Homeland (2011–…): Season 4, Episode 1 - The Drone Queen - full transcript

As CIA section chief in Kabul, Carrie ignores warnings about major collateral damage to sanction a drone strike on a hard-to-find Taliban leader, resulting in mass killings at a wedding in his family in Pakistan, which she calls their own risk. Orphaned moderate med student Aayan Ibrahim, the target's cousin, recorded the attack on video, which his relative Rahim posted on Internet behinds Ayyan's back. CIA informer-handler Sandy Bachman's identity becomes public and he's lynched by a mob, Quinn shoots two assailants during a disastrous attempt with Carrie to extract Sandy. CIA director Andrew Lockhart recalls both during the scandal investigation and orders Carrie to stay in the US, but Quinn gives her a tip to question archive-buried collaborator Hank Wonham.

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Pull over. I want to walk
the rest of the way.

Come on, guys.
It's only a couple of blocks,

and I haven't been outside
the embassy in days.

Hello?

We're on our way.

Hey, Chief.

How long to the target?
A little over eight minutes.

We scrambled two Fox 15-Echoes as
soon as the intelligence came back.

Are the jets authorized
to enter Pakistani airspace?

We're waiting for word
from CENTCOM.



Can we send a drone instead?
Not in the time frame.

What about ground teams? There
are none operating in the area.

I need to talk to Islamabad.
He's on the secure uplink.

Talk to me, Sandy.

What's the issue?

No issue. Only that I'm just hearing
about this for the first time.

He's number four on the hit list.
What more do you need to know?

The source of your intel.

Same as the last four
high-value kills.

Does he have a name yet,
this source?

The deal was anonymity
in exchange for information.

So far, it's been
a very fruitful relationship.

Well, so far, we've always had time to get a
second opinion, double-check the intelligence.

Well, consider the target.
What do you mean?



There 's a reason you don 't get many
shots at a guy like Haissam Haqqani.

He's famously careful.

Well, we trained him,
didn't we?

“Trained him”? Hell, he learned how to jump
out of airplanes with the 82nd Airborne.

Did CENTCOM get back?

Authorization to engage.
On your command.

Where's the live feed from?

We got lucky, jacked
into a NATO satellite.

And that's the location
right there?

The building in the middle. It's a
farmhouse of some kind, I'm told.

How confident are we
Haqqani's in the farmhouse?

One of those vehicles
out front-

the red Hilux- we've seen it
at his compound in Miramshah.

What about CDE concerns?

No other habitations
within 75 meters of the target.

Well, obviously anybody inside the
farmhouse will be collateral damage.

Yeah.

I'd feel a lot better if we weren't
so blind on such a short clock.

Sandy's source
has always been rock solid.

Yes, he has.

And Haqqani's made a bad habit
of killing American soldiers.

Where are the F-15s?

Uh, they're buzzing the border. They
can be on the target in 60 seconds.

Any friendlies
in the area?

None. Ordnance restrictions?

Send them in.

Yes, ma'am. Smash 11, this is Control.
How do you hear?

I have you loud and clear.

I have you also, Smash 11.
It's playtime.

Twelve from 11. Currently in
comms with JTAC. Dial in.

Hey, where you going? I think
you can handle it from here.

Just have the pilots do a couple recce
passes afterwards for damage assessment.

Uh, stick around,
will you?

I'm supposed to be on a Skype call
with my sister. Stick around.

Control standing by.

The group has
a little something planned.

Control, we 're two mikes out.
Calm winds.

Copy that.

Two mikes out. Call weapons
gone and time of flight.

WILCO. Hammer down.
Three, two, one.

Weapons free, 10 seconds.

Copy that.
Ten seconds to impact.

Blast two coming left. Pick
up a heading two seven zero.

Clearing airspace.

Okay. Shut it down.
Well done.

Thank you, everybody.

Chief. Thanks, Chief.

♪ For she's a
jolly good fellow ♪ Oh.

♪ For she's a jolly good fellow ♪

♪ For she's
a jolly good fellow ♪

♪ Which nobody can deny ♪♪

Happy birthday, Chief.
Happy birthday.

“The Drone Queen”?

Speech, speech.

Uh- Well, I, uh-
I don't know what to say.

Blow out the candles.
All right.

Hey! Well done.

Thank you. Thanks, guys.

- Hey, Maggie.
- What happened to you?

I know. I'm sorry.
I couldn't get away.

Well, you just missed them.

No, don't tell me.

We waited and waited. Finally Dad
gave up and took her to the park.

Shit. I've been
looking forward to this all day.

Well, they'll be back
in a couple hours.

Oh, what am I saying?
It's after midnight there.

I've just taken my Ambien, so-

You really need to wean yourself off that
stuff, Carrie. It's not good for you.

Well, neither is not sleeping.

Hey, happy birthday.

Thanks.

So? What'd you do
for your birthday?

Interrogated a couple of
prisoners, flew another mission.

It's all over the Internet right now
just how bad it is there.

Well, that's mostly
in the tribal areas.

The capital's been
relatively peaceful lately.

If you can call eight suicide attacks
in a week relatively peaceful.

You should be in Istanbul, out of harm's
way, and Frannie should be with you.

Well, that was the plan.

How is she anyway?

A week older
than the last time we talked.

You guys spent $134 billion on
operational contractor support last year.

That figure's high.

Call it 120 then.

Ballpark.

Okay. Ballpark.

But I do know for a fact
that expenditure will double...

when the US and NATO combat
mission ends in December.

Meaning we're gonna have to hire a lot more
private military companies like yours...

to fill the security vacuum.

That's why we're here, General.

We have a proposal.

- What is it?
- Saul's gonna brief you.

- Saw?
-Hmm?

The force multiplier effect.

Yeah. What Aaron means
is that, uh-

Actually, I have another thing
I was gonna mention.

Just a thought
I want to throw out there.

Okay.

If we'd known in 2001 we were
staying in Afghanistan this long,

we'd have made
some very different choices.

Right?

Instead, our planning cycles rarely
look more than 12 months ahead.

So it hasn't been
a 14-year war we've been waging,

but a one-year war
waged 14 times.

I think we're walking away
with the job half done.

Saul, could I speak with you?
Ask the general what he thinks.

Have we given our counterinsurgency
program a chance to work?

Saul.

Excuse us.

Saul, what are you doing?

I think I have
an obligation.

What are you doing?

A troop drawdown
will only inspire the enemy.

Afghan security forces are nowhere
near ready to step into the breach.

Save it for your op-ed.

We're trying to win
a contract here.

Wasn't it Trollope who said the best
capitalist is someone who's greedy and honest?

First, the drawdown's happening,
whether you like it or not.

Second, it represents a significant
market opportunity for this firm.

I was there when we
first went in, Aaron.

Kabul looked like one of those
black-and-white photos of Dresden, 1945-

blasted, wasted, deserted.

I'm aware of how much of your life
you have invested in this fight.

Girls not allowed in school.

Roving gangs of men with whips
enforcing sharia law.

A safe haven again
for Al-Qaeda.

It's not your job anymore
to have a say in the matter.

We really want to risk
going back to all that?

Did you hear me, Saul?

It's not your job anymore.

We do. DO we have the after-action
download from the cockpits?

I want to see
the reconnaissance photos.

Mary's got them
on her laptop.

...the deaths of over 40 civilians.

The strike took place at 11:04
PM in Dande Darpa Khel,

a militant stronghold in the North
Waziristan tribal agency...

near the Afghan border.

Members of the Pakistani Taliban vowed
retaliation for the alleged attack.

"Haissam Haqqani has been martyred, ” said
a spokesperson for the Pakistani Taliban,

who added that Mr. Haqqani was attending
a wedding at the time of the attack...

and that over 40 members
of his family were also killed.

"They have fumed a wedding
into a funeral pyre, "he said.

“Our revenge will be unprecedented."

Fuck you too.
Katie, fly a Reaper over the AO.

I want to see ground zero
in the light of day. On it.

Well, at least we got
confirmation of Haqqani's death.

Yeah, but if this weddings for
real, nobody's gonna give a shit.

I saw the kill list
after 9/11.

Do you know how many names
were on it?

Seven.

Including bin Laden
and al-Zawahiri.

You know how many names
are on it today?

Over 2,000.

It's Alice
in fucking Wonderland.

You don't even have to be a
terrorist anymore apparently.

You just have
to look like one.

Where's Sandy anyway?
He said he's coming.

Where is it written that an ambassador
must spend 90% of her time...

cleaning up after
her chief of station?

Nowhere, but it is the case almost
everywhere. Well, we get along.

Why can't you be my station chief?

Sorry I'm late. Peter has
just been filling me in...

on the well-wishers gathering
outside our front gate.

I saw that. Hey, Peter. I've also got
the foreign minister on my call sheet.

What can I tell him?
That Haissam Haqqani's dead.

I know that already.
What else?

It's pure PR bullshit,
the wedding claim.

Technically, it wasn't
even a drone strike.

“Technically”?

It was a bombing run.

Two F-15Es.

You're right. I don't think I'll share
that with the foreign minister.

But just so I'm clear,

somebody high up in the Pakistani
government signed off on this, right?

Oh, come on, Martha.

What? It's their airspace,
their sovereignty.

They scream bloody murder, but
it's theater, it's face-saving.

They want these assholes
dead as much as we do.

They're a little less enthusiastic
when we kill civilians.

Haqqani was
a legitimate target.

Everybody in that farmhouse had
to know who he was- a marked man.

He put their lives at risk,
not us.

Can you get in closer?

Who's he?
Do we recognize him?

I think he's just a kid
from the village.

Well, he's
definitely spotted us.

You want me
to go with him?

No, stay here. See if you can
ID any of the casualties.

You got it.

Jesus, there were a lot more people
in the farmhouse than we thought.

Hey, Chief.
Call for you.

Hello?
Carrie, it's Quinn.

Quinn.

Long time.

Yeah.

What a clusterfuck, huh?

How you holding up?

It was a Taliban spokesperson.

I'm trying not to get
too worked up about it.

Yeah, we got protesters
outside the embassy here.

They pull this shit all the time.

If it wasn't a wedding, they'd
say it was a mosque we hit or...

an orphanage or a mosque
for orphans.

Nah, this one
feels different somehow.

Why?

The time frame,
the way we went in.

The fact we didn't have eyes-on
before we ordered the strike.

Well, way to stay positive.

You still there?

Yeah, I'm here.

Listen to me, Quinn. Worst case
scenario, it was a wedding.

Obviously not ideal.

But Dande Darpa Khel's about as deep
in the tribal area as you can get.

I'm-I'm not following you.

Who's gonna risk going in
to verify anything?

Nobody, that's who.

We're bulletproof on this.

“Bulletproof”?

Completely.

Sorry.

We missed the 4:00.
Did you get my text?

I did.
Thank you.

We sat on the platform
at Trenton for over an hour.

Can you grab those wine glasses? Yeah.
I really wanted to be here.

I know. It's just,
Michael's my boss, and-

Well, I'll call him tomorrow.
I'll explain everything.

Thank you.

Everybody thinks we should buy
that apartment on 103rd.

Really?
Yeah.

What's wrong with renting?

It's not committing.

So we keep our options open.

Come on, Saul. You promised to give
New York at least three years.

Three years? I'll be pickled
and on the top shelf by then.

Don't say that.

Honestly.

It's not working out with Aaron.

Are you gonna get fired?
Is that what you're saying?

No.

It's just,
I really screwed up today.

Then unscrew yourself.

You go in tomorrow morning, you
apologize, you do whatever it takes.

Mira.

No. It's my turn.
We agreed.

Mira-

♪♪

♪♪

Aayan. Where have you been?
We thought you-

Yeah, well, I'm not.

We've been texting you for days.
Why didn't you answer?

I don't know.

I don't know
anything anymore.

Hey, are you all right?

I feel like a ghost.

Lost them all.

Whole family.

Hey, can I talk to you?

If you're interested
in the ball game, sure.

If not,
you're wasting your time.

None of the above.

Well, you're pretty enough.
I'll say that for you.

You're Mathison,
chief of station.

Who are you?

First Lieutenant
J.G. Edgars.

Uh, well, you got my name
right, but I'm not Agency.

I'm an FSO
in the political section.

Bullshit.

Ma'am.

What do you want, Lieutenant?

You know me as Smash 12.

I flew the mission
into Pakistan the other night.

Hey, why don't you sit down? Let
me buy you a beer. No, thanks.

Is it true
what they're saying?

It was a wedding party?

I don't know.

Even if I did,
I couldn't tell you.

Well, I feel sick
to my stomach about it.

Yeah.
You?

You ever feel that-
sick to your stomach?

Sometimes.

I try to see the big picture though.
The mission.

It was a wedding, wasn't it?

I told you, I don't know.

I killed four Canadian soldiers
in January on bad orders.

Dropped a 200-pound bomb
on their heads.

I'm sorry. I really am.

Monsters.

Wh-What did you say?

Fucking monsters, all of you.

Get the fuck
out of my face, Lieutenant.

Yes, ma'am.

Most
countries are run by madmen.

This one
is no different.

Hey, keep your voice down.

Why? Who do you think
is listening?

- No one will listen if you keep
shouting like that. - I'm not shouting.

Is this
a study group?

Do we not have
an exam tomorrow?

I don't know how you can study
after what's happened.

Yeah, well, it's much better
than being sad all the time, so-

Well, the American ambassador
was on TV again this morning.

So?

She's still saying there was no
wedding, that it never happened.

For the last time,
Rahim, no.

But they are dishonoring your family.
People must know the truth.

He honors his family by continuing his
studies, eh? And becoming a doctor.

We can upload the video anonymously, if
that's what you're both so worried about.

I said no.
No video, no nothing.

But it's
the right thing to do.

It's politics.

I want no part of it.

Well, I don't know
why I'm surprised.

And what's that
supposed to mean?

I should know by now
who I'm dealing with.

Cowards.

Hello.
Carrie Mathison ?

Speaking. Hold for
Director Lockhart, please.

Carrie, you awake?
Uh, kind of.

You been online this morning?

No.

Well, Dande Darpa Khel's gone viral.

Uh, say that again.
300,000 hits.

Video's only been up
for a couple hours.

What does it show?

A wedding.
Little girls dancing.

A bride and her mother, and then the
missiles hit. It's devastating.

Authentic?
Sure as hell looks that way.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Have you talked to Sandy?

He was my first call.

You two are gonna have to put your heads
together, find me a way to spin this.

Well, why not come clean- say we got the target
right, but the wedding was an honest mistake?

That's not gonna cut it.

It has the benefit
of being the truth.

Look, Carrie, the president's
apoplectic, I'm not far behind,

and the Pakistan Armed Forces
want a full accounting by tomorrow.

Whatever you need, sir.

What I need is you on the first
transport down to Islamabad.

♪♪

I'm assuming this was you?
You did this?

It had to be done.

Take it down right now.
It's too late.

Half a million people
have already watched.

Rahim, I don't care. Just do it.

- Anyway, I can't.
- What do you mean, you can't?

It was my cousin
who uploaded it.

Your cousin?
Oh, what?

He knows the Internet. He masked
the IP using a proxy server.

What does that even mean?
Means don't worry so much.

No one will ever be able
to trace it back to you.

Of course they will, Rahim!
I'm in the video!

Any idiot could join those dots.

So you'll be famous then.

You know, fuck you, Manjoud.

Call your cousin.
Tell him to take it down.

Now.

Call him!
Okay, okay!

Hey.
Yeah.

What's Signals saying?

Well, there's heavy traffic on social
media sites and cellular services,

so no doubt about it.

We're gonna have street
demonstrations later on.

Any more
on who put out that video?

We'll have a name for you by the end
of the day. Do you believe this?

I mean, what are
the fucking odds?

The ambassador's demanding a
sit-down with the entire station.

Tell her after lunch.
She wants before.

Well, tell her there's no point
till Mathison gets here.

- I'm picking her up at 12:30.
- Okay, that works.

Hold on a second.

All right, let me know when
Mathison gets in the building.

- I will. Where you going?
- Lie down. I feel like shit.

Guts again? Yeah. Is a normal bowel
movement too much to ask for?

Hey.
Hey.

Welcome to Pakistan.

Uh, can we sit
for 10 minutes?

You give me the lay of the land?
Sure.

The ambassador's out front with the
locals on this, so she's pissed.

Oh, I can't say I blame her.
Sandy's intel was good until now.

What do you think happened?
No idea.

Not even his own case officers know
what he's up to half the time.

Lone wolf.

Leaves the embassy odd hours,
doesn't say where to. Girlfriend?

Maybe, or maybe he's meeting the asset who’s
feeding him these upper-tier targets.

So who is this asset of his?
Thought you knew.

- Nope. - I have no clue either,
so you'll have to ask him.

Well, I will, 'cause I'm the one
dropping fire on all these people.

Yeah, well,
I know what that's like.

What?

Checking names off a kill list
for a living.

It's a job.

Doesn't bother you?

What about
when it goes wrong?

Doesn't happen that often.

But it did this time.

They were Haqqani's family.

They knew who he was. They knew the
chance they were taking being there.

Sandy said the same thing.

Well, he provides the
coordinates, I fly the missions.

We make a good team.

I guess Istanbul
was too tame for you.

Well, I was looking forward
to it, but Kabul opened up.

It's a hardship post.
It's more money.

Like you care about that.
It's more action.

But you can't bring dependents.

I wanted to bring you.

Why didn't you come?

We should get you
to the embassy.

Quinn.

...CIA Station Chief Sandy
Bachman-

Fucking hell. Come on.

Hello. Sandy, it's Quinn.
Where are you ?

- In the residence.
- No, you're not. Security was just there.

Okay. I'm off campus.

Listen to me carefully, Sandy.
You are blown.

Somebody leaked
your picture to the press.

What?
We need to bring you in now.

I have to know exactly
where you are.

Did you hear me, Sandy? Your face
is all over the goddamn TV news.

Yes.

Where are you?

I'm on Korang Road in I-9.

Did you take a vehicle?
No.

What's the intersection?
Street 10.

Okay, we can be there
in five minutes.

Keep your damn phone on.

Found him. He's in the field.
Corner of Korang and Street 10.

I'm on my way, but send a squad.

Copy that.

Hey, hey!

Hey!

Back! Back! Back!

Get back!

Go! Go! Go!

Fuck!
Shit!

Quinn, go!

I can't. There's another
weapon in back.

Base, this is Sandy. Contact with maybe a
hundred locals on Street 10 and Korang Road.

Ask him how far out
the squad is.

There's no gun back here, Quinn.

- It's under the seat!
- It's not here!

Goddamn it.

Goddamn it!

Let him go!

Get off him!
Get back!

Goddamn it! Help me!
Help!

Quinn!

Quinn!

Carrie, no!

- We can't leave him! - He's gone!
There's nothing more we can do!

Now get down!

Come on.
Just give me a minute.

We don't have a minute. The
ambassador needs to be briefed.

Well, I need a minute. Plus, the director's
gonna want an after-action report ASAP.

We need to get
our story straight.

Carrie, give me
a goddamn minute.

Okay.

What do you mean, “story”?

You know what I mean. We could
have done more back there.

You kidding me? No, I'm not.
It was within our power.

You know what? Fuck you.

No, really, Carrie.
Fuck you.

What the hell
is wrong with you?

What is wrong with you?

Five minutes. Inside.

I'm Carrie Mathison.
I need to see the ambassador.

Ma'am, you have blood all
over the side of your face.

Where's the bathroom?
To your right.

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