Q&A (Homeland)
"Q&A" is the fifth episode of the second season of the American television drama series Homeland, and the 17th episode overall. It originally aired on Showtime on October 28, 2012.
The original broadcast was watched by 2.07 million viewers which marked an all-time high for the series. Along with Dexter, it was the first time two Showtime programs topped two million viewers in the same night.
The episode was cited by multiple publications as one of the best television episodes of 2012.
Plot
Brody (Damian Lewis) is brought to an unknown location and is alone, handcuffed in a room with cameras watching him. Quinn (Rupert Friend) enters and begins the interrogation while Saul (Mandy Patinkin) and Carrie (Claire Danes) observe from another room. He starts with a line of questioning designed to get Brody to tell a series of lies. Brody denies knowing Abu Nazir's son, and claims he never wore a suicide vest and had no involvement in any plot with Tom Walker. Quinn then shows the video of Brody's confession that they acquired and leaves him alone for a while to think about it. When Quinn returns, Brody readily confesses to knowing and loving Issa, and being angry at Vice President Walden, but denies ever wearing a suicide vest. Brody boasts that nothing happened in that bunker and they have no real evidence on him. When he can't extract any more information, Quinn explodes in anger and stabs Brody in the hand with a knife. Quinn later explains his actions to Saul as a performance, because "every good cop needs a bad cop."