It's all coming together, but will Senator Lockhart sabotage Saul's plan?

Homeland Season 3 Episode 8 was the best episode of the season so far both for intrigue and character development. The investigation into the Langley bombing finally saw some actual movement. And, more importantly, we witnessed the personal toll the bombing had on people.

I absolutely loved when Saul told Senator Lockhart he had to leave while he briefed the White House Chief of Staff Higgins on his Javadi plan. Loved it! After the arrogance and ignorance Lockhart showed, it was nice to see him knocked down a bit. He may be the next Director of the CIA, but it's Saul's job right now.

Regime change! Saul's plan is ambitious and he only has 9 more days to pull it off. Or, does he? Could this be one step towards Saul being nominated for the permanent position? It's unclear exactly what Lockhart's status is with the nomination. What's in 9 days? Has he been nominated? Had confirmation hearings? Been confirmed? Or, are all of those steps done and he'll be sworn into office in 9 days?

If he hasn't been confirmed yet, I'd love to see him lose the nomination and position. He doesn't have a handle on what's going on at all. And, whether or not Saul's plan will work, it appears to be a step in the right direction. If nothing else, the intelligence from Javadi has already paid off.

Bennett and Franklin got played. Dar Adal and Carrie worked their separate angles to perfection to force the lawyers into showing their hands and leading the CIA right to the Langley bomber. At first, I was confused why he would openly use his phones to contact the bomber. On a second watch, I caught that Carrie told them they had a couple days before the FISA warrants would be approved. Slick!

What happened next was either a disaster or almost one. It's difficult to know right now. Carrie was desperate to get the bomber into custody alive in order to clear Brody's name. In Homeland season 3 episode 7, Quinn questioned whether the damage was worth it or not. And, that should be at issue here.

It was obvious that Franklin was going to kill the bomber. By allowing that to happen, not only did Carrie lose the person who could clear Brody's name, but the CIA lost intelligence about the others involved in the bombing. They let him die in order to protect the Javadi mission.

Since we don't know exactly what that entails, it's difficult to see if they made the right call or not. Greater good and all! Dar Adal and Quinn were confident enough in their decision though to shoot Carrie. I wasn't sure if Quinn would go through with it or not, but I'm glad he did.

How many times has Carrie gone off plan and gotten away with it? This time she was stopped. And, it could cost her much more than a bullet in her shoulder. She was warned and kept going. Will she lose the baby over this? I doubt that, but her health situation is going to most likely become an issue. I feel bad for Quinn if he finds out. He will be upset over it whether the baby is in trouble or not.

All the work they did in order to get the Langley bomber and they don't know anything more about him than they did before. Perhaps, they can get a photo of him from the hotel? That would at least give them a face and/or a name.

The set- up was a failure. Carrie was left bleeding out and demanding to know where Saul was.... Will she be happy when she finds out? I'm not sure. When Saul showed up at the Tower I was shocked. Wow. How long has he known Brody's location? And, did he help hide him away?

So many questions! But, I immediately stopped thinking about those when Brody was revealed. I felt horrible for the former Marine. Brody was an American hero who became a Prisoner of War. And, after all he went through good and bad, he ended up right back in horrid conditions.

How is any man supposed to overcome that? And, why is Saul getting him now? Is it because he believes Brody to be innocent of the Langley bombing? Or, is Brody part of his Javadi plan? So many questions. And, Carrie will either be so thrilled to have Brody back that she'll be happy Saul got him. Or, she's be furious he kept his plans a secret. 

Either way, Homeland season 3 has taken a drastic turn going into the last few episodes.

There were a couple other huge character developments in "A Red Wheelbarrow." Saul and Mira have reconciled. Their interactions felt a bit false like they were each pretending everything was okay. Though, that could have also been because they were so overjoyed to be in love with each other again. I'm not sure.

Mira's lover though is going to be a problem. Why did he put a surveillance device in the Berenson' computer mouse? I hope it's just because he's a jealous lover and it's not related to Saul's job. Though, it could be job related or if he gets information about Saul's job to use it against him.

Carrie called Saul at home and Mira commented on how he talks to her differently from others on the phone. Could that have been a hint of trouble to come? If anyone finds out that Carrie is still working with the CIA, the Javadi plan could be derailed. We'll have to see what happens. Though, I was surprised that the CIA Director didn't have been security at his home.

Then, there's Fara. After nearly attacking Javadi with scissors, she struggled with what he did and that he got away with it. By not showing up to work, the CIA checked with her and her father found out about the job and disapproved.

Fara's situation was enlightening. It wasn't something that I considered up until that point, though we didn't know she had family still in Iran. If Iran found out that she was helping the CIA, her family members would be tortured and probably killed. Wow. It's understandable that her father would fear for them.

At the same time, Fara's reasoning made sense. Everything changed for her with the bombing. She's an American. And, she could help her country fight against the people that killed Americans. She doesn't care that she's of Iranian descent. It's about doing what's right. 

With Javadi back in Iran, it's possible that her family could be targeted, but I hope the show doesn't go there. The scenes between the father and daughter were enough to show the risk that she was willing to take to help. 

Will Saul be able to keep his job? Should the CIA have prevented Franklin from killing the bomber? What will happen to Carrie now? Why does Saul want Brody?

Carla Day is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter and on Google+.