Homeland: "Crossfire" Review

Full spoilers follow.

I was both disappointed and yet absorbed by this week's episode of Homeland, "Crossfire." It's a segment that sees the show veer dangerously close to cliche, while still managing to wring every drop of emotional consequence out of the Brody character.

Let's get the disappointment out of the way up front: It was too easy to figure out that Abu Nazir's son was going to buy it by the end of the episode. It would be just such a devastating event that could help turn Brody against his fellow Americans, and as such I figured the kid would have to go. (Assuming of course it really is Abu Nazir's son. Perhaps I really am getting as paranoid as Carrie lately, but is it too easy a coincidence that the boy just happened to get blown up, thereby securing Brody's loyalty to Al-Qaeda? And if it was in fact all part of the plan for Nazir, then would he really let his own son die?)

One of the great things about Homeland so far has been its ability, or even its determination, to eschew a lot of the expectations that we as TV viewers have. That didn't quite happen this time, and yet the plot-device feel of it all doesn't diminish Brody's ever-evolving arc as a character. As always, we're intently involved with this guy, who now appears without a doubt to have been sent back here as an agent of the terrorists. His love for Nazir's son is without question, and it was that love at least in part that spurred on his mission, whatever it may be. But will he follow through with it now? Did Nazir's Skype pep talk and broken-ribs cocktail convince Brody to stick with it and blow The American Way to hell?

Obviously, the question now isn't whether or not Brody was turned, but whether or not he will stay turned. We are so invested in him as a character that it feels unlikely that the showrunners will allow him to actually, say, assassinate the President or Vice-President. This, too, feels like a potential disappointment as Brody seems to be inching towards being a straight-up good guy, regardless of his past, while Walker assumes the Big Bad role.


Case in point, Walker is the kind of character that the writers will portray as being willing to murder an innocent man in cold blood. Sure, Walker has to cover his tracks if he's going to accomplish his mission, but the result is he's being painted as a straight-up villain now. I wonder how Brody would react if he was put in a similar situation as Walker is here? (And this despite the nuances that seemed to be forming with Walker just last week in regards to his love for his wife and son.)

Elsewhere, it's mostly business for Carrie in "Crossfire" as she tries to manage the mess that the FBI made of the Walker hunt last time around, while also working to track down the suspect. Walker's landing in a mosque before escaping was no coincidence, and she thinks the Imam there knows more about him than he's saying. Of course, she pulls her typical ballsy Carrie s#!t while secretly taping the FBI agent in charge of the case as he admits that his men screwed up. But Estes won't allow her to out their FBI pals. And really, who can blame him?


It comes down to Carrie doing what she does best as she gets the wife of the Imam to talk. (One can only hope that this won't ruin that woman's life, though knowing Carrie's track record it probably will.) The result is that she now knows that the Saudi diplomat is involved with Walker. And we know that Brody is in deep with that same diplomat. So we continue to barrel ahead plot-wise, though it is a shame that Carrie and Brody's "relationship" (what do you call what they have?) seems to be a thing of the past for now.

Oh, and my man Saul was underserved this week. We need more Saul!


Scott Collura is a Movies Editor at IGN. Sometimes he watches stuff. You can follow him on Twitter at @ScottIGN.

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