Look back at Carrie and Saul’s latest adventure with our Homeland recap for season 3, episode 5 “Yoga Play.”
Our Homeland recap for season 3, episode 5 breaks down what happened in a highly-anticipated storyline following last week’s surprise twist that turned on its head the events of the four episodes previous.
- A new promotion for Saul? At the top of the hour we see that Saul is up for the role of CIA Director. While on his way out the door for a meeting about the matter he’s greeted by Quinn, who Saul opens up to about his plan with Carrie. He tells Quinn that Javardi is on the way into the country to meet with her. “He’s taking a huge fucking risk,” says Quinn. “Carrie is a huge fucking draw,” Saul responds.
At the hunting location where’s to meet members of the President’s cabinet, Saul speaks to Senator Lockhart who grilled him during the Senate Committee Hearings about 12/12. Lockhart says the President is thinking of new techniques for capturing terrorists that are more reliable than the ones they’ve used that failed on Brody. Lockhart says one option is military action in Iran, but Saul is against that and drones. Then, a surprise twist. Lockhart reveals it’s actually he who’s being put up for CIA Director. Saul is shocked by this, and Lockhart says Saul will need to change his views on how to run the CIA if the senator is going to be the new director. - Carrie and Javardi. When we first see Carrie she’s dumping all her pills because her craziness in the psych ward was completely a ruse (so she wants us to think). She’s interrupted by Jessica who comes to her for help because the FBI and the police aren’t willing to help find Dana. After some begging Carrie finally agrees to assist. With Max she initiates a plan of action called The Yoga Play. On her way out, Quinn catches up with Carrie who warns her to not go looking for Dana. After insisting only she knows how to convince Agent Hall (who she tried calling to no avail) to help, she continues with the yoga play in which she heads to a yoga center and acts like she’s going in for a session. The instructor is in on it and tells her her guy she’s really there for is in the back. She’s greeted by Max and (surprise!) Virgil and needs to be back before the yoga class ends so that the agents who are out front don’t notice she went somewhere else. Carrie says she’s done this plan numerous times and it’s worked perfectly.
After waiting at a diner for him to show up for his routine coffee, Agent Hall finally appears. Carrie confronts him and says that Brody will reach out to Dana if she reaches out to anyone. Hall feels confident that they’ll find her, and Carrie threatens to tell the “whole world” he lost Dana if she gets put into danger. She gets back to the yoga place just in time. - Dana’s free, but running out of cash. Reality is starting to set in on Dana and her boyfriend as money is starting to dry up. She wouldn’t mind flipping burgers for money, but Leo is a little more freewheeling. Very freewheeling. While looking at Dana, he almost collides head on with another car. Later they pull into a gas station where Dana goes inside and sees that the two love birds are on TV and being reported as missing persons. On the news she hears that Leo and his brother were in a suicide pact, and this revelation shocks Dana. The two drive away but Dana tries to get out of the car because Leo’s been lying to her, and a near accident with yet another car causes the other driver to call the police. Dana greets the cop willingly and is brought home where she tells Jessica and Chris she’s okay. Heading into her room she breaks down. Presumably Leo is back at the clinic where his parents had put him, but we don’t find out this episode.
- Helping one screws another. Saul and Quinn see that the agents watching Carrie have been called off, and Saul believes it’s because she spoke to Hall about Dana. This would compromise their mission to speak with Javardi. That evening, Quinn is monitoring Carrie’s house when Javardi’s people break in and kidnap her. Quinn is unaware of who these people are and is on the phone with Saul as they try to figure out if she’s being monitored by the FBI again. Growing concerned, he disobeys Saul’s orders and goes in the house, finding her missing. Saul isn’t worried that they took her. “We’re still in business,” he says to Quinn happily.
- Javardi is in town. The episode opened with the 12/12 terrorist mastermind entering the country. He pulled into a neighborhood where he’s watching a woman and child – possibly his old family? He’s also enjoying some American food before heading over to his new home where he’ll interview his new CIA buddy. At the end of the episode we see him meeting Carrie who’s been brought to her by the kidnappers. He references Carrie’s yoga, which may or may not suggest he’s aware of the Yoga Play and that it was a fake out.
Tonight’s Homeland showed that Saul doesn’t have much care for Carrie so long as he can prove his worth to the CIA, get Javardi, and hopefully become the director. The one thing that continues to bother us, however, is that these terrorists can be in the country and sneak around undetected easier than it is for Saul and company to find them. Or, is Saul purposefully letting him move around so he and Carrie’s plan can take effect?
Can’t wait til the next show? Homeland season 3, episode 6 titled “Still Postive” airs Sunday, November 3 at 9 p.m. eastern/pacific on Showtime.