After Saul watched Brody's video at the end of last week's episode, I stated that Homeland was coming out the gates fast.  Ending "State of Independence" with Saul showing said video to Carrie makes it more like warp speed.

The Walking Dead virtually spent an entire season making us watch their gang of survivors hang out on a farm doing nothing.  Sons of Anarchy dragged out Jax finding out about what happened to his father for multiple seasons.  Many shows spend too much time not wanting to do much too quickly.

Now that Carrie has seen the video that proved she was right about Brody, the same can't really be said about Homeland.  They are throwing punch after punch, and it has been a joy to watch.  Sure, because of this style, the series might run out of steam at some point, but for now it's one of the reasons it is as entertaining as anything on television.

Not only was seeing that video another gigantic moment in the run of this series because it turned the plot yet again, but it also saved our heroin heroine.  I know Carrie threw up those pills in the here and now, but if things continued the way they were going, should we assume something like that wouldn't have happened again?

She wasn't doing well.  But even more so than the smile she donned after getting back into the groove in the season premiere, her smile after realizing she was right about Brody all along might have been what gets her back to feeling a bit more normal and a bit healthier in the noggin.

I hope we get an explanation about what happened with the video sometime in the near future.  The first scene showed Saul losing it in the airport when his bag was searched, and he seemed upset about it (of course he could have been feigning the emotion).  Then he shows up at Carrie's casually carrying what seemed like the same file.

Was there a duplicate?  Did he get it back from those who took it?  Did he plan to let them take it, because it was a fake?  I'm sure there are plenty of explanations for what happened, but I just think it was too momentous of an occasion for us not to get one.

UPDATE: Apparently I was taking notes during the scene in which it was revealed that Saul was using a fake.  That makes a lot more sense now.

Meanwhile, Brody spent almost the entire hour out in the middle of nowhere, changing tires and snapping tailors' necks.  Okay, one tailor.  What made all of his scenes so great to watch is the fact that he is this hero of a congressman.

He's sneaking around the tailor's shop in a red cap, and he's a congressman.  Brody's chasing after a terrorist tailor in the woods with dirt all over his face, and he's a congressman.  He's on the phone with his wife, trying to stop the bleeding of a man he was fighting with, and he's a congressman.  It just adds so much to the severity of every situation he's in.

My question for Brody, regarding his idiocy, is why when the tailor started screaming would you take your cell phone closer to him?  And then why would you wrestle with him while your phone is in your other hand?  Common sense would have told me to go further from the screaming, dying man so that the person on the other end of the phone couldn't hear him.

It led to that awesome moment when Brody was forced to snap the dude's neck, so I was ultimately okay with it.

Finally, Morena Baccarin might have put forth her best performance on Homeland yet in "State of Independence."  Not because of that mediocre speech that Jessica got rave reviews for, but for that puffy 80s first lady hairdo she was wearing.

I’m just kidding.  It was absolutely thrilling to watch Jessica give it to Brody about knowing something was going on.  She knows something is up, but she really has no idea what it is.  Is it an affair? Is it related to the Islam thing?  Not only is she questioning, but she's taking a stand about it.  Either stop lying or you're out on your own Brody!  Jess means business!

"State of Independence" was another great episode to start Homeland's second season.  What did you all think of the hour?  What was your favorite moment?  What do you think Saul and Carrie will do with their new information?  And how long before Brody's staying at a hotel?

Dan Forcella is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow him on Twitter.