Following last week's unlikely spectacle of Brodie detoxifying himself from a heroin habit, going through some Officer and Gentleman-esque training and signing up for a high-stakes attempt to restore his reputation, all in one unlikely speedy episode, Saul's final 'play' came into play.
Which meant a fragile Brodie was once again in enemy lands, while Saul and Carrie could only sit back and watch. And all we could do was watch them watching.
The waiting game for Carrie and Quin
Which was all very pedestrian, until his vehicle mercifully (for us yawning viewers) exploded, and suddenly Saul was playing a deadly game of bluff with Brodie on the board. Even Carrie couldn't run rogue and rescue this one.
But guess who did. Yep, that's right. Brodie might not have been around for much of this series, but he more than made up for it with his antics out in the field, running hell bent into the waiting arms of an Iranian unit. Which meant everything went exactly to plan by accident on purpose, and Brodie - and Saul's career - got to live another day.
It's all going on across enemy lines, Carrie and Saul can only watch
The episode finished on a high, with Brodie brought face to face with Saul's other chess-piece Javadi, with brutal results. With two more episodes to go in this most hit-and-miss of series, good to see 'Homeland' can still shock us when the occasion calls.