"A Gettysburg Address" was the first time that an episode of Homeland could have very well been an episode of 24. 

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the Kiefer Sutherland drama as much as anybody back in the day - for what it was. Homeland aims higher than just the action packed, energy filled, real-time drama that filled my college nights. It still succeeded in doing so in this sixth hour of season two, but there were a couple of things that felt a bit too familiar.

The introduction of, the surveillance on, and then the power play by this new bad guy felt right out of the 24 play book. So much of Homeland to this point has focused on Brody and Nazir as a combined big bad, from the view of the audience and from the characters within the show.

Seeing some new guy come out of the woodwork, seem so important to the surveillance crew and then take out seven dudes in Gettysburg on his way to picking up what could have been a weapon of mass destruction felt exactly something I saw in every single season of 24.

It was exciting, it was intriguing, but it wasn't quite what Homeland has been in the past. Nor was it what Homeland can be at its best.

The other aspect of this week's episode that may give me nightmares was how many times I felt like Dana Brody was the new Kim Bauer. I couldn't have cared less about this story line than if a cougar jumped out of one of the hospital rooms and dragged Dana to a cabin in the woods.

As much as the issue was that Dana crying about the woman was annoying, I think the real issue is that the story really has nothing to do with the main arc, and I don't think it ever will.

To this point in the series, every story has revolved around the main issues, and Dana's current arc feels way too auxiliary. If I'm wrong, and those two kids killing that lady have a major impact on what is currently going on with Brody and Carrie, I will retract these comments. However, I don't see this paying off in any way.

Again, those were just a couple of gripes from an otherwise quality episode of television. The personal stuff between Carrie, Saul and Brody continued to be fantastic. Saul telling Carrie that he was worried about her being close to Brody again was not only nice to see as a human being, but it also made me think about whether it would come back to haunt her in the future.

Similarly, when Carrie sprinted into Brody's office, and yelled at him all up and down the walls, I could help but wonder if this situation was doing more harm than good for everybody.

Brody told Carrie that he had no idea the Gettysburg massacre was going to happen, and it seemed like he was being honest (we also had no evidence to the contrary), but who are we or Carrie to actually know? Brody has proven that he will lie like a penny in a parking lot, so will his involvement ever really be worth it? Will an untrustworthy asset help the end game?

I'm not so sure. What I am sure about, though, is that Homeland continues to be the most exciting and thought-provoking drama currently on television. What did you all think of "A Gettysburg Address?" What was your favorite moment? And did you have any gripes?

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