In “Homeland,” Season 1, Episode 8, “Achilles Heel,” the aftermath of two revelations, one that Walker is still alive and is now working for Al Qaida, and one that Carrie has been spying on Brody, makes things intense indeed.
Spoilers surely follow.
Walker is pretending to be a homeless panhandler, begging for money at the side of the highway. He receives a dollar bill with the location of a locker and a key attached to it from a passing Saudi diplomat. The plot has been set into motion.
Meanwhile, Brody is angry with Carrie for sleeping with him for information. He turns a deaf ear to her pleas that there was indeed some human feeling involved. An interesting result is that he begins to seriously try to reconnect with his family.
Another twist is that certain movers and shakers in the Democratic Party want to groom Brody into a politician, taking advantage of his heroic story. The opportunity has arisen when a current member of Congress is caught up in an Anthony Weiner-style nude picture texting scandal.
In the meantime, the folks at the CIA discover Walker’s Achilles heel. He is calling his wife’s phone when he knows she is not there just to hear her voice. The CIA intends to use that to get Walker’s location. But his wife has to cooperate, answering the phone and keeping him on until the trace is made. Unfortunately she panics and warns Walker off.
Walker, who has gotten a sniper rifle from the locker, eludes the FBI. However, an accidental shooting kills two Muslims at a local mosque who had been preparing for morning prayers. This will be a public relations disaster. Plan B will now be to splash Walker’s face all over the media in hopes that the public will help find him.
Carrie clues Brody in on Walker’s being alive, which really angers Brody as he was made to believe that he had killed his partner. So he storms into the home of the same Saudi diplomat who had given Walker the key and the locker number and announced that he is through and that Nazir should be told of this.
Now we see some more of the dimensions of the plot. Walker killing the president is just one part of it. Al Qaida is doing a Manchurian Candidate play. Interesting.