| The Good Soldier | ||||
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| Written by: | Henry Bromell | |||
| Directed by: | Brad Turner | |||
| Production number: | 1WAH05 | |||
| Running time: | 50 minutes | |||
| Original airdate: | November 6, 2011 | |||
| Viewers (millions): | 1.33 | |||
“I like it when life is like that… heightened somehow.” - Carrie for Brody
The Good Soldier is the sixth episode of Season 1 of Homeland. It aired on November 6, 2011.
Synopsis[]
Carrie comes up with a way to get Brody to take a polygraph test. The tension between Brody and Mike finally comes to a head.
Episode guide[]
Carrie arrives at Langley, seemingly rejuvenated. Everyone there is in disbelief that Afsal Hamid was able to kill himself. Carrie proposes that a Polygraph Test be administered to everyone who came into contact with Hamid. Carrie is excited because Brody will be on the list; she's confident he won't be able to pass the polygraph. The testing process begins that day. Carrie is the first to take the polygraph. She passes every question, except for when she's asked if she has taken illegal drugs while employed by the CIA. Meanwhile, Saul interviews a neighbor at the abandoned house that Raqim Faisel had bought, and he learns that Raqim was living with a woman there.
Raqim and Aileen, now on the run, arrive at a safehouse. They're about to enter but Aileen spots a booby trap on the door. Now under threat from al-Qaeda as well as the authorities, Raqim thinks they should turn themselves in, but Aileen refuses. At Langley, they've managed to identify Aileen Morgan as Raqim's girlfriend. They check into Aileen's background, and it's discovered she lived in Saudi Arabia for five years as a child. Saul is called on to take the polygraph. He's agitated from the beginning, and the polygraph indicates he's lying when he denies giving the razor blade to Hamid. He stands up and aborts the test, saying he's too busy and will finish it tomorrow.
A memorial service is held for Tom Walker. Brody delivers the eulogy while fighting back memories of beating Walker to death. Afterwards, Carrie finds Brody and tells him about the polygraph test he has to take; they schedule it for the following day. At the reception, Brody and Mike are chatting with some other Marines who attended the service. One of the Marines, Wakefield, is drunk and turns belligerent. He angrily asks Brody why he came home alive, while Walker was killed. Brody says he was lucky. Wakefield then says all the men there wanted to have sex with Jessica while Brody was gone, but only one of them did. At that point, Mike attacks Wakefield. Brody then pulls Mike off Wakefield and, immediately sensing Mike is being defensive about his affair with Brody's wife, starts punching him without hesitation, saying "you were my friend!" After bloodying Mike, Brody gets in his car and leaves.
That night, Carrie gets a call from Brody, who's at a bar and wants someone to talk to after his tumultuous day. Carrie arrives and they once again hit it off, having several rounds of drinks and enjoying getting to know each other. Both drunk, they walk out to the parking lot. Carrie admits to Brody that Hamid killed himself, and that the purpose of Brody's polygraph test will be to determine if he gave Hamid the razor blade. When Nicholas and Mathison become intimate, they start kissing, and end up having sex in Carrie's car. And Nicholas has vigorous sex with Mathison, in a rough and fast way, leaving both in a state of ecstasy.
Raqim and Aileen are staying in a motel. Their room is suddenly sprayed with machine gun fire. Raqim is killed, but Aileen escapes.
Saul takes the polygraph again and passes this time. He enters the observation room with Carrie, as Brody's test is next. Brody takes the test and easily passes on every question, including the one asking whether he gave Afsal Hamid the razor blade. Carrie is flustered, but has one more gambit - she tells the interviewer to ask Brody if he's ever been unfaithful to his wife. Brody looks right into the camera on which Carrie is observing, and says "no". The polygraph reading doesn't budge. Saul wraps up the test, and Brody is excused. Carrie is now in the difficult position of knowing Brody is able to beat the polygraph, but unable to reveal to Saul how she knows this. Saul tells her to accept that Brody passed the polygraph and that it's time to forget him as a suspect.
Carrie goes outside. Brody drives up to her and tells her to get in his car. She does, and they drive off.
Trivia[]
How accurate is a lie detector test? The estimated accuracy of the polygraph test stands at 87 percent.
Can an innocent person fail a polygraph test? The polygraph tests whether a person is lying or not by tracking breathing rate, blood pressure, perspiration and heart rate. An innocent person may fail the test out of pure nervousness. This is why these results are often dismissed in court.
Are lie detectors ever wrong? According to the National Research Council, there is evidence suggesting that lie detector results can be fabricated.
The joke on the tracks (where she always beat the boys) that Carrie talks to Brody in Season 1 Episode 6. How does it work?
- Two people sit on train tracks as train approaches.
- Train approaches.
- Suspense.
- Fear.
- Someone comes to their right mind and gets out of the way = chicken.
- In season one and two, David Estes is Deputy Director of the CIA Who is Director?
It's Sherman Howard.
He played "Chip Shooter Haigh" in episode S01xE06, probably the director of the Counterterrorism Center of the CIA. David Estes was the deputy director of that part of the CIA. "Chip Shooter Haigh" according to IMDb. His name and function wasn't mentioned in dialogue though, but the captioning addresses him as "Shooter" while he's speaking off-camera. His only appearance in the series. ( It was a marvelous scene. Carrie proposes to use the polygraph without asking Estes and the director agrees. Estes was furious after that. )
The CIA comprises several directorates. The Directorate of Operations (also known as the Clandestine Service) is one of them. The Counterterrorism Center is one of the many divisions of that directorate. According to Wikipedia this center has got its own director and deputy - Counterterrorism Mission Center. In the series they never said which division David Estes actually was working for. But because the whole setup of the first two seasons isn’t based on reality, that doesn’t matter anyway. Based on what I have seen I believe in the world of HOMƎLAND David Estes' job matches best that of the deputy of the Counterterrorism Center.
Mistakes[]
- Factual error: Raceme's girlfriend Morgan is seen in a mugshot taken by Edinburgh Police, Scotland. They are known as Lothian and Borders Police, not as shown "Lothan and Boarders". (00:28:30)
- Visible crew/equipment: When Brody and Carrie exit the bar and open the car door, a big lighting equipment screen is reflected on the door.
- Continuity mistake: When Sgt Brody first returns to the US, he's seen in uniform wearing a sergeant's three chevrons with one hash mark, indicating at least 4 years of service. Later, he's a Gunnery Sergeant, with two rockers below the chevrons, plus two additional hash marks to reflect the eight years he was a POW. In the episode "Achilles Heel," Brody and his wife attend a swank Capitol Hill party, but his dress blues have only the three stripes and single hash mark. Throughout the series, everyone addresses Brody as "Sergeant" and never as "Gunny," which is the traditional reference for a Gunnery Sergeant. (00:22:00 - 00:28:00)
Quotes[]
- Corporal Walker... Corporal Thomas Walker... Corporal Thomas Patrick Walker.... - Brody
- "Brody is a scam! He lies and doesn't even feel like he's lying." — WAKEFIELD
- When exactly, Wild Brody, turned into a war bastard... - Lauder
- “I could tell them my name and it would sound like a lie.” - Brody
- I like it when life is like that… heightened somehow. - Carrie
- WHAT ARE THEY, LIKE, MAGICIANS IN HOODS? - Carrie
- “It just hasn’t felt right… or important as what I do for a living” - Carrie
- "Get in." - when Brody pulls up in his car and tells Carrie.
- Carrie: Saul, we're gonna get Brody. He'll never pass the polygraph test.
- Saul: We'll see.
- Carrie: I'll bet you everything I've got. Everything- including my Monk's Dream, signed by Thelonious himself.
- Saul: I prefer Coltrane. Not so fussy.
Reviews[]
"Their boozy tryst might have been a credulity-derailing moment in any other ostensibly realistic show; but because “Homeland” had prepped the moment – carefully detailing Brody’s alienation, depression and troubled marriage and Carrie’s anti-psychotic drug regimen and lifelong history of flouting rules and courting danger – it felt psychologically credible and hilariously right. The moment played as if somebody had compiled a list of all the cat-and-mouse suspense pictures in which yin and yang leads stalked each other like possessive lovers and asked what would happen if subtext became text.” –Matt Zoller Seitz
The squeaks and squalls of jazz are an essential part of Homeland. Music features frequently in the Channel 4 US import, from the hazy, trumpet-led dissonance of the opening titles – complete with archive footage of Louis Armstrong sandwiched next to the portentous rambling of Donald Rumsfeld – to CIA members Carrie and Saul's discussions about their favourite jazz musicians. - Tim Burrows
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison
- Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody
- Morena Baccarin as Jessica Brody
- David Harewood as David Estes
- Diego Klattenhoff as Mike Faber
- Jackson Pace as Chris Brody
- Morgan Saylor as Dana Brody
- Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson
Guest Starring[]
- Omid Abtahi as Raqim Faisel
- Marin Ireland as Aileen Morgan
- James Urbaniak as Larry
- Afton C. Williamson as Helen Walker
- Marc Menchaca as Lauder Wakefield
- Sherman Howard as Chip Shooter Haigh
Co-Starring[]
- John Rodriguez as PFC Fernandez
- Cynthia Barrett as CIA Officer #1
- Henry Bazemore Jr. as FBI Special Agent #1
- Craig Galloway as Marine #1
- Bryan Adrian as Young Man
- Jes Dugger as Neighbor Woman
Videos[]
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