“Homeland” has always been a thrilling show, but last night it outdid itself — not with anything as claustrophobic as least year’s suicide-vest bunker scene or the threat of violence, but by brazenly debunking any expectations about where and at what speed it's headed. At the beginning of the episode, the CIA was setting up a covert surveillance team on Brody, in hopes that he would lead them directly to his handlers and Abu Nazir’s new plot against America. This is a story line that most shows would devote at least a few episodes to. Not “Homeland,” which had spent much of last season surveilling Brody. By the end of the episode, Carrie — deciding, perhaps wrongly, that Brody had made her — went up to his hotel room and confronted him. “It reeks, you know, your bullshit,” she said. Letting loose her anger, she went in on high, beginning, “Do I want to be friends with a demented ex-soldier who hates America?” Surprised by her vitriol, Brody said, “I liked you, Carrie.” “I loved you,” she spat back. The agents stormed the room, threw a hood over his head, and took him away. Brody is now in custody and whatever I imagined this season would look like disappeared as well. Who knows what comes next? What a great feeling.

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