Homeland Season 4 Recap and Spoiler: '13 Hours in Islamabad' Brings Violence to US Embassy
In "13 Hours in Islamabad," the most recent episode of Showtime's series "Homeland," a Taliban group invades the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan in a full-out attack.
Commander for the extremist group Haissam Haggani, played by Numan Acar, leads a group of terrorists into the embassy looking for the "crown jewels"-a list of all the names of undercover agents working on America's behalf in the region. Haggani eventually finds this information in his raid, which he plans to use as a hit-list until his ultra-violent network can rise to power in Afghanistan.
CIA Director Andrew Lockhart, Tracy Letts' character, is in the embassy when it is attacked and locks the top secret documents with him inside the building's vault. However, his resolve to keep the information out of Haggani's hands fails as he watches the hostages being killed on security cameras throughout the building.
"Give it to me and no one else dies," Haggani said as he waits to slit the throat of CIA analyst Fara Sharazi.
When Lockhart goes to give him the list, Ambassador Martha Boyd tells him "Open that door and we're all dead, including the assets on that list!"
However, Lockhart surrenders the documents, but Haggani breaks his word and stabs Sharazi, who dies from the loss of blood.
Haggani's men are then confronted with CIA agent Peter Quinn and Marine Sgt. Mullen, who open fire on the attackers. The Taliban leader is wounded but escapes by setting off an explosion as a distraction.
Meanwhile, Claire Danes' character, CIA station chief Carrie Mathison is trapped with a band of Marines by a group of snipers in another part of Islamabad.
When the group tries to send out a message to call in reinforcements, Tasneem Qureshi stops the request. Qureshi has been suspected of working with Haggani secretly.
"It can wait," Tasneem says. "The Americans have insinuated themselves long enough into our business. It's time to get a dose of their own medicine."
Despite his attempts, the Pakistani troops are still called and come to the rescue, and Carrie is driven back to the embassy, which now displays a Taliban flag. Lockhart finds her and gives her the latest information straight from the White House.
"We're getting out of Pakistan," he explained, telling her of the recent incident that left 36 embassy staff dead. Carrie understands how dangerous the situation is becoming, but asks to have a few more days to retrieve Peter.
"Many, many Americans would be dead today if it wasn't for him," Carrie says. "We can't just leave him in the cold!"
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