Is Homeland’s Carrie Mathison a ticking time bomb?

Late last year, after the first season of Homeland had drawn to a close, I talked about how much I hated the finale. I thought the episode itself was incredibly well done, but, to summarize, I thought the show copped out by not having Nicholas Brody go through the suicide plot. It was not the most popular of ideas — and I took a couple of body blows over it — but I still stand by my opinion.

The only equivocating I did at the time was whether or not I would come back for season two; fortunately, I pulled my head out of my … you know where, and have been watching. I’ve watched Damian Lewis continue to deliver as Brody and a supporting cast doing incredibly work. But mostly, I’ve been watching Claire Danes own the screen as Carrie Mathison.

I don’t think the audience ever really knows what’s going on inside of Carrie’s head. Considering how unbalanced the character is, I doubt we are supposed to – another testament to Dane’s work. If you ignore her mental state, it is much easier to like her actions. Her decision to follow Brody up to his room was a cowboy move, something you could see a gunslinger like Han Solo doing. Hell, she was outstanding at the bar; playing Brody like a piano. Sure, she wasn’t as successful as she’d like to be – thus following him to his room – but she did great work. But that good work is only going to last so long.

Carrie has proven herself to be the definition of self-destructive. David Estes and the rest of the senior leadership at the CIA will never completely trust her judgment completely again. That distrust will lead to a situation where she wants to do something and they do not; Carrie has a history – proven true once again when she went upstairs – of doing what setting her own course in those situations. If she can’t be a team player, they won’t let her on the team. But that’s not the only challenge to her continued stability.

Her mind isn’t her only problem: when it comes to Brody, she also has to overcome her heart. She talked a good game as Brody was tied up and hooded, her comment about “if the circumstances had been different.” But as he was dragged away, his head in a hood, she broke down. Her feelings for him obviously still persist; whether or not they will eventually compromise her is still an open question to be explored as the season continues.

It’s only a matter of time before something causes Carrie to go off the reservation. While I think her feelings for Brody will cause some trouble sooner rather than later, and she’ll continually test her superiors’ patience, it is safe to assume she won’t have another breakdown like she had last season any time soon. Personally, I think the writers are stretching the audience’s ability to suspend disbelief for the sake of seeing her working again after the first breakdown. Her getting a third chance would be difficult to swallow. But, even more so than in Brody’s case, Carrie Mathison is Homeland. The show is at its best when Danes is given a chance to shine (see: the smile in “The Smile”).