Homeland

Plot Summary

Making a deal

In Bagdad, Carrie Mathison is trying to interrogate a a terrorist named Hasan Ibrahim in order to find out more information about a suspected attack on U.S. soil by a terrorist named Abu Nazir. When she is unable to gain approval from David Estes, she bribes her way into the prisons. She meets Hasan and is able coerce him into giving him information once she promised that she will protect his family. Unfortunately, she is only able to hear that an American POW has been "turned."

Sometime later, Carries arrives late to a debriefing by David Estes. David briefs his team on a successful raid on a terrorist bunker that had occurred; he reveals that a special forces team had recovered a American soldier,named Nicholas Brody, who was believed to have been presumed dead since 2003. As everyone claps to the good news, Carrie leaves to talk to Saul.

Carrie consults Saul

When she meets Saul, she asks for permission to put total surveillance on Sgt. Brody because she believes that he was the POW that was "turned" and is secretly working for Abu Nazir, Saul believes that she has no solid evidence and denies permission to allow her to bug Nicholas Brody's home. Unfortunately, Carrie can't collect evidence because she stuck behind a desk at Washington for trespassing into the prison and almost causing an international crisis.

While Nicholas Brody is having a haircut, he decides that it is time to call his wife, Jessica. When his wife picks up the phone, she is currently in bed with Mike, one of Nick's friends. Shocked that her husband that she her husband had seemingly returned from the dead, she gets out of bed and returns home to tell her children the news. When she comes home, she finds that her daughter is smoking marijuana with a boy named Xanader. Jessica scolds her daughter, Dana, and kicks Xander out of the house. When Xander is gone, she tells her son, Chris, and Dana about the news about their father.

Reunion

On the plane, Brody is vomiting violently into a toilet while his superior officer tries to postpone Nick's speech. The Vice President denies his request, citing that it has already been planned and he would look like a fool if he canceled it.When the plane does reach the ground, Nick is greeted by his wife and two children. He embraces his daughter and wife, but only shakes his son's hand because he does not know his son well due to his captivity. Then he gives a speech in front a crowd of soldiers and reporters about how lucky he was to have a loving family that was willing to wait for him while he was captured.

Meanwhile,despite not gaining approval from Saul, Carrie decides to carry out her plan anyway. She hires a team that sneaks into Nick's home when his family goes out to meet Nick. The team bugs every room in the house and sets up moniters for Carrie to view at her home. When the crew sets up the monitors in Carrie's home, Max, who is on the team, finds a green pill in Carrie's aspirin bottle and suspects that Carrie may have a drug problem or mental illness.

The Love Triangle

As Nick and his family leave the airport, they are greeted by old friend named Mike Faber, who is there to tell Nick that he has to answer some questions at a debriefing. Nick decides to drive his family home despite Jessica's worry that he is not well enough to drive. When they return home, they are greeted by a crowd of reporters and people. One of the reporters asks Nick and his family to take a portrait in front of a tree with a yellow ribbon.

Back at Carrie's home, Carrie learns that Nick is going to be present at a debriefing. Seeing this as an opportunity to interrogate Nick, Carrie calls Saul persuade him to allow her to sit at this debriefing. Saul agrees to her request after she promises him that she will behave herself.

Carrie is disturbed

Then at night, Carrie watches as Jessica tries to seduce Nick. When Jessica takes off Nick's shirt she is horrified by Nick's scars on his chest. She cries and embraces Nick with kisses. Nick calms his wife by telling her that he is back at home and Jessica calms down. The two have sex, but Jessica is left crying at the end of it.

At around 8AM the next morning, Virgil wakes a sleeping Carrie to take the next shift of surveillance. Carrie awakens to find out that she is late for the debriefing. When he makes it to the debriefing, she sits at a table with her colleagues. When the debriefing begins, her colleagues begin asking Nick questions about his record and what he had seen and heard while in captivity. When it is Carrie's turn to ask questions, she asks him why he was kept alive for at least 8 years despite not being a very valuable source of information. Nick tells her that he often wonders why too. Seeing that she cannot press him on the subject, Carrie asks him if he had seen Abu Nazir. She passes him photographs of the terrorist and asks Nick to take a look at them. Upon a second glance, Nick has a flashback of Abu Nazir giving him water after a session of torture. Nick denies that he had ever seen Abu Nazir. Carrie becomes suspicious since Abu Nazir was conducting operations during the period that Nick was captured and Nick would have been the prime target for information. Feeling that Carrie has overstepped the line, David Estes halts Carrie's questioning and moves onto the next person with questions.

Brody meets Tom's widow

At Nick's house, Jessica and her family prepare for a barbecue party that Nick and his friends are attending. Then Jessica receives a call from Nick who tells her that he will be late coming home. Through his contacts, Virgil is able to discern that Nick is telling a lie. Carrie and the surveillance team follow Nick to the park to see if he is making contact with terrorists. In actuality, Nick is meeting Thomas Walker's widow in the park. Since Nick and Tom were both captured at the same time, Tom's widow believes that Nick would know how Tom had died. Nick denies that he had even been in the same room. However, a flashback reveals that Nick had been forced to watch Tom being beat to death. After Carrie confirms that Nick was not meeting with terrorists, Virgil questions if she is mentally stable and shows her the green pill. Carrie claims that she has mood disorders and has been taking Clozapine since she was 22 to help her cope with it. She reassures him that she has everything under control.

After the debriefing, David Estes reminds Saul that he was supposed to be watching Carrie and that he would also be in trouble in Carrie breaks any laws. Taking heed of David's warning, Saul enters Carrie's home and finds her surveillance monitors. When Carrie returns home, Saul scolds her for breaking the law and suggests that she should get a good lawyer for when she is arrested. Carrie tries to justify her action, but is unable to find an answer that will clear her of guilt. She then tries to seduce Saul, but that does not work either.

Brody looks at his wife

At Nick's party Mike confronts Jessica about their relationship. He reminds her that they were both about to tell Jessica's children that he was moving in the house before Nick had returned. Mike presents Jessica with an ultimatum: Nick would have to choose between Mike or Nick. Jessica tells Mike that she wants to stay with Nick because she wants to do the right thing, but she holds his hand. Nick, who is at the grill, becomes suspicious of his wife's relationship with his friend while he was captured when he looks at the two through a window.

Depressed that she may be arrested and that she betrayed Saul's trust, Carrie goes out to drink. At a club, she has an epiphany when she sees a Jazz musician play his cello. She calls Saul and shows him footage of Nick that was shown in the news. She points out two events where Nick makes strange hand movements and speculates that he may be sending a secret message to terrorists. Convinced that Carrie may be onto something, he decides to hire a team to decode the hand movements.

The U.S. Capitol

One morning, Nick wakes up and decides to go for a run. As he runs he has a flashback that reveals that he was the one who beat Tom to death. He then stares the U.S. Capitol building.

Points of Interest

• Carrie owns a wedding rings that she claims helps her ward off guys looking for a relationship.
• Despite, psych evaluations, Nick is displaying signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.