Tower of David

Tower of David
Written by:	Henry Bromell & William Bromell
Directed by:	Clark Johnson
Production number:	3WAH03
Running time:	53 minutes
Original airdate:	October 13, 2013
Viewers (millions):	1.81

Tower of David is the third episode of Season 3 of Homeland. It aired on October 13, 2013.

Synopsis[]

Brody turns to his faith to find a way out of his seemingly hopeless situation. Meanwhile, Carrie Mathison finds it difficult to turn to Saul Berenson when a mysterious man offers her help, which also comes with some disadvantages.

About Brody's journey to Caracas - between S02.E12 to S03.E03 - listen to this audiobook: Phantom Pain.

Episode guide[]

A man comes out of a jungle in Venezuela in his car and is threatened by the gang led by leader El Nino. He gets out and makes it clear that he has with him a man who was shot at the Colombian border. It is Brody who is quickly taken to a doctor, Grahan, who carries out treatment underground in the city's slum. Brody is bleeding profusely and in pain. The doctor isn't sure if Brody will make it with these injuries. Brody gets an injection of drugs, the doctor removes the bullets and then stops the bleeding. The doctor tells El Nino that Brody will probably make it because he is a strong man. He speculates that El Nino might get a lot of money for him if he puts so much effort into keeping it alive.

Brody wakes up and is immediately in pain. Esme, El Nino's daughter, who had already assisted in the operation, calms him down by giving him another injection of pain-relieving drugs. Brody thanks him in relief and steps away again. Later, Brody, half asleep, notices someone stealing his things.

It's daytime and Brody has recovered somewhat, but he can only sit down with great pain. Esme tries to stop him, but she can't speak English. She wants to give him something again for the pain, but Brody refuses. She has no choice but to help him get up. Brody wants to know where he is. He looks in shock over a huge city. El Nino comes in and explains that he is in Caracas and that this is his new home. He should sit down again. He then explains that he is lucky that he is still alive and that he is the only person safe with him. Brody tells them about the theft and El Nino promises to take care of it. Brody asks why he's helping him, to which El Nino replies that they both know Carrie.

Esme shaves Brody's head again. Then he looks out over the city from the half-finished high-rise building. He walks a bit with Esme at his side and they try to communicate by learning a few words in each other's languages. After a while Brody has to sit down, his wound has reopened. He is taken to the operating doctor, who explains that he should get more rest. Again Brody doesn't want any painkillers. The doctor casually explains to him that the high-rise building, the Tower on David, has not yet been completed because the initiator, a banker named David, died, the economy couldn't cope with it and then no one cared. Brody wonders why the doctor is here, but the doctor replies that the question leads to why he is here. He responds philosophically that they are both here because they belong here. But Brody doesn't want to stay and wants to regain his strength.

Whenever Brody feels good, he tries to exercise, such as running up the stairs. During the break he enjoys the sounds from the mosque in the city. Esme finally asks him to come with her. El Nino was able to track down the man who stole from Brody. He gives him his ID, money and watch back and then pushes the thief down from the skyscraper against Brody's will. Brody is angry, but El Nino just says that if they let him go, he would only reveal where Brody is because he would certainly have recognized him from all the posters. After all, $10,000 is on his head.

Brody asks Esme for money because he wants to escape, but she can't give him anything. Brody still tries to run away, but El Nino's men won't let him go. El Nino asks what he is planning to do and where he is going. Brody says he feels better and wants to move on. El Nino doesn't allow that. He has to stay here. Brody asks if Carrie knows where he is, but that's not possible either. For Brody the journey ends here.

Brody sits on his bed and is visited by the doctor, who explains that El Nino is right. Brody has to get rid of the voices in his head and wants to give him drugs, but Brody refuses at the last moment.

Carrie tells her therapist that she feels good and is making progress. She wants him to tell Saul that she has improved. Carrie admits that Saul actually did her a favor and that he ultimately did everything right. But the doctor doubts that she is serious. He is genuinely interested in helping her and makes it clear to Carrie what he expects from her.

Brody is about to bury the thief when Esme comes and asks him to stop. But Brody says that he absolutely has to leave. Otherwise he would die here. Esme says he doesn't have anywhere to go. But Brody has an idea and asks for her help.

Carrie made a great house in therapy and therapist Amanda Lambert praises Carrie very much. She lets her go to the toilet where she purposely hits her head on the mirror. A nurse comes in and sees that she is bleeding. Carrie bursts into tears. She is desperate because she does everything that is asked of her but she can't move forward. She asks her sister not to reveal anything.

Esme helps Brody get out of the house by watching the guards and giving signs to Brody. Meanwhile, the nurse treats Carrie and explains that she won't forget, someone has already asked about him. Carrie suspects it's Saul and asks the nurse to let her know next time, even if she isn't allowed to accept visitors yet.

Meanwhile, Esme leads Brody to the mosque. He explains that the Imam will not betray him because he is a Muslim. Esme wants to come, but Brody makes it clear that he really can't do that. Brody enters the mosque and asks to enter. The Imam gives him his hand and leads him inside. Esme leaves disappointed while Brody is led into the Imam's house.

Carrie stands in front of a window and sees a car and thinks her visitor is coming. She wants the number for the elevator so that she can receive the guest, but Amanda refuses to let her do so because she is not yet allowed to do so. Carrie turns to her nurse Abby, who lets Carrie downstairs.

Brody is taking a calm shower and enjoying it when he is suddenly attacked. The imam has called the police and says goodbye to Brody, saying that he is not a Muslim but a terrorist. El Nino men are already waiting outside the door and they free Brody and shoot everyone else.

Carrie goes to reception, but it's not Saul waiting there, but a man named Paul Franklin, who comes from a law firm and wants to talk to Carrie in private. Meanwhile, Brody has arrived back at El Nino, who explains that he will only cause problems if he doesn't do what he says. He is now put in a cell and should prepare himself for the fact that he will stay here forever. He should also stay away from Esme.

Paul Franklin talks to Carrie about the hearing and explains that one of his partners would like to speak to Carrie. We could help get them out of the institution. But he can't say what you want to talk to her about. Paul claims that he is on her side. But Carrie can no longer hear this phrase. She believes that he thinks she is weak and that there is a possibility that she could turn against the people who support her. So she refuses any help. When she comes back, she asks Abby for her medicine.

Brody gets a visit from his doctor. He says he can't stay here because all the memories of Iraq come back and he can't get through it. But the doctor says Brody will find a way because he has survived all these years. He leaves him the syringe with the drugs and leaves. Brody decides to take the lead. Meanwhile, Carrie is sitting alone in her dark room, huddled in a corner.

Phantom Pain[]

Picking up at the end of Season Two after he has parted from Carrie at the border, Brody relates, in the form of a letter to Carrie, his desperate escape by sea and land as the world's most-hunted fugitive. Guided off the grid by a former CIA analyst and a battle-scarred French mercenary, he stays in the shadows...both physically and emotionally. But wherever he goes and whoever he meets, he cannot stop thinking about Carrie. [x]

Broadly, Brody’s trip, which was orchestrated by an ex-CIA agent named June, takes him from a shipping boat, where he stayed inside a shipping container for three weeks; to meeting a guy named Philippe, who is “made of scars” and shaves Brody’s head; to a brothel in Honduras; to bribing customs agents at the Nicaraguan border; to a fishing boat from Panama, where Philippe kills the captain and first mate after they recognize Brody; to his new home, Venezuela. All the while, Brody spends the time lamenting how he’s now portrayed at home: “Now I’m a pawn. A puppet. A twisted soul broken by war. I didn’t recognize that man. I wanted to scream at all those talking heads.” He also spent a lot of time listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge,” so that explains that whole mishegas.

Trivia[]

Tower of David: This reminded me of an article where people think that this kind of place only exists on TV and in the movies...
Carrie’s become so fragile she retreats to a bathroom and bangs her head on a mirror, only to be stopped by Abby (played by Marcia DeBonis, a.k.a. Jennifer Garner’s hapless secretary Arlene in 13 Going on 30). “I had a bad moment, that’s all,” Carrie says, before sobbing. “I’m doing everything that’s asked of me.”
This looks like the place (in Caracas) Carrie had Brody hold up in during season 3 - people think these places only exist on TV and movies... of course they don't; see the article.

The DVDs have four major features:

Behind the scenes of the making of “Tower of David.” I found this much more interesting than I would have thought, especially considering I don’t really care much for the episode. It does reinforce just how ambitious and unique the episode is, from the mere perspective of recreating this real location. Really gives you a good idea of how much thought and care and time goes into creating scenes that last for less than 30 seconds.

Reviews[]

"You’re like a cockroach, still alive after the last nuclear bomb goes off.” - Grahan says in the shadows, his voice washing over the scene. Indeed, Brody the human cockroach has survived impossible odds, even aside from the failed bomb he was supposed to detonate at the end of the first season. He’s killed a man while on the phone with Jessica, shot Tom Walker to protect himself, and escaped the hold of Abu Nazir. But a cockroach can simply continue to survive, while Brody needs a plan, somewhere to go, something to do. And right now, he’s stagnant, forced to stay exactly where he is, drugging himself so he can run away from his thoughts. The same goes for Carrie, alone in the corner of her room, hugging her knees to her chest. Just two lost cockroaches, stuck where they are on a show that won’t let them get what they want. - Shirley Li

Seven Ways to Save ‘Homeland’: Carrie and Brody's big show is broken – here's how to fix it - BY SEAN T. COLLINS

Quotes[]

Brody: Am I a doctor?
Dr. Graham: That's a very interesting question, considering your circumstances.

Brody: I'm better now. I just have to get to the next place.
El niño: THERE IS NO NEXT PLACE

“We’re here because the world outside can be judgmental and cruel. We’re here because this is the place that accepts us. We’re here because we belong here.” - As Dr. Graham tells Brody.

“I feel quite lucid,” Carrie tells her doctor.
“I was wondering if you could tell Saul Berenson how much better I’m doing.”
“No one knows where else to put me,” she says, sharing the same lost expression Brody conveyed when El Nino told him Caracas was the end of the line.

“I had a bad moment, that’s all,” Carrie says, before sobbing.
“I’m doing everything that’s asked of me.” - Carrie for Abby

When she starts to doubt his sincerity, Paul Franklin explains, “Carrie, I’m on your side.”
She rejects Franklin’s offer and brusquely tells him, “You think I’m vulnerable, you think I’m weak,” before turning her heel and striding back into the facility.

“I need my meds.” - Carrie begins to lose it, admitting,

“You’re not a Muslim. You’re a terrorist.” the imam tells a shell-shocked Brody.

“You’re a naughty boy,” Grahan says in the shadows, his voice washing over the scene. “Naughty, naughty boy… Everywhere you go, other people die, but you always manage to survive, have you noticed that?''

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Starring[]

Co-Starring[]

Blas Diaz as Martinez
Carlos Olivieri as Paco
Rafael Fuentes as Imam
Iliana Garcia as Imam's Wife
Luis Raul Alcocer as Thief
Aurelio Lima as Shotgun

Note[]

Although credited, Rupert Friend, Morena Baccarin, Jackson Pace, Morgan Saylor, Mandy Patinkin, Sarita Choudhury, Tracy Letts and F. Murray Abraham do not appear in this episode

Videos[]

Season 3

#301	"Tin Man Is Down"	#307	"Gerontion"
#302	"Uh... Oh... Ah..."	#308	"A Red Wheelbarrow"
#303	"Tower of David"	#309	"One Last Thing"
#304	"Game On"	#310	"Good Night"
#305	"The Yoga Play"	#311	"Big Man in Tehran"
#306	"Still Positive"	#312	"The Star"