Homeland Season 7 Episode 5: Active Measures Review

If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.

Synopsis: Carrie follows a lead. Saul’s situation goes from bad to worse. (IMDB)

Writer: Deborah Cahn

Director: Charlotte Sieling

Rating: TV-MA

Running Time: 50mins

Get ready for the most Homeland-y episode of the season so far.

You would think the standoff would be over after last week but the repercussions from it continued here with Saul getting a warm welcome from protesters on his way back to the FBI. He wanted answers from O’Keefe, however, he denied inciting the massacre and didn’t know who could be responsible. He was part of a meeting with Keane to discuss what happened. Saul believed O’Keefe wasn’t responsible for the fake news and suggested Russia may be involved. The discussion than shifted towards several rallies sprouting from the incident and what to do about it.

Keane visited the widow of one of the slain FBI agents. She asked her to attend a memorial for the other victims which was a difficult choice but it was mostly for optics sake and to alleviate public discourse. Saul visited an old Russian friend named Ivan Krupin (Mark Ivanir) to look for a lead on the Russian fake news. It was similar to a few past incidents around the world involving a Russian defector named Yevgeny Gromov. He then arranged for Krupin to be surveiled.

Keane and Wellington watched the memorial on TV waiting for the widow to appear. She wanted to ensure that they were prepared for what may happen and the optics. The widows of the slain FBI agents appeared  at the memorial and were met with some hostility until they were welcomed to stay.

Carrie went to a trailer looking for a man named Anson (James D’Arcy) for whom she shared a past. She was putting a team together and he was the first person on her list. She conferred with her team of other acquaintances about what to do next about Martin which meant bringing up plenty of interesting past experiences.

Everyone staked out Martin’s building, waiting for everyone else who lived there to leave and kept her there by disabling her car and forcing her to wait for phony roadside assistance. Once that happened, she was forcefully interrogated by Anson and she admitted to accepting payment to kill McClendon. He also wanted her to pay him $100,000.

Martin was still watched afterwards to see her response. She was followed into the barby another agent and Carrie who planted another bug on her. She called Wellington and wanted to meet him. They were set to meet after Keane made a live speech to the nation about the memorial. They followed Martin’s uber all the way to Wellington but Martin lost another bug in her uber, not allowing them to overhear their conversation.

The bugs in Wellington’s house caught he and Martin not discussing what just happened to her but rather showed them having sex.

Overall, this was a good episode that furthered the main storyline this season if you believe O’Keefe. Russians appear to want to create political discourse within the United States by undermining Keane and inciting violence but Saul is on the case. It’s probably 50/50 right now whether Keane cares more about herself than for others but maybe she’ll prove us wrong? The operation with Carrie’s team was the most exciting part of the episode, however, it ended much too quickly. It would’ve been nice if they got something though it’s only the fifth episode and it looks like the team won’t go away anytime soon which is a good sign.

Score: 8.5/10

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.