Television

[kid-glove]

The bomb didn't go off. Yeah. But how is that a cliche? (Compare this to Dexter, where the canned gas doesn't present its danger, or serve a dramatic purpose. We've seen that (Dexter saving Debra) god knows how many times? That's a cliche.) Brody reassembles it & checks for connection, puts it on. It not only treats something of that magnitude with respect, but it also serves its dramatic purpose. Meanwhile Carrie finds the daughter & persuades her to call. The daughter cares for her father, but she'd never jeopardize him in front of her or anyone. He doesn't even let her mother know. She's aware that there's something wrong, but she'd not want to contemplate that scenario fully or get her dad into trouble. She wants her dad safe. All done amidst the danger of the bomb going off any moment was impressive. Not only does it make for a thriller, it buys time to build its own psychological dimension to the characters. Brody nearly lives his own death with failed trigger. Before that, there's a trepidation & ambiguity in his actions. He lets things play it out & there's a hint of hesitation to his every move. After this incident, he has a renewed sense of how to play things out. He doesn't hesitate to take out Walker. And he cuts a different course of plan with Nazir.

One other thing I'd really highlight is the lack of 'brainwashing' or 'hypnotizing'. Or any kind of treatment out of ordinary. It is no 'Manchurian candidate' in that respect. He turns to Islam (not out of force -a key point), but is that the reason he 'turned'? The ideological element is played out of it, it's much more personal theme of love & loss. The shock & PTSD. As a parallel to him, Carrie too suffers a PTSD, which we don't clearly know about, yet. but only discussed briefly with Saul. Her loss manifests into obsession, to point of bi-polar stress disorder. In this, they're both united. They really genuinely identify with each other. That's how the cabin episode plays out so beautifully. Both aware that the other would pose threat to their side of field. But both equally in unison of being victims of war crimes (Issa is his loss, hers should be revealed in coming season).