Homeland Season 2, Episode 12

• Courtesty of Showtime
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As the protagonist of “Homeland,” Carrie Mathison will never find true happiness as long as the series remains in production. Drama requires conflict, and as much as we may root for everything to work out for Carrie, circumstance (in the person of “Homeland’s” showrunners) will conspire against her until the show’s final episode. “The Choice,” “Homeland’s” Season Two finale, demonstrates this with some soap opera-style bait-and-switch plotting, but rather ingeniously employs one of the narrative loose ends that probably everyone had forgotten about.

“The Choice” opens with a nice bit of continuity, as Carrie brings Brody back to the Mathison family cabin, the place where they sort of fell in love in the Season One episode “The Weekend.” At one point Brody holds Carrie by the arms and she says, “Ow, watch the wrists!” revealing her injuries from her captivity. He calls her a “wounded warrior.” Later, Brody finds the handgun in the nightstand, and she empties it of bullets, which she puts in an Altoids box (in a nice detail). As Carrie and Brody flirt, play house, and share their feelings with each other, the episode sets a leisurely pace. See, a show about a happy couple would be pretty boring.