For an episode that foregrounds how each character is like a spy, Aayan’s submissive answer to Carrie at the episode’s end that he has to leave the compound to get Haqqani medicine was unconvincing. Surely, the terrorist has other people in his network that can fulfill those duties. If Carrie does let him go in next week’s hour to get back into the city, it would be a rookie mistake on her part. Aayan seems to be hiding a lot more than he is letting on – especially his naivety around sexuality, which does not match with his performance. Carrie’s panicked face underneath Aayan as he thrusts into her suggests that he is a lot more powerful than she expects, a potential clue for his unreliable reveals this episode. Meanwhile, does he really feel sorry about having sex with Carrie if it is against his faith? He is pretty excited to do it again the next evening.
Although a tad obvious, the mirroring spy-like behavior of practically every character with a few lines this week also sets up Homeland as a series with a lot of secrets up its sleeve. Whether it is Aayan inspecting Carrie as she sleeps (or pretends to sleep) at the start of the episode, or Dennis Boyd taking photographs of Carrie’s medicinal stash in her bathroom, it seems like Carrie may be more of a vulnerable target than she realizes. Meanwhile, there are lies between Dennis and Martha, and we hear both sides allude to troubles in their marriage. Adding flame to the fire and the episode’s extensive theme, she mentions that her professor husband has been disgraced due to plagiarism charges from a past job, which means that he is not good as keeping his secrets.
Episode scribe Meredith Steihm tries to give each character a moment when they are at an advantage, when their superior knowledge can be a real game-changer during the rest of the season. When Aayan sees Carrie’s scar and realizes that she has had a baby, he turns the interrogation over and starts questioning her about personal history. Is he helping his uncle dig up details about Carrie that Haqqani and his network can use to his advantage? Meanwhile, Quinn and Fara get the cleric in their sights, the latter proving to have sharp eyes in scoping out the target this week. Later, he tells her to place a tracker on his car, but she does not have the training to act swiftly when an official questions her when she steps by his car. Fara is not as smart with acting on intelligence as a trained agent.
One of the episode’s less convincing stories occurs when Saul manages to scope out Farhad Ghazi in the Islamabad airport. He arouses a lot of suspicion – in the line for security, no less – as he tries to finish up quickly to follow Ghazi through the airport. After losing some of his calm there, he is unsuccessful in finding allies to keep an eye on the alleged terrorist. Saul goes rogue and tries to find out more about why Ghazi is flying to Johannesburg, but this mission fails when Saul is stabbed in the neck by one of the terrorist’s accomplices. Perhaps the former CIA director should have known better but to pursue this lead on his own, without back up?
The two-sided personalities of characters on programs about spies are nothing new, especially for Homeland, a series where its protagonist’s volatile health is sometimes her hubris and sometimes used to her advantage (as it was at the beginning of season three). “About a Boy” is focused on showing how each character is trying to investigate something or someone, with widely varying results. It makes one wonder what shades some of the more ambiguous faces are hiding. Moving forward into this season, everyone is suspect to scrutiny.