(Not So) Hot Off The Press - Homeland episode 7, 8 & 9

*Episode 9 Spoilers*

Finding myself preoccupied with work and other things, we enter December and to start off I play catchup with the three most recent episodes of Homeland. After an initially rocky start, the show eventually found itself and appears to be on route for a fairly decent season finale if things continue the way they do.

Turning things upside down, Saul, Carrie and Peter managed to catch their guy Javadi, but instead of the mission ending there, Saul has hitched up a plan to send him back into Iran where he will work for them, otherwise he will likely be taken out by his own people. The ball has definitely started to roll and continued to do so when Saul went out to Brody's location and brought him back to the US. From there, he was rebuilt and trained (via montage because to show it all would take too long) to go back in and take out who Javadi works for, where Javadi will then take his predecessor's position. It's a big gamble, and a little farfetched but entertaining nonetheless.

The shaky family dynamic has also been pushed to the background which seems to have helped the show since it now allows for more time to be spent developing the plot lines audiences are actually invested in. Dana did make a brief appearance in the most recent episode but it was handled well.

By the end of episode nine, Brody flew away with his team while Carrie was left to watch (an image that reminded me of the trailer to Zero Dark Thirty, which I have yet to see but will review it when I do). While the progression in this episode really helped what could have been drawn out a little further, I'm now curious to see where this season will end. Was that all for Brody in season three? Surely not but how much more can they show before it's time to set up season four?

Time will tell, but regardless the latest few episodes, while pushing the boundaries of our imagination, have been pretty entertaining. It's a shame though that the first half to this season wasn't as good, otherwise this could have been a generally good overall season. Hopefully wherever this one chooses to end, it puts season four in good stead for whatever's to come.