It features series regulars Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, Morena Baccarin, David Harewood, Diego Klattenhoff, Jackson Pace, Morgan Saylor, and Mandy Patinkin.
Homeland centers around Carrie Mathison (Danes), a CIA agent who is convinced that Nicholas Brody (Lewis), a recently rescued American marine, has been turned by al-Qaeda.
Jessica (Baccarin), Brody's wife, and Mike (Klattenhoff) face the fallout of the truth about their relationship.
He brings her on a 30-hour car ride back to Virginia, hoping to use that time to convince her to divulge her role in the terrorist plot.
Dana (Morgan Saylor) gets drunk with her friends at home and falls through the plate glass door.
Saul calls Estes (David Harewood) and tells him that Aileen's job was to buy the house near the airport and wait for a visitor.
He discovers that there is a direct line of sight to a landing pad for Marine One, the President's helicopter, and that it is within an expert sniper's range.
While discussing breakfast, Carrie slips up and mentions Brody's favorite brand of tea: Yorkshire Gold.
Carrie, knowing she has been caught, elects to turn the tables; she directly accuses Brody of being an agent of al-Qaeda.
"The Weekend" received overwhelming critical acclaim and was described by both the creators of the show and Damian Lewis as a "watershed" episode.
[1][2] Salon.com's Matt Zoller Seitz thought the episode was "so deftly written, acted and directed — and so unconventionally yet elegantly structured — that it flirted with perfection".
[4] TIME's James Poniewozik praised the audacity of the writing, saying "in this stunner of an episode, Homeland blew up its status quo.
It received a 0.6 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic, and attracted 1.42 million American viewers, which was a fifth consecutive increase in viewership for Homeland week-to-week.