The Season 5 finale of the American political thriller TV series “Homeland” on Showtime focused on the backstory of Peter Quinn, played by Rupert Friend, which elicited positive reactions from fans of the hit show.
It was such a relief to have a deviation from the usual fast-paced sequences of “Homeland” when the focus was shifted on the agent as a young man prior to his recruitment to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), notes the Ecumenical News.
The backstory on Quinn was shown as he was fighting for his life in the hospital in the current timeline after he was exposed to sarin gas. He is in a critical condition because of the massive blood hemorrhage he had as a result.
The condition of Quinn was one of the cliffhangers left in Season 5 of “Homeland” as he was obviously fighting for his life. However, co-showrunner Howard Gordon has already hinted that there is a good chance that Quinn will be coming back for Season 6. Although he made a sort of turnaround when he added that anything can still change until the show premieres.
Over at Twitter, fans have been posting their messages address to the showrunners to ensure that Quinn comes back in Season 6 because the ratings of “Homeland” will drop if they decide to kill off the CIA operative and assassin, notes the Vine Report.
Building on the formula
It appears that the showrunners of “Homeland” will build on to the formula by turning the lights on for Season 6 on the backstory of Carrie Mathison, played by Claire Danes, and how she came to work with the hallowed halls of the CIA.
Alex Gansa, the co-executive producer of “Homeland,” said in a recent interview that the intention to feature Carrie’s own backstory would be an interesting plotline for Season 6, which is expected to return to Showtime in September this year.
The show has yet to feature how Carrie was like when she was still in college before Saul Berenson, played by Mandy Patinkin, took an interest in her brilliance.
Gansa shared that they would most likely depict Carrie as an intelligent co-ed who impressed her professors, which is the reason why she got the attention of Saul Berenson. One of her professors may have identified Carrie as someone who can identify persons who are incredibly perceptive and acute about human behavior and she was referred to Berenson.
True enough, Carrie turned out to be someone who thrives in the duplicitous role of intelligence work in foreign shores. And Berenson only proved that his intuition about Carrie was right all along from the get-go.
The Big Apple as a setting
Unlike in Season 5 where “Homeland” had Germany as its filming location, Season 6 will see the show being shot in New York in the US.
David Nevins, president of Showtime, made the disclosure in January during the Television Critics Association press tour. He revealed that the creative team of “Homeland” is already brainstorming about a domestic story wherein Carrie and the CIA would be able to use their expertise best.
During the recent People’s Choice Awards, actor Mandy Patinkin said that he hopes the show goes somewhere that makes a profound statement about something broken in this world that in most everyone’s fictional viewpoint, they might have a suggestion on how to set things right.
It seems Patinkin’s hopes may soon be realized as Nevins also said that “Homeland” will continue to use themes that are current. Since Season 6 will be filmed in the US, the featured storylines will also depict the ones similar to the current or previous issues that America has faced.
After all, the real intention of the “Homeland” franchise is to show the whole world how difficult it is to be America in the 21st century and how tough the choices the country has to make and do so that its decision will redound for the greater good of the majority.
In terms of casting, there are reports saying that Dana Brody, played by Morgan Saylor during the first three seasons of “Homeland,” will possibly return for Season 6.
Dana is a character who resembles Carrie and even Alex Gansa recognizes the similarities. The co-showrunner said that it would be interesting to see Dana becoming a CIA officer too in the show.
He added that it is indeed a pretty fascinating idea to see Dana Brody back but they are not sure if it is going to happen in the upcoming Season 6 or the next.
“Homeland” was developed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa based on the Israeli series “Hatufim” (which means “Prisoners of War”) that was created by Gideon Raff.
Claire Danes leads the cast of the show as Carrie Mathison, a CIA officer with bipolar disorder. From Seasons 1 to 3, she is supported by actor Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody, a US Marine Corps Scout Sniper.
Mathison believed then that Brody, who was held captive by Al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war, was turned by the enemy and posed a threat to the US.