about the presidential assassination idea but I think whatever happens Quinn is going down. He already told Carrie he doesn't care what happens to himself. Now if indeed Dar is a double agent it could explain his past actions and also why he had Max kidnapped. But if that's the case why would he not have shared such a thing with the president or Saul?

Nonetheless I like your theory.

 

[still-one]

Well the Season Finale did have a few surprises. It will be interesting to see what actions Carrie will take next year to get things right. Fortunately the show has been renewed at least thru Season 8. A season that started out slow turned very interesting.

I saw Mandy Patinkin interviewed the other night and he indicated that the story line did change due to the results of the Presidential elections.