The Good Soldier

The Good Soldier
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 he has vigorous sex with her, in a rough and fast way, leaving her 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.

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

"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

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

Cast

Main Cast

Guest Starring

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

Season 1

#101	"Pilot"	#107	"The Weekend"
#102	"Grace"	#108	"Achilles Heel"
#103	"Clean Skin"	#109	"Crossfire"
#104	"Semper I"	#110	"Representative Brody"
#105	"Blind Spot"	#111	"The Vest"
#106	"The Good Soldier"	#112	"Marine One"