State of Affairs Season 1 Episode 10 Review: War at Home
Carissa Pavlica
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Talk about tangled webs!
Just when you think you may be getting a handle on things, State of Affairs Season 1 Episode 10 goes and pulls another switcharoo. It's really becoming known for pulling off a good twist and keeping us guessing from week to week with ongoing stories.
After the Ar Risalah Seven were captured, David made the wise decision that the American people needed the military leader in Constance Payton to stand up and prove she wouldn't be frightened by her own people turning to terrorism on US soil. That kind of backfired. The media started lashing out against her, calling for her impeachment and claiming she was tearing the Constitution to shreds with her actions.
Meanwhile, all she does is wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night with visions of bombs blasting through spelling bees. Suddenly David thinks she needs to step back because the smoking gun was a CIA safe house and that seems more like a political target than an American one.
Just when it's all enough to make you want to jump through the screen and start smacking some heads, Charlie decides to get it together. She shakes the team off and they try to look at it with fresh eyes. Only the eyes they really needed weren't all that fresh. They were from the professor they raked over the coals a couple weeks back.
The trick of the week was Professor Ahmadi gave them access to his private servers, bombs were found and a bomb tech even died trying to diffuse them. The President was very grateful, the American people feel safe and the lying bastard is a terrorist who just threw the very minions he recruited on his own private network under the bus because who cares? He has an entire closet full of bomb vests hanging behind a secret door just waiting to be worn.
I really liked that twist. The irony of Constance and Charlie sitting in the Oval Office chatting about him and how special he was to have gone through so much but still bent over backwards because he understood true democracy.
That is a patriot in its truest sense. To see the dark side of democracy and still believe. That's a rare thing nowadays.
Constance
Charlie and POTUS will be searching for Sheik Hakam while Senator Burke rummages through hundreds of redacted files for another smoking gun and Professor Ahmadi will be in a very safe place with his thank you letter from the Pres proving he's the cream of the crop. Eeek. Where will he strike? Does he have another seven lying in wait? We'll find out!
We knew there was going to be a tie between Victor Gantry and Syd. While it's still as clear as mud, he's bringing Kurt on board for information on Fatah and Bellerophon while Syd is out tracking Nick, for goodness sakes. Nick had to kill an American who was tracking with Syd because staying in Fatah's good graces to get to Hakam is more important than allowing people who aren't supposed to be following him live.
Maureen: Do you think Nick did this?
Charlie: If he did, if he killed an American during an unsanctioned op, he's never coming back from that. He'll burn either way.
Constance has decided she and Charlie are going to spend all of their time putting an end to Fatah and Hakam. If they manage to do that, would the mission remain unsanctioned or would there be some sort of after-the-fact sanctioning process? The White House would want everyone to know they were fully aware if it all went according to their wishes, right? Bad guys down, everyone dies, good guys prevail, White House takes credit. You can't do that with an unsanctioned mission.
That must be how Nick gets home.
In lighthearted news, while Navaro remains down and out, so in popped Acting Director Banks, played by Matthew Lillard. He is just so much fun wherever he goes, and State of Affairs was no exception. Being thrust into the position as he was, Banks really had no right to talk as he did, but his attitude was the opposite. The commission was a catapult of crap, he told Charlie. Lay low and it will fly right over. Subpoena requests up his ass are not a cozy feeling, mam, he told POTUS. At least he got the mam in there. While Navaro is out, he's a suitable replacement.
It's a shame the AR7 were transferred to a federal facility (especially considering the previews) based on the word of the professor, but it will be fun to see how it all shakes out because I have no doubt there are even more twist and turns coming our way in the next three installments.
"War at Home," like so many other hours, felt very familiar. It's easy to imagine these same events happening right here, right now. Do you think the results would be much different? Would you vote for Constance Payton? Would you want Charlie, Nick and the gang on our side? If you're so inclined, chat about it.
If you missed any of the series so far, you can watch State of Affairs online right here on TV Fanatic.
NOTE: State of Affairs Season 1 Episode 11 will be titled "The Faithful' and air on February 2.
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
