I addressed that. If he *looks* dead, Qasim may have an opportunity to get him out of the facility. That's why I suggest that he may be acting to some degree—not that he's not in pain, but because he knows that they have to fully believe that he's dead, and not want to look too closely at his infected body before…

Agreed. I keep waiting for someone to give me a plausible explanation for some of Allison and Ivan's actions. It kills me, too: I only question "Homeland" this much because it takes itself more seriously than dear, departed "Rubicon." If it were campy like "Quantico" or "Blindspot" or "Strike Back," I'd probably enjoy…

He was definitely injected with atropine (the counteragent Dr. Aziz mentioned to Qasim). What's unclear is to what extent the Sarin still has an effect (albeit a weakened one) on Quinn. He *might* be acting to sell that he's taking the full dosage, or he might still be in intense and life-threatening pain from the…

There's no way that Carrie believes that story, because it doesn't add up with anything that she's experienced. If Allison isn't trying to cover up the fact that she's a mole, then Russians never try to kill Carrie in the first place, because why would they? Moreover, unless I'm misremembering, the CIA (or BND) know…

I'm going with Occam's Razor on this one: If they believe he's already been killed by the Sarin, or if Qasim is the one tasked with disposing of his body, then he'll simply survive—possibly with side-effects—and set about trying to stop the operation, looping in Dar Adal and the rest of the team. Allison will get a…

She was absolutely lying when she said that she wasn't doing any work for Ivan, though, and I'm curious to see how she can resolve everything that's occurred since the bombing of General Youssef's plane, especially now that Saul and Dar shouldn't have any reason to distrust one another. (Clear eyes, full hearts, can't…

Yeah, the comment included the period and end parenthesis in the link. Just cut those out.

(If you're curious: http://www.slantmagazine.co… .)

You and I are very much on the same page. As is the A/V Club this week. It was such a pleasure to get to write a positive recap after weeks of frustration.

As @princesskaraoke:disqus says, these are different actors. The man who saved Quinn is *not* the man leading the terrorists to Syria (that is, Berlin) by way of Kosovo.

Would you be having panic attacks after *ten years* of working for the Russians? Even if her work has been far less volatile over the last decade, and she hasn't had to compromise herself or America nearly as much, it still just doesn't add up. If she still has reservations about her loyalty, if she—perhaps…

Care to elaborate? Allison is the big sore spot for a lot of struggling with this season, so if you think she's been masterfully written as a character, I'd love to hear why.

Know that you're not alone on this point. I think a lot of people are trying to justify some of the wheel-spinning and illogical decisions of the season as a "slow burn." I think it's safer to assign blame to a lazy writer's room.

My issue with Allison is that her wheel-turning doesn't actually make a lick of sense. I called this "dramatically convenient" and compared Allison's actions to Carrie's bipolar nature—either she's orchestrating two bombings in Lebanon and co-opting a CIA operation to kill Carrie, or she's determined to find an excuse…

Pretty much every plot turn this year has hinged on coincidence (a thing that Dar Adal says he does not believe in), so you should be used to it by now. I'm actually happier with the screensaver revelation than the waffling choice by Allison to *not* kill Carrie (or from Ivan to leave it in her hands in the first…

I don't mean to come across in a snarky fashion here, but see above: Allison is billed as a lead character this season. As is Quinn. Neither one is developed. They're on equal footing as, say, Nina or Martha from Homeland—also billed as lead characters—except that they're not given nearly as much depth or development.…

I misread your original post, and I agree that Allison would not have known Quinn *back then*. But Saul *does* know him now, as do quite a few more people, whether his cover is "completely intact" or not, so I'm not positive that Allison wouldn't know him, even if I'll concede that it's possible she doesn't know the…

If she knows the location of the dead drop, then she has the ability to identify the person using it. You're saying that, having done so, she still might not know Quinn's connection to Carrie, I guess I buy that Saul hasn't shared all of his secrets with Allison, even if he apparently told her about his dead-drop…

Three things:
(1) Allison is hardly a "lower-level" CIA officer. That's sort of the point.

Read my other comments here, buddy: I'm pretty consistent in also criticizing Quinn (and depending on the episode, Saul), and both he and Allison are billed as "lead characters" this season.