Homeland - "Long Time Coming" Retrospective. Back on U.S. Soil..

Season 4 , Episode 12, Season Finale

Air Date: Sunday, December 21, 2014, 9 pm ET/PT on Showtime

Rating: ★★★★★

“Not every choice we make is blessed with moral clarity in our business. What’s that line? We are the no men of nomads’ land.” — Dar Adal

Carrie (Claire Danes) and Saul (Mandy Patinkin) return home, she to help plan her father’s funeral and he to try to figure out what Dar Adal (F. Murray Abraham) was doing in Haissam Haqqani’s (Numan Acar) car last week. But where is Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend)? It’s anyone’s guess at this point.

Mother Carrie

Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison and Amy Hargreaves as Maggie Mathison

As “Long Time Coming” opens, Carrie is helping her sister Maggie (Amy Hargreaves) pack up their father Frank’s (James Rebhorn) belongings following his death last week. Dar Adal drops by, looking for Quinn, and that’s how we learn Carrie left Quinn behind. Carrie doesn’t seem to have any problems dealing with her daughter Frannie this time around. If you remember, Carrie was a complete mess at the thought of even holding Frannie in the season premiere. Now, she is the picture of a perfect mother. Our Carrie sure has grown up. Having lost my father years ago, I understand how much Carrie’s conversation with Billy (guest star Joseph Mydell), an old friend of her father’s, means to her. How wonderful to hear such kind words.

Carrie and Maggie’s Mother

Ellen (guest star Victoria Clark), Carrie and Maggie’s mother, shows up out of nowhere after leaving them as babies, presumably to attend Frank’s funeral. After being gone for so many years, I find it strange she would show up now. Maggie may be willing to forgive and forget but not Carrie. She doesn’t believe Ellen is entitled to attend Frank’s funeral. As Carrie puts it, “Too little, too late.” I don’t blame Carrie for being so angry but is it really because Ellen left them at such an early age? I think there’s more to it than that. As Maggie points out, Carrie left Frannie at a young age too. Carrie wisely responds, she didn’t leave Frannie permanently.

The Memorial Service

Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison

Carrie gives Frank a beautiful eulogy that brought tears to my eyes. It was nice to see everyone from the CIA there, including Saul and CIA Director Lockhart (Tracy Letts). All the hype about bringing Quinn home safely and he just shows up unexpectedly, considering a hot minute ago he was still in Islamabad. Carrie uses the opportunity to tell Quinn about Dar Adal’s visit, while Saul confides in Carrie that he is investigating Dar Adal. Only the two of them know Dar Adal was in Haqqani’s car; not even Quinn knows. If anyone can get to the bottom of this conundrum, Saul is the man. He looks incredibly good after everything he went through, wouldn’t you agree?

Quinn and Carrie

Rupert Friend as Peter Quinn and Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison

So apparently, those who were speculating about Quinn’s feelings for Carrie all season long were correct. Quinn’s proposal to Carrie to “get out together” throws her for a loop. It’s the stuff dreams are made of, and may be what Quinn needs in his life but I doubt Carrie will agree. She has the spy business in her blood and I don’t think she’s ready to give it all up, especially because she wants, no needs, to figure out Dar Adal’s role in the whole Haqqani fiasco.

The Truth Will Out

After everyone leaves, Carrie, unable to sleep, goes into her father’s room and looks at all the pictures of her mom and dad together in happier times. It forces her to wonder about the circumstances surrounding her mother’s abandonment. Armed with Ellen’s license plate, Carrie tracks her down to ask the question every child whose mother left them wants to know —- why? Imagine her surprise when she knocks on the door and Tim (Callan McAuliffe), a teenager, answers. I guess Carrie never considered what her mother has been doing all these years. Carrie’s question obviously has to change…”So you left your children to have more children?” Ouch! Seems Tim is her half-brother. Does this mean we’ll see more of a family friendly Carrie next season? I don’t think that’s what I want in my favorite spy.

When Ellen returns home from work, she and Carrie sit down to talk. In what I’m sure is an extremely painful conversation for Carrie, she finally learns the truth of why Ellen left and what Frank hid from her and Maggie all these years. The question is now whether Carrie will be able to forgive Ellen.

The Mission

In the meantime, Quinn’s buddy Dale (Scot Cooper) shows up, telling him they have a new mission. I like how they greet each other.

Dale: “Douchebag!”

Quinn: “Asshole.”

Spoken like true friends and comrades in arms.

Quinn isn’t kidding when he tells Carrie he’s done as he turns down the mission in Syria. Let’s hope he doesn’t have to fulfill his part of the job, delivering the envelopes to the loved ones of those who don’t make it back. But because Carrie can’t commit to Quinn, he changes his mind about going. When he gets to the hangar, he hands the envelopes to the guy who was going to replace him. On top is an envelope addressed to Carrie. I don’t think this bodes well for Quinn in the upcoming season.

Saul Gives In

Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson and F. Murray Abraham as Dar Adal

Despite being told he will never have another CIA job because of the tape Haqqani has of Saul during his time as Haqqani’s prisoner, Saul learns the opposite may be true during a meeting with Dar Adal, which also explains why Dar Adal was in Haqqani’s car. Saul is shocked by what Dar Adal confesses to him, and I’m not sure Saul will accept what Dar Adal is offering.

Because Carrie can’t reach Quinn on the phone, she rushes to Dar Adal’s home where she confronts him about being in Islamabad. She can’t believe what he tells her but Saul’s presence confirms it. I can’t believe Saul is that desperate to become the head of the CIA again, especially since his wife Mira (Sarita Choudhury) doesn’t want that. As a spy, he should know better than to leave such an incriminating piece of evidence out there. It’s obvious to me this will come back to bite Saul in his proverbial ass.

Overall

As the final episode of season four of Homeland, “Long Time Coming” is a nice tribute to James Rebhorn, although it’s rather disappointing both as a season finale and as a setup for next season. After a season filled with suspense, riveting scenes, and edge-of-your-seat moments, I was bored by the way the writers chose to end the various story lines. Nothing surprised or shocked me. Bringing in Carrie and Maggie’s mother was nothing more than filler material to me. Even Quinn showing up at Frank’s funeral was a lazy way of bringing him home. We never learn what happens to Ambassador Boyd (Laila Robins) and her treasonous husband Dennis (Mark Moses), which was a major plot point of the season, nor do we learn what went wrong in Islamabad from the eyes of the CIA. In a word, everything about “Long Time Coming” is anti-climatic. I am so disappointed. Still, I’m a fan of the show so I’ll forgive the writers for this and instead look forward to where next year will take our fearless Carrie.

What did you think of “Long Time Coming?” Leave your comments below or hit me up on Twitter @SeasideTV.

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Linda

Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!