Halfway to a Donut

In "Halfway to a Donut", the eighth episode of Homeland's fourth season, the show continues to delve into the aftermath of the Islamabad attack, further exploring the personal and professional consequences for its characters.

The episode opens with a tense and gripping sequence as Carrie and Quinn attempt to extract a valuable asset from Pakistan. The action is expertly choreographed, and the sense of danger and urgency is palpable. This sets the stage for the rest of the episode, which is marked by a heightened sense of tension and uncertainty.

As Carrie struggles to regain her footing at the CIA, the script skillfully weaves together multiple storylines, each adding depth and complexity to the overall narrative. The relationship between Carrie and her father, Frank, is particularly poignant, as they navigate the challenges of their strained relationship in the wake of the tragedy.

The episode also delves deeper into the political machinations at play, as Saul and Dar Adal engage in a high-stakes game of power and influence. The performances of Mandy Patinkin and F. Murray Abraham are exceptional, and their scenes together crackle with intensity.

The episode's climactic moments, involving a tense confrontation between Carrie and a former colleague, are both thrilling and emotionally charged. The direction and editing heighten the sense of urgency, and the episode's conclusion leaves the audience with a sense of unease and anticipation for what's to come.

Overall, "Halfway to a Donut" is a compelling and well-crafted episode that continues to showcase Homeland's strengths in character development, political intrigue, and high-stakes drama. The show's commitment to exploring the human toll of its characters' actions is particularly commendable.

I believe Season 4 is one of the best seasons of Homeland. Especially last two episodes were excellent, but this episode is definitely the best ever.I particularly like the increasing taste of espionage lately. It is also really impressive to see that Claire Danes' performance can still get EVEN better! I believe her acting skills are totally off limits. I really can not find anything less then perfect in terms of acting, script, execution, etc. Another nice thing this season is that the show takes very fair and elaborate perspectives on world issues like terrorism, counter terrorism, etc both from a theoretical and a practical point of view.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Halfway to a Donut" was breathtaking and gut wrenching from start till finish. This is another superb episode in excellent season 4. 49 minutes of this episode run in a sec. Without going into spoilers, just have to mention - what a mesmerizing chase sequence it had in the middle of episode. I couldn't even breath, and what an outcome they performed. After seeing countless movies, i honestly can't thing right now of any chase sequence that kept me sooo on the edge of my seat as "Homeland" just did. Thats because of the performances, excellent writing, superb editing, top notch directing and characters we do care about. This sequence alone puts all recent big budget thrillers to a shame.

Don't miss "Halfway to a Donut", a breathtaking installment of season 4.

Recently i read that "Homeland" was renewed for season 5. Justise does exist.

"Homeland" was on a roll with "From A to B and Back Again" and "Redux" but this was the hour where I realized the show I fell in love with three years ago was back. The conference scene helped build the episode's momentum and led into the imposing Saul scene nicely by the writers. The sequence involving Saul trying to escape was thrilling and the most tense the show has been since Abu Nazir exited the series two seasons ago. The use of close-ups in the midsts of Saul's chase were intimately intense and the directing scaled the suspense to levels of suspense you forgot "Homeland" was able to reach. Mandy Patinkin got off to a whimpering year at the season's beginning but has been revealed to be the heart of this portion of the season. He and Claire Danes cranked out the episode's big scene passionately and wholeheartedly, a scene so vigorous that it feels like days long. So far, "Halfway to a Donut" is the best episode of season four.

Grade: A