User Reviews

I have to say that I love this episode, especially from the point when the SVR is turned against the GRU.

However, it is quite apparent on a scenery and visual point of view, that the incidents do not transpire in Moscow (understandably).

It becomes clear that the episode is shot in a city somewhere in South East Europe, with woody hills, and even a EU flag and the flag of another nation on the facade of the GRU headquarters!!

Mama mia..

Glad to see Dar Adal return, but this felt more like an episode of Counterpart than Homeland. Keane's removal from office felt so abrupt and out of nowhere; definitely not as climactic as it should have been.

The political stuff is interesting, but TV shows during a war with Russia and Presidential competency is so played at this point.

There is just not the kind of threat or villain heading into the season finale we are accustomed to from this show. It's hard to get excited for next week's episode.

Homeland, since it retreated from Middle East and started concentrating on US internal affairs, hasn't, in my opinion, been going anywhere. Moreover, being submerged in some characters' personal suffering isn't my favourite past-time either. I honestly think that the only good thing that kept me going in the meantime was my love for some characters, like Saul Berenson and Dar Adal. I really like a good spy story, and these two usually deliver.

Now, this last episode provided some very nice old-style Homeland, in many ways. The operations, the plotting, the Russian intelligence agencies. - It was a very thrilling episode to follow.

However, there are some very disconcerting signs in the writing. Namely, the level of self-criticism this show's writers have appeared to show lately, is unbeliveable. Either they seriously don't have the first idea how the world works, or they just hope their audience doesn't. I will explain now, what I mean.

SERIOUS SPOILERS FOLLOW: I cannot believe how stupid the Russians were made to be in this episode. My God! Have some healthy respect for a long-time political adversary, would you? First you land a bunch of agents in front of Russian intelligence eyes, and STILL you get away with launching an almost frontal assault on a compound? Noone would notice four missing men, right? Noone would even care where they are going or what they are up to. After all, they're merely known specops agents entering the country under diplomatic premise. And at the same time, noone seems to care one bit about the evidence such an operation would leave behind... It's not just a diplomatic disaster, it's potential war-starting incident. Definitely though would it give Russia so much political ammunition as to make what Russians did in Salisbury pale in comparison. And lastly, the way the different Russian intelligence agencies could be coerced so easily to wage war on each other.... that is the most ridiculous plot point of all. Even though Russia definitely isn't a democratic country and there definitely exists some competition between different security wings, it's not the god damn Somalia there. Waging all-out war on each other over some money? Even though they would be tried and likely executed for it? In a public place? Shooting over the heads of civilians and forcibly taking down the other russian agency personnel? And then somehow not realizing that some of the people wearing the same outfits as them aren't actually Russians? What kind of amateur hour is this?

Similar problems have also been seen before, at a lesser extent: In a previous episode, the most important witness in the whole America, and probably the whole world, was guarded in such a way, that a single enemy operative was able to approach him, have a conversation with him and smother him without having to engage a single agent, from a hospital supposedly under a federal agency protection. Can anyone seriously believe this is possible? - If this were really the case in real life, then there wouldn't be a USA- not for long anyway.

I hope that some writers or other important people in this series production are reading this review. Because this is really important, to me at least... The way I see it, You are destroying all the credibility you have gained over the years. Maybe hire some experts or go through some critical discussions of the plot? Because this plot defies all reason. And you definitely don't deserve such a high rating.

EDIT: I decided to upgrade my rating a little, because it was a thrilling episode.

The writing on this episode was terrible. The plot is totally unbelievable. One Russian intelligence agency storming another agency's building with no resistance and no police response. And of course Carrie convinces a Russian operative that it would be better for her to come to the US than to stay in Russia; all in two minutes. And that's not to mention that the CIA has floor plans to "the safest building in Moscow." And the team has access to a satellite that happens to be over Moscow and it happens to be a sunny winter's day. Its a wonder that Berensen could put together a top level conference with Russian intelligence in a few hours time; and with no Kremlin representatives. It's no wonder the Soviet Union fell apart if their intelligence people brought their operatives to such meetings. It's the last part of season 7 so the plot has gone way past the series it was based on, so don't blame the original series. I guess the writers wanted to pad their resumes when they pitch the next Pink Panther movie.

Though this season so far had some great plot story, I almost can't believe the turn it took from episode 10 onwards. It's like after episode 9 a different writer team took over and decided to botch the whole plot.

The amount of ridiculousness in this episode is only rivaled by the very worst episodes in the weakest season of '24'. I won't even get into the whole Simone & Yevgeny thing. What I want to know is what, in the mind of the writers, were Yakushin's words to his men 'Alright boys, let's storm the GRU because something really bad happened to ME personally and I want you to forget any allegiance you have to your country and burst into a fellow government agency and act like thugs. It'll make sense later... somehow. Right now I want you to attack your fellow countrymen like they are enemy combatants. That's what I'd like you to do today at work.' I doubt something like this could happen to a small island nation, much less in the country with perhaps the greatest and most efficient intelligence network. I wonder what the response of the Russian police would really be... 'oh, they'll fight it out and get it over with, you know how them spies are' Come on!

And couldn't he producers at least CGI out the Hungarian and EU flags? Also, I haven't been to Moscow but I've seen enough pictures to know there are no such mountains there. At least TRY and make it look like this isn't downtown Budapest.

This episode suffers from the lack of production value and a plot-line that can't be taken seriously. It's a real pity how wrong a turn this season took.

How the hell did they got acces to the street cameras on Russia? How did they froze 30 million dollars in that Russian guy's accounts if they had no support of any agency? How the hell is reasonable to start a battle in the middle of the city because a few words Saul said? I mean, cmon, its SAUL. Ex CIA, master of schemes and complots and blablabla. Did they really fell for that? Is ridiculous.

Entretaining episode, tho. With shooting and stuff.

Direct online from the building of the SVR. I'm crying. 100% cranberry.

I can understand that russian theme is hype now and Homeland was keeping away from it for too long... But how is it possible to write such a stupid plot? GRU and SVR attack each other, what? Do u even know that GRU does not exist any more? I can't believe that writers know about Russia only things from 80s and action movies from 90s. Guys, Cold war is over! Russia has democracy too, its not like american one, but its not socialism. Budapest looks like Russia in 60s-70s.... So many plot mistakes...so I can't mention all... I await Novichok and russian hackers in 8th season. Finish this TV Series like that. Go lower.

And yes mountains.... in Moscow....

Last time I read, Israel was the only country who successfully done a covert military operation in a foreign county. "Operation Entebbe" in Sudan.

Here, I'm seeing Americans killing Russians on a diplomatic mission; and that too, all out in open.

But Americans in general don't know that.

Imagine if a Russian production had the Pentagon sending commandos into CIA HQ at the instigation of a Russian Intel team headed by Putin's chief security advisor. People would roll their eyes.

It makes no sense, either, that Russian intelligence would run an operation against a US President reversing the neoconservative foreign policy fantasies of eternal warfare and perpetual control via global military intervention.

And it makes no sense, of course, that an American intel team would launch a commando raid on a mansion on Russian territory, and then be surprised that the Russians were prepared & would ambush them. And it makes no sense that the Russians would leave the asset in question in the dacha against which the commando team was sent.

It's a shame, because I enjoyed the back and forth this season, suspending disbelief, even with a Vicki Nuland clone introduced into the show. I guess writers rooms are now just occupied by Mary Sue fiction writers.