Tonight on Showtime their Emmy Award winning drama series, HOMELAND returns with an all new Sunday October 5, season 4 premiere episode called, “The Drone Queen; Trylon and Perisphere.” Tonight, season 4 begins with Carrie, the CIA Chief of Station in Kabul, making a critical decision when her counterpart in Islamabad delivers urgent intelligence on a high-value target.
Spoilers for the last episode in the season 3 finale tell us having just killed Akbari, Brody stole Akbari’s pistol and calmly walked out of the building. He was picked up by the driver who took him there. Brody forced the driver out of the car at gunpoint. He then went to meet Carrie and they drove to a safe house about a hundred miles away. At the safe house, Carrie told Brody about her pregnancy and Brody started to feel confident about his road ahead. Brody and Carrie left the house when they heard a helicopter, not knowing it was a false sound being generated by a loudspeaker. Brody was immediately seized by Iranian military forces and Carrie screamed as she was left behind. Brody was hung. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it, we have a full and detailed recap right here for you.
On tonight’s episode season 4 begins with Carrie, the CIA Chief of Station in Kabul, making a critical decision when her counterpart in Islamabad delivers urgent intelligence on a high-value target. Back in the U.S., Saul struggles to adjust to the private sector. Meanwhile, Quinn spirals out of control; and a disgraced former case officer reveals disturbing new information
Tonight’s episode is going to be another action packed one, which you won’t want to miss. So be sure to tune in for our live coverage of Showtimes’ Homeland Season 4 premiere — tonight at 10PM EST! While you wait for our recap, hit the comments and let us know how excited you are about the return of Homeland tonight.
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Carrie rides in a car looking out the window. She’s not in America. She tells the driver to pull over and says she wants to walk the rest of the way. They don’t like it but let her out anyway. She’s in Kabul, Afghanistan. She walks down the street followed by a military guard. Her phone rings and she says she’s on her way. She gets back in the SUV and they head to an American site and she comes into an ops room. They call her chief and tell her there is eight minutes until the operation. She asks if they can use a drone and the guy says no. She says she needs to talk to Islamabad and goes to another room.
She talks to Sandy and he says the guy is number four on the hit list. She asks for the source of intel and he say the same as the other hits. She says they usually have had time to double check the source. He says with Haissam there is no way to double check. He says the guy is cagey and they discuss they fact that he trained with the US military. She asks her tech if they’ve been able to confirm that he’s there and he says a car is a match. He reminds her that the source has been solid.
She’s worried about collateral damage, but Haissam is a known killer of US soldiers. Carrie says to send the team in and they call Smash 11 and tell them to move in. The tech asks her to stick around and says there is something planned for after but she wants to Skype her sister. She stays and they watch the op come down. The building is blown sky high. They clear the airspace and Carrie says to shut it down. The team brings in a cake and sing to Carrie. It’s her birthday – the cake declares her “The Drone Queen.”
They call for a speech and she says she doesn’t know what to say and blows out the candles. They applaud. She heads to her housing unit – it’s very drab and government looking. She clicks on her lamp and gets out a wine glass. She pulls out a bottle of wine and pours a big glass. She pops a couple of pills and drinks her wine. She pours some more and goes to her laptop. She opens it up and calls her sister on Skype.
Maggie answers and she asks what happened. She says she just missed them – she says her Dad went to the park. Carrie says it’s okay – she just took an Ambien and is going to crash. She asks what she did for her birthday and she says she interrogated a couple of prisoners and ran an operation. She tells her she should be in Istanbul out of harm’s way with Franny. Carrie says that was the plan and asks about her daughter. Maggie says she’s a week older than the last time they talked.
Carrie brushes her teeth and gets ready for bed. We see a picture of her holding her daughter beside her bed. Carrie pops in ear plugs and lies down with her sleep mask on and turns out her lamp. At the site of the operation, there are screams and people struggle to did out bodies. They find someone and uncover the body. A young man is pulled out. At the Pentagon, Saul is getting grilled by Gage on contractor costs.
Loch says he knows they’ll need more of his type soon – he runs a private organization. He tells them Saul will brief them. He starts to give the sales pitch but stops and says if they had known back in the day they would be in Afghanistan so long, they would have made different choices. He says they only look 12 months in the future and he says they’ve waged a one year war fourteen times in a row.
His private boss asks to speak to him outside. They step out of the room and he asks what he’s doing. Saul says he has an obligation and Aaron says they’re tying to win a contract. He says the troop draw down will happen no matter what and they stand to make money of it. Saul says he saw this before and says they will create a safe haven for Al Qaeda if they leave it like this. Aaron tells him that’s not his job anymore.
Carrie asks her tech about the operation from last night and he says Mary has the reports. There is a news report saying that Haissam was killed and that the attack happened at a wedding. Revenge is promised and says they turned a wedding into a funeral pyre and their strike back will be unprecedented. Carrie clicks it off and says they have to go see the site.
Quinn is in a meeting at the Embassy and there are protestors galore outside. The Ambassador asks where Sandy is and asks why Quinn can’t be her station chief. She says the protestors are furious about the attack. Sandy says it wasn’t a drone strike and the wedding claim is bullshit. She says she can’t share that with the foreign ministry. She asks who in the Pakistani military signed up on the use of their air space. He says that Haissam put those people’s lives at risk not them and anyone near him knew who he was and that he was a marked man.
The sole survivor from the attack is nursed by a woman. He asks what happened. The woman says there was noise and then an explosion. He asks if it was a drone and she says it didn’t sound like one. He asks where his mother and sister are and she tells Aayan she’s sorry. He looks over and sees a man on the next bed. He says no, it’s not possible then gets up and runs outside. He looks at the devastation where the bomb hit.
He is pointed to some bodies that have been retrieved and then comes over to the pile of rubble. He then sees there are rows of bodies. He walks down the line of the dead and looks. He stops at a pair of shoes he recognizes and goes to uncover the face of the woman. He is horrified. He slumps down. Carrie is observing footage of the scene and asks them to get in closer. They see the guy sitting there and she asks who he is. They tell her he’s probably a village kid.
He sees the drone and stands to face it and Carrie says he’s spotted them. He walks away and she says to stay there and try to ID the casualties. She is shocked by the number of bodies and says there were a lot more people than she thought. She gets a call from Quinn and says it’s a cluster f-k. He says they have protestors at the Embassy and she says they always lie and says it’s something and he says this one feels different because of the way they went in and that they didn’t have eyes before they moved.
She says worst case, it was a wedding. She says it’s in a volatile area so no one will go in to verify anything and say they’re bullet proof. He doesn’t like that choice of words. Saul comes in and apologies to Mira for missing the dinner with her boss. He says he’ll call him and explain everything. She tells him she wants to buy an apartment and he wants to keep renting. He says it’s not working out with Aaron and she asks if he’s going to get fired. He says he screwed up today and she says to apologize and unscrew it. She tells him they agreed it was her turn.
Aayan sits on a bus watching video from the wedding on his cracked iPhone. We see his family smiling at him and dancing around. He tears up as he watches his other reach for his phone and shoot some video of him smiling at her. He’s clearly devastated.
At a medical college in Pakistan, Aayan walks through the campus and to the dormitories. He comes in and his roommate Rahim says he thought he was dead. He asks why he didn’t return his texts and he says he doesn’t know anything anymore. Rahim asks if he’s all right and Aayan says he feels like a ghost. He sits and tells his roommate that he lost them all. He says his whole family is gone.
Carrie drinks beer at a bar. A guy comes over and asks if he can talk to her. She thinks he’s hitting on her and says don’t waste your time. She asks who he is – Lt Edgars – he says he knows she’s station chief and she asks what he wants. He flew the mission the other night. She offers to buy him a beer – he says no and asks if it really was a wedding party. She says she doesn’t know and if she did, couldn’t tell him.
He says he feels sick to his stomach and asks if she ever feels that way. He tells her he killed four Canadian soldiers based on bad intel. He tells her they are all f-ing monsters and she tells him to get the f- out of her face. He says yes ma’am and goes. Rahim tells Kiran and Aayan that these people are evil. Rahim says the American Ambassador says there was no wedding. They want to upload the wedding video he has on his phone. Aayan says he doesn’t like politics and Rahim calls him a coward and leaves.
Carrie gets a call from Director Lockhart. He asks if she’s up and has been online this morning. He says the operation has gone viral. He says the video has 300,000 hits and has only been up a couple of hours. The footage shows the wedding and kids dancing when the missiles hit. She asks about Sandy and he says she has to work with him to come up with a story. He says the President and the nation of Pakistan want to hear something ASAP. He tells her she needs to get down to Islamabad now.
Saul watches the wedding video online while Mira watches him from the door. She gives up and goes to bed. The video ends with the bright light of the missile and then goes to snow. Saul grabs his phone and calls Carrie. She looks at his name then declines the call. She walks out to do as she was ordered. Aayan confronts Rahim and he says to take it down. He says it’s too late – it’s already been seen a half a million times.
He says he can’t take it down since his cousin put it up and says he masked the IP address. Aayan curses him and tells him to call his cousin and tell him to take it down. He agrees to call. Aayan is scared he’ll be identified from the video. Sandy talks to Quinn and he says they’re going to have demonstrations and will have a name of who put out the video by the end of the idea. He says the Ambassador wants to see him and then says he’s picking Carrie up at 12:30.
Sandy gets a text from his source then deletes it. He has a meeting in 90 minutes but lies to Quinn about where he’s going. Quinn goes to a building and heads through a corridor of flickering lights. The place looks abandoned. He goes out a window and into another building then out through a small store. He heads onto the street and continues walking.
Carries touches down in Islamabad and Quinn is there to pick her up. They share a hug and he tells her welcome to Pakistan. She asks to sit for a few minutes so he can give her the lay of the land. She asks what he thinks happened and he says Sandy is behaving oddly. She asks who the asset is and he thought she knew. He says he knows what it’s like – checking names off a kill list for a living. He asks how she feels when things go wrong – she says it doesn’t happen that often. She says Haissam’s family knew who he was.
Quinn accuses her of taking Kabul because she couldn’t bring dependents. She asks why he didn’t come with her and he says they have to go to the Embassy. They see a news story with Sandy on it. They curse and head out. Sandy is walking down the street as his face is all over the news – looks like associated with the bombing of the wedding. People begin to look at him and he begins to notice. He ducks into a building entryway and then up a flight of stairs.
He pulls out keys and unlocks a door. He notices the lock is not there and rattles the door. He sends a text asking about the locks. Someone opens a door across the hall. He smiles and waves at the woman who shuts her door again. He sends another text. No reply to either. Then his phone rings and Quinn asks where he is. He lies and says he’s at his residence and Quinn tells him he’s blown and has to come in now. He asks where he is and says he’s all over the news.
Sandy tells him where he is and Quinn says he can be there in five. He tells him to keep his phone on. Quinn calls for back up. Sandy head downstairs and looks at the street and notices some people have gathered. He checks his phone and turns his back as some people come down the stairs. He sees them pointing and runs back up the stairs. He heads down the back stairs and ducks down an alley. He walks away from the building and then jogs down a street.
He heads down a larger street and tries to keep his head down but he’s quite distinctive looking. He sees some men heading toward him with stick and then he turns and they are on all sides. He holds up his hands and then pulls a gun. Quinn drives through the crowd, he hops in and they peel away. A bus blocks them and they are quickly surrounded. Sandy calls for back up as they break the window and try to drag Sandy out. Quinn shoots one guy and then another. HE can’t stop it as they drag Sandy out of the car.
They can see the crowd as him. Carrie tries to go after him but Quinn won’t let her He says it’s too late for him. He fires some more shots and that clears people out and he drives back the way they came and gets them to safety. We see that Sandy was being stomped and beaten by the mob. They make it safely to the Embassy. Carrie tells him to come on but Quinn says he needs a minute. She paces and he asks what she means by what story they tell the Ambassador.
She says they could have done more for Sandy and Quinn tells her f- you and asks what’s wrong with her. She asks him the same and says he has give minutes then he’d better be inside. Carrie comes in and says she’s there for the Ambassador. The desk clerk tells her she’s bloody and she asks for the bathroom then goes to clean up. She wipes the blood off and gives herself a long look in the mirror. She applies some lipstick and straightens her hair. She heads out to face the music.
Two days later. We see a flag draped coffin unloaded at an air base in Maryland. Quinn and Carrie are there to greet Sandy’s wife who tells them he told her it would be safe there. Lockhart is there as well. He says this is f-d up and that they had three kids that saw the videos of their dad being stomped to death on YouTube. Quinn says he’s going to go get a drink. Lockhard asks Carrie if he’s okay and she says he was right there when it happened. He reminds her she was too and says to be at his office in the morning.
Carrie drives to Maggie’s and goes to the porch. She hears her daughter crying and starts to go back to her car. Maggie comes to the door and Carrie apologizes for being late. She asks Carrie if she wants to hold her daughter and she takes her. She says she has so much hair now but looks at the baby like she’s a stranger. Quinn sits in a chaise lounge by the pool drinking and tosses the empty in the water. A woman comes up and says it’s her pool he’s polluting.
She tells him she’s the manager and reminds him they met when he paid her six months in advance. She says no glass bottles by the pool. He tries to stand but can’t. She takes him to her apartment and rides him. She’s a big girl but Quinn sees to be holding his own as she straddles him. Aayan tells Rahim he’s going to be blamed for the riots and the CIA chief’s death. He says it’s not true and Aayan says people are staring at him.
Rahim tells him to calm down and Aayan says he has no one is safe there. There’s a news crew there with a camera in Aayan’s face. They ask if he feels like it was justice when Sandy was stomped to death. He tells her the Americans are murderers but that doesn’t justify what was done to that man. He walks away and goes to his dorm room. He looks down and sees that Rahim is still in front of the camera talking. He grabs a bag and starts to pack it. He has a bunch of medicine vials in his cabinet and packs them all.
The girl wakes the next morning and tells Quinn he doesn’t need to do anything. He asks her to breakfast and she’s pleased. Carrie wakes to a crying baby and says she can’t take her. She says she has to go but Maggie puts her daughter into her arms and hands her the bottle to feed her. She says she’s back only for a couple of days. Maggie asks what she plans to do about Franny and she hands her back to her sister. She tells Carrie that their Dad isn’t pitching in like he said and the nanny isn’t there often enough. Maggie says they have to talk and makes her commit to tonight.
Carrie leaves as the nanny comes in. Lockhart watches the video of Aayan and asks if she saw it. He was Haissam’s nephew and the reporter found him at college. He says the kid is reasonable. She says they need a new chief in Islamabad and she can do it. He tells her she dropped a bomb on a damned wedding and now he’s under attack by State. He says they have a hearing and he needs her there to help him fight the committee shutting down what they’re doing.
She agrees to stay and help but asks then what. She asks how long she’s back for and he says she’s being recalled permanently. He says she can spend time with her kid. She sighs and walks out. Quinn didn’t even show up for the meeting. He’s at breakfast with the manager. She asks why he doesn’t talk much and he says he’d rather listen to her. She calls him charming. She says he was moaning in his sleep and he apologizes.
She asks if he’s okay and he says he is but she asks if he really is. He kind of laughs and says it’s been a rough week. A very rough week. She asks if he wants to tell her about it and she says she does but can’t. A couple of guys in the cafe are laughing at her. She tells him she’s a good listener. She walks off to the bathroom and the guys make a couple of more cracks about her eight. Quinn goes to confront them and she tells him to forget it and come on.
The guy repeats his joke – it’s a bad, old fat joke. They call Quinn a douche and he slams the one guy face down into the table and breaks the other guy’s arm. He starts to beat them some more but she stops him. He regains his composure somewhat. Carrie watches the nanny change Franny’s diaper then goes to get her phone. She says she’s on her way and heads out.
She finds Quinn in jail and tells him they’re letting him go. She says there’s a fine and she says she had to play the PTSD card. She asks what happened and he says he was just stupid. She asks if he’s okay and he says he thought he was until he found himself beating the hell out of some idiot. She tells him Lockhart didn’t really notice that he wasn’t there and she says she’s being permanently recalled. She says the one person who could explain what happened is being buried tomorrow.
She asks about a case operator that left about the time he got there – he says it was Jordan Harris and he was sent back to file. She wants to talk to the guy and asks him to go. He says no and she asks if he has more brawling to do. He says maybe. Aayan is on the bus away from school. He checks on the vials of stuff in his bag and then zips it back up. The bus stops and he gets off. He looks around and then walks away.
He heads to a house and knocks on the door. A woman answers and says she heard what happened to his family. Her husband, Omar, also comes to the door and asks if the bombing was an attempt to kill his uncle Haissam. His daughter, Kiran, comes to the door to try to stop him. Omar says they have a right to know and he says it was. Kiran lets him in but Omar looks concerned. He tells her that Rahim ruined his life by putting that video online. He says people just watch him now. He asks her to put his bag somewhere safe. She asks what’s in it and he says it’s personal things he wants kept safe.
Kiran asks when she’ll see him again and he says tomorrow at school. She says she means really see him and he says he doesn’t know that everything is complicated now. Her dad calls her and he lays down the bag and thanks her formally for talking with him. He leaves out the back. Carrie finds Jordan Harris in the file room. She asks for a couple of minutes of his time. He says he doesn’t want to talk about Islamabad.
She tells him Sandy was killed in the streets and she wants to know how it happened. He asks why she’s asking him and she says she’s been asking around about Sandy and knows that he kept everyone in the dark about what he was doing. He says he was a case officer and now he fills freedom of information requests. Harris says he doesn’t want to talk to her and walks away. She heads home and finds her sister bouncing Franny.
Maggie asks where she’s been and says the nanny had to leave at 5:30. She says they were counting on her and she wasn’t there. Maggie says she had to cancel two patients. She says she has a career and family of her own that count on her. She tells Carrie this is not what they agreed – she says you have to be responsible when you bring a life into this world. The baby coos and Carrie tells her she’s there permanently. She says they can skip the big talk.
She tells Maggie she can have her all day tomorrow. She says she needs sleep and walks off and leaves her daughter with her sister as she goes off to bed. Next morning, Maggie and her kids grab their lunches and head out. She asks Carrie if she’ll be okay and she says she’ll be fine but she looks scared. She looks at her daughter whose face is dirty and needs a diaper change. She feeds her some more food and then takes her out of the high chair.
She changes her diaper and redresses the little girl. She puts her in the car seat and Carrie heads out with her. She puts the car seat up front (illegal!) and heads out. She takes her for a drive – looks like she’s at Brody’s. She pulls up and stops and looks at the house. She tells Franny that’s where her dad lived when she first met him. Franny starts to fuss and Carrie unbuckles her and takes her out to hold her.
She tells her that’s where they all lived and says she was arrested on that lawn. She sighs and says he would have been a terrible father. She tells Franny she knows she’s a terrible mom but says he would have been worse. She says he was happy to hear that she was on the way and says it was the last thing he was happy about. Carrie cries and says she tried to hold on to that and feel it too – happy that she was there. The baby coos – she says with him gone, she can’t remember why she had her.
She says she loved him so much and can still see him when she closes her eyes. Back at the house, Carrie gives her daughter a bath – she has a head full of beautiful red hair like her Daddy. She loses control of the slippery baby and she almost goes under but she grabs her. Carrie looks at her splashing in the water and lowers her down until the baby is under the water. She’s drowning her child. Then she stops and yanks her daughter out. The child cries and Carrie tries to catch her breath and calm down.
Saul meets with Dar and he asks if Carrie has called him. Saul say she hasn’t called since she went oversees. Dar says Lockhart is recalling her and Saul asks if he knows why he’s doing it. Dar says the guy is transparent and only worries about himself. Dar says there are whispers about Lockhart’s abilities long before this latest disaster. Dar says he’s vulnerable and there’s blood in the water. He says his entire program is under review. He tells Saul if he wants a comeback, the Secretary of State could help.
Dar asks what he thinks. Saul says officially, he’s very happy in the private sector. Carrie waits for Harris in the parking lot. He tells her to stay away. He tells her she’s crazy just like they say and asks if she brought her kid along. He tells her that’s very professional. She hops in his car and asks why he was recalled. She says she knows he was a great at his job and that he was silenced and thrown in the basement. He asks why she’s doing this. She says she’s going back and he says he heard she was going back. She says she can’t stay here.
She says if he tells her everything, she’ll do everything she can to get him back in the field. She says the guy that fired her nearly got her killed. He says it wasn’t Sandyt that side lined him, but Lockhart. He says he flew back to report a leak and she asks him to tell her about it. Maggie comes home and finds Carrie sitting with Franny. She asks about her day and what Carrie did. She says nothing much really.
Maggie says she knows mothering isn’t full time excitement but it’s important. She asks if Franny is fed, changed and bathed and Carrie says it’s all done. Saul catches Carrie outside Sandy’s funeral. He says his company told him to come and says he didn’t really know Sandy. She says she’s glad he’s there and says they may have something to talk about. She asks him to save her a seat.
Lockhart is with General Scott and greet Carrie who asks to speak to her boss alone. She says Sandy wasn’t really a team player and he says the whole agency is full of people like that. She says Sandy had a dark asset who provided great information until the wedding. She says it got him and Sandy both a lot of praise and that’s why he didn’t want to know about Sandy trading top secret information for a few good drone strikes. She says he’s complicit and says he was committing treason. She says the laws apply even to the head of the CIA.
He says it was a judgment call and she says he got a station chief killed and a wedding party murdered. She says the Senate hearings won’t go his way. He asks what she wants and she says Islamabad. He tells her it’s not even a real country – it’s a f-ing acronym. He tells her it’s a shit hole and he doesn’t know why she wants to go back there. He stomps off.
She sits by Saul and he asks what that was about. She says he changed his mind about bringing her back here and says she’s going to be station chief in Islamabad. He says her boss doesn’t seem to happy then smirks and says people aren’t happy at funerals. She asks him about his private security firm and says she wants him to send some people over there to help mop up the mess. He asks if this is what she really wants and she says yes. He says he’ll do anything she needs.
After the funeral, Carrie sits in the vestibule and Quinn walks up. He says it could have been them and she says it wasn’t and he says he’s glad too. She tells him his tip on Harris panned out in a big way. She tells him that Sandy was trading secrets to get the locations for the strikes. She says they have to find out why the guy turned on them and the extent of the damage. She says Lockhart gave her Islamabad but he says he’s not going back. She says she needs him and he says he can’t do it.
She tells him she was upset at what happened to Sandy as well. Quinn says it’s not about her. He walks out. She tells Maggie who is furious. Carrie says it changed. Maggie says she’s her mother and doesn’t know what she’s thinking. Carrie says she knows it’s not fair to her sister but says Franny is better off with her. Maggie says now anyone with a bottle can make her happy but later she will need her mother. Carrie says she doesn’t have a choice – they’re sending her back.
Maggie says she doesn’t believe her and says she manipulated this so she will have no place for her daughter in her life. Carrie says it’s not true but Maggie says they both know it is. She asks when she’s leaving and Carrie says now. Maggie says there is not a diagnosis for what is wrong with Carrie and tells her she needs to at least have the courage to say goodbye to her daughter before she leaves. Carrie goes to Franny’s room and looks at her daughter in her crib.
Franny smiles and giggles at Carrie. She tells her she’s so sorry then walks out the door, closing it behind her. Quinn walks by the pool bottle in hand and goes to his apartment. He throws his cushions back on the couch and sits down and pours himself a drink in a dirty glass. He sees a note from his new lady friend – it says “no one ever fought for me before” with a red kiss mark. He looks troubled.
Aayan hears a noise and wakes up. His door bursts open and several men are there. They tell him to keep his mouth shut. He says he hasn’t said anything. He says he has nothing else. They tell him no more interviews, videos or anything. They throw him down and leave. He sputters in pain from where they held his throat. Rahim comes in and Aayan glares at him.
Carrie is on a military plane back to Islamabad. A man asks if she needs anything and she says she’s fine. She repeats it again to herself after he leaves.
THE END!