Returning The Mystery To The Viewer
A Musical and Psychological Analysis of the Music of Homeland: Season 1

Jonathan O'Hara
FS-695
Thesis Advisor: Alfons Conde
30 June 2015

 

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Jonathan O’Hara
Thesis Advisor: Alfons Conde
Berklee College of Music
30 June 2015
Returning the Mystery to the Viewer
A Musical and Psychological Analysis of the Music of Homeland: Season 1
The function of music in any visual media can generally be broken down into the
following tendencies; music is there to support the narrative, heighten the intensity and
tension, accentuate the stakes of what is going on in a particular moment, or to imbue a
scene with a specific meaning or perhaps evoke a certain emotion. For the most part,
Sean Callery’s unique score for the first season of the acclaimed television drama
Homeland is no exception to these aforementioned effective tendencies. However, what
makes his score so extraordinary is it’s departure from the necessity to elicit specific
emotions from the viewer and Callery’s desire to achieve the opposite effect: mystery and
drama through emotional ambiguity. Homeland is “a political thriller in which all of the
drama, action, suspense, and tension lies in the spaces between the words.”1 Although the
show contains its fair share of action and appropriate music to support it, the majority of
the drama is played out psychologically and thus, the score is predominantly driven by
psychological motivations. Because Homeland’s plot is centered upon a central mystery
and many unknowns, the score is not a slave to always coloring the specific emotions of
certain moments. Rather, Callery music disguises it’s emotional perspective and shrouds
itself in the drama and ambiguity that permeates the narrative. According to the composer

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1
Interview with Sean Callery (12 May 2015).

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himself, his “biggest singular challenge was scoring in a minimal way that really returned
the mystery and the ambiguity back to the viewer, and yet still making a musical
contribution that enhances the storytelling of the series.”2 Not only was Callery able to
do this while retaining a distinct sense of musical continuity within the ambiguity; his
sonic landscape enhances the viewer’s observational and somewhat voyeuristic
perspective, placing us directly inside the head of the characters that are experiencing this
confusion and mystery firsthand, mainly the protagonist Carrie Mathison. All the while,
Callery does not dictate to us how we should respond emotionally to specific moments
and instead lets us grapple with the ambiguity and mystery ourselves and have our own
gut reactions.

CONTEXT AND SHOOTING STYLE
In the first half of Homeland Season 1, this above-mentioned central mystery is as
follows: without permission from her superiors and based on intelligence she received
while working as a field agent in the Middle East, CIA agent Carrie Mathison observes
and spies on a returned American Marine, Sgt. Nicholas Brody, whom she suspects has
been turned by terrorists during his seven years of captivity. Carrie obsesses over Brody
and his possible status as a terrorist, all while Brody struggles to adjust to a normal life
with his family after captivity. Eventually, Carrie becomes romatically involved with
Brody in efforts to get closer to understanding him; however, this just complicates things
further. Carrie also is bipolar and has kept her disorder a secret from the CIA throughout


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2
Interview with Sean Callery (12 May 2015)

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her employment. All of this knowledge is essential context needed to understand the role
of music in Homeland.
The show is shot in a documentary-like style, assuming a voyeuristic perspective
for the viewer, which presents challenges for the score. Callery explains, “the presence of
music in it of itself is almost illogical because the moment you hear music, you’re
creating an unnatural hyper-reality because you have score that is informing the viewer
how to feel.”3 How he chooses to navigate this conundrum is by not “over-scoring” and
generally, keeping the music relatively minimal.
According to Callery, most of the music in Homeland is meant to be seen (and
heard) through Carrie’s eyes and point-of-view. Since much of the show, especially the
first few episodes, is spent with Carrie in a state of ambivalence, not knowing whether
the terrorists have turned Sgt. Brody or if he is just shell-shocked and dealing with posttraumatic stress disorder, much of his music parallels this ambivalence. I will refer to this
type of music as “confused music.”

THE FIRST CUE
The first cue of the season needed to setup a logical framework in which Callery could
establish the score’s point-of-view.4 At this point in the show, the audience is not aware
of the existence of Sgt. Brody, the intangible factor that this “central mystery” revolves
around. Callery chooses wisely to use this cue to establish the connection between
elements of the score and a first-person point-of-view seen through Carrie’s eyes.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3
Interview with Sean Callery (12 May 2015).
4
Appendix A: “Cue List”: Ep. 1 – Cue #1

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Beginning with establishing shots of Washington D.C., and then segueing into
shots of the interior of an apartment, this scene gives us our first glimpse into Carrie
Mathison’s life back on United States soil. Just as this scene is crucial in establishing a
context for the show and it’s voyeuristic cinematographic tendencies, so too is this scene
crucial for establishing a musical framework for the show. So immediately, Callery
establishes his general sonic palate, peppered with an air of intrigue and mystery right
from the beginning. As he will with many cues in the first season of Homeland, Callery
begins this first cue with a sense of harmonic ambivalence. We can’t quite tell if we are
in G Major, g minor, or somewhere in between because he only uses 2 notes: an open 5th
with a G as the tonic. This is “confused music” on the most basic and micro level, but is
important to note because it subconsciously provides the viewer the opportunity to draw
his or her own conclusions emotionally. The tonal ambiguity of open and transparent
harmony pervades the entirety of Callery’s score and will be discussed in much detail
throughout this paper. Rhythmic intrigue is created initially through the use of delays in
the guitars, synths, and most notably, the chords in the keyboard. These delays create an
intricate web of phantom rhythms that further sets up the mystery that we are vaguely
aware of at this point in the show.
The first non-chord tone that he introduces in this cue is a C#, an augmented-4th
above the tonic and a leading tone to the dominant. This alludes to the jaunty chromatic
harmony of the main theme that has not been heard yet, immediately tying the music that
we are hearing, and eventually the main theme, to Carrie Matheson. This chromatic
harmony, especially in juxtaposition with the open and transparent harmony discussed
above, will be a consistent device that Callery uses to create a subtle sense of confusion

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throughout the show. As we see more of Carrie’s apartment, including a photo of
trumpeter Louis Armstrong hung on her wall and a photo of the terrorist Abu Nazir
pinned to a corkboard, Callery introduces more elements that will be fundamental
building blocks of his score, including, but not limited to, grounded yet somewhat
nebulous tone centers, more chromaticism as well as his usage of synths and subtle yet
effective sound design.
We then see Carrie hurriedly getting ready for work, prompting a change in the
music and it’s orchestration. She takes her medication, removes what presumably is a
wedding ring, and leaves her apartment. These are all very normal daily activities that
would generally not be included in an hour-long television drama, usually for the sake of
squeezing in more action and plot development, but thanks to Callery’s score, this portion
of the cue has a heightened importance in allowing the viewer to learn quite a bit about
Carrie. Supported by a plain pad, the strings and piano act as propulsive engines and are
much more frantic and disjointed than seems appropriate for what is visually occurring in
the scene, never fixating on a particular pattern or figure for more than a few iterations.
Yet they also possess mechanical and precise qualities, subtly suggesting that this too is
an incarnation of Carrie’s slightly frenzied, yet somehow organized methodology. The
off-balanced nature of these string and piano figures also intentionally points to what we
eventually find out to be her bipolar disorder.
When Carrie takes her pill, the orchestration changes and a layer of the string
engine is peeled back. Everything starts to become a bit less frenzied and more subdued,
paralleling the effect of the pill on her psyche. This obvious sync point also confirms that
this music is meant to be seen, heard, and felt from Carrie’s point of view. In order to

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eventually “return the mystery and ambiguity” to the viewer throughout the season,
Callery must be deliberate and somewhat obvious with his devices in this cue to establish
connections between the storyline and the music. Thus, this cue is one of the most “onthe-nose” cues of the whole season, with notable and obvious audiovisual sync points,
which is not very common in this score. It is as though Callery is easing us into the
waters of the ambiguous music of Homeland little by little, introducing us to the
protagonist and her psyche before he fully submerges us in the depths of Carrie’s mind.
By the time Carrie is in the car on the way to work, her medication has kicked in and the
pads take over as the foreground element in the mix, relegating the previously frenetic
strings into a subdued, repetitive ostinato that slowly disintegrates into nothing.

“CONFUSED MUSIC” AND IT’S MANY MANIFESTATIONS
After the first cue of the season, much of the score consists of what I have previously
referred to as “confused music.” This confusion continues to manifest on two different
levels in the plot: Carrie’s confusion with Brody and his status as a potential terrorist, and
the confusion caused by her mental disorder. Callery describes it this way:
“The confused part of it, the ambiguity of the music, is particularly indigenous in
the first part of the first season because (Carrie) wasn’t sure what she was seeing.
She was convinced she was seeing the right thing, but she had other people telling
her otherwise…There was a lot of unknown in those moments of the show, a lot
of mystery and a lot of frustration on her part about what she was observing…She
thinks she has the answer, but then it is not quite there…Her lack of confidence

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and her confusion had to be depicted (musically) but not “hit too hard on the
head.”
Thus Carrie’s confusion regarding Brody is depicted musically in a variety of subtle
ways, some thematic and others not. One example of this occurs in certain cues when
Carrie is in a voyeuristic position spying on Brody. Callery uses a minor-Major 7th chord
for the basis of his harmony in these moments and articulates the top two voices as
follows:5

Example 1: Voyeuristic Motif (thematic) – Carrie Spying on Brody

Similar to Carrie’s observation of Brody, this harmony is odd and uncomfortable,
unsure of itself and unsure whether it belongs in this situation. However, the simple
rhythm and slow tempo in which the upper voices are played in the piano suggest a sense
of calm and collected observation in spite of the somewhat peculiar and confusing
harmony. It is unsettling and uncomfortable for the viewer, but the juxtaposition between
the odd harmony and the calm, calculated quarter-note rhythm in the piano diads allows
the viewer to occupy Carrie’s pensive state of mind as she tries to figure out Brody’s
modus operandi. Since Carrie is confused, and the music is “confused,” the audience in
turn is confused and we are forced to draw our own conclusions and thus experience the
mystery that Carrie is experiencing in our own way. Callery uses similar types of
thematic devices with restraint; the above example appears only four times throughout


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5
Cue List: Ep. 4 – Cues #7 & 9, Ep. 5 – Cues #3 and 13

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the first season of the show, just enough to establish it’s thematic intent, but not too much
to be overly obvious.

MAIN THEMES
I cannot go any further without mentioning Homeland’s main themes. Beginning with the
title sequence, inspired by Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko’s Terminal 7, the main title
music is critically important because it sets the tone at the beginning of each episode.
Vague and nebulous, yet sonically dense with music and audio samples, this ethereal and
jazzy main title embodies the emotional crux of the show. Nothing is crystal clear or fully
formulated and the sheer mass of sound buries a lot of elements deep within the sonic
fabric. Although Callery gravitates towards d minor as his key center in the main titles,
the overall tone feels enigmatic and unfamiliar while still remaining portentous and
ominous. He does this by moving in and out of different scalar modes based off a tonic of
D, utilizing many chromatic tones. Furthermore, the title sequence imagery begins with
fleeting, stream-of-conscious imagery from Carrie’s childhood as well as Carrie sleeping,
thus creating a link between her conscious and this type of music. By playing against the
quick-cutting, stream-of-consciousness imagery with more unpredictable, arrhythmic
music, Callery creates a dichotomy between image and sound that yields a strange,
confusing duality between Carrie and the theme music. Throughout the show we come to
realize that Carrie identifies with jazz and uses it as a means of understanding herself as
well as a source of comfort. This is particularly important in the licensed music of the
show, which will be explored further later. Having said all of this, it would be impractical
for Callery to score the entire show in this dense style, so Callery contrasts the main title

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with a generally minimal score that retains the ambiguity of the main title in a very
different way: through transparency and subtlety.
Melodic Theme A. One of the two main melodic themes that people generally associate
with Homeland occurs in the music that is played over the credits of almost every
episode. The instrumentation is practically identical to the main title, yet is less dense
sonically. The melody occurs in the piano, while a mournful trumpet floats on wistfully
above, all while delay-ridden guitars and unpredictable drum set rhythms drive the
subdued and irregular pulse.

Example 2: Melodic Theme A

Delving into the theory of this melody, the first two bars of this theme contain the
harmonic building blocks of much of the shows music directly within the piano melody.
It is comprised mainly of perfect-5ths, perfect-4ths, and augmented-4ths as well as
chromatic passing tones. These open intervals (4ths and 5ths) as well as the contrasting
chromatic non-chord tones (especially minor-2nds/Major-7ths, and augmented-4ths)
permeate the entirety of Homeland’s harmonic language and are the primary colors with
which Callery paints his harmonic canvas. Although this melody sounds minor, the
resolution in the third measure suggests a Dorian mode, where the Eb is a passing tone
between the D and the E. This is a scalar mode that Callery often uses in conjunction with
or in place of a minor mode. In contrast to a minor mode, the raised 6th scale degree in
Dorian mode adds a splash of a lighter color to the normally darker mode, thus slightly
“confusing” a mode that our ears are so accustomed to hearing in music every day. By no

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means did Sean Callery invent the Dorian mode; its use is ubiquitous in film music.
However, it does allow him to avoid hitting more basic emotions like general happiness
and sadness directly “on the head.” Instead, by introducing windy chromaticism and the
Dorian mode juxtaposed against the minor mode in this melodic theme, Callery
immediately complicates and matures the emotional landscape of his music and ends
each show leaving us unsure quite what to think or how to feel.

Example 3: First Appearance of Melodic Theme A (Ep. 1 – Cue #2): Inversion and Variation

The aforementioned Melodic Theme A appears in variations throughout the show.
The second cue of Episode 1 (Example 3, above) is one of the more fleshed-out iterations
of the melody we hear throughout the season, and actually occurs before we have heard
Melodic Theme A in its primary form. This introduces the theme and also associates it
with Carrie’s mind and her doubts in this particular scene. This melody starts as soon as
the CIA director David Estes announces that they have found Sgt. Brody after seven
years of being MIA. The dissonances and tritones relay a feeling of uneasiness; we can
tell Carrie feels that something is not quite right in this scenario. The chromatic, windy
theme sticks out in the foreground against the transparent pad background. Callery, again,
is introducing us to something in a relatively obvious manner that he will apply
throughout the show often in a subtler manner. However, the important thing to note is

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the association this cue makes between Carrie and Melodic Theme A, which, more often
than not, appears not as a complete melody but rather via little melodic micro-cells of two
or three notes throughout the entire season.6 The complete melodic theme appears only in
a few pivotal moments of great significance involving Carrie and is always played on the
piano.7

Example 4: Melodic Theme B

Melodic Theme B. The other main melodic idea Callery uses throughout the first
season is Melodic Theme B. This theme sounds distinctly minor and has a more clear-cut,
dramatic function. It is often used in scenes with Brody, but also scenes involving other
characters with potential ties to Abu Nazir.8 Other melodies unrelated to these two main
melodic themes pop up here and there, however, these melodies are usually more of
melodic micro-cells than fleshed out melodies. In a show like Homeland, melody has the
potential to be distracting and pull the viewer out of the perceived “realness” of the
moment if we consciously realize that we are hearing a melody. Consequently, melodic
content is handled very carefully and sparsely throughout the season.

MUSICAL LANGUAGE AND ITS PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS
Callery’s musical language in Homeland is a complete package, with no one
aspect able to exist and function effectively without the others. While his melodies and

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6
Cue List: Ep. 3 – Cue #5 is one example of this.
7
Cue List: Ep. 7 – Cue #3 and Episode 11 – Cue #11 are two of the most important
examples of Melodic Theme A’s re-appearance.
8
Cue List: Ep. 7 – Cue #6, Ep. 10 – Cue #3, Ep. 12 – Cue #3 are some of many examples
of the appearance of this theme.

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melodic micro-cells could not exist outside the framework of his well-defined and unique
harmonic language, this harmonic framework is informed by and enhanced by his
delicate and restrained orchestration and sound design, which I will continue to refer to
collectively as “sonic orchestration.”
By often using sparseness and minimalism in regards to his harmony and his
sonic orchestration, Callery achieves a certain open and transparent nature to his music,
but still manages to keep it aurally intriguing. Psychologically, this leaves his music more
open to interpretation. It remains intentionally uncluttered and ambiguous enough to feel
unsettling and uncertain in the emotional direction in which the music is pointing the
viewer. He achieves this effect in a variety of ways harmonically and orchestrationally,
including, but not limited to his use of single notes and open fifths, his modulatory
techniques, his use of sustained chromatic dissonances (specifically minor-2nds and
augmented 4ths/diminished 5ths), mixed scalar modes, instrumentation choices, sound
design, as well as subtle audio effects.
Cue Entrances and Modulations. To begin to understand Callery’s harmonic landscape,
we must first look at how Callery begins many of his cues. In many of his cues in the first
season, Callery fades in the music on either a single tone or an open fifth, often using a
pad or other non-threatening, non-abrasive sound.9 Single-note entrances are particularly
useful to Callery because it allows him to not necessarily define the cue’s tonic
immediately. By patiently letting these single notes evolve through restrained and subtle
sonic orchestration, Callery gives himself the option to easily keep the true key center of
a cue obscured until a specific moment or can modulate to another key center without

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9
Cue List: Ep. 1 – Cue #12, Ep. 3 – Cue #1, Ep. 6 – Cue #5, and Ep. 11 – Cue #8 are a
few of countless examples of this trend.

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being obvious whatsoever. Callery uses these somewhat invisible modulations and
disguised tone centers as a constant source of ambiguity and as a tool of adding subtle
changes of color to the drama: a tool with which he can organically allow us, the viewers,
to steer our emotions in conjunction with the emotions of a particular character or
characters.
One example of this occurs in in Episode 4 when Jess tells Brody she has invited
his best friend Mike, whom Brody is partially aware that she had been sleeping with, over
for their upcoming barbeque.10 After a solemn G fades in via a pad, Callery follows this
G with another voice entering relatively soon after the first voice, in this case, on a
Major-7th below: an Ab below the initial G. These voices begin to work in an eerie
counterpoint. Although it initially sounds as though G is the tonic and the Ab is a
chromatically dissonant minor-second, Callery takes advantage of this chromatic
relationship in a different way. He instead treats the G as a Major-7th of an ab minor
chord, creating an uncomfortable harmony of the ab min/Maj7 chord, which becomes a
thematic component of the score. Callery does not truly reveal the tonic until the next
scene begins and we see Carrie stealthily watching Brody’s house from her car. By using
the minor-2nd/Major-7th dissonances to hide the tonic, Callery allows his music to
function at first in a confusing and uncomfortable way during the scene with Brody and
Jess with his extended counterpoint, and then later evolving into more clear-cut tonality
when the camera shifts to Carrie spying on Brody.
When Callery’s musical entrances are more abrupt, they are still handled in a very
precise manner and always rife with psychological implications. For example, at the end

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10
Cue List: Ep. 4 – Cue #7

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of the sixth episode, Brody takes a polygraph test to determine if he had anything to do
with the unlikely death of a CIA-captured prisoner of war with ties to Abu Nazir.11 This
test comes directly on the heels of Brody and Carrie beginning their romantic
involvement. Carrie takes advantage of this fact and tells the man administering the test
to ask Brody if he has ever been unfaithful to his wife, and Brody lies, yet still manages
to pass the polygraph in that moment. That is also the moment where Callery begins his
music, quickly introducing a reversed bowed metal noise with a delay. This noise
presents itself briefly as a stinger of sorts, but as quickly as it was introduced, the stinger
and it’s delays fade away and low pads take over the mix. This abrupt stinger clues us
into Carrie’s momentary surprise and frustration at Brody’s passing of the polygraph test.
But as the pads and eventually the dissonant marimbas and other synths take over as the
main elements of the mix, this implies that Carrie’s passing surprise gives way to her
more pensive and brooding mentality.
Open Fifths. Callery’s ubiquitous usage of open fifths has a similar effect as his
employment of long single notes. With these open diads, Callery propagates an ambiguity
between Major and minor tone centers, giving his cues a further sense of tonal haziness.
This harmonic opacity is used throughout his score to dispel any sense of definiteness in
the sentiment of the scene, thus forcing the viewers to ask themselves the question, “how
does this make me feel?” For example, when Brody returns home from Afghanistan and
sees his family for the first time in seven years at the airport, Callery waits with restraint,
holding back the music until Brody has been hugged by his wife Jessica and then is


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11
Cue List: Ep. 6 – Cue #14

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addressed by his daughter, Dana.12 This prompts the introduction of his music, which
fixates on an open fifth based on the tonic of Eb. Callery noticeably steers away from
coloring this scene with a distinctly Major or minor tonality, and instead relies on the
introduction of 2nds, 6ths, and 7ths to allude to potential harmonic centers. The minor6ths and minor-7ths suggest eb minor, however, Callery never uses a minor-3rd to affirm
that tonality. This harmonic confusion also deliberately plays against the content of a
scene that could have easily been scored with a happier musical demeanor, but instead,
the music is uneasy and apprehensive, which is much more appropriate for the moment. It
gives us a sense of Brody’s overwhelming confusion, anxiety, and trepidation in
returning to the United States, which trumps the happiness of seeing his family for the
first time in seven years. Within the context of Brody’s confusion, are we lead to believe
that he is not thrilled to see his family? Or are we to believe he is experiencing PTSD and
does not know how to deal with his emotions? Or is there something more at play, of
which we are yet unaware? Callery lets his music lay his framework for these questions,
but stays out of the way of answering them and instead lets us make sense of the
ambiguity for ourselves.
Lack of Obvious “Hit-Points.” Callery does not use very many obvious “hit-points” to
highlight action within his cues, except in the case of Brody’s hallucinations, his
flashbacks to his time in Afghanistan, and other similar moments that are meant to
intentionally jar the viewer and disrupt our senses.13 These flashback-centric cues rely
heavily on atonality and creative sound design and are centered on the use of bowed

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12
Cue List – Ep. 1, Cue #7
13
Cue List: Ep. 1 – Cues #13, 17. Ep. 2 – Cue #3. Ep. 3 – Cue #7. Ep. 4 – Cues #1, 4. Ep.
5 – Cue #5. Ep. 9 – Cue #3

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metals, other high-frequency noises. Just as Brody is caught off-guard by the immediacy
of these flashbacks, so too is the viewer, catching us off-balance and thrusting us directly
into the flashback or hallucination with Brody. In these cues, Callery intends to fixate on
a sonically uncomfortable area of the frequency spectrum, but does not overload that area
with too much information. Callery explains that when composing cues that are primarily
just sound design, it is easy to continually add elements one on top of the other just
because they sound good. However, it is important to exercise restraint and to treat these
sound design-based cues just as one would treat an orchestral cue so that the music does
not sound muddy. So through his attention to detail in these cues, Callery achieves a
dense and uncomfortable soundscape with a lot of sounds and sound design, yet makes
sure that each sound has enough room in the mix to retain its unique and unsettling
individual qualities. The atonality characteristic of these cues further jostles the viewers’
senses, giving them no clear tone center to latch onto and thus bamboozling our senses
even further.
Cue Endings. Callery ends the majority of his cues with rather long fade-outs, usually
with no definitive “ending.” This is worth noting because, like the above-mentioned fadeins, these fade-outs partially camouflage the presence of his music and allow Callery to
surreptitiously ease the viewer in and out a particular characters’ perspective without
drawing blatant attention to his music. However, when a cue does end abruptly and
suddenly, it is intentional and meant to emphasize a moment that catches a particular
character, usually Carrie or Brody, by surprise. Consequently, we are able to remain
within the head-space of that particular character and experience their shock or surprise
simultaneously. One clear example of this occurs when Brody twice unsuccessfully tries

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to detonate his bomb vest when cluttered in a shelter with various high-ranking political
officials, most importantly, the vice president, against whom Brody has a personal
vendetta.14 He is extremely nervous and anxious in the moments leading up to his first
attempt to detonate, the diegetic sound fixated on his heavy, labored breathing and all
other noise of conversation reduced to background murmurs. For Brody’s first attempt,
Callery brings 2 pads on a minor-7th (E tonic and a D above). These pads possess a wind
instrument-type quality to them, causing them to sound icy and cold, further adding to
Brody’s isolation and fear in this moment. Callery dissipates this slightly crescendoing
tension with sudden silence in the exact moment that Brody clicks the detonator switch.
The detonator does not work, and just as Brody is taken by surprise at the device’s
malfunction, so too are we by the silence. Through this sudden lack of music, we are
further plunged into Brody’s mind, experiencing this false climax of what was to be his
impending death along with him. Once the immediate total shock has worn off of Brody,
high tremolo strings and harmonics uncomfortably enter for just a few seconds to signal
to the viewer that Brody is coming to grips with the failure of his device and the fact that
he is still alive. This is by no means light subject matter, and many composers would treat
this type of moment with a grandiose and heightened sense of drama in their underscore.
However, Callery stays true to his relatively minimal methodology, which is especially
effective in relaying the intensity and gravitas of the situation by emphasizing sentiments
of isolation and mounting anxiety.
Brody’s second attempt is scored in a similar fashion, containing the same type of
false climax, although this time it is orchestrated a bit differently. The high tremolo

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14
Cue List: Ep. 12 – Cues #9, 11

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strings and harmonics that ended the last cue reappear here as the primary element of the
rising tension, buoyed by reversed woodwinds and similar pads to the pads used during
his previous detonation attempt. This time, Brody is caught off-guard by a tap on his
shoulder from a secret service agent saying that Brody has a phone call from his
daughter. This comes mere seconds before Brody would have activated the detonator.
The texture is so well orchestrated that the secret service agent’s cell-phone ring is almost
imperceptible within the texture, as if it is a part of the sound design, signaling to us that
in that moment, Brody is almost totally unaware of his surroundings. His apprehension
intensifying by the second, he is completely in his own head, and Callery makes sure that
the viewers are right in there with him to experience this tense moment.
More Thematic Harmony. Aside from the tonally amorphous single-notes and openfifths, Callery relies upon careful use of chromaticism to craft his musical and dramatic
language in Homeland. Critical to this ethos are minor-2nds and augmented-4ths. Callery
does not only deploy chromaticism to provide modulatory pivot point; he also, especially
in cues where the harmony is relatively ambiguous, uses these dissonances to further add
to the tension of the scene or to highlight a change in the action. Often, these dissonances
are approached through counterpoint and linger uncomfortably, as they did in the
previously described seventh cue of Episode 4. In a score that is generally minimal, these
prolonged fixations on dissonances create a sense of intentional discomfort in the viewer.
This sense of uneasiness is often used in cues to mirror Carrie’s discomfort and anxiety in
her inability to fully comprehend all the facets of the mystery that she has been
attempting to solve.

O’Hara 19
THE MIDDLE-EASTERN INFLUENCE
Middle Eastern harmony and instrumentation also plays a significant role in the musical
language of the show for a few reasons. Instrumentation-wise, Callery often uses a duduk
player or a solo violin to add a middle-eastern sound to certain cues. Where we hear this
music, it draws the obvious parallel to people or moments that have a connection to the
Middle East. However, to add a further sense of intrigue, Callery introduces this music in
moments where we are not sure of what exact connection that specific character has with
the Middle East and if it is simply a cultural connection or if they are involved with the
terrorist Abu Nazir. Callery takes advantage of this confusion and uses this MiddleEastern influence somewhat liberally in scenes with characters such as Brody, Tom
Walker, and Eileen Faizel, to name a few.15 We know they all have connections with the
Middle East and Callery points to this with his music, but the specific connections are not
always obvious to the viewer.

Example 5: C Major Phrygian Scale

Moments containing this Middle-Eastern instrumentation often rely on a Major
Phrygian scale, which is simply a harmonic minor scale that begins on the 5th scale
degree. The example above is a C Major Phrygian scale derived from an f harmonic
minor scale. This simple tonic displacement adds a multitude of possibilities
harmonically, which Callery explores in his score to further add to the score’s ambiguity.
Utilizing “Tetrachord 2” allows him to work with a set of notes that sounds like they

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15
Cue List: For Brody, see Ep. 2 – Cue #15 and Ep#3 – Cue #9. For Eileen Faizel, see
Ep. 6 – Cue #7 and Ep. 7 – Cue #6. For Tom Walker, see Ep. 8 – Cues #1, 6.

O’Hara 20
belong to the minor mode, often employing this scale while using Melodic Theme B,
which is comprised entirely of notes from “Tetrachord 2.” “Tetrachord 1” contains an
augmented-2nd interval between the 2nd and 3rd scale degrees, which, in addition to giving
the scale a distinctly Middle-Eastern sound, also draws a parallel to a harmonic minor
mode based on the 4th scale degree. He also quite often raises the 7th degree of this scale
to give the upper “Tetrachord 2” a harmonic minor scale sound as well and allows him to
explore the dissonances of Major 7ths and minor-9ths, both of which are a half-step apart
from the tonic.16 Furthermore, the 3rd scale degree gives this scale a hint of the major
mode because it is a Major-3rd away from the tonic. All used in combination with one
another, these different scalar mini-modes contained in the Major Phrygian scale create a
natural tonal ambiguity within the harmony.
Thematic Key Centers. Callery creates another thread of musical consistency amidst his
sometimes tonally mysterious score by utilizing key centers thematically from time to
time. Similar to his thematic usage of harmony and sparse melodic motifs, he creates for
the viewer cohesion between certain moments and certain musical motifs by using these
connected key centers, regardless of the chromaticism or modulation that is present in the
cue. This alerts our subconscious to the correlation without being very obvious. For
example, near the end of Episode 7, it is revealed that Tom Walker, a marine scout sniper
who Brody was lead to believe he had beaten to death, is still alive and is a potential
terrorist threat currently on United States soil. 17 This information is revealed during the
penultimate cue of the episode, which modulates from e minor to d minor, and for the
next three episodes, every scene involving Tom Walker is centered either upon e minor

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16
See Cue List: Ep. 3 – Cue #13 and Ep. 11 – Cue #8 are two examples of this
17
Cue List: Ep. 7 – Cue #12

O’Hara 21
and/or d minor.18 This correlation between Walker and those two key centers exists
without having to establish a melodic theme, or leitmotif, specifically for Walker,
allowing Callery to remain sparse melodically in moments involving Walker while still
composing thematically.

“SONIC ORCHESTRATION”
Callery’s unique sound world would not be possible without his distinctive instrumental
palate. Since plenty of ambiguity is created through the harmony, melody, and sonic
orchestration, the instrumentation is critical in maintaining continuity and creating a
recognizable and consistent framework for the score. The score relies primarily on
synths, pads, keyboards, guitars, strings, and percussion. Many other instruments make
their way into the score from time to time, such as middle-eastern instruments like the
duduk and the oud, as well as more traditional orchestral instruments like woodwinds and
brass. The heavy usage of instruments such as pianos and electric keyboards can be
traced back to the jazz influence of the show, whereas the synths and sound design add a
different and modern flavor to Callery’s music.
Oftentimes, a development in the action or drama of a specific scene is
accompanied by the introduction of a new instrument or synth. However, since most of
Callery’s music is relatively sparse and minimal, he has to find creative ways to continue
pushing the momentum of a scene forward without overcrowding the instrumentation.
One great example of how he does this is by using automated filters, subtle LFOs, and
discreet volume or panning adjustments to keep the viewers’ ears engaged and the music

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18
Cue List: Ep. 8 – Cue #1, 4, 5, 6. Ep. 9 – Cues #2, 7. Ep. 10 – Cues #11, 12

O’Hara 22
moving forward. He pays careful attention to this in regards to his pads, the bedrock of
many of his cues, which could easily become boring and static if they do not maintain a
sense of evolution through audio effects and adjustments. By adding these elements of
sound design, Callery allows the pads to take on a life of their own, evolving organically
along with the scene as opposed to weighing it down.
Callery also employs many reversed sounds, which immediately create an offkilter sensation when juxtaposed against a primarily non-reversed soundscape. One of the
main examples of this occurs during Brody’s flashbacks and hallucinations. In addition to
the already-chaotic atonal soundscape, the reversed synths and reversed bowed
percussion further disorient the viewer and are effective in musically emulating Brody’s
psychological state in those moments. Callery also often uses a reversed sine-wave synth,
which often carries thematic implications pertaining to Carrie.19 In many moments
throughout the first season, particularly towards the latter half of the season, this sound
percolates through the sonic texture in moments of Carrie’s pensiveness and confusion,
acting as a sonic equivalent of little bubbles of thought fleetingly appearing and
disappearing in her mind. For example, in the first cue of Episode 6 when Carrie is
watching footage of Brody and trying to make sense of what she is observing, the
reversed sine-wave synths act as semi-melodic, textural elements trying to peek through
the sonic fabric, trying to take shape into something coherent. But just as her thoughts
and conclusions are trying to take shape in these moments but ultimately are unsuccessful


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
19
Cue List: Ep. 4 – Cues #7, 9. Ep 6 – Cues #4, 7, 14. Ep. 7 – Cue #3. Ep. 8 – Cue #8.
Ep. 9 – Cue #13. Ep. 10 – Cues #11, 13. Ep. 12 – Cue #1

O’Hara 23
in doing so, so to does this sine-wave sound, which cannot utter more than a note or two
before melding seamlessly back into the amorphous texture.20
Perhaps the most crucial element of sound design employed by Callery is his
usage of delays. Throughout almost every cue of the season, one, some, or all of the
instruments and synths are affected by delays to varying degrees. These delays are
sometimes very rhythmically precise and other times more meandering and aimless with
their echoes and pulsations. In a show where there are so many questions and not very
many answers, these phantom rhythms add a layer of complexity on top of the score
through their rhythmic intricacy, in addition to creating forward momentum musically.
On a subconscious level, these delays force the viewer to reckon with the same questions
that are frustrating Carrie: what is real and what is misleading? Should we believe what
we see and hear, or is it all just a façade?
Another method Callery uses to create forward momentum is through the
rhythmic impetus of arpeggiators, often used with a sine wave bass. Aside from its
propulsive qualities, this constant 1/8th or 1/16th note pulse created by the arpeggiator
often has sinister implications.21 Multiple times, the arpeggiated bass is introduced when
we are led to believe that Brody is thinking about some important information to which
we are not privy. 22 We come to associate this arpeggiated bass with these sneaky types of
moments, and thus Callery teases us with this instrumentation. He allows us a furtive
glimpse into the plotting and calculated gears of thought churning inside Brody’s mind,
all while not giving any discernable information away. He leaves the viewer with their

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20
Cue List: Ep. 6 – Cue #1
21
Cue List: Ep. 2 – Cue #12. Ep. 6 – Cue #7
22
Cue List: Ep. 1 – Cues #4, 9. Ep. 5 – Cue #4. Ep. 6 – Cue #14

O’Hara 24
thoughts, pondering the implications of the mystery presented to them by the introduction
of the arpeggiated sine-wave bass: what does Brody know that we do not?

THE IMPORTANCE OF JAZZ
Callery’s score is not the only music that plays an important psychological role in
Homeland’s first season; the show’s licensed music plays a pivotal part in
complementing and furthering the score’s agenda. When asked what they remember
about the score of Homeland, many people have noted the major influence of jazz on the
score. However, those people are only partially correct in their statements. Although the
jazz language did inform some of the harmony and instrumentation used in Callery’s
score, save for the main titles a few select cues, jazz music is actually notably absent
from Callery’s score. Rather, jazz finds it’s impactful niche in the licensed and source
music of the show. Acclaimed music supervisor Kevin Edelman has worked with Sean
Callery on five different shows, however on Homeland, it was vitally important that
much of the licensed music make a specifically psychological contribution to the show in
tandem with Callery’s score, especially since the majority of the score is seen through
Carrie’s eyes.
If Callery’s score gives the viewer the ability to empathize with Carrie’s
confusion while still retaining an important sense of ambiguity, Edelman’s scrupulous
selection of different jazz songs allows the audience to understand a different side of
Carrie Mathison: how she uses jazz as a mechanism of comfort and as a means of
understanding her own state of mind. In a conversation between Carrie and Saul
relatively early in the season, Carrie makes a reference to her love for Theolonius Monk,

O’Hara 25
the legendary jazz pianist who’s music is generally chaotic and contains much off-kilter
improvisation. This bit of information is a microcosm of her personality as a whole and
confirms an important point; Carrie uses jazz as a means of understanding her own
bipolar disease. To her, jazz is the musical equivalent of her state of mind: chaotic and
busy, improvisational and moody, but always within a certain amount of preordained
structure that she has imposed upon herself, whether perceptible or imperceptible to the
average listener. She is able to see patterns and come to conclusions that many others
might not when faced with an ambiguous mess of ostensibly unrelated bits of
information. Carrie finds order within chaos; it’s who she is down to the core of her being
and the main reason why she is so good at her job.
There are around six specific moments in the first season of Homeland where
licensed jazz exposes facets of Carrie’s character; however, there are two central
instances that fully capture the importance of jazz in understanding Carrie Mathison.
While out on a date at a jazz bar, Carrie is watching television when she notices Brody’s
subtle finger movements and interprets this as a possible way of sending messages to
terrorists via live television broadcasts.23 Aside from her obvious affinity for the genre,
jazz is critically important in this scene because although the music playing is somewhat
frantic and seemingly unorganized harmonically, rhythmically, and melodically, Carrie
becomes more calm, hyperaware, and precise with her thoughts amidst the musical chaos
and is able to notice subtle things such as Brody’s almost imperceptible finger tick, which
she might not have noticed otherwise.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
23
Cue List: Ep. 1 – Cue #20

O’Hara 26
In the final scene of the penultimate episode of season one, the ugly side of
Carrie’s bipolar disease is exposed when CIA director David Estes comes to her house
and terminates her employment with the CIA in addition to tearing down her wall of
meticulously organized documents and photos pertaining to her investigation of Abu
Nazir.24 Edelman chose to license a song entitled “Tristan” by Polish free-jazz trumpeter
Tomasz Stanko, whose music appears throughout the first four seasons of Homeland. The
music fades in and quickly takes over the diegetic sound and becomes the sole source of
audio in the scene. At first listen, this subtle, sparse, and meandering piece of music
seems to play against the frenzy occurring on screen as Carrie screams and cries and must
be physically restrained. This specific usage of jazz perfectly embodies the vulnerable
side of Carrie’s disease. She is at her worst here, having poured out all of her emotions
until there is literally nothing left, not even the diegetic sound of the scene, leaving her
metaphorically naked, bare, and stripped-down to her very core. The tangible union
between her and her favorite genre of music is never more apparent than at this moment.
Gone is all the frenzy and fracas of the quick chord changes that she loves; the harmonic
rhythm here progresses slowly and freely. Gone is the chaos of wild rhythmic patterns;
the drums play in and out of time, but remain sparse and bare. Gone is the comfort she
finds in the crazy improvisations and complex interplay between different instrument
voices; all that remains is Carrie at her core, the singular, somber trumpet melody of just
a few notes, floating on top of an isolated and bare accompaniment.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
24
Cue List: Ep. 11 – Cue #12

O’Hara 27
THE ABSENCE OF MUSIC
The last scene of the season is a perfect capstone to the psychological turbulence viewers
have endured up to this point in the show. Carrie has a hospital-bed epiphany connecting
Brody and Nazir through Nazir’s son Isa just moments before she is put under anesthesia
for voluntary electro-therapy to treat her bipolar disorder. What makes this scene so
perfectly uncomfortable is the lack of underscore. More often than not, in scenes centered
around Carrie, the appearance of music prompts the viewer at a subconscious level to be
aware that Carrie’s mental gears are churning and she is thinking critically; however, it
does not necessarily inform the viewer what she is thinking or what emotion to feel. In
this instance though, right before Carrie’s mind is about to be literally jolted with large
amounts of electricity, the audience is figuratively jolted out of Carrie’s head to a
different and unfamiliar voyeuristic perspective. We are the observers now, and Carrie is
the observed. We are not thinking with Carrie anymore; we do not inhabit her headspace
any longer. We are left with even more questions; we can only hope that she remembers
her epiphany despite her impending electro-therapy treatment. This leaves us with a
fittingly ambiguous and uncomfortable cliffhanger going into the next season and poses
perhaps the most important question and mystery of all; what will be going on inside the
mind of Carrie Mathison when she wakes up from her anesthesia, and will Sean Callery’s
music give us the same unique opportunity to see through Carrie’s eyes?

CONCLUSION: THE MUTUALISTIC RELATIONSHIP OF JAZZ AND SCORE
The final and perhaps most critical aspect of Homeland’s music to discuss is the
crucial relationship between the licensed jazz music and Callery’s score. The contrast

O’Hara 28
between the content of the scenes containing chaotic jazz music versus many of Callery’s
minimal and slow-evolving cues is deliberately abnormal and discomforting. Because
Carrie finds an inner peace and can make sense of things amidst the sonic volatility in
jazz music, many viewers who would usually find moments of chaotic jazz relatively
incomprehensible on a musical level are able to forgo their lack of musical understanding
and can still experience a shared psychological state with Carrie. This empathy has been
built up throughout the season based on a trust established between the viewers and Sean
Callery’s musical score, which is ironic in it of itself because the score is inherently
ambiguous in its very nature. In contrast to the jazz in Homeland, which provides us a
window into comprehending Carrie’s self-understanding as well as an accurate depiction
of the extremes of her disease, Callery’s score provides us a different window into
Carrie’s point-of-view which allows us to experience Carrie’s heightened sense of
confusion firsthand, specifically in her confusion in her inability to determine if Brody is
in fact a terrorist. It is as if there are not enough puzzle pieces available for Carrie to fit
all of them together; she can’t quite connect all of the dots. She needs something more, so
she relies on her intuition and gut emotional reactions to make decisions, just as Callery
forces the audience to do with his music. He does not allow us to go down the easy path
by freely giving us all of the “musical puzzle pieces” with which to construct our
emotions and opinions. Rather, he reaffirms his mission of returning the mystery and
ambiguity to the viewers by giving us the opportunity to draw our own conclusions and
be confused alongside the characters. It is because of this musical bridge of trust
established between composer and viewer that Homeland and its music will endure as
paragons of artistry and creativity long after the show is no longer on the air.

O'Hara !29

Appendix A: Homeland Season 1 Cue List and Notes
Episode #
- Cue #

Cue Start

Cue End

Cue
Duration

Context

Key/Harmony

Noticeable
Instrumentation/Effects

Important Notes

Psychological?

Frantic Strings right off the
Yes-Frantic strings right off the bat
bat put us inside Carrie’s head put us inside the mind of Carrie, they
are precise, methodical, yet tempowise feel as close as you can get to
out of control without being out of
control. When we cut to the car at
4:30, a pad in 5ths take over as the
primary element in the mix, the
frantic strings begin to subside both
rhythmically and volume-wise,
signifying an onset of calm; her pills
are kicking in and she is in control by
the time she walks into her briefing.

1-1

3m 22s

4m 50s

1m 28s Carrie getting ready and
going to work

g minor (ish) [all
cues labeled with
“ish” in addition
to the tonality
contain other
scalar modes
based upon the
same tonic]

Pads, Synths, Sine Bass, Piano,
Guitars, Keys, Strings, a lot of
delay

1-2

5m 44s

6m 36s

0m 52s “I’m an American.” They
found Brody in
Afghanistan. Carrie is
immediately suspicious

ab minor. Piano
motif: Eb Ab F B
motif (perfect 4ths
and tritones are a
common theme)

Marimba/Pad, electronics,
piano is very detuned, maybe
some chorus and flanger as
well, which immediately has
psychological implications

1-3

6m 36s

7m 5s

0m 29s Brody looks in the mirror,
cuts his beard hair

No clear tone
center

Totally Electronics-based, lots
of bowed metals and stuff

Scissor noises very loud,
gives a sense of hyperreality

Yes-inside Brody’s head

1-4

8m 41s

9m 6s

0m 25s Carrie asks for
d minor
surveillance on Brody. Cut
to Brody getting his
haircut

Pads, Arpeggiated Sine Bass

Rigid bass rhythm with closeup of Brody might be
intentional. The music isn’t
all happy that Brody is
coming home, rather it is
calculated and rather
menacing

Somewhat

1-5

10m 54s

11m 28s

0m 34s Jess drives home

f minor

Pads, High, sparse panning
electronics

1-6

14m 17s

15m 24s

e minor

Pads, bowed cymbal, filtered
percussion (wood perc with
delays). Also lower percussion
filtered

Sets a mood. By staying in
one key

Not neccesarily-more of a
methodical, “lets get everything set
up” type cue

1-7

17m 29s

18m 43s

1m 14s Brody sees family

Eb Maj (ish)

Pad (same soft, bare pad),
strings

Harmony isn’t quite on the
nose “happy.” Uses sus 2s and
b7 (and b6) chords. Bb minor
chords are also present at
times

Definitely possible, doesn’t really hit
anything on the head too directly.
The harmony is indirect (Maj vs min
tensions). The tone of the scene is
indirect (rather plain pad). Callery
isn’t hinting at anything directly. This
is an example of a cue that is
“confused”

1-8

19m 45s

21m 9s

1m 24s Brody gives speech to
Marines, Carrie watches
on TV

a minor

Pads, Harp plucks (sparse)

a minor pedal, pad seems to
keep growing and constantly
subtly change

The sparse interjections of the harp
to the pad’s fabric could be indicative
of Carrie’s suspicion

1-9

23m 45s

24m 52s

1m 7s Brody and family drive
home and arrive to group
of photographers/reporters

a minor

Bass on an arpeggiator (a
minor), piano, pads

Bass pattern does not change

Getting a sense that this bass might
be one of Callery’s devices to put us
inside Brody’s head

1 - 10

26m 8s

27m

0m 52s Carrie’s surveillance is set
up, she begins watching
Brody and family

d minor

Pads, solo violin/viola, super
filtered/detuned piano low in
the mix, percussion (high and
low)

Strings make an appearance,
D to Eb motif, very middle
eastern

Not particularly

1 - 11

32m 20s

32m 40s

0m 20s Carrie is late, she takes her e minor
pill and leaves her house

Pads, Filtered Percussion

1 - 12

32m 55s

33m 32s

0m 37s Brody is being “debriefed” e minor
by Carrie and others

Pads, Piano

No harmonic modulation
whatsoever

Creates a certain atmosphere of
curiosity…going from question to
question in the interrogation.

1 - 13

35m 30s

35m 53s

0m 23s Brody sees picture of Abu
Nazir, flashback to
interrogation

Atonalish

Electronics, bowed metals,
reversed synths and reversed
bowed percussion

The tone is uncertain. Callery
gives us absolutely no clue as
to the relationship between
Abu Nazir and Brody

Most definitely- before the flashback
visually begins, as the music starts,
Callery clues us into the fact that
Brody definitely knows Abu Nazir
(which is then immediately
supported by the visual flashback).

1 - 14

36m 23s

36m 42s

0m 19s Carrie and Brody look at
each other

E (open)

Pads

Again, uncertain tone, leaves
the harmony open as to not
give anything away

Very psychological-except we don’t
know who’s head we are in for this
cue. Carrie’s? Brody’s? Both? Very
ambiguous

1 - 15

37m 29s

38m 17s

0m 48s Brody lies to Jess, going
to Bluemont Park

c# minor (ish)

Pads, synths, percussion, lots of Brody is overtly sinister for
delays, piano (filtered,
the first time.
resonant, low-mid heavy)

Somewhat-the tone is similar to other
psychological-based cues, however,
we cut between a lot of different
characters

1 - 16

39m 24s

41m 2s

1m 38s Brody meets with Helen
Walker, Carrie and team
surveils

d minor (lots of
#4 resolving to 5
[throughout the
score])

Pads, pianos, wet and dry
synths, reversed synths, lots of
delays, percussion

More of a “tone-setter” for what is
happening in the story

1 - 17

41m 25s

41m 54s

0m 29s Brody tells Helen that
Tom Walker was beaten to
death, lies and says he
wasn’t there

d minor

Pads, percussion, unpitched
metals.

1 - 18

43m 17s

43m 43s

0m 26s Carrie goes home, Saul is
there waiting

e minor

Sine Bass/Kick, Wet Pad,
Piano, Synth Strings

Transitionary music

1 - 19

45m 16s

46m 35s

1m 19s Carrie in bed, listening to
jazz

b minor

Trumpet, Guitar, E Bass, Piano, Very similar vibe to theme
Drums
song. Potentially Licensed
Music

Jazz as a coping mechanism

1 - 20

48m 40s

50m 50s

2m 10s Carrie at bar with guy
listening to jazz band,
notices Brody’s finger
gestures on TV

1 - 21

50m 50s

53m 51s

2-1

4m 8s

4m 35s

2-2

5m 11s

5m 52s

1m 7s Setting up surveillance in
Brody’s house

3m 1s Carrie shows Saul
evidence via Brody’s
finger gestures on camera,
Brody is on a run.
Flashback to killing Tom
Walker. Brody stops in
front of the capitol
building

Yes-The piano motif subtly alludes to
Carrie’s doubts, which at the very
end of the cue, we are made aware
that these doubts stem from her
meeting with the prisoner in
Baghdad. The music very carefully
and subtly precedes the viewers’
knowledge of her doubts.

Important Syncs
When Carrie closes the mirror and takes
her pill, Callery peels back a layer of
strings, giving a sense of release and
relief. We can tell these pills are
important to Carrie’s well being and
state of mind.

Yes-When Carrie asks about what
happened to Thomas Walker, piano
comes in over the pad/marimba. That
lets us know that Carrie doesn’t quite
think everything adds up in this
situation.

Cue ends abruptly when Brody gets out
of the car.

Not particularly

Brody makes a habit of lying
directly after having a
flashback. He might be
putting a pitch envelope or
LFO on his synth pads to
create the tension-release of
these half-step/quarter-tone
pitch glides

Licensed Music

Yes-the super wet pads and unpitched
metals, etc put us in a different space
sonically to go along with Brody’s
flashback (similar to the last
flashback)

Jazz is her choice of the music she
wants to go see when she need to
calm down

e minor/d minor/f
minor/c# minor/d
minor

Pads, strings, piano, percussion, First modulation(s) mid-cue
delays, subtle reversed synths,
in the entire show.
brass at the end, keys

Definitely in certain parts of the cue.
Weaves in and out of environmental
vs psychological function

0m 27s Brody wakes up from his
bad dream

Atonalish (d or a
minor)

Pads, reversed pads, delays, etc

Most definitely

0m 41s Jess shows Brody her arm
that he grabbed at night
while he slept

g minor

Pad

21m 2s

Super sparse. Open harmony
again for the most part.

When we see the Ballard truck, BIG
percussion hit (maybe a bit much/out of
character for a subtle score, but
definitely heightens the drama)

Not sure

d minor: “Just wait” -Carrie (pointing
out Brody’s finger pattern a second
time). f minor: “We should explore this
further” -Saul. c# minor: Jess realizes
that Brody isn’t there, Brody running. d
minor: Brody stops in front of capitol
building

O'Hara !30
Episode #
- Cue #

Cue Start

Cue End

Cue
Duration

Context

Key/Harmony

Noticeable
Instrumentation/Effects

Important Notes

Psychological?

2-3

6m 35s

7m 30s

0m 55s Brody looks at reporters
and has a flashback to
being imprisoned

D Maj into atonal

Pads, Strings, Keys w/ delay,
sound design, whispers,
effected voices, electronics

Definitely the 2nd half, and he made
it obvious. He put us in the place that
Brody’s mind was both physically
and psychologically

2-4

7m 58s

9m

1m 2s Brody is having a
moment, goes into his
room and curls up in the
corner

No real key
center, focused on
sound design

Airy Pads, Bowed Metals,
Reversed percussion, delays
everywhere

The music plus the phone ringing
really puts us inside Brody’s mind
state, also the high frequency of the
pads (the “ringing”) in my mind
alludes to a head ache, which is
definitely what Brody is
experiencing

2-5

11m 8s

11m 50s

c# minor

Weird arpeggiated synth (kinda
Vangelis-ian), piano, guitar,
delays

Airy synth puts us in Carrie’s
headspace

2-6

12m 56s

14m 5s

1m 9s Carrie tells Saul that
Brody is having
nightmares

g minor

Pads, Strings, reversed piano,
regular piano

Jazzy theme motif makes an
appearance in the transition
between scenes

More mood-setting then
psychological

2-7

16m 31s

17m 35s

1m 4s Carrie’s asset, Lynn Reed
calls for Carrie’s
assistance

atonalish/a minor/
d minor

Piano, Pads

Piano 4 note ostinato, as the
scene progresses, modulates
down a halfstep, but the
harmony doesn’t move

It would seem as such, however, I
think the purpose of the music here is
to create a sense of discomfort, to
allude to something that we are not
yet aware of, however, very subtly.

2-8

17m 35s

18m 30s

0m 55s Brody is sitting in the
c# minor
corner of his room, hears
Jess get home, gets up and
tells her he had a great day

Piano, Pads, other synths,
percussion, lots of delays,
subtle rhythmic pulse

Strange dissonant piano
melody makes an appearance,
towards the end of the cue.
Gives the scene a sense of
finality but at the same time
some open-ended
apprehension

More of a “tone-setter” for what is
happening in the story

2-9

20m 9s

20m 50s

0m 41s Estes and another dude tell G tone center
Pad
Mike to make Brody re(feels minor, uses
enlist
b6 and b7 chords
again [seems to be
thematic])

Open 5ths keeps the audience
confused in a good way

Yes, in the same way that the scene
in Ep. 1 when Brody see’s his family
(#1 - 7) and a previous scene in Ep. 2
(#2 - 2)

2 - 10

21m 59s

22m 50s

0m 51s Brody hits the reporter,
Chris sees. Brody goes
into the woods

2 - 11

23m 6s

24m 9s

2 - 12

24m 31s

27m 8s

2 - 13

28m 20s

2 - 14

0m 42s Carrie is watching Brody
on her computer, Saul
comes over

eb minor

strings, perc, synths, piano

Callery uses a lot of b6 as
well as b2 in any given tone
center

More psychological from the
audience’s perspective/subtly
disorienting, but with a constant
pulse

c minor

Strings, guitar, synths, perc

b6 and b2 to create
dissonances. strong
rhythmically

More of a “tone-setter” for what is
happening in the story

2m 37s Lynn and Carrie meet.
Lynn has video of Nazir.
Carrie calls Saul.

c minor

Ambient pads, strings, piano,
percussion (very sparse),
arpeggiated sine bass, reversed
keys, reversed guitar

Begins very ambient,
“stinger” of sorts with
percussion and crescendo
when we see Nazir on video.
Piano kicks in to drive the
momentum forward, and then
the sine bass arpeggiated
really takes over the
momentum

Somewhat, since this is a scene
dealing with a girl who is scared to
be a CIA asset and Carrie is calming
her down, but the music stays in line
with the scene, understated, some
subtleties, and most importantly,
contains forward momentum.

29m 15s

0m 55s Saul and Carrie talk about
Nazir/Brody connection at
CIA

a minor

Pads

30m 53s

32m 10s

1m 17s Max watches Brody in
hardware store, calls
Carrie

all over the place. Strings, stark contrast with the
Edim7 to Ebdim7 bass hitting a low D,
in strings, Low D percussion, electronics
in bass, eventually
modulates to A in
bass

SUPER dissonant cue,
something is really going on
for Callery to decide to
heighten dissonance to this
level

Psychological from the get go, there
is a sense of division/duality in this
cue between the D in bass and
rhythmic percussion vs the seasick
diminished chords. Also, the bass has
a subtle LFO on the pitch envelope,
cool device

2 - 15

32m 56s

33m 30s

0m 34s Brody puts the bag from
the hardware store in the
garage

e minor

Pads, solo violin (middleeastern flair), piano, duduk

Duduk and violin might be
alluding to Brody’s potential
connection with Abu Nazir

Not sure.

2 - 16

37m 19s

38m 32s

1m 13s Brody tells Chris that
sometimes you have to
stand up for yourself

eb minor

Pads, Strings

Very similar to the moment
where the family sees Brody
for the first time harmonically
and sonically

2 - 17

39m 22s

39m 50s

0m 28s Virgil bumps into Lynn on
purpose in hotel and spills
tea on her

e minor

Pads, piano, keys, percussion
(some of which is very very
filtered: thematic)

2 - 18

40m 15s

41m 40s

1m 25s Carrie and Lynn talk in the c minor
bathroom. The prince
arrives.

2 - 19

45m

48m

3m Brody is dreaming, wakes
up, goes to his garage,
cleans it, opens the door
slightly, and lays down a
prayer mat

2 - 20

48m 39s

50m

1m 21s Brody gets dressed in his
marine uniform and greets
the press

3-1

3m 49s

5m 8s

3-2

8m 26s

3-3

1m 3s Max follows Brody

Important Syncs

Cut to Brody, the rhythmic delays start
to happen

Callery waits a beat AFTER Brody hits
the reporter to place his own musical hit

More of a “tone-setter” for what is
happening in the story

More active and rhythmic, trying to
create momentum as opposed to
inhabit a state of mind

Music “bump” is a second after Virgil
bumps into Lynn

Pads, strings, guitar, percussion
(some of which is very very
filtered: thematic), keys

Ends with a piece of the keys
motif

Not particularly

A minor/A Major/
d minor

Pads, white noise (also in a lot
of the previous cues, just
noticed it here), percussion,
trumpet (briefly), violin
(middle-eastern flair), string
section (as cue intensifies),
choir patch, more percussion,
brass, effected and strange
voices

Some of the most “epic”
music of the show.

f minor

Pads, duduk, solo violin
(middle-eastern flair),
percussion, strings, brass, sub
bass

Again, epic orchestral, I think
the last cue might have been
to set up this one. Middleeastern influences infused
with the bombastic orchestral
makes sense after he prays in
Arabic in the prior scene

Playing the hero card,
psychologically triumphant for
Brody. Might motivate the impetus
for big orchestra sound

Percussion intensifies as he walks out
his front door

1m 19s Lynn gets the data from
Amir’s cell phone, Amir
gets her a necklace

d minor/e minor/a
minor

High pad, low bass drum hits,
granular synth, other synths

Single tones and 5ths

Yes, Callery seems to often use a
single note sine wave (with a subtle
LFO) to force you to experience the
tense moment that a certain character
is experiencing at the current
moment

When Lynn sees the phone on the bed,
low bass drum hit, helps portray the
gravitas of the situation

9m 56s

1m 30s Carrie briefs the CIA on
Lynn Reed, Saul gives her
a hard time in the meeting

e minor

low synths, pads, bass, piano,
filtered perch

pulsating

not particularly

10m 21s

11m 4s

0m 43s Dana comes home after
missing the interview

eb minor

Pads, bowed metals, strings

open 5ths again, with the b7
thrown in

Sort of

3-4

12m 30s

13m 3s

0m 33s Jess listens as Brody and
Dana talk and laugh

D Maj/e minor

high bowed pad

3-5

13m 3s

14m 3s

1m 0s Carrie gets the data chip
from Lynn Reed

e minor

rhythmic perc, strings, pads,
pianos, vibes/marimba

Cut to Brody in bed at 45:20, low
filtered percussion comes in

22m 20s

Yes-Jess might feel isolated. Or
Callery could be playing the fact that
her character is outside the room
where Dana and Brody are. Good
example of a “confused” cue
chromatics at play yet again,
chromatic down motifs,
usually beginning on a 5th (B
E B, Bb Eb Bb, A D A…)

Psychological for the audience, not
necessarily for the characters

O'Hara !31
Episode #
- Cue #

Cue Start

Cue End

Cue
Duration

Context

Key/Harmony

Noticeable
Instrumentation/Effects

Important Notes

Psychological?

Chromatic downward over a
C pedal above in strings (Ab,
G, F, Eb, Db)

not particularly

3-6

17m 28s

18m 5s

0m 37s Saul and Carrie talk in
CIA, Saul can’t forgive
Carrie

c minor

synth strings/pads

3-7

19m 2s

19m 57s

0m 55s Brody walks with the
interviewer and is asked
about being tortured

f minor

Bassy, synths, violin (middleeastern flair), reversed synths,
bowed metals

Yes-flashback

3-8

22m 40s

23m 31s

0m 51s Dana confronts Jess about
sleeping with Mike, they
arrive home to Brody,
Mike and the interviewer

a minor

Pads, piano, keys, percussion
(some of which is very very
filtered: thematic)

Only in the “important sync”
moment. Example of in and out of
psychological versus overall mood

3-9

25m 30s

26m 8s

0m 38s Brody looks at himself in
the mirror

f minor

Pads, high bowed metals, solo
violin (middle-eastern flair)

enters on a D in the pad, but
immediately modulates to f
minor. Essentially the same as
cue #3 - 7

Very. Moments with Brody alone are
almost always psychologically-based
score-wise. Also the violins clue us
into his ties, whatever they may be,
with the middle east. More and more
moments of the score dealing with
Brody are subtly being infiltrated
with these ethnic elements; not just
flashbacks (especially when he is by
himself)

3 - 10

32m 20s

33m 35s

1m 15s Lynn calls Carrie, she’s
worried, Carrie says there
is a team following her;
Carrie and Virgil track her
cell phone and race to
follow her

e minor

Low pads, percussion high and
low filtered, vibes, high bowed
stuff, reversed pads

good example of rising the
intensity of a cue more than
subtly

somewhat

3 - 11

34m 15s

35m 23s

1m 8s Lynn is shot, Carrie and
Virgil race to the scene

e minor

pads, strings, perc

Scoring the action and drama, not
necessarily inside anyone’s head

3 - 12

39m 7s

40m 10s

1m 3s Estes and Carrie talk in the a minor
elevator about Lynn’s
death

Pads, piano, strings

Possibly-Carrie’s sadness

3 - 13

41m 4s

42m

3 - 14

43m 6s

44m 9s

3 - 15

45m 28s

48m 29s

4-1

2m 46s

4m 34s

1m 48s Carrie watched Brody in
the bathroom, Brody
hallucinates and sees Abu
Nazir in the mirror

4-2

8m 50s

4-3

0m 56s Carrie and others are
debriefed by Estes and
Carrie wants to talk to
Amir, but Estes says no

Important Syncs

When Dana sees Mike and Brody, the
music changes textures

initial hit comes a couple seconds later
than the 2 gun shots, not even in rhythm

Db

Pad, strings

Again, b7 and b2 harmonies
are present.

Unsure, this is another confused cue:
some of the harmony is Major
(normal 6th as well as a Maj7th
chord in pads), totally not the
emotion that anyone is feeling in that
moment

1m 3s Carrie sees Lynn’s parents
at the morgue

d minor

Pads (angelic), marimba

3m 1s Saul comforts Carrie.
They realize that it was
probably the necklace
someone was after. The
necklace is sold, young
couple buys home by the
airport

c minor/f minor

Pad, bowed pads, keys/vibes,
low strings/synth, percussion,
string section

c minor

guitar, pads, piano, bowed
stuff, reversed synths, strings,
perch

Seems like a b6 to 5, ostinato
in guitar in g minor, however,
thats actually just b3 to 2 in c
minor. Also very important to
note is the development
within the cue. How Callery
uses subtle variations on the
same theme to weave a
constant fabric but convey
very different moods

totally, he makes it obvious in places, vibe completely changes when Brody
but I feel he goes from the inside of
sees Abu Nazir in the mirror
Carrie’s head (intent and observing
carefully), to Brody’s when he see’s
Abu Nazir.

9m 43s

0m 53s Carrie debriefs CIA team, d minor
Saul tells them to look into
the finances of the
hawallah brokers

pads, reversed synths, strings

12m 2s

12m 39s

0m 37s Tension between Mike and b minor
Brody, Brody gets out of
the car

synths, strings, pads, high
frequencies of some sort

tension

4-4

13m 33s

13m 52s

0m 19s Brody hallucinates and
sees Jess in the garage

atonalish

Reversed vibes and synths and
pads and bells, all creating one
homogenous sound

Yes, Callery clues us into this
hallucination with the high
frequency, alienating music that
doesn’t really have a pitch center

Hallucinated Jess disappears, music out

4-5

14m 44s

16m

1m 16s Brody is in garage, gets
gun out. Cut to Carrie
watching him. Brody
notices that the flowers
were trampled by the deer

b minor

plain pad in higher frequencies,
low pads, guitar with straight
delays, marimba, strings

As he does with many cues,
especially the less tonally
specific ones, starts them in a
semi-key-center and then
resolves to the main key of
the cue when something
important occurs in the scene
(Brody goes to get his gun)

begins with disorienting pads, uses
an Augmented 8th resolving to a
Major 7th

Ends the cue on B Major first inversion
missing the 5th, which is odd because
that is when Brody sees the flowers that
Jess planted were trampled by the deer.
Good example of a confused cue in this
sense

4-6

24m

24m 58s

0m 58s Estes asks Galvez to keep
tabs on Carrie

f minor

piano with straight delay, pads,
bowed high frequency pads,
guitar, piano with no delay

uses a #4 and a b2 right off
the bat. Also #4 and b2
happen to be B and F# which
form a fifth, which is super
characteristic of Callery’s
score. By staying true to his
thematic use of P5ths, he uses
them creatively in this
instance, at first separately,
creating the most dissonant
possible intervals, and then
together as a P5th, which
emphasizes the chromatic
nature of his score. As if that
was not enough, he holds the
bass until he brings it in ON A
b7! Eb (D#) B and F# also
form a B Maj triad in first
inversion, many of which (b6
triads that is) appear all over
the score for this show

The tonic to #4 motif immediately
puts us in a state of anxiety. Estes is
making an uncomfortable request to
someone who considers Carrie a
friend and the music not only
embodies his strange request but
Galvez’s immediate sense of
apprehension. Allows us to get in the
head of Galvez while simultaneously
“scoring the overall action” of the
scene

16m 32s

O'Hara !32
Episode #
- Cue #

Cue Start

Cue End

Cue
Duration

Context

Key/Harmony

Noticeable
Instrumentation/Effects

Important Notes

Psychological?

Important Syncs

4-7

25m 54s

27m 17s

1m 23s Jess tells Brody she
invited Mike over for the
BBQ. Carrie watches
Brody’s house, gets a call
from Galvez with a lead
on Faizel

ab minor

bowed high pads, piano, other
plain pads, low sine bass,
strings, reversed sine-waves

Besides the single note on a
pad fade in, which Callery
begins many of his cues with,
he also begins a lot of cues
with a single note fade in
followed immediately with
another voice entering (this
time on a M7 below [Ab
below a G] working in
counterpoint, usually on
relatively dissonant intervals.
Instead of using the G as a
tonic and the Ab as a b2 as he
often does, he instead takes
advantage of these notes
chromatic relationship in a
different way. He treats the G
as a Maj7 of an ab minor
chord, creating an
uncomfortable harmony of
Ab min/Maj7 chord. What
makes it more uncomfortable
is the eventual repetition of
the Eb and G on the piano, the
seemingly unnatural Major
interval contrasting the
otherwise minor harmonic
language of the scene

Yes-this scene is immediately
uncomfortable and we feel like we
are inhabiting the mind-state of Jess,
however, we also transition into the
mind state of Carrie as she surveils
the household when Callery employs
the repeated M3rds in the piano

4-8

29m 59s

31m 44s

1m 45s Carrie and Galvez follow
Faizel

d minor/no clear
tone center

Filtered piano, bass drum,
bowed metals, synth,
percussion, strings, keys,
percussion, solo violin (middleeastern flair), duduk brass of
some sort

Investigate the harmony of
the cue a bit further. Very off
kilter to begin with, and then
gets

Yes. This is a very curious cue
harmonically from the beginning
when they are following him, and
then the orchestration changes and
gets more frantic and less tonal as the
intensity builds. Scoring the scenes
anxiety as well as Faizel’s wife’s
sense of urgency and anxiety

“The traffic is bad on the beltway”
causes Faizel’s wife to warn him that
isn’t safe to return home, the music
immediately becomes less tonally
focused and distressed

4-9

38m 45s

39m 56s

1m 11s Carrie looks at her wall

ab minor

Synths, sine bass, piano,
reversed sine-waves, bells, solo
violin (middle-eastern flair),
arpregiatted pitched metals

Brings back the ab min/Maj7
chord

Yes-Carrie is looking at her wall of
suspects and theories, pensively
observing, and the music reflects this
pensive nature. Tempo-wise, it is
steady and controlled, but
harmonically it is a bit confused and
off-kilter

Violin comes in as Carrie walks towards
her wall full of pictures, notes, etc.

4 - 10

40m 15s

41m 10s

0m 55s Faizel and his wife talk,
Faizel is nervous that he
was followed, his wife
comforts him

e minor

Moving pads, piano, bowed
metals, oud

piano motif (C, Eb, B)
consists of the b6, leading
tone [the leading tone,
especially in this episode, has
become thematically
important], and ultimately
resolves to the fifth

Not particularly

4 - 11

42m 49s

43m 40s

0m 51s On a stormy night, Carrie
sits at home on her couch.
She decides to get up and
leave

c minor

pad intro, single notes (E, up to
C, B, down to D, Db, C),
synths, weird chromatic guitar
arpeggiations

the weird chromatic guitar
seems like it will be a
thematic thing, as it appears
in the next cue as well

Yes-especially the guitar. Carrie is
discombobulated by the fact that Saul
told her to move on from Brody and
maybe thinking that she might miss
him in a weird way

4 - 12

44m 47s

46m 14s

1m 27s Brody goes to a veterans
support group, Carrie
follows him

c minor

High bowed vibes, pads,
detuned piano, reversed synth,
strings, filtered percussion,
guitar

Brings back the 3 note theme
from 4 - 1

Not really, but at times, elements like
the weird chromatic guitar put us in
the headspace of Carrie, and also
allude to the show’s main theme

4 - 13

48m 59s

49m 15s

0m 16s Carrie leaves and Brody
stands in the rain

e minor

Strings, synths, percussion
(toms), pads

13m 39s
5-1

3m

4m 15s

1m 15s Someone has been beaten
and is dragged into a truck
and to a plane in
Islamabad. Brody prays.

c minor

Duduk, pads, strings, solo
violin (middle-eastern flair),
percussion

5-2

5m 45s

6m 12s

0m 27s Carrie gets a call from
Galvez

a minor

Pad, filtered perc, reversed
synths, piano

5-3

6m 37s

7m 13s

0m 36s Carrie looks through her
sister’s/dad’s pill cabinet

ab minor

pads, piano

5-4

13m 54s

15m 52s

1m 58s Brody is driven to the
interrogation by the CIA

d minor

Pad, Strings, lots of delays (like
always), arpeggiated sine bass,
keys, filtered percussion

5-5

16m 22s

18m 52s

2m 30s Brody sees who they will
be interrogating,
recognizes him, and has a
flashback to him getting
peed on

d minor/e minor/c
minor

Pad, filtered perc, reversed
synths, bowed metals, solo
violin (middle-eastern flair),
duduk

5-6

20m 5s

21m 56s

1m 51s Saul interrogates the
terrorist

Atonalish

pads, bowed metals, strings

5-7

22m 12s

24m 20s

2m 8s The interrogations
continue

Atonalish

pads, bowed metals, strings

5-8

29m 3s

30m 4s

5-9

1m 1s Carrie takes her pill,
eb minor
Brody shaves, the prisoner
sits and listens to death
metal

Rhythm is very typical middle Mood-setter
eastern. Great groove

Not particularly
min/Maj7th comes back here

Mood-setter

modulation after Brody
recognizes the guy.
modulation again when Saul
goes to interrogate him

continuation of the last cue

pad, string harmonics, piano

sine bass ostinato starts when they put
the prisoner in the car

Yes, especially the first part in d
minor that is definitely in Brody’s
head

Atonal and bowed metals make the
atmosphere uncertain, just like the
interrogation

When we see the terrorist’s face when
the cue starts, Callery puts a quickly
reversed noise

Atonal and bowed metals make the
atmosphere uncertain, just like the
interrogation
Atmospheric, mood music

32m 26s

32m 50s

0m 24s Brody goes to talk with
Estes

c minor

strings, pads

5 - 10

35m

35m 33s

0m 33s Estes allows Brody to
meet with the terrorist

d minor

pads, keys

5 - 11

35m 52s

37m 15s

1m 23s The email address is
traced to Faizel. Brody
meets with the terrorist

c minor

pads, strings, low drums,
percussion

Very effective use of harmony
then striped down to just
rhythm to keep the very subtle
pulse going but change
texture

5 - 12

41m 32s

44m

strings, pads, percussion, solo
violin (middle-eastern flair)

Again using percussion as a
bridge between key centers

2m 28s The terrorist commits
c minor/no
suicide with a razorblade. harmony/e minor/
Saul gives Carrie the
a minor
authorization to move in
on Faizel’s house. Faizel is
not there

Yes-the repeating motif of Eb G
diads on quarter notes on beats one
and two of each measure comes
back. (see #4 - 7)

When we see the terrorist’s face when
the cue starts, Callery puts a quickly
reversed noise

O'Hara !33
Episode #
- Cue #

Cue Start

Cue End

Cue
Duration

Context

5 - 13

48m 29s

49m 20s

5 - 14

52m 59s

55m 4s

6-1

3m 14s

3m 58s

0m 44s Carrie watches footage of
Brody

6-2

6m 17s

6m 59s

6-3

7m 55s

6-4

Key/Harmony

0m 51s Carrie is frustrated by
ab minor
Saul’s lack of willingness
to go up the chain with her
theory on Brody. She goes
home and dismantles her
wall of work on Brody

2m 5s Carrie can’t sleep, talks to
her niece

Noticeable
Instrumentation/Effects

Important Notes

Psychological?

piano, pads, reversed synths

The repeating motif of Eb G
diads on quarter notes on
beats three and four of each
measure comes back. (see #4
- 7 and #5 - 3)

Absolutely-min/Maj7th comes back
here. Also disguises this Major third
(Eb G) as a seemingly Major
sonority at first since it is over an Eb
on a pad, but the minor/Major 7th
chord comes in when the sine bass
comes in and puts us back in the the
off-kilter harmony and strange
mental state of Carrie. The min/Maj
7th could be an example of Carrie’s
bipolar nature manifesting itself
subtly in the music. The music is
eerily calm as she is having a slight
breakdown and emotional time
removing all over her work from her
wall

eb minor

pads, piano, strings, high
bowed stuff, celesta

root resolving to b7 again, seems to
be thematic of the lack of clarity in
the show. Sounds minor, but not
quite sure at all times

a minor

Electric Piano with straight
eighth note delays, Bass, Synth
Pads, Subtle filtered
percussion, reversed sine waves

Tritone based harmony to
start the episode immediately.
Also the percussion contains
two distinct timbral elements,
one of which is panned hard
left and the other is panned
hard right. Yet another
example of Callery adding
subtleties to keep the ear
engaged without distracting
from the drama.

Yes, yet another voyeuristic cue.
Carrie is observing and trying to
make sense of what happened in a
situation with Brody. We inhabit the
inside of her head as this confusion
tries to take shape and form into
some sort of conclusion, and the
music perfectly underscores this. The
rhythm is calculated and precise, yet
the harmony and textural elements
are a bit more amorphous. The
reversed sine waves are one example
of a semi-melodic, textural element
that tries to peek through the sonic
fabric, tries to take shape into
something coherent, but cannot get
more than a note or two in before
melding back into the texture.

0m 42s Brody prepares for a
a minor
speech writes on a piece of
paper. Jess gets ready for
the event at their house

Electric piano, synth with
rhythmic straight delay (16th
notes), piano (with slightly
longer attack time than
normal), clarinet melody, pads

Straight delays providing the
main rhythm for the second
straight cue

Seems to be, we begin by inhabiting
a space with only Brody in it, and as
the cue progresses, more elements
are added, but the core elements of
the cue are the basis of Brody’s
thoughts at the moment

8m 25s

0m 30s Jess helps Brody with his
tie, Brody looks in the
mirror

eb minor

Pads (2 main pads, one of them
coming from a triangle wave,
the other one being a more
high-pitched, bowed metals
type of sound), low strings

A short cue where Callery
doesn’t hit the tonic until the
final chord (there are multiple
cues throughout the show like
this)

Not particularly

10m 39s

11m 27s

0m 48s The investigation at
Faizel’s house continues

d minor

Piano of some sort (sounds like
a combination of an electric
piano and an 80’s piano), pads,
reversed sine waves, bass,
filtered metal percussion (super
low in the mix, almost nonexistant)

Reversed sine waves have a
5-note motif. the formations
of a melody, which could
indicate some sort of progress

Somewhat. Sounds investigatory and
unsure, but not trying to inhabit the
inside of someone’s head. Rather, it
is trying to set a tone (no pun
intended) for the investigation

6-5

12m 19s

13m 13s

0m 54s Faizel and his wife are
driving. Faizel is worried

e minor

Pad droning on the tonic,
another pad enters and then a
piano comes in and plays a
two-note motif (C, Eb)

jaunty 2-note motif that
Callery often uses to unsettle
the viewer slightly more than
the image does and provide a
further sense of ambiguity

6-6

16m 33s

16m 51s

0m 18s Brody finishes giving his
speech

a minor

Solo trumpet melody with
slight delay

6-7

18m 54s

19m 48s

0m 54s The CIA obtains a traffic
light photo of Faizel and
his wife

d minor

Bass on an arpeggiator (d
minor), piano, pads, reversed
sine wave, percussion, voicelike synth, duduk

Same reversed sine wave
motif from the investigation
at the house pops up here
(both cues are in the same
key). Duduk, voice-like synth
and percussion give it a very
subtle middle-eastern flair

See above in #6 - 4

6-8

20m 17s

22m 27s

2m 10s Faizel and his wife arrive
at the safehouse, the door
has a bomb on it, they
leave, Faizel is confused
by his wife’s lack of
honesty when it comes to
her “training

Atonalish

Synth pads, filtered percussion,
clock-like ticking synths with
delay, bass, high bowed metals,
duduk, string harmonics, string
extended techniques, metal
percussion

Very uneasy

Yes, but not for a specific character.
Psychological for the viewer, puts us
directly in the line of the drama and
amplifies the tension. Good example
of how Callery deals with tension
subtly yet effectively

6-9

25m 13s

27m 10s

1m 57s Lauter berates Brody, Matt d minor, eb minor, Pads, strings
punches Lauter, Brody
c# minor
puches Matt multiple
times and drives away

Keys change when the scene’s
focus shifts

6 - 10

31m 33s

32m 45s

1m 12s Carrie thinks Faizel’s wife ab minor
might be the driving force.
Brody calls Carrie and
tells him

Pads, strings, high metals and
synths, filtered piano, bass,
filtered percussion (wooden),
lots of subtle panning

b7 makes an appearance here,
Callery holds the bass until
the b7 comes in

6 - 11

39m 7s

39m 38s

0m 31s Faizel is gunned down in
the hotel room, his wife
escapes through the
window

Atonalish

String rise into random pizz,
col legno strings, piano, piano
extended techniques, synths

Cue ends on an F-C diad on a
plain pad after really intense
action

6 - 12

41m 26s

42m 29s

1m 3s Brody comes home in the
am, he’s visibly drunk as
the Jess leaves to take the
kids to school

Bb minor

Piano (more active than
normal), delays and somewhat
melodic

Great example of Callery’s
pacing and letting the music
breathe throughout the scene

6 - 13

43m 32s

44m 58s

1m 26s Saul leaves the polygraph
room, Brody enters

a minor

Electric piano, Electric piano
with no audible attack and
tremolo in 16th notes [see #6 2, similar or same as that
“synth”]), piano (single-notes)
with delay, percussion (filtered
and low hits), bass, oud, pads

19m 30s

Important Syncs

O'Hara !34
Episode #
- Cue #

Cue Start

Cue End

Cue
Duration

Context

1m 47s Brody lies on the
polygraph and gets away
with it

Key/Harmony

Noticeable
Instrumentation/Effects

Important Notes

Psychological?

d minor

Pads, synths, pitched mallet
percussion, bouncing filtered
pitched percussion (see #6 - 8),
high strings, reversed sine
waves, electric piano, bass with
arpeggiator (same as earlier in
this episode), duduk (see #6 8), string ensemble, brass,
intense percussion

This cue and (many in this
episode) are very tritone
heavy, which makes it seem
as though we have modulated
when we actually have not
(harmony seems like it is
centered around Ab when the
bass still drones on a D
softly). Also, Callery brings
back a lot of material from
throughout the episode in this
cue (a kitchen-sink type of
approach), including, but not
limited to the electric piano
ninth-chord that started the
episode, the duduk, the, the
reversed sine waves, the
arpeggiated bass, the
bouncing pitched percussion
(still not sure what instrument
that is)

Yes, Carrie is confused as to how he
beat the polygraph so easily but
cannot convey this to Saul because
she cannot tell him that she has slept
with Brody.

6 - 14

46m 45s

48m 32s

7-1

2m 34s

2m 56s

0m 22s Faizel’s wife walks into a
bus station

eb minor

Strings, reversed sine wavetype pads, percussion

7-2

8m 45s

9m 35s

0m 50s Saul tells Estes he wants
to go pick up Faizel’s wife
in Texas

eb minor

Low saw synth filtered,
reversed sine wave-type pads
(panning), filtered percussion,
pads

7-3

11m 36s

12m 34s

0m 58s Carrie enters her cabin,
looks out the window at
Brody

g minor

Pads, Strings, reversed piano,
electric piano, reversed sine
waves, effected piano

First time we’ve heard a
direct quotation of the theme
in a long time

7-4

14m 55s

16m 28s

1m 33s Saul arrests Eileen
(Faizel’s wife)

eb minor

Low saw synth filtered,
reversed sine wave-type pads
(panning), filtered percussion,
pads

tonic, b7, b6 motif in this cue

7-5

17m 36s

18m 6s

0m 30s Cut from Eileen and Saul
in car to Brody and Carrie
at the lake in the morning

ab minor

Pads, reversed sine waves,
piano

seems like it will start in eb
minor again, but Callery starts
the cue on the 5th

7-6

19m 21s

19m 41s

0m 20s Saul and Eileen drive,
Saul talks

f minor

Violin (Middle-Eastern flair),
Pads

B-Theme makes an
appearance here (its appeared
quite a bit before)

7-7

20m 57s

21m 59s

1m 2s Saul and Eileen talk

f minor

Violin (Middle-Eastern flair),
Pads, reversed synths

Middle eastern flair makes an
appearance with the piccardy
third (raised third in a minor
key) and the b2

7-8

35m 28s

36m 22s

0m 54s Carrie and Brody are
having sex. Carrie and
Brody are sleeping and
Brody starts saying “Isa”
in his sleep

g minor

Strings, Pads, reversed synths
(quick reversed synths when
Brody is having his
nightmares)

7-9

36m 49s

37m 50s

1m 1s Saul and Eileen stop in
Indiana

c# minor (ish)

Pads, synths, synth marimba

7 - 10

41m 22s

42m 4s

0m 42s Carrie accidentally reveals
she knows the type of tea
that Brody drinks

Bb minor
(Chromatic)

Pads, Low Strings, piano

tonic to b2 is the main motif
in this cue

Yes-Carrie messes up and tries to
recover, but Callery doesn’t quite hit
Carrie’s mistake on the nose; he
leaves a bit of uncertainty

7 - 11

43m 15s

43m 46s

0m 31s Saul talks to Estes on the
phone while Eileen is in
the interrogation room

D (diminished 9th
diad)

high bowed pad, reversed
synths (sparse)

Centered on D, but the
reversed synth comes in on a
diminished 9th below very
sparsely. This cue contains
ONLY these 2 notes

Again, very uncertain, makes the
viewer feel uneasy in general. Not
specifically through the eyes of a
single character, more of an overall
mood setter

7 - 12

51m 7s

54m 14s

3m 7s Tom Walker is IDed as the
potential sniper. Cut
between Saul with Eileen
and Carrie with Brody

e minor, d minor

Pads, percussion, strings

7 - 13

55m 8s

57m 8s

2m 0s Brody arrives home, ends
with him crying on the
couch

g minor

Pads, electric piano, guitar,
efffected piano with delay

8-1

4m 11s

4m 54s

0m 43s Tom Walker goes car to
car asking for money on
the streets of Washington
D.C.

e minor

Pads, reversed synths, metal
percussion, piano, strings,
violin (Middle-Eastern flair)
[D, C#, A#, B]

8-2

8m 56s

9m 25s

0m 29s Brody comes home from
Langley

a minor

Strings, Pads, Piano

8-3

18m 32s

19m 7s

0m 35s Saul asks if Carrie is ok
after she reveals her
history with Brody to Saul

eb minor

Pads, Electric Piano

8-4

21m 42s

22m 40s

0m 58s Tom Walker throws out
his burner phone after
trying to call home

e minor

Pads, Filtered Percussion,
electric piano, lots of delays,
some sort of bowed reversed
synth

8-5

33m 27s

39m 12s

5m 45s Helen makes contact with
Tom on the phone. She
warns him the FBI are
coming for him. He
escapes into a mosque and
the tac team shoots 2
people in the mosque

g minor, e minor,
g minor, e minor,
eb minor, c#
minor

Pads, strings, synths, high
bowed pads, electric piano with
delays, filtered percussion,
bowed synths, driving
percussion

Important Syncs

14m 56s
Not particularly, other than it being
tense, rhythmic music for a tense
scene

Yes, Carrie is being an observer
again, another voyeuristic cue,
except this time, she is with Brody
and observing at the same time for
the first time

Yes-very bare and sparse,
contemplative cue. Doesn’t lead the
audience in any direction except the
feeling of isolation brought about by
the plain pad that is the main element
of this cue, which works perfectly in
tandem with Brody’s mind-state at
the time being

13m 50s

resolves to f minor chord to
end the cue

Yes somewhat - Callery uses his
trademark open 5ths as well as the b6
and b7 that he uses often throughout
the show to convey an ambiguous
tonality. Carrie wasn’t necessarily
expecting Saul to offer her comfort in
this moment of revelation, so the
open 5ths convey a combination of
Carrie’s surprise with Saul’s
unexpectedly gentle and kind
reaction. This gesture of friendship
harkens back to the harmonic
language used when Brody sees his
family for the first time in Episode 1

Switches to e minor when the
cue gets more tactically
oriented, the phone
conversation between Tom
and Helen Walker is scored
more sparsely and centered in
g minor.

This cue goes in and out of
psychological vs. “playing the
action”

The key changes coincide with
important changes in the action

O'Hara !35
Episode #
- Cue #

Cue Start

Cue End

8-6

39m 27s

40m 9s

8-7

42m 42s

8-8

Cue
Duration

Context

Key/Harmony

Noticeable
Instrumentation/Effects

Important Notes

Psychological?

0m 42s Tom Walker goes to a
d minor
storage unit and opens a
box with a sniper rifle in it

Violin(middle-eastern flair),
dorian mode used in
duduk, pads, strings, percussion conjunction with middle
eastern rhythms in percussion,
duduk, and violin create a
unique texture for this cue
that still fits in very well with
the overall vibe

43m 28s

0m 46s Carrie talks to Brody
outside his house and Jess
walks outside

eb minor

Pianos (2 different piano
sounds), Pads, Synths

No tonic, seems almost like
pentatonic-based harmony

46m 37s

48m 59s

2m 22s Carrie “I’m going to be
alone my whole life” to
Saul. Man enters his nice
house, thinks Tom Walker
is there, but its Brody:
“I’m through dealing with
Nazir, and you can tell
him that”

eb minor, f minor,
Bb minor, d
minor, c minor

Pianos (with noticeable delays),
Pads, reversed sine waves,
filtered violin, filtered pitched
percussion (sounds like pitched
woodblocks), strings, synths,
intense percussion

Uses tonic to b2 in f minor to
transition gracefully to Bb
minor (5 to b6). The cue also
ends with the tonic to b2 in c
minor. (in a minor key: tonic
to b2 can act as a tension or in
conjunction with a raised 3rd
to give that key a middleeastern flair

9-1

5m 48s

6m 6s

0m 18s Brody is blindsided in the
grocery store parking lot

d minor

Pads, low saw bass, reversed
synths, filtered violin/violin
harmonics, synths

9-2

8m 20s

8m 44s

0m 24s Tom Walker walks in the
forest with a backpack on

e minor

Synths, processed woodwinds
(definitely some flute in there),
Pads, Bass

9-3

11m 20s

15m 8s

3m 48s Flashback to Brody and
Abu Nazir

g minor, e (goes
between minor
and Major, but for
the most part
minor)

High bowed pad, pads, piano,
violin (middle-eastern flair),
percussion, duduk (effected),
strings, piano, oud, low drum
hits

Yes definitely, this was a defining
moment in describing Brody and Abu
Nazir’s relationship and how it came
to be, and Callery puts us back in that
moment directly with the same
devices he uses to convey a sense of
“I’m very confused, but I’m going
with it,” a sentiment this show deals
with quite often

9-4

15m 44s

16m 29s

0m 45s Abu Nazir introduces
Brody to his son Isa and
tells Brody that he wants
him to teach Isa English

a minor

Strings, duduk, pads

Yes, in the same way that the last cue
was, just a bit less confused.

9-5

18m 31s

18m 52s

0m 21s Brody gets a shot and goes c minor
out to play with Isa

pads, high bowed pads

Exploratory music

9-6

18m 55s

19m 39s

0m 44s Brody tries to play soccer
with Isa, Isa takes the
soccer ball

Pads, pizz strings, arco strings,
violin (middle-eastern flair)

9-7

27m 28s

28m 3s

9-8

28m 28s

9-9

Important Syncs

The middle-eastern flair is
introduced with Tom’s character here
because we clearly see the sniper
rifle that he has in the storage unit

Yes, this cue starts in dorian mode
again, which he has used a lot in past
episodes in moments where he
doesn’t quite want to hit an emotion
directly on the head

12m 20s

c dorian, g minor

0m 35s Tom Walker practices with d minor
his sniper rifle in the
woods

Pads, Processed Woodwinds,
Low drum hits

Not clearly in d minor, just
basing that assumption off of
the D-A diad and the texture
that Callery weaves in this 30
second cue

28m 52s

0m 24s Brody and Isa embrace
after Brody complements
Isa’s progress in his
English proficiency

c minor

Pads, duduk, strings

Yes

32m 44s

33m 47s

1m 3s Brody wakes from a bad
dream. Isa gives him a
drawing he made of them
with a soccer ball

c minor

Pads, bowed pads, electric
piano, duduk

Yes

9 - 10

35m 25s

36m 28s

1m 3s Brody and Nazir speak on
Skype

f minor

Strings, pads, oud

9 - 11

37m 37s

41m 12s

3m 35s Drone strike hits right
after Isa leaves for school.
Brody searches for Isa and
finds him dead. Brody and
Nazir pray over Isa’s dead
body

atonal. d minor

Pads, bowed metals, reversed
synths, solo voice, strings,
duduk

9 - 12

42m 34s

43m 6s

9 - 13

45m 32s

46m 45s

10 - 1

5m 55s

7m 16s

10 - 2

7m 48s

8m 50s

10 - 3

10m 56s

11m 23s

10 -4

12m 32s

10 - 5

0m 32s Brody watches a broadcast c minor
of the Vice President
saying that the dead
bodies of children from
the drone strokes

Pads, low strings, filtered
duduk

Yes, the b2 here is used to convey a
sense of Brody’s disgust towards the
VPs statements

1m 13s Saul and Carrie stakeout
the Saudi embassy

g minor

Filtered piano, reversed sine
waves, percussion, pads

d minor

Pads, oud, violin (middleeastern flair), duduk, reversed
sine waves, filtered percussion

Yes, tense and Brody is unsure what
is happening when the secret service
get to his house, so he readies
himself for anything.

chromatic, no
clear tone center

pads, reversed pads, violin
(middle-eastern flair)

Yes-amorphous and ambiguous. We
don’t know Brody’s thoughts on the
matter and Callery lets us inside his
mind just enough to know he’s
considering the VP’s offer but not
directly revealing his feelings and
allowing the viewer to draw their
own conclusions amidst the
confusion

0m 27s Brody sits on the couch,
Jess comes home

f minor

low bass drone, violin (middleeastern flair)

13m 22s

0m 50s Jess is not enthused with
the idea of Brody running
for government office

chromatic, no
clear tone center

reversed bowed pads, high
string harmonics, violin
(middle-eastern flair), pads

15m 24s

16m 34s

1m 10s Carrie and Saul prep for
their meeting with AlZahrani

e minor

Strings, pads, bass (pedal E),
filtered percussion, synths,
bowed pads, metals

10 - 6

20m 14s

20m 36s

0m 22s Al-Zahrani is brought up
the elevator to Carrie and
Saul

b minor

Pads, synths, electric piano, lots
of delays

10 - 7

21m 39s

22m 32s

0m 53s Carrie shows Al-Zahrani
the compromising photos
of him

Bb minor
(Chromatic)

Pads, synths, electric piano,
the cue starts with a
high bowed metals, piano, bass, diminished 9th (C, Db) which
lots of delays
makes us feel like we’re
maybe in c minor, however,
Callery uses the introduction
of the bass/low piano note to
introduce the Bb minor tone
center, thus propelling the
scene forward subtly

10 - 8

25m 9s

26m 42s

1m 33s Carrie threatens the safety
of Al-Zahrani’s daughters

d minor

pads, piano, string harmonics,

14m 45s
1m 21s VP comes to Brody’s
house

1m 2s VP asks Brody if he’ll run
for office

B-Theme makes an
appearance here (its appeared
quite a bit before)

diminished chromatic chords Yes-diminished harmony juxtaposed
are the main thematic element against the pedal E in the bass and
here
the percussion

Carrie listens to jazz in her car to start
the episode (before this cue)

O'Hara !36
Episode #
- Cue #

Cue Start

Cue End

Cue
Duration

Context

Key/Harmony

Noticeable
Instrumentation/Effects

Bb minor
(Chromatic)

Pads, synths, electric piano,
condensed version of cue #10
high bowed metals, bass, lots of - 8
delays

10 - 9

28m 23s

28m 50s

0m 27s Saul to Al-Zahrani “You
work for us now

10 - 10

31m 12s

36m 33s

5m 21s Carrie gets ready for
Brody to come over.
Brody asks her to keep
their weekend at the cabin
between them and leaves.
Carrie cries. Saul eats by
himself at his desk at
home

10 - 11

36m 33s

41m 53s

5m 20s Al-Zahrani sets up the
meet with Walker. The
CIA is ready to intercept
Walker with Carrie on
scene, but when the man
they think is Walker
reaches Al-Zahrani, it
turns out to not be Walker
and we see Walker
activate a bomb in the
man’s briefcase and it
explodes

d minor-ish, e
minor, c minor, g
minor, e minor,
atonal (chromatic
rising)

10 - 12

42m

42m 49s

0m 49s After the bomb explodes,
Saul and Estes are unsure
if Carrie is alive. Carrie
surveys the damage and is
injured, but not badly

10 - 13

44m 4s

45m 24s

10 - 14

47m 22s

47m 37s

11 - 1

2m 55s

4m 36s

11 - 2

10m 40s

11m 20s

11 - 3

15m 26s

11 - 4

Important Notes

Psychological?

Miles Davis-My Funny
Valentine

I don’t usually write about source
music, but this is the second time
we’ve heard jazz in this episode.
Carrie uses it to put herself in a state
of calm and comfort

Pads, Strings, reversed sine
waves, low drum hits, filtered
percussion, pitched percussion,
synths, piano, duduk, horns,
orchestral clusters

Uses the percussionist in the
scene to create rhythm and
doesn’t “step on” the rhythm
of the scene. Also Callery
modulates a lot more than
usual in this cue, but each
modulation is very specific to
subtle changes in the action/
scene location/etc

Yes, in the way that it creates a
hypersensitivity to the tension

e minor

Filtered Pads, Filtered
Percussion

Everything is incredibly
filtered (Low Pass Filter)

The LPF submerges everything and
puts you in Carrie’s shoes. This is a
tried and true “trick” that composers
and sound designers use to make you
feel like you sonically experienced
an explosion

1m 20s Jess says she’s ok with
Brody running for
government office. Saul
sits with Carrie in her
hospital bed

d minor

Electric Piano with straight
eighth note delays, Bass, Synth
Pads, Subtle filtered
percussion, reversed sine
waves, strings

Tritone based harmony to
start the episode immediately.
Also the percussion contains
two distinct timbral elements,
one of which is panned hard
left and the other is panned
hard right. Yet another
example of Callery adding
subtleties to keep the ear
engaged without distracting
from the drama. Also,
extremely similar to cue #6 1). Could be an example of
recycling material, or it could
be linked thematically.

Yes: Again, the rhythm is calculated
and precise, yet the harmony and
textural elements are a bit more
amorphous. The reversed sine waves
are one example of a semi-melodic,
textural element that tries to peek
through the sonic fabric, tries to take
shape into something coherent, but
cannot get more than a note or two in
before melding back into the texture.

0m 15s Carrie reacts to Brody’s
congressional
announcement and his
kissing Jess on the cheek

a minor

Electric piano, pads, strings,
bass

b minor

Pad, duduk, strings, high
bowed synths, sparse filtered
percussion, oud

Important Syncs

Cue comes directly out of Miles Davis’
tune, which ended in G minor, so
starting the cue with a pedal D in a pad
allows Callery to smoothly modulate
into d minor. Also he cuts the music a
half a second before the explosion so
the music cuts, the audience has just a
split second to register that a bomb is
about to go off, then the bomb actually
goes off. Perfect timing at the music out
of this cue

Yes

21m 10s
1m 41s A bomb is being made

0m 40s Saul tells Carrie she’s
eb minor
acting odd, the doctor asks
if she should call another
doctor. She says to call her
sister

Bowed pads, pads, Filtered
piano

16m

0m 34s Saul leaves Carries house.
Estes goes to meet with
the VP

a minor

Pads, Reversed sine waves,
piano, filtered percussion, lots
of delays

21m 32s

21m 52s

0m 20s Brody zones out staring at
the Gettysburg battlefield

D-C# diad (D in
the bass)

Low pad and high bowed metal
pad

Yes

11 - 5

25m 30s

28m 30s

3m 0s Brody goes to pick up the
bomb

Bb minor, g
minor, a minor

Pads, strings, bowed pads,
duduk, bass, violin (middleeastern flair), choir-like pad

Definitely, all of the modulations and
changes in textures very much fit the
changes in the emotional arc of the
scene

11 - 6

30m 28s

30m 57s

0m 29s Guy to Brody at
restaurant, “I’d vote for
you”

d minor

Pads, Strings, Electric Piano,
Horn

11 - 7

34m 12s

36m 7s

1m 55s Saul parses through the
madness that is Carrie’s
notes and organizes them
on her wall

A minor/A Major/
d minor

String Harmonics, pads, filtered
percussion, strings, duduk,
violin (middle-eastern flair)

11 - 8

39m 33s

40m 29s

0m 56s Brody and Jess fool
around in the hotel room,
but clearly Brody’s mind
is on the fact that he has a
suicide bomb

b minor

Pads, Solo cello, strings, violin
(middle-eastern flair)

11 - 9

44m 8s

45m

11 - 10

49m 41s

50m 13s

11 - 11

50m 13s

51m 20s

11 - 12

52m 47s

53m 40s

12 - 1

8m 45s

12m

12 - 2

17m 10s

18m 47s

0m 52s Dana tries to open Brody’s d minor, e minor
package, Brody catches
her

Pads, bowed synths, duduk,
violin (middle-eastern flair)

0m 32s Dana and Xavier look at
video of Brody where “He
just stands there”.

Pads, string harmonics, piano,
electric piano, reversed synths

d minor

1m 7s Carrie readies for Brody to g minor
arrive

Yes, she is caught off guard by Saul
not understanding her, which is when
the music comes in. Also, see
“important syncs” at the mention of
her sister

a TON of M7 and d9 intervals
used in this episode

Pads, Piano, Strings

We hear the main theme in
almost its entirety played as a
piano melody

Extremely: we are deep in Carries
head. The use of the full main theme
alludes to the connection between
Carrie’s mindset and the theme itself.
Also alludes to the connection
between the entire score and it’s
psychological implications,
especially pertaining to Carrie

(source)

Jazz quartet (trumpet, piano,
bass, drums)

Tomasz Stanko - Tristan

Very much so

3m 15s Carrie cries in her room
with Saul there, Brody
leaves the storage facility
after making his video and
waits on a bench. Tom
Walker breaks into a car
outside a bingo hall and
lies down in the back seat

starts amorphous,
g minor

Pads, Strings, Pitched Metals,
Synths, Reversed Sine waves,
filtered percussion, synths,
reversed strings/synths

1m 37s Tom Walker sets up his
sniper rifle in the lady’s
house. Carrie lies in bed
eyes wide open.

Bb minor, g minor Pads, Strings, Piano, reversed
piano, high pitched metals

0m 53s Carrie has a meltdown as
Estes authorizes the
teardown of her wall of
evidence on Abu Nazir

uses a IV chord in a minor key when
Carrie which is uncharacteristic of
Callery, which very much highlights the
importance of her sister to her (and how
her “secret” is safe with her sister) in
that very moment

12m 59s
“You’re in love with him” - now we
have a clear key center (g minor). 11:37Music out for a little, then back in when
the lady opens her car door

O'Hara !37
Episode #
- Cue #

Cue Start

Cue End

Cue
Duration

Context

Key/Harmony

Noticeable
Instrumentation/Effects

Important Notes
B-theme

Psychological?

Important Syncs

12 - 3

18m 55s

19m 59s

1m 4s Abu Nazir speaks to
Brody (Voiceover). Brody
prepares to pray when
Dana walks into the
garage

c# minor

Pads, percussion (middleeastern rhythmic feel), violin
(middle-eastern flair), duduk

12 - 4

29m 4s

30m 10s

1m 6s Brody puts on the bomb
vest, Dana tries to open
his door but it is locked

chromatic:
centered around a
minor

Pads, reversed synths, strings,
high pitched metals

12 - 5

32m 50s

33m 40s

0m 50s Brody says bye to Dana
and leaves in his car with
a secret service member

a minor

Choir Pad, Pads, Strings

12 - 6

36m 34s

37m 28s

0m 54s Tom Walker prepares his
sniper rifle and looks at
the podium as his target

a minor

Pads, bowed metals, synths

12 - 7

39m 1s

40m 51s

1m 50s The VP and Estes arrive,
Brody shakes their hands.
Walker readies his aim….

atonalish (c
minor-ish)

filtered percussion, pads, low
bass hits, strings, bowed
metals, horns

12 - 8

42m 16s

42m 42s

0m 26s Brody and others are
ushered into the bunker

no clear tone
center

Pads, tremolo high strings,
string harmonics

Yes, Brody is flustered because his
main “target” the VP is not in the
bunker with him

12 - 9

45m 35s

46m 6s

0m 31s Brody tries to activate the
bomb, but it doesn’t work

no clear tone
center

Pads, tremolo high strings,
string harmonics

Absolutely, we are directly in
Music cuts when the bomb doesn’t work
Brody’s head at this moment. the
singular pad symbolizing his singular
focus in the moment and also
embodying his anxiety, forcing the
viewer to feel uncomfortable and
isolated in this moment with Brody

12 - 10

48m 7s

48m 46s

0m 39s Brody takes off the bomb
vest and tries to fix it in
the bathroom stall

chromatic, no
clear tone center

Pads, high strings, string
harmonics

Most definitely

12 - 11

54m 1s

54m 26s

0m 25s Brody gets ready to trigger chromatic, no
the bomb again, but secret clear tone center
service taps him on the
shoulder saying there is a
call waiting for him from
Dana

Reversed woodwinds, pads,
tremolo high strings, string
harmonics

Most definitely

12 - 12

56m 38s

57m 45s

Pads, piano, electric piano,
strings

Yes, the clearer tone center in this
cue after a lot of ambiguity gives us a
sense that Brody in fact has made his
decision to not trigger the bomb for
now

12 - 13

1h 7m 11s

1h 9m 48s

2m 37s Estes dismisses Saul’s
threats. Brody gets a gun
from his garage and goes
to meet with Tom Walker

g minor

Pads, keyboards, high pitched
metals, filtered percussion,
strings, reversed sine waves

12 - 14

1h 11m 46s

1h 13m 32s

1m 46s Nazir tells Brody on the
phone to kill Tom Walker,
Brody does.

chromatic, a
minor, c minor

Pads, bowed pads, high pitched
metals, violin (middle-eastern
flair)

12 - 15

1h 19m 10s

1h 20m 22s

1m 12s Dana and Brody sit on the
roof of their house

eb minor

Piano, bowed metals (vibes or
Tibetan Bowls)

1m 7s "I'm coming home Dana” - eb minor
Brody. They leave the
bunker

19m 19s

Yes, the harmony is ambiguous and
unsettling

Fades out as Walker is aiming
his sniper on solely a high G
harmonic in the strings

Most definitely

Music cuts when he gets tapped on the
shoulder

O’Hara 38
Works Cited
Callery, Sean. "Homeland | Main Title Sequence." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web.
 
Callery, Sean. "Interview with Sean Callery." Online interview. 12 May 2015.
 
Ganza, Alex, prod. "Homeland: Season 1." Homeland. Showtime. Fall 2011. Television.
 
"Homeland - Creating the Opening Titles Music." YouTube. YouTube, 26 Aug. 2012. Web.
30 June 2015.