'Homeland' Season 4, Episode 8 Recap: Halfway To A Donut

'Homeland' Season 4, Episode 8 Recap: Halfway To A Donut

After the emotional rollercoaster we all rode at the end of last week's episode, we ease into this week's with Carrie waking up in an unknown (to her) bedroom. It is the morning after her breakdown. As she begins to explore her new surroundings, groggily and thoroughly confused, she's greeted by Aasar Khan who asks her how she is. Carrie seems much more lucid than she's been in ages, which is good and somewhat inexplicable (was that a magical sleep she just had?). Aasar Khan reveals that his men got her out of police custody after her manic outburst and then tells her how she spoke of Brody the night before. Despite seeming to have most of her mental faculties in full working order, Carrie is still extremely weak and scared. She refuses to answer Aasar Khan's questions and she crawls back into her new bed, shivering. She's much like a terrified child in this situation and you really can't help but feel bad for her.

The embassy has absolutely no idea where Carrie is but they're confident they'll find her. In the interim, Lockhart, the ambassador, and other U.S. officials have unresolved business to attend to with the foreign minister. As such, Aasar Khan, Tasneem and the rest of the Pakistani delegation reconvene. Before both parties sit down with one another, Tasneem approaches Aasar Khan about his interference with Carrie and informs him that Carrie's breakdown was her doing in an effort to get her out of Islamabad. Aasar Khan indicates that he didn't know and that he took her into his care to protect the relations with the Americans. Hmm ... Aasar Khan, are you a genuinely good guy or are you just trying to cover your own ass? We shall see.

pakistani delegation

The delegation and the embassy sit down to discuss Saul's capture yet again but, this time around, they're thrown a major curveball. Haqqani's men have put Saul on camera, undoubtedly to be the one to convey Haqqani's demands for Saul's release to the embassy. Saul uses his on-air time as an opportunity to say that the U.S. should not listen to any of the demands as well as a few other choice words that, let's just say, weren't particularly nice. This causes Haqqani's men to pull Saul out of the camera view and Haqqani steps in to start listing random name, the names of prisoners he wants released in exchange for Saul. Saul gets aggressively taken back to his cell for failing his task and manages to procure some rusty nails secretly along the way. I'm secretly hoping Saul can McGyver his way out of jail but I know this is doubtful ... Anyway, the delegation alleges that they're shocked by Haqqani's demands, Lockhart is fuming, and the ambassador remains calm and pragmatic, suggesting they all meet again the following morning with a plan of action.

Carrie is out of bed again, still at Aasar Khan's, and is in the bathroom freshening herself up, taking her meds. With her head much clearer, Carrie realizes her meds taste different and makes the connection that they've been tampered with. She grills Aasar Khan about the switch and he remains firm in his stance of "I don't know, it wasn't me!" Knowing she can't trust him or, really, anyone at the moment, Carrie leaves -- despite Aasar Khan's futile efforts for her to stay -- and goes straight to the doctor at the embassy. There, she gets her correct medication and meets with Quinn. Quinn organizes a meeting with Carrie and Lockhart to discuss this security breach. In addition, Lockhart and Quinn brief Carrie on Haqqani's demands for Saul. Carrie is flabbergasted at the list of the names Haqqani's asking for -- a team of men known as Haqqani's right-hands. Lockhart and Carrie resolve that they need to find a different way to get Saul so Lockhart leaves to tell the ambassador what's going on with Carrie and her pill-swap situation. After Lockhart leaves, Carrie tells Quinn the details of her "kidnapping" and Quinn is disgusted by the whole thing.

carrie in the mirror

Lockhart meets with the ambassador to discuss the breach with Carrie. He's still bitter about the events that went down at the earlier meeting with the Pakistani delegation so his conversation with her is curt. He leaves the ambassador's office quickly and Dennis the slimeball fills his absence in the same fell swoop. The ambassador's walls only come down around her husband and as such, she confides in him about the breach and also tells him to try to stay inside so he can stay safe. She's clearly worried for his well-being and her own -- it's heart-wrenching. Dennis responds to her pleas and indicates he'll stay safe but his face is stoic and cold. He will forever be on my list of "worst TV husbands ever."

In his holding cell, Saul is tampering with his stolen nails and attempting to pick the locks on his handcuffs. After much struggling, he succeeds. Taking full advantage of his new mobility, Saul terrifyingly fakes his own suicide-by-hanging, takes out the guard who tries to cut him down, and escapes. GET IT SAUL, YOU BADASS MAN. In addition to escaping, Saul has somehow also managed to grab a cellphone and he calls the embassy. They locate him via GPS and direct him toward the nearest CIA asset where they can extract him -- a location 20 miles on foot from where he currently is. He requests to speak to Carrie alone. Carrie obliges and Saul makes her promise that if he gets recaptured, she must do everything she can so that Haqqani's demands do not get met. Saul forces her to promise that she will kill him for the greater good if they can't extract him. Saul is such a good person and an even better character on this (shitshow of a) show. I seriously hope that promise never comes to fruition. Carrie tells Quinn what Saul told her and Lockhart tells Carrie that he and the ambassador will stall the Pakistani delegation while Saul gets to safety. Oooof, this is getting messy and very "do-they-know-that-we-know-that-they-know?"

Poor Saul is exhausted, wildly unkempt, and desperately hoping to make it to safety. He arrives at the extraction point at the same time that Carrie has an epiphany that causes her to leave the meeting with the Pakistani delegation. Carrie realizes that the reason the delegation is so calm is because they know where Saul is headed. She redirects her efforts to the control room, reaching out to everyone and anyone to try to get Saul safe. She reaches out to outer lying CIA forces to see who else she can send to grab Saul but the Taliban have them nearly surrounded. Carrie contacts the CIA asset to talk to Saul and informs him that he needs to head to a new extraction point. He leaves and begins a wild goose chase, courtesy of Carrie on the phone giving him directions of where to go to find safety. The Taliban forces get to be too much for Carrie to be able to get to Saul and Saul knows that. He sits himself in a courtyard and proceeds to put a gun to his head. The idea of Saul becoming a martyr has me literally shaking, as it does Carrie, and she talks him out of killing himself by lying to him and saying that she's going to direct him to a safe zone. Instead, Carrie directs Saul directly into the arms of the Taliban and the last we see of Saul is him getting taken away, while screaming "F**K YOU!" to Carrie.

carrie and aasar khan

Lockhart goes back to the Pakistani delegation and tells them that they will meet Haqqani's demands. Everyone disperses silently and the camera lens focusing on Tasneem just reinforces my hatred for her. Carrie talks with Quinn about how terrible she feels for lying to Saul, but the logical Quinn reminds her that she hasn't slept in two days and suggests she do so. In preparing for sleep, Carrie's phone rings. She answers it and it's Aasar Khan. The two meet in the middle of the night to discuss Carrie's pill situation -- Aasar Khan reinforces that he had absolutely no idea that anything was being done to thwart her. Carrie struggles to accept this as fact, yet again, but ultimately realizes that he's being truthful. I mean, he did coddle her while she cried and thought he was Brody come back to life. In this acceptance of trust, Aasar Khan tells her that it was Dennis that swapped her pills. He conveniently leaves out Tasneem in his big reveal but, to be fair, his loyalties do lie to the Pakistan delegation after all. Carrie is unsurprisingly shocked. As if Saul being in danger and the imminent release of five major terrorists were not enough to deal with, now Carrie knows that the security breach internally is the ambassador's husband. "Homeland," you're giving me a headache and angina.


Keep up with "Homeland" recaps here every week. "Homeland" airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on Showtime.

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