Showtime’s political thriller series ‘Homeland’ had put forward a much improved fourth season and ended with Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) and her team traveling back home to the U.S. after pulling out from Pakistan.
However, the series’ upcoming fifth season is expected to bring huge changes as Carrie will be saying good-bye to the CIA.
“Carrie will no longer be an intelligence officer,” executive producer Alex Gansa said.
With the season premiere coming up this fall, Gansa also revealed at Paleyfest last Friday that the cast and crew of ‘Homeland’ will be heading to Germany where season five will be filmed.
Although many of the scenes from the compelling series have been filmed in the Middle East, a change in location will not necessarily imply that the action will be taking place in Germany. In the previous season, majority of the scenes were set in Pakistan but shooting took place in South Africa.
Equally important is the revelation that the fifth season will jump more than two years into the future and Carrie will no longer be battling it out with terrorists using her official intelligence capabilities.
Although Gansa did not provide any more details about future happenings on the show, he did mention the relevance of filming in Europe, especially when it comes to terrorism.
During their Q&A session at PaleyFest in Hollywood, Gansa and other ‘Homeland’ executive producers Alexander Cary, Chip Johannessen, Patrick Harbinson, Meredith Stiehm and Lesli Linka Glatter discussed several possibilities for the fifth season.
Their discussion revealed a debate as to whether a romantic relationship should be developed between Carrie and Quinn, her colleague and a coldblooded assassin portrayed by Rupert Friend.
“I was a fierce advocate for it,” Stiehm stated. “I felt there was something in the air (between the two) from day one.”
Gansa pondered over the question regarding the show’s response towards the beheadings and other violent acts attributed to the Islamist terrorist group ISIS. 'Homeland' has already been recognized for shedding light on events relating to terrorism and even for correctly predicting the circumstances that come about in the international scene.
The award-winning series has also shown its efforts in portraying the antagonists as less harsh individuals in its episodes, illuminating political events based on the point of view of individuals who believe that the U.S. is an objectionable force.
“Do we give them a platform?” Gansa said. “I don’t know. It’s an interesting question…We’re one of the few shows that gets to really comment on current events. We take that responsibility very seriously.”
