“Step by step, somehow, you end up very far from where you ever wanted to be.”
If you have a heart, spare a thought for Franny “Franny Banany” Mathison. You are barely born before your father is hanged from a crane, you survive a siege, are taken into foster care then raised by your aunt while your useless mother serves overseas. Last week’s SWAT team interruptus finally pushes her over the edge and Maggie gives Carrie an ultimatum: either she checks herself in to hospital or she starts proceedings to take custody of Franny. Carrie is naturally horrified, but not so horrified that she doesn’t once again prioritise work over her daughter, despite being unemployed. Her unsalaried minister-without-portfolio roaming brief brings her to a familiar scenario – face-to-face with Saul, pleading to be put into service.
“I can break him. You know I can.” With time running out, Coach throws his mercurial protege into play – and a blistering showdown with Dante. “Do they know what a lunatic I’m sitting across from?” he asks.
Yes, they do, Dante – that’s why she’s currently between jobs, strung out on fake Ritalin and about to lose custody of her daughter. None of which is to say that she is a soft touch. She rides him mercilessly during the interrogation, taking him on an emotional rollercoaster he won’t forget in a hurry. After charm, empathy, threats and verbal abuse fail, she resorts to that old stalwart – attempted murder. The contact poisoning delivered by his fake lawyer’s pen in effect loosens Dante’s tongue, but also flatlines his cardiovascular system. He gives up Simone and implicates himself right before his heart stops. It’s what Professor Piehead would call “another partial success” for Carrie. A second dead traitor showing up so soon after McClendon – that really would be bad optics.
“The things we thought could never happen in this country apparently can.”
The good news for Elizabeth is that Senator Paley is willing to halt proceedings against her for the good of the office. The bad news is that the price tag is her resignation. She finds his terms not to her liking at all and sets her attack dog David Wellington on the case. The Russians need to learn that actions have consequences.
“They’ve had a free run at us. Tell them in terms they understand.”
He conveys a message to the Russian ambassador that the US will consider Simone Martin testifying a hostile act. It is strongly worded enough for the ambassador to tell Yevgeny that Simone must not testify. The subtext is clear – Simone must be taken out. Yevgeny opts to take this literally by taking her out of the safe house, planting a big smacker on her lips like Daffy Duck and driving her off into the sunset. What Bonnie and Clyde antics might these two get up to next week?
“I don’t trust you, not like I used to – running around like some deranged vigilante.”
Saul has always known his mentee was special. Touched equally by genius and madness, she has saved the day as often as she has ruined it. It has long been his job to tell which version of Carrie has shown up on any given day. On this given day, he decides to run with her berserk high-risk poisoning plan that may very well still blow up in their faces but it is enough to get the warrant for Simone Martin’s arrest he so desperately needs. He races towards her hideout, only to find Yevgeny’s men have already got to Simone. He won’t know if he made the right call until Dante is confirmed dead or survives.
Notes and observations
- “The problem isn’t that you don’t love your country, it’s that your country doesn’t love you back.” Carrie makes a good stab at unravelling Dante’s motivation, even if it ultimately doesn’t work.
- Yevgeny is not just about drowning double agents, rescuing operatives or disseminating fake news. His slick under-pressure elevator pitch blackmailing Simone’s lawyer proves him a true all-rounder – a Swiss army knife of spycraft.
- Carrie grilling Dante is reminiscent of her epic interrogation of Brody in season two.
- “Your entire mental health plan is having me tell you when to medicate because you have no idea.” Dante throws Carrie’s self-medicating in her face to drop her in it with Saul. He is definitely concerned, but it’s nothing he hasn’t heard before.
What next for Franny? Will Dante pull through? And are Yevgeny and Simone Homeland’s new power couple? Please let me know below.
