Homeland - Episode Summaries

I have been hearing much about this critically acclaimed TV series on Showtime for quite some time now, and I'm ecstatic that I've finally gotten a chance to watch it not to mention written its episode summaries. Homeland, though not action packed, is thrilling and mind-boggling. One could not help but feel for its cuckoo protagonist, C.I.A. Agent Carrie Mathison, smartly played by Claire Danes as a person who at first glance seems normal, but watching closely you'd realize that the woman has some loose screws. Returning from Baghdad after causing an international crisis, Carrie sets out on a mission to prevent another terrorist attack from an American prisoner of war who has been turned. Her prime suspect is the rescued American hero, and now poster boy of the war, Sergeant Nicholas Brody. There are so many details in an episode that are easy to miss, and forget. These episode summaries aim to help viewers of the show remember what happened, and maybe even speculate what's going to happen.

I bring you Marine One, Homeland's season 1 finale. Enjoy! Follow Comprehensive Episode Guides for updates. If you like Homeland then you might also like Mad Men or Downton Abbey.

Homeland Episode Summaries

Season 1

1.1 Pilot

C.I.A. Agent Carrie Mathison is in a prison in Baghdad desperately trying to extract information from a terrorist’s bomb maker. She gets the unsettling information right before prison guards haul her away from the prisoner’s cell. According to the terrorist, a prisoner of war has been turned. Months later, she sits in a room in Washington D.C. where the C.I.A. Deputy Director shares with his team news of the inadvertent rescue of a prisoner of war, and identified the American hero as Sergeant Nicholas Brody. >>Read the Pilot episode summary

1.2 Grace

All are disappointed to see Sergeant Brody turn from American hero to recluse, and this includes Carrie who learns from Saul that a prisoner of war that has been turned would be out relishing in the limelight as he plays the hero card instead of spending his whole day curled in the corner of his bedroom. But Carrie’s gut tells her that Sergeant Brody is their guy, and getting the unexpected code red message from one of her assets who managed to get visual proof that Abu Nazir has resurfaced only emboldened her suspicion. >>Read the Grace episode summary

1.3 Clean Skin

The agency receives the data from Prince Farid bin Abbud’s cellphone that Lynne Reed obtained for them. However, the data did not have any information about a money transfer. Meanwhile, the Brodys prepare for the interview with Lawrence O’Donnell where they are to appear like the perfect American family everyone sees them to be. >>Read the Clean Skin episode summary

1.4 Semper I

The public’s approval rating on Sergeant Nicholas Brody has caught the eye of the vice president that he sends one of his closest advisers to determine if there is a political future for the American hero. Meanwhile, Saul Berenson and Carrie Mathison find some information that made them believe that Prince Farid’s majordomo is the one working for Abu Nazir. They suspect that he had stolen Lynne Reed’s expensive necklace, and used the proceeds to fund Abu Nazir’s next attack. >>Read the Semper I episode summary

1.5 Blind Spot

Pakistani Intelligence abducts Afsal Hamid, the sole terrorist that survived the U.S. military attack on the safe house that served as Sergeant Nicholas Brody’s prison for eight years, and hands him to the C.I.A. C.I.A. Deputy Director David Estes assigns Saul Berenson and Carrie Mathison the task of interrogating the terrorist and includes Sergeant Brody in the team much to Carrie’s shock. Brody did prove to be helpful with the interrogation for Saul was able to convince Hamid of the agency’s power to help keep his family from harm in exchange for information about Abu Nazir’s plans. Brody, however, raises alarms when he insists on meeting with Hamid, the prison guard who tortured him, face-to-face. >>Read the Blind Spot episode summary

1.6 The Good Soldier

Carrie Mathison presents the idea of having a mole in the agency, and gets approval to conduct polygraphs tests on everyone that met with Afsal Hamid at the safe house. Saul Berenson learns that Raquim Faisel was living with a Caucasian woman at the house he bought near the airport, and they soon learn her identity as Aileen Morgan, a daughter of a wealthy oilman once stationed in Saudi Arabia. >>Read The Good Soldier episode summary

1.7 The Weekend

Nicholas Brody and Carrie Mathison spend the weekend together at the cabin of Carrie's family. Saul Berenson volunteers to drive Aileen Morgan back to Langley hoping to develop a connection between them enough for the young woman to divulge to him all the information she knows about the impending terrorist attack. >>Read The Weekend episode summary

1.8 Achilles' Heel

The C.I.A. and the F.B.I. work together to draw Tom Walker out of the shadows, but their plans quickly go awry. Brody and Jessica deal with their marriage problems, and begin to make peace with each other. Their reconciliation could not have come in a more propitious time for Elizabeth Gaines has grand plans for Brody. >>Read Achilles' Heel episode summary

1.9 Crossfire

Carrie Mathison is convinced that the imam has information on Tom Walker. She appeals to the imam, but the man is adamant in withholding information until the F.B.I. claims responsibility for the shootings. Three men take Nicholas Brody by force from the grocery store. He soon finds himself speaking to Abu Nazir who questions his commitment to their cause. >>Read Crossfire episode summary

1.10 Representative Brody
Carrie Mathison interrogates Al-Zahrani and manages to get the diplomat to set a meeting with Tom Walker. Vice President Walden personally asks Nicholas Brody to run for Congress, an offer Brody accepts, but Jessica rejects. Brody expresses his utmost desire to enter politics and takes the necessary steps to fulfill it. >>Read the Representative Brody episode summary

1.11 The Vest

Carrie Mathison may only have suffered a concussion following the explosion that maimed and ended the life of others, but the tragic event appears to have also triggered her mental illness. Nicholas Brody takes his family on a trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and manages to keep from his family the true nature of their journey; he needed to fetch a vest rigged with explosives from a tailor in that area. >>Read The Vest episode summary

1.12 Marine One
Carrie Mathison goes into a deep depression, while Sergeant Nicholas Brody prepares for the terrorist attack he is about to carry out. Vice President Walden arrives at the conference where he is to announce his candidacy for president of the United States, and soon after becomes witness to the fatal shooting of his top political adviser, Elizabeth Gaines. Chaos and panic ensues at the conference, and all high-ranking officials in attendance including Brody are sequestered in a bunker. Carrie believes that Brody will carry out an attack, but people including Saul Berenson cast doubt on her claims given her current mental state. >>Read the Marine One episode summary