| Iron in the Fire | ||||
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| Written by: | Patrick Harbinson | |||
| Directed by: | Michael Offer | |||
| Production number: | 4WAH04 | |||
| Running time: | 53 minutes | |||
| Original airdate: | October 19, 2014 | |||
| Viewers (millions): | 1.35 | |||
Iron in the Fire is the fourth episode of Season 4 of Homeland. It aired on October 19, 2014.
Synopsis[]
Carrie Mathison and Peter Quinn pursue another lead in the robbery of Sandy Bachman, while Aayan Ibrahim desperately needs one seeks a solution to his problems and eventually turns to Carrie.
Episode guide[]
In the middle of the night, Carrie searches a database for the person in the video. John Redmond arrives and warns her that she will not find Farhad Ghazi in this database because he is not part of the Pakistani Secret Service. Then he opens another database where Farhad Ghazi can actually be found. Carrie then prints out the information about him.
Meanwhile, Aayan seeks out Kiran. He first makes sure her father isn't there, then asks about the bag he left with her. She confesses that her father found the bag and destroyed everything. He is in the doorway and angrily throws Aayan out of the house, telling him that he reported him to the university for stealing medicine. Aayan can't believe it as it means he will be expelled from university.
Meanwhile, Carrie enlightens Saul on the latest information about Sandy's death and asks for his help. Saul suggests calling Langley and the White House, but Carrie decides to take care of it herself. Saul then reveals that Quinn called him worried about Carrie. Carrie is upset and asks Saul again if he will help her or not. Later, Quinn appears with Fara, who tells him that Carrie found out who the man in the video is and she is now planning the surgery with Saul. Max arrives and explains to them that Aayan has appeared. When Fara explains that Carrie won't be here for ten minutes, he wants to leave immediately, but Fara stops him and offers him to wait in her office without having to speak to anyone.
Meanwhile, John Redmond is enlightened by his spy about what Carrie was up to during the day. John challenges him to find out where she got the photo of Farhad Ghazi. Meanwhile, Carrie has arrived at the office, where Aayan asks her if she can really make it possible for him to leave Pakistan. Carrie confirms this, whereupon Aayan demands money from her in advance. When Carrie refuses to give it to him without any reason, Aayan is about to leave, but when Carrie shows him the picture of Farhad Ghazi and asks him if he was the man who threatened him, he stops and starts to cry. Carrie hugs him, and Aayan says he's not crying for Ghazi, he's crying for what he needs the money for. Carrie takes reassurance that the money will really solve his problem and then gives it to him anyway. Before he leaves, she asks him to come back as soon as possible. She then tells Fara and Max to keep an eye on him. Quinn then tries to talk to Carrie and makes it clear to her that bringing Aayan to London will not be easy. However, when Carrie explains to him that Aayan was threatened by Ghazi, Quinn can understand her behavior.
At the university, a professor named Boyd is approached by a young woman who asks him about his friendship with Bachman. Boyd acts like he doesn't know what she's talking about, but the woman makes it clear that she knows he fed Bachman information from the embassy. Boyd leaves her there.
Meanwhile, Saul seeks out General Bunny Latif. Carrie and Quinn are monitoring Ghazi, but they haven't found a way to get close enough to hear his cell phone conversations. Quinn sees the only way to manipulate it while he's asleep. Saul, meanwhile, gets to the point and tells Latif he wants to speak to someone in the ISI. Latif advises him to stay out of it as it's not his job anymore and the Taliban won the fight anyway. But Saul does not give up.
Fara and Max followed Aayan to the hospital. When he is talking to a woman, Fara gets out of the car to watch the two of them up close. She sees how Aayan gives the woman the money and then disappears. Meanwhile, it's getting dark and Quinn breaks into Ghazi's apartment. Just as they are able to connect to his cell phone, it rings and Ghazi wakes up. After ending the call, Quinn disappears from his apartment unnoticed.
Boyd, meanwhile, tries by all means to get a job at another university. Although he doesn't get a firm commitment, he later claims in front of Martha that he has his old job back at George Washington University. Martha doubts her marriage will survive, prompting Boyd to point out that he's spent his life following her about her career. He is certain that he will start his new job in Washington next week.
Carrie and Quinn talk about the reasons why Quinn didn't follow her to Kabul back then. Quinn replies that he's been having problems ever since he killed the kid in Caracas. Carrie doesn't think he's a bad person since he saved lives by doing so. She then makes her way to the embassy while Quinn continues to monitor Ghazi.
Max and Fara wait all night for the nurse to return. When it's already light, she finally comes and gives Aayan a bag. Meanwhile, Carrie pleads with Redmond to stop monitoring her. She then remarks that he has no problem coming into the embassy, whereupon he reveals to her that there is a tunnel that leads to the embassy.
Saul is waiting in a restaurant for his interlocutor. When he arrives, all the other guests leave the room and Saul is examined by some men. A young man who was asked by General Latif to speak to Saul then begins speaking to him. Saul gets straight to the point about Sandy Bachman's death and tells the man that he has material proving the murder was planned. Saul then asks him if he was the one who ordered the murder. However, the man is no longer interested in talking to him and says goodbye.
Carrie thanks Quinn for helping her, even though he didn't want to come back. She asks him if everything is okay between them, to which Quinn narrowly says yes. Meanwhile, the streets are so busy that Aayan gets out of his stationary taxi. Fara wants to follow him, even if Max warns her not to do anything stupid. Fara follows Aayan anyway and watches him hand the bag over to a man. Then suddenly several armed men appear.
Meanwhile, Ghazi receives a call that his laundry is ready to be picked up. Carrie immediately realizes there is more to the call and they may have been blown, as Ghazi immediately starts packing his things and destroys the phone. Since they can't trace who made the call, she wants to grab Ghazi right away. Quinn is against it and refuses to help her with it. At that moment, Fara calls and tells Carrie that Haqqani is alive as she just saw him hug Aayan and subsequently drove away. Carrie can't believe it, but Fara sends her a video of the hug to prove it. Carrie compliments her on her good work and tells her to come back to the office quickly in case Aayan shows up there. Quinn and Carrie piece together that Sandy was killed to protect Haqqani, who probably never attended the wedding. This has made the CIA think Haqqani is dead and need no further investigation. Yet they wonder what interest the ISI has in this.
Boyd is being held in his office by the woman who approached him after his lecture. She introduces herself as Tasneem and then explains to him that once he has done everything she asks of him, he can leave Islamabad. Then she hands him a key and tells him that this is the beginning.
Carrie tells Fara about her plan: while Max drives her to a secure CIA building, Fara is supposed to wait for Aayan in the office and then bring him to her. When Fara asks if she should already complete the paperwork for Aayan's departure, Carrie says no and explains that they cannot let Aayan go under the new circumstances. She wants to use it to get at Haqqani. When Fara comments that Aayan won't go along with it, Carrie replies that she will make him do it.
Carrie's plan works. In the middle of the night, Fara brings Aayan to her. He immediately panics again when he learns that it will be several days before he can leave the country. The two get the couch ready for the first night's sleep. Then Carrie asks him what's going on. Aayan confesses that he was expelled from university after being accused of stealing medicine, which he says he didn't do. Carrie tells him that she believes him and that she will make sure that he can still study in London. Then she comes closer and closer to him and finally kisses him. After making sure he's comfortable with this, she begins sleeping with him.
Quotes[]
- First, the US found and killed Osama bin Laden- You will die over there! Well, you can't keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbors.
- “What are you doing?” - Carrie moves in to seduce Aayan (Suraj Sharma)
- "I never forget a pretty face."
- So, who’s on doom watch, and who’s going back to the embassy?
- "Usually the simplest explanation is the correct one."
- ”Tongues are wagging all over the club. Fraternizing with the enemy,” Bunny tells Saul, raising the possibility of awkwardness. “No American has set foot in here since your raid on Abbottabad.” “Do you want to go somewhere else?” Saul asks him anxiously. “No,” Bunny tells him, showing Saul that he is willing to match his American counterpart in swagger, even if he is better than Saul at keeping to niceties like suits and club memberships. “F— ’em all.”
- "We need his cellphone."
- “Come on, Saul, we both know 9/11 was a hoax.”
- "Who else would be providing Sandy with classified documents straight from the ambassador's desk?"
- “It’s over, Saul. You lost. The Americans are being driven out of Afghanistan just like the Russians were. The Taliban won, and they will dictate the terms of the settlement,” Bunny tells Saul, who is asking for a connection to someone well-placed in Inter-Services Intelligence.
- "You're wrong. You'll see."
- “Well, then you can afford to be a little gracious, can’t you?” Saul fires back at him.
- "Try not to worry so much."
- “Who else would be providing Sandy with classified documents straight from the ambassador’s desk?” Tasneem Qureshi tells Boyd in the middle of the lecture hall.
- “Do you think our marriage can survive another separation?” Martha asks in a voice that suggests she would not entirely mind if the answer is no.
- “I think our marriage can survive putting my career first for once,” Boyd tells her, peevish.
- “We tried that once. You ended up plagiarizing an entire chapter of your book,” Martha responds bluntly. You can imagine her reminding him of this weakness at strategic intervals, keeping the bruise fresh. “I have spent my whole life following you around,” Boyd whines. “I’ve already said yes … I’m leaving next week.”
- “Mostly, I just didn’t want to live in a bunker and kill people by remote control.” - Quinn
- Carrie: You didn’t want to come back here. I get that now. So, thanks for coming in spite of that— it means a lot. Not to mention we’d be nowhere on this if it wasn’t for you.
- Quinn: We may still be nowhere.
- Carrie: You know what I mean.
- Carrie - You're in trouble, Aayan.
- Aayan - Who are you?
- Carrie - My name is Carrie Macpherson. Fara Sassani works for me. I'm her London bureau chief.
- Aayan - You don't understand. I cannot talk to you.
- Carrie - What are you scared of? Who's threatening you? Because I can protect you, Aayan. I can even get you out of Pakistan if that's what you want.
Comments[]
When you think about it, this episode should’ve been called ‘Stalking Horse’, a much more descriptive and fitting idea for the machinations of Carrie Mathison. Because that’s what Carrie has proven most adept at; using anything and everything to get her way, regardless of the affect ‘her way’ has on her stalking horse (as Carrie explains in the episode, a ‘stalking horse’ is a prop used to hide from view while hunting a target). - by JAYMZ CLEMENTS
“I can’t shake that moment she had with herself in the mirror, knowing the path this would lead down and committing to it without letting herself have an opinion.” – Ben Travers
In “Iron in the Fire,” we meet Saul and Carrie’s counterparts in Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, and “Homeland” picks up some long-absent bite. - Alyssa Rosenberg.
Interesting parallels between the Americans and their Pakistani counterparts. So here for more Nimrat Kaur as AU Carrie. - Alyssa Rosenberg.
When Carrie realizes that Aayan has been meeting with his supposedly dead uncle, his secret injects a nasty chill into their conversation at Carrie’s apartment. We have so often seen Carrie connect with potential sources by presenting herself as a fellow raw nerve end that it is a welcome relief to see her behave strategically. - Alyssa Rosenberg.
We have so often seen Carrie connect with potential sources by presenting herself as a fellow raw nerve end that it is a welcome relief to see her behave strategically.
When Aayan tells Carrie “I got kicked out of my medical school … Yesterday … They’re claiming I stole medicines from the hospital pharmacy. I didn’t do it. It’s a lie,” that might have been a moment for the kind of overinvestment that makes Carrie both so effective and so risky to kick in. He wants to know: “What about King’s College? Will this affect my chances of getting in?” “No,” Carrie tells him, because medical school expulsions are nothing compared to ties to a terrorist the Taliban wanted to fall off the grid. “How is that possible?” Aayan says in wonderment “I’ll make them understand,” Carrie says, and her soothing tone finally feels frightening again, instead of a sign she is a sap.
Appearances[]
Main Cast[]
- Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison
- Rupert Friend as Peter Quinn
- Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson
- Nazanin Boniadi as Fara Sherazi
- Tracy Letts as Andrew Lockhart
- Laila Robins as Martha Boyd
Guest Starring[]
- Suraj Sharma as Aayan Ibrahim
- Michael O'Keefe as John Redmond
- Mark Moses as Dennis Boyd
- Maury Sterling as Max
- Raza Jaffrey as Aasar Khan
- Nimrat Kaur as Tasneem Qureshi
- Art Malik as Bunran Latif
- Numan Acar as Haissam Haqqani
- Shavani Seth as Kiran
Co-Starring[]
- Meren Reddy as Parvez
- Carl Beukes as Clark Russel
- Riaz Solker as Omar
- Tamer Burjaq as Farhad Ghazi
- Elisha Mudly as Nurse
- Zahir Bassa as Qadir
- Jamal Mukkadam as Cleric
Note[]
- Although credited, Tracy Letts does not appear in this episode
Videos[]
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