Monthly Archives: December 2014

Homeland – Season Finale — Carrie’s Emotional Baggage Too Heavy for Carry On

Carrie is carrying so much crap around with her, that she has to DRIVE from the DC-Metro area to Missouri! But she does finally get to smooch with Quinn and contemplate life outside the fast lane. And she doesn’t try to kill her baby. Read the entire reap over at Happy Nice Time People.

Homeland Finale Speculation — Dar’s Long Con

I’ve been thinking a lot of about that image of Dar with Haquanni and what it means.

We know that Dar has no problem seeing people killed for the mission.

What if Dar’s mission was to completely destroy Haquanni’s organization from the inside?

Here’s how it works:

Dar works with a top level agent within the ISI – Tasmeen. She doesn’t like the Americans, but she’s convinced Dar wants what she wants — to stop the drones, to destroy the Taliban threat, to get the Americans out of her hair.

He sets a lot of events in place, improvising, reacting and advising as stuff happens.

He gets Tasmeen to contact Sandy and sets up getting him the good targets and then the bad one – the wedding. He makes sure Tasmeen reaches out to Haquanni so Haquanni isn’t there and his death is faked. When Saul shows up, he’s willing to use that as well. Dar knows full well that if Haquanni breaks in, civilians are going to die. He doesn’t care.

But the list is not what Haquanni thinks it is.

Here’s the beauty of the long-con: It’s a FAKE LIST.

It’s not a list of the collaborators and assets. It’s a list of loyal supporters, but if Haquanni believes it’s a list of traitors, it will lead to a purge that will  destroys Haquanni’s entire organization from within.

What’s Dar doing in the car with Haquanni? Why does he have to expose himself at all?

Still haven’t quite worked that one out. But my guess would be he’s there to make Haquanni feel even more elevated and important while somehow continuing to set him up.

Homeland Recap: S4, E11 Peter Quinn’s One Man Quest for Justice (and/or Vengeance)

Sure, nondescript clothes and a cap. That’s  a GREAT DISGUISE when the Pakistani military has you on a kill list and every major agency in the world is looking for you! Read my full recap over at Happy Nice Time People the site that dyslexics (like me) have a lot of trouble writing down in the correct order.

Homeland S4 E10 — Who’s the Red Shirt?

Were we all just a little relieved last night that it was Redmond and not Saul that got the shard in the neck last night? Does that make us terrible? Yes, it does. And Homeland punished us by killing off a semi-major character later. Read all about it over at Happy Nice Time People, the folks who bring you the bestest recaps — including mine.

Oh Susanna! Idiots at the Opera Go To Le Nozze di Figaro

Richard Eyre’s new production of Mozart’s Le Nozzi di Figaro, set in the 1930s, opened the Met season with glowing reviews. The original cast including Ildar Abrazakov, who triumphed last year as Prince Igor. He triumphed again as Figaro, and Susan Leonard who went on to sing Rosina in this season’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, won raves for her Cherubino.

We’d seen a lackluster revival of Jonathan Miller’s Figaro a couple of years ago, and didn’t run out to this one, but I finally made it (without the better-half) on Thursday, and thanks to the Met’s FANTASTIC new rush program, I got to sit with the swells IN FRONT of the overhang for little more than the price of a movie ticket.

Barihunk Schrott
Barihunk Schrott
The world's coolest soprano.

All but two of the featured roles have been recast since the opening, but the singers worked so well together and seemed so comfortable, not only singing but with with the dancing and physical comedy that they might have been performing with each other for years. Bass-baritone Erwin Schrott proved his true barihunk chops as Figaro. Mariusz Kwiecien played the sleazy count with petulance and more than a hint of danger. We’d seen him as an aimless Eugene Onegrin in last year’s dreadful production, so it was great to see him get into the groove here. Making her Met debut, Serena Malfi was a scene stealer as Cherubino, really enjoying the physicality of playing a boy. Her voice was faultless. I can’t imagine her NOT becoming a Met favorite within the next few years. Rachel Willis Sorensen sang the Countess. She was no slouch at the physical comedy either, but for all of the antics she brought the heart into the evening. When she sang the Act III aria, Dove Sono, lamenting the mysterious loss of love, off-stage tears may have been shed. The world’s coolest soprano, Danielle de Niese sang Susanna. I’ve seen her live twice, as Ariel in The Enchanted Island and as Continue reading Oh Susanna! Idiots at the Opera Go To Le Nozze di Figaro