‘Homeland’ recap: Terrorist attack looming and only Carrie can stop it

Russian agent Allison Carr (Miranda Otto) reluctantly protects jihadi terrorists on the verge of slaughtering civilians with a chemical weapon on “Our Man in Damascus,� Episode 511 of Showtime’s spy thriller “Homeland.�

Moscow believes Western governments need a horrifying “wakeup call� that jolts them into destroying the barbaric Islamic State “root and branch.� Accordingly, the Kremlin orders Allison to mislead her CIA superiors and German authorities about where in Berlin the terrorists plan to release deadly Sarin gas.

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Since her CIA career is essentially over after correctly being branded as a longtime “mole� for Russia, Allison hopes to carry out her final, “insane� mission for the Kremlin and then collect millions of dollars she’s been promised for her traitorous deeds.

First she must extract details about the imminent attack from Dr. Aziz (Rachid Sabitri), an embittered professor who built a nerve gas dispersion device for the terrorists.

To make Aziz confess, Allison borrows a gun from the man assigned to guard her, overly trusting CIA agent Conrad Fuller (Morocco Omari).

“You have five seconds to tell me,� Allison warns Aziz. Dramatically proving she means business, Allison shoots bewildered Conrad in the forehead, then aims the pistol back at Aziz. “Last chance! Where’s the target?�

Aziz reveals in a panic that Sarin is hidden inside a subway station crowded with rush-hour commuters. Now Allison murders Aziz and shoots herself in the shoulder, making it appear she was wounded in a firefight. Then she calls Astrid (Nina Hoss) from Germany’s BND intelligence service for help.

Allison spins another of her myriad lies before being transported to a hospital, whispering that the terrorist cell targeted the Berlin airport. CIA agent Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend) could contradict that story, but he’s in a coma after being exposed to Sarin.

“Are you sure it’s the airport?� Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) asks her former CIA boss Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin). Because Carrie just searched an apartment where would-be jihadi Qasim (Alireza Bayram) lived, and all the clues point to an attack in the subway.

Following up on her hunch, Carrie grabs a photo of Qasim and his terrorist cousin Bibi Hamed (René Ifrah) and hurries to the busy Berlin Hauptbahnhof railway station. After she spots Qasim on an escalator, Carrie sends a text to Saul with the alarming news.

When Saul rushes to confront Allison with this latest information, he’s startled to realize she may have fled the hospital, possibly aided by Russian spies.

As for the terrorists, they intended to release the Sarin by remote control. But after the triggering device malfunctions, Bibi announces that he’ll don protective gear, enter the subway tunnel and activate the weapon manually.

“Whatever happens, it is God’s will,� Bibi exhorts his jihadi brothers. “Come on. Let’s finish what we started!�

With that, the terrorists depart for the railway station and proceed to chain shut the exit doors, trapping thousands of potentially doomed travelers inside.

When it’s Qasim’s turn to block an exit, he comes face-to-face with a father and his young daughter attempting to leave. Stricken by guilt at the thought of killing innocent civilians, Qasim drops his chain and lets the travelers escape.

Now the only person who can stop Bibi from releasing the nerve gas is Carrie, who jumps from a subway platform down onto the tracks.

While bravely entering a dark tunnel with her gun drawn, Carrie no doubt recalls the thousands of Americans who died during her CIA tenure when terrorists struck the Pentagon and World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Fourteen years later, she’s determined to prevent a similar devastating loss of life on German soil.