| Useful Idiot | ||||
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| Written by: | Debra Cahn | |||
| Directed by: | Nelson McCormick | |||
| Production number: | 7WAH09 | |||
| Running time: | 50 minutes | |||
| Original airdate: | April 8, 2018 | |||
| Viewers (millions): | 1.24 | |||
Useful Idiot is the ninth episode of Season 7 of Homeland. It aired on April 8, 2018.
Synopsis[]
Carrie has problems at home. Saul and Wellington work on Paley.
Episode guide[]
Yevgeny is traveling with Simone. You have almost reached your goal. He promises her that Simone will go to a quiet place with him after the debriefing. When Simone wants to board the plane a little later, Yevgeny gets a call. They ask about Dante, but neither he nor Simone know where he might be. They wonder if he might have gotten cold feet, but it doesn't make sense because his important part has already been completed. Yevgeny explains that he cannot come with her because Dante's disappearance is jeopardizing everything. Simone thinks that others have to take care of it. He is also no longer safe in the USA. Yevgeny sticks to his opinion and Simone says goodbye saying that she doesn't want to see him anymore.
Carrie is waiting in the hospital when Saul comes over and she explains to him that it doesn't look good and we'll have to wait and see if he wakes up and then if he even knows what's going on. Saul then explains to Carrie that they couldn't find Simone.
Paley is questioned by the press about Simone's disappearance because the hearing can't take place now. Keane and Wellington are watching on TV when Saul arrives. They think about what to do now. Since Paley indicated in the interview that he wants to hold the government accountable, Saul suggests that Paley should be told.
Yevgeny calls his Russian contact Mirov, to whom he explains that he didn't get on the plane after all so as not to leave Clayton behind. Mirov demands that he turn around, but Yevgeny doesn't let him change his mind either. Then Clayton calls, who has found out that Dante appears to have been captured but is now in the hospital. Yevgeny doesn't quite understand that, but asks for the address and wants to go there. When Mirov calls again, Yevgeny pushes him away.
Carrie is in Dante's room. He woke up and she is talking to him. She wants to know what else he can remember. Dante is very clear and Carrie asks if he can give her any clue as to who the attorney might have been. Dante holds back and Carrie can't believe he's trying to protect his Russian contacts again after they tried to kill him. She explains that he is very important now and they will protect him if he helps them. Dante says Carrie has no idea who he is or what he's done. Carrie then asks about Simone and Yevgeny.
Carrie informs Saul that Dante is awake and wants to help them. She tells about an emergency code that uses Twitter to notify Yevgeny's entire network that it's over, and everyone responds with a different code. They want to involve Saul's team to deal with it. Carrie should drive to them and transmit all information. Saul will clarify with Keane that they can take action. As Carrie leaves the hospital, Clayton enters the hospital and takes photos of the guards.
Saul explains to Keane that Dante woke up and wants to help. But he would need a permit to digitally monitor US citizens. You might have to explain that there is a state of emergency. Keane isn't thrilled. She says she's being pushed more and more to become the very president her critics are already accusing her of. But she instructs Wellington to arrange everything.
Wellington has invited Sam Paley. Shortly thereafter, Saul joins them. Saul explains to him who Simone really is and what the plan was. Paley is surprised and doesn't want to believe it all. He also finds it strange that they only talk about it with him. Saul introduces Dante and shows that Paley was only used so that the Russians could find a way to harm the President.
Saul arrives at Carrie and his team, who explain how they could send the signal via Twitter. Sandy expresses her concern that she thinks the code sounds more like a warning to Yevgeny. She argues with Carrie about it, but she is sure that Dante has no reason to warn Yevgeny because he thinks he meant to have him killed. Since Sandy doesn't have a better idea either, and Saul got Keane's approval, they stick with trying as planned.
Paley talks to his assistant, updates her on the news and is upset that he's made a fool of himself. They think about what to do now. Paley could probably only save face if he was the first to go public with this information.
Clayton calls Yevgeny because the code was released and they believe it was him. Yevgeny says no and suspects that Dante apparently gave away the code. He then calls Mirov and asks four men to go to the hospital because Dante is too well guarded. However, he explains that he should rather disappear, but Yevgeny is still willing to go to the hospital because otherwise everything would be lost. Again he requests four men.
Saul and Co. collect the people from Yevgeny's network because they respond to the tweet with the response code. Some are well encrypted, but others are easy to find. They immediately check who the individual people in the network are. They notice Paul Wyler, who is spotted by Sandy as a possible money manager for Yevgeny. Saul immediately makes sure that it is followed up.
Carrie has arrived at Maggie's, but only meets Bill there, who is curt and keeps explaining that Maggie isn't available to talk at the moment. Carrie eventually pushes her request more forcefully, so Bill finally explains to her that Maggie has an appointment with a lawyer to file for custody of Franny. Carrie admits she made a mistake taking Franny to Dante's. But Bill replies that Franny is in dire need of a stable home.
Yevgeny calls Simone, who wants to know what he's doing. She tells him not to freak out. He should rather talk to Mirov in peace, who will then help him. As for Dante, she is sorry and will take full responsibility. The doorbell rings and Yevgeny thinks it's Mirov now, but it's Paul Wyler, who has two FBI agents at his door and doesn't know what to do next. Yevgeny explains not to say anything and not to call him anymore.
Carrie packed things. Bill tries to stop them, but Carrie is determined and tells them to stay away from their daughter.
Yevgeny has arrived in front of the hospital and lets Clayton tell him what it looks like. When he asks for a phone to call Mirov, who has already asked for him and has a plane ready for him, Yevgeny shoots Calyton in the stomach. He rushes to the emergency room, brings Clayton in, and uses the excitement to steal a key card from an orderly.
Carrie arrives at preschool wanting to pick up her daughter early. The secretary goes to get her when the principal intervenes and Carrie explains that Bill called and told Carrie not to pick up her daughter. However, Carrie explains that she is the mother and has custody. The Headmaster gives in and sends for Franny.
Things aren't looking so good for Clayton. Yevgeny went to Dante and sat down next to him. When Dante sees him, he gets a fright, but Yevgeny explains that he doesn't want to harm him. Dante doubts that because he already wanted to kill him. Yevgeny does not understand and denies everything. After Dante has told everything, Yevgeny interjects that Carrie may be responsible for him. Dante should call Carrie, confront her about it, and then listen carefully to how her voice sounds as she continues to lie.
Carrie is picking up Franny when Dante calls and asks her if she poisoned him. Carrie explains that this is nonsense. She also brushes off his further inquiries. Yevgeny orders Dante to hang up. But he tells Carrie that Yevgeny is with him and that the hospital should be locked up. While Yevgeny pushes a pillow in Dante's face, Carrie immediately calls Saul and tells him what she just found out. Then she tells Franny to go back to class. She also tells the principal that there is an emergency. Franny protests, but Carrie is already running to her car. Franny follows and is nearly run over by Carrie as she frantically reverses out of the parking space. Shocked, she gets out, puts Franny in the headmaster's hand and tells him to take care of her. Then she gets back in the car and drives off.
Carrie is driving way too fast towards the hospital and her head is filled with images of what it would be like if she had hit Franny. She can hardly concentrate and almost causes an accident. Other images from her past are also buzzing through her head [Mathison is overwhelmed by thoughts of what she nearly did to Franny, as well as flashbacks to the deaths of Brody, Aayan and Quinn]. When she arrives at the hospital, she runs in, hearing from a male nurse that he couldn't have made it. In the waiting room she only sees mothers with injured children in their arms. When she arrives at Dante's room, a sister in her likeness confronts her and asks what she has done. Carrie goes insane and falls to the ground screaming.
Trivia[]
Useful idiot is a term attributed to Lenin, principally in Soviet use, for a person overtly supporting the interests of one country (e.g., the USSR) in another (e.g., a member of the overt Communist Party of the second country). Soviet intelligence practice was to avoid such people in the actual clandestine operations, regarding them at most useful as distractions to the counterintelligence services.
Quotes[]
“Listen to her voice as she works out how to lie to you,” Gromov says.
“I am the tip of the spear of one of the most insidious attacks ever perpetrated on the institution of American democracy… Mathison’s a stooge, like me and you.” - Paley proclaiming to his aide.
“You notice the longer this goes on, the more I become the leader my enemies say that I am,” - President Keane telling Saul.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison
- Elizabeth Marvel as Elizabeth Keane
- Maury Sterling as Max
- Linus Roache as David Wellington
- Morgan Spector as Dante Allen
- Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson
Guest Starring[]
- Dylan Baker as Sam Paley
- Costa Ronin as Yevgeny Gromov
- Sandrine Holt as Simone Martin
- Ellen Adair as Janet Bayne
- Catherine Curtin as Sandy Langmore
- Peter Vack as Clint Prower
- Mackenzie Astin as Bill Dunn
- Merab Ninidze as Sergei Mirov
- Thomas G. Waites as Clayton
- James Lloyd Reynolds as Jim Lippard
Co-Starring[]
- Claire Keane as Franny Mathison
- McKenna Keane as Franny Mathison
- Peggy Sheffield as Mrs. Tayna Shepherd
- Brian Brightman as FBI Agent
- Sarah East as RCB Reporter
- James Edward Thomas as Male Reporter
- Yvonne Valdez as ER Nurse
- Jock McKissic as Parking Lot Attendant
Videos[]
| Season 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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