“Saul promised me this guy alive, hospital ” Carrie notes late in the eighth episode of this third season of Homeland and the issue of life (especially new life) was omnipresent throughout the hourlong episode.

In its most obvious form, Carrie’s pregnancy was confirmed by a doctor here who noted that the CIA agent needs to start taking better care of herself. Carrie freely admitted that she’s been drinking since she knew about the baby and wanted to confirm that the baby was okay. As a whole, this and the Brody’s family travails have been slowing down the plot’s momentum but fortunately, we only had a few scenes of this before the show moved onto more appealing twists.

Saul’s life now looks like it could get a new start again with his wife Mira, whose ex- boyfriend is– it turns out– hiding a few secrets of his own, now welcoming him back. Saul’s career at the CIA, on the other hand, is seemingly coming to a close. After locking Senator Lockhart, his likely successor as CIA director, in a conference room in last week’s episode, Saul knows that his career is in jeopardy. But for the time being, he takes comfort in blocking Lockhart out of a briefing meeting in the White House (winning!) about phase 2 of his Javardi project. Saul’s life may be changing but his pleasure in setting up a plan that could change the Middle East is helping him say goodbye to his current gig.

The most intriguing part of the episode came at the end and found Saul visiting the long-missing Brody, who was locked in a dismal cell gasping for air. Close to death, it looks like Saul is planning to rescue him. So, obviously, is Carrie who took a bullet attempting to keep a terrorist alive. When her first contact from the Iranian government approached her, she believed that he was simply a tool being used. In this episode, it was that conduit—Franklin— who led them to the man who moved the Langley bomb, causing the massive death toll that we saw at the end of season 2. Near the episodes conclusion, Franklin (who, it turns out, is more culpable than he lets on) took out that terrorist before Carrie could publically prove Brody’s innocence.

Ultimately, this episode (like episode 4) proved that this show has more life in it. Despite some of its weaker moments (like the pregnancy scenes), Homeland still has a powerful ability to surprise viewers.

The third season has– let’s face it– been wildly uneven with the twist at the end of episode four standing as a high point and episode 3— which focused on Brody’s whereabouts— serving as a low moment.

But now that Brody is back in the picture and his storyline will be intertwined with the rest of the show (thank goodness), the show might be able to recapture its best days in the remaining four episodes of season 3. Sooner rather than later, I would still argue that Brody should be killed off but for the time being, I’m okay with watching this latest story play out. My grade: B+