This season built and built up to what I thought would become a monumental climax. I was certainly along for the ride all season. And then we saw that Saul's hostage taking was an integral part of a rather clever plan for Haqqani and his fighters to gain access to the US Embassy. During that episode we saw that Haqqani was seeking a "list" of CIA assets in the region kept there at the embassy. And then he gets it and gets away. That was the climax. (Did I mention how many embassy workers and CIA personnel were slaughtered during Haqqani's rampage? No, I completely forgot that;-)
What does Washington do but terminate diplomatic relations with Pakistan and instruct the surviving CIA to pack up and go home.
But meanwhile we saw Quinn (highly skilled black-ops assassin that he is) take after Haqqani in a futile effort to gain access and then assassinate the Taliban fighter. But that was foiled by none other than Carrie. And when Carrie had her shot at Haqqani she too was foiled by none other than Dar Adal (F. Murray Abrams) who it seemed was impossibly intertwined with the Pakistani's. (Is he a double agent!) And it was no secret that the Pakistani military was assisting Haqqani. (Or was this the climax?....no it was the Anti-climax. It was the realization of defeat for the CIA in Pakistan.
Bitter pill time.
Series finale: Back home (east coast USA) and tying up loose ends. A few revelations; Abrams' character (Adal) is there and explaining to Carrie how one needs to adapt to the new terrain. And then he gathers Saul suggesting that he can have his old job back. Everything like what happened in Pakistan....never happened.
Spook stuff. Not satisfying but probably not without some elements of real world spook stuff.
Carrie's personal life.
Is she the world's worst mother? Probably.
Will she quit field work, find a nice comfy desk job and establish a 'normal' life?.....who's kidding who! Of course not.
Estranged mother and hitherto unknown 1/2 brother; just baggage. Not necessary to the story line or any future storyline unless certain writers insist on making it so. I guess we have to explain Carrie's bipolar mentality somehow. And keep her mental turmoil stirred up constantly. Probably that is an essential element to her character. Borderline, sometimes over the line, insanity. Or was it the weaponized hallucinogens. Well, that's gonna be the setup.
Is the series actually worth this much consideration on my part? Damn. I'll probably tune in for Season 5.
-Steve
