Some people stay up all night to get lucky, Carrie Mathison stays up all night to familiarize herself with ISI agents. Redmond catches Carrie in her late-night research and somehow telepathically knows who she's looking for -- the man Quinn spotted in Sandy's bludgeoning video. He gives her the tip off that the man's name is Farhad Ghazi. Redmond leaves after imparting his wisdom and Carrie prints the man's file... let the wild goose chase begin.
Checking in on Aayan, he has gone back to his girlfriend's house to retrieve the bag he's left with her, only to find out that her father has found it and destroyed the vials it contained. In addition, the father has called the medical school Aayan attends and reported him for stealing medicine. Aayan is now sans family, sans medicine vials, and possibly up for expulsion. Things aren't going particularly well in his world.
Saul's still in Islamabad and Carrie catches him as he's leaving to chat. She briefs him on Farhad Ghazi and how he helped orchestrate Sandy's death. In addition, she asks him to connect with an Intelligence contact of his in Islamabad because she needs intel on Ghazi. Saul advises Carrie to tell Langley and the White House about what she's learned but Carrie shoots that idea down right quick. In her typical crazy Carrie ranting about how "this is huge!," Saul tells her that he's spoken with Quinn and, yet again, they're all worried about her. Carrie says she wants everyone to mind their own business. Aw, Carrie girl, you know that's never going to happen.
Meanwhile, Redmond has a tail on Carrie who proves to not be that great at his job because Carrie's very good at being elusive. Though the tail has lost Carrie's location, Redmond gives him other duties by making him find out where Carrie obtained the screenshot image of Ghazi.
Quinn arrives in Islamabad and meets with Fara at the office. He moves into a desk while Fara gives him the lowdown on what they've learned about Ghazi. They continue with their chatter but are interrupted when Aayan arrives to speak with the absent Carrie. Fara goes down to greet him and, though he tries to flee at the sight of her, she convinces him to stay and wait for Carrie's imminent arrival. Carrie sweeps into the office in her usual frenzied way, bypassing Quinn, and heading straight in to talk to Aayan. Aayan is intent on getting the hell out of Pakistan (umm... can we blame him?!) and Carrie says she can get him to London if he tells his story. In addition to leaving, he asks Carrie for 80,000 rupees -- nearly 500 pounds -- and won't tell her what he needs it for so she declines the request. Frustrated, Aayan makes a move to leave and Carrie stops in his tracks with the photo of Ghazi. She knows that's the man that threatened him and informs him that he's in a lot more trouble than he knows. Aayan breaks down crying and, weirdly enough, Carrie consoles him. Carries asks him what's going on and, again, he still won't tell her why he needs the money but he does say that he knows it will help. Carrie relents and gets the money from petty cash. She tells Aayan she wants to send someone with him and he insists he must do whatever he needs to do alone. Carrie gives him the money, with a skeptical smile, and asks him to return as soon as he's done with his business. She has Fara and Max tail him. Quinn questions Carrie on her ability to get Aayan to a new medical school and to safety in London, but she's more focused on just getting Aayan out of harm's way in Pakistan at the moment. She fills Quinn in on the threats Aayan's had in the past week and the two make moves to join Max and Fara.
In the interim, a Pakistani woman shanghai's Aayan's professor, Professor Boyd, after his class dismisses. Boyd was working with Sandy and this woman is intent on keeping that relationship alive posthumously. Oh, and she makes mention that the professor has been leaking documents from the ambassador's office. Hmm... curious.
While Carrie has her team staking out Ghazi's apartment, Saul meets with an ex-general from the Pakistani military, an old friend of his, named Bunny. The two eat, drink, and chat about terrorist attacks. After a semi-heated argument about whether or not 9/11 was a hoax (was anyone else getting really aggravated at this or was that just me?), Saul cuts to the chase and asks Bunny if he can speak with a friend of his from ISI. Bunny tries to deter him but Saul is Saul and he is unwavering in his attempts to get what he needs. He calmly insists and alludes to an old debt Bunny seems to owe him and after more banter, Bunny concedes without words.
After night has fallen, Quinn breaks into Ghazi's apartment and taps into his phone. While the tap is going through, Ghazi's phone rings and wakes him up, all while Quinn is in the other room hiding. *HOLDING MY BREATH* The call was from a friend asking Ghazi to come party with him and after Ghazi declines and returns to bed, Quinn escapes unharmed. *EXHALE*
Well, it's finally been confirmed: Aayan's professor, Professor Boyd, is in fact married to Martha Boyd, the American ambassador in Pakistan (aka Carrie's new bestie). Professor Boyd concocts an elaborate lie to get back to the States because he realizes the gravity of his situation now that Sandy is dead. In his relaying to Martha that he got his old job back at GW, we find out that he lost it because he plagiarized an entire chapter in a book he wrote and, as such, the couple has been following Martha in her work ever since. We also learn they have a son named Toby and that the marriage as a whole has a pretty rocky foundation. He tells Martha that he's leaving in a week for the States and he leaves the office in a huff. Poor Martha.
Carrie and Quinn share an intimate moment during the stakeout of Ghazi. They talk of Quinn wanting to leave the agency and all the lives he's taken. The scene is a fantastic juxtaposition of Quinn's humanity and Carrie's lack thereof. Carrie can only ever look at the bigger picture, which is a good and bad thing, whereas Quinn has examined the individual stories of the people he's killed and, in doing so, he can never go back to helping the larger cause. Unless it's for Carrie because... love.
Fara and Max have followed Aayan to a teaching hospital. Fara looks on as Aayan gives a nurse some money and they wait for her to return. The woman doesn't reemerge from the hospital until the following morning and Aayan has camped out where she left him. She hands off an orange bag full of medicine to Aayan and the two part ways. Fara and Max follow Aayan as he drives away.
Saul meets with a member of the ISI and asks him about Sandy's death. The man is extremely cold and essentially refuses to give Saul any valuable information. Saul questions him about the ISI operative on the ground that day and who gave the order to kill just Sandy, not Quinn or Carrie. The man shows interest in how Saul knew there was an operative present but rebuffs everything else. The entire meeting folds when the man says that he agreed to a chat not an interrogation. He leaves and Saul is exasperated.
Aayan, Fara, and Max are respectively stuck in a chaotic traffic jam and Aayan leaves his vehicle with his bag. Leaving Max, Fara also sets out on foot to follow him. She loses him briefly but catches him just as he's giving the bag to Haissam Haqqani. UGH AAYAN WHY WHY WHY WHY. Also: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON? HOW IS HAISSAM HAQQANI ALIVE?
The stakeout continues and Carrie tells the team that she's heard from Saul so they need to be extra "on it" today. She also thanks Quinn for coming to Islamabad because of their conversation the night before. They watch as Ghazi gets a call that prompts him to pack his things and go, to which Carrie says means they need to grab him now. The rest of the team thinks she's nuts (because she is...) and as Quinn's attempts to stop her from going into a potentially really harmful situation, Fara calls to tell them that she's seen Haissam Haqqani and that he's alive. Carrie is flabbergasted at the whole situation and, after watching the video Fara sent over, she's in full-fledged panic.
Quinn and Carrie realize that Sandy's death makes much more sense now. Sandy was killed to protect Haqqani, who was clearly not at the wedding they bombed at all. The ISI wanted the CIA to stop hunting Haqqani so they made everyone believe he was dead, but the issue now is not what the ISI wanted... it's why.
Professor Boyd is packing up his office in Pakistan when he is greeted by the Pakistani woman and two accomplices. The woman refuses to let Boyd leave by blackmailing him. She tells him she will send a package to D.C. that implicates him in all the documents he stole from his wife, accompanied by a timeline -- a package that will have him arrested for treason and his wife removed from her post. Unable to refuse compliance, Boyd is wordless. The woman makes a deal with the terrified Boyd and says that if he does what she asks, she will let him go without anyone knowing what he has done.
Fara wrestles with the concept that Aayan isn't going to get the safe haven in London he was promised (because, you know, his uncle is a jihadist) but agrees nonetheless to bring him to Carrie once he returns to the office, as he said he would. Fara arrives in the middle of the night with Aayan in tow at Carrie's safe house. Aayan thinks they will leave for London immediately but Carrie says it will take at least 2-3 days despite the fact that we know she has no intention of letting him leave. The two awkwardly make up the couch together so Aayan has somewhere to sleep and Carrie attempts to assuage his fears by being incredibly flirtatious. The flirting works and Aayan lets his guard down. He tells Carrie that he was kicked out of his medical school for stealing medicines, which he insists he did not do. They talk briefly about his chances of getting into medical school in England but that all stops when Carrie just decides she's going to mack on Aayan. The two start intensely making out and Carrie quickly mounts him as the groping continues. Homegirl is clearly in the mood to get it and, apparently, she's really into guys who are double-crossers. I have so many questions. Is Aayan this season's Brody? Will Carrie ever get with a dude that isn't doing shady business on the side? Has Carrie always had cougar tendencies?? I hope we get some answers as the season continues, but at least one thing is clear: Carrie's consistently batshit crazy.
Keep up with "Homeland" recaps here every week. "Homeland" airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on Showtime.
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