Homeland Season 2, Episode 2

• Courtesy of Showtime
• UP ON THE ROOF: Mandy Patinkin and Claire Danes in “Homeland”

I have a theory that one of the secrets to Claire Danes’ Emmy-winning performances lies in her eyes. During high-emotion scenes, you can see a lot of white in her eyes — don’t know if Danes can open her eyes wider than most grown-ups, or her irises are slightly smaller than normal, but it makes for a striking effect. At such moments her eyes convey vulnerability and emotional transparency. Her bi-polar freakout scenes from last season offer prime examples, but this goes back to her early days with “My So-Called Life” and her big tear-jerking scene in Little Women.

Carrie plays it cool when we first see her in “Beirut is Back,” however. We see Fatimah at morning prayers and who should pay her an unannounced visit but Carrie. “I remembered you always come to Friday prayers,” Carrie says, which seems like an even more definitive sign that she’s still got her mojo than last week’s knee to the groin of her pursuer. She remembers a tiny detail about a source’s personal routine eight years later? Impressive. (Yes, I know she’s not a real person, but still.)

Fatimah reveals that her husband have an impending meeting with Abu Nazir and that she wants to be relocated from Lebanon to Detroit. (Insert joke about Detroit urban blight here.)