Episode two of the season kicks off in Maryland with the aftermath of Sandy's death. His widow is reeling, Carrie is stoic, as always, and Quinn desperately needs a drink.
The night ends with Carrie heading to Maggie's and Quinn getting his drink in the form of an entire bottle of vodka. We are then treated to the first sighting of the little ginger Brody baby and Quinn having awkward chair sex with a heavyset woman. More on that pairing later...
Next, we see Aayan again on the medical school campus in Islamabad. His roommate has taken the video to new heights within the media, steadfast on showing the world what evil has come down on his friend. He even goes as far as to talk to reporters on Aayan's behalf. Aayan is extremely unhappy with the attention being drawn to him and as a result, packs up some mysterious bottles and leaves.
Carrie doesn't quite know how to handle her baby and doesn't seem to have any desire to handle her. Maggie is less than enthused with the arrangement for the baby's care but Carrie chooses to fly as opposed to fighting. She leaves the house for the day and meets with Lockhart. Lockhart shows her the TV clip of Aayan and instead of offering a solution to the current problems, Carrie proposes that Islamabad needs a new chief: her. Lockhart goes off on her about the wedding strike and tells her she's staying in Maryland, permanently.
Checking in on Quinn, his bender continues after his nighttime tryst with the heavyset woman. They go to breakfast the next morning and he assaults two guys who make really lame jokes about the woman's weight. He looks distraught after the hits and it's clear that the stress is breaking him down. Carrie gets called down to the jail to retrieve the arrested Quinn and he makes it clear that he's not ready to get back into the hellfire.
The escaped Aayan heads to his girlfriend Kiran's house for refuge and laments his situation. He gives her the bag with the bottles and asks her to keep them safe for him. Ugh, Aayan don't do anything to make me hate you, please.
Carrie heads to the stacks within her office and talks with former case officer Mr. Harris about Islamabad. She questions him about Sandy and his activities. He makes it abundantly clear that he has absolutely no desire to talk to her about it and even posthumously, Sandy has us asking questions.
Maggie confronts Carrie as soon as she walks in the door and in no certain terms, calls her out for being a bad mother. Carrie responds in the same manner a condescending teenager would and just sort of balks at the concept that she'll have to take care of her own kid from now on. Carrie looks utterly terrified the next morning as she realizes she has to take care of this life for the day, let alone the rest of her life. Unsure of what to do with the child, Carrie packs baby Franny in the car and drives to Brody's old house. Using the house as one would use a tombstone, Carrie talks to herself while holding the baby.
In attempt to get this whole mom thing going, Carrie heads back home and bathes baby Franny. The mothering goes horribly awry as Carrie contemplates going full Andrea Yates on Franny but luckily, changes her mind and picks the baby up out of the water before any harm is done. Crazy Carrie, get your shit together.
Intent on getting intel from Mr. Harris about Islamabad, Carrie shanghai's him in a parking lot and demands answers. She makes a promise to Harris that if he divulges what he knows, she'll get him back in the field. Harris says that Lockhart was responsible for his firing and that it happened after he flew in to report an intelligence leak. This is yet another incriminating remark about Lockhart in this episode.
Saul and Carrie exchange pleasantries at Sandy's funeral. I'm extremely happy to see the duo back together, even if just for a moment. Carrie leaves to talk to Lockhart about the information she obtained from Harris. Sandy had been trading top secret information for the whereabouts of high value targets so he'd look like the golden boy, a feat which in turn made Lockhart look good. Lockhart doesn't like Carrie's treason accusation and is willing to do anything to shut her up. As such, he agrees without agreeing that she can go back to Islamabad.
In the church, Carrie tells Saul she'll need assistance in Islamabad when she returns and we finally receive affirmation that the dynamic duo will be back in action. Could it be that Homeland is about to get back to its roots?! My god, we can only hope.
After the funeral is over, Quinn finds Carrie alone and she gives him the lowdown on what information she obtained from Harris as well as what happened with Lockhart. She insists that they both need to go back to find who was working with Sandy but the damaged Quinn refuses. He's a shell of who he used to be -- he's seen too much. Carrie can't seem to wrap her head around this and is baffled at his refusal.
Back at Maggie's, the Mathison sisters are at odds. Carrie essentially refuses to be Franny's mother and Maggie can't believe how selfish and scared her sister is. Carrie fails to show the emotion one would think would come from such an interaction but that's not particularly surprising considering she looks at her own baby like one would look at an alien. She tells Franny she's sorry before she leaves for her flight and as much as I want to believe her, I don't.
We see Aayan one more time this episode, as he's getting attacked and robbed while he sleeps by several unnamed, armed men. The men leave and his roommate comes to his doorway and the boys lock eyes. I know Aayan and I are thinking the same thing: worst roommate ever.
Keep up with "Homeland" recaps here every week. "Homeland" airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on Showtime.
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