‘Homeland’ recap: Who’s in Carrie’s corner? Otto, at least

After dodging two assassination attempts and with her support system in Germany nearly kaput, Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) grabs a lifeline from her philanthropist boss Otto Düring (Sebastian Koch) on “Parabiosis,” Episode 506 of Showtime’s “Homeland.”

“Look, I feel terrible about this, coming to you again for help,” Carrie apologizes to Otto before asking to flee the country on his private jet. “But the truth is, I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Carrie initially turned to her mentor, CIA European Division Chief Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin), to determine who tried to kill her and why. Her theory is that Russian intelligence agents want her dead so she won’t see what’s lurking in classified files a hacktivist stole from the CIA.

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So perhaps Saul could share that sensitive intel?

Nope! Saul doesn’t trust Carrie since she quit the CIA to serve as head of security for Otto’s foundation, which may have indirectly funded terrorist organizations.

“You want me to hand over a bunch of top secret documents, to you of all people,” Saul indignantly says. “You don’t think that might cause some problems?”

“You’ve already got problems,” Carrie replies. “Your own agency is following you.”

Saul doesn’t know it yet, but he’s accused of sabotaging a CIA coup to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad and replace him with General Youssef (Igal Naor), a pro-democracy reformer. Tragically, the general and his family perished when a bomb on their plane exploded.

Before long, Saul realizes Carrie told the truth. Saul is indeed being tailed, as confirmed by his scheming lover Allison Carr (Miranda Otto), CIA station chief in Berlin. The reason he’s in the crosshairs is because Saul once leaked classified information to Israeli spies.

“Something in the wreckage pointed to Israel — some remnant from the bomb,” Allison says, Consequently, CIA boss Dar Adal (F. Murray Abraham) ordered “eyes and ears” put on Saul to monitor whom he’s meeting with and what he’s discussing.

“It’s not the Israelis, and it’s not me,” Saul emphasizes in an angry confrontation with Dar. “It was the Russians!”

Dar’s response? He demands that Saul take a lie detector test.

Saul’s response? He hurriedly downloads those CIA files for Carrie and stealthily passes them to Otto at his club. Later, Otto hands the flash drive to Carrie as she’s about to board his jet.

Carrie and Saul aren’t the only characters with huge problems.

CIA black ops specialist Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend) nearly died from blood loss and an infection after being wounded in a gun battle. And the kindly man who rescued Peter, a former doctor named Hussein (Mehdi Nebbou), treats him inside a building that could morph into a terrorist hotbed.

Peter’s main threat is Hajik (Jarreth J. Merz), a jihadi just released from prison who vows to kill thousands of German citizens. When Peter eavesdrops on this tirade, he’s accused of being an American spy.

“I only heard a few words,” Peter says. “It didn’t make sense.” That’s because Hajik and other suspected terrorists are under surveillance and face life imprisonment if they launch an attack on German soil.

“The real jihad is in Syria,” Peter adds, deliberately provoking Hajik. “But there you’d have to fight.”

When Peter attempts to leave the building, Hajik and his henchmen block the way.

“I have no quarrel with you,” Peter says as he gingerly steps forward.

But Hajik won’t stand aside. He whips out a knife and instigates a battle-to-the-death. Despite his weakened condition, Peter strikes a fatal blow.

“You must stay another night,” Hussein insists as Peter grimaces in pain. “You’ll be safe now.”