Earlier this year at Paleyfest, creator Alex Gansa hinted at some big changes for Homeland in Season 5. Expect a time jump, he said, some European locales, and, much to the delight of the real C.I.A., a new career for Carrie. That’s quite the significant shift. What is Homeland without its spy games, tortured romances, and the backdrop of tense U.S./Middle East relations? Well, that’s what the show is hell-bent on exploring because Showtime has now confirmed that all of Homeland Season 5 will shoot in Germany. I guess it’s true what they say: you can’t go home again.
What does this mean for the non-Mathison characters we’ve come to know and love? Has Carrie settled into her role as mother? Unlikely, since Claire Danes has said that Carrie’s difficult relationship with her child is one of her favorite aspects of Homeland. Will Carrie’s estranged mentor Saul Berenson somehow find his way to Berlin? How about Carrie’s would-be lover Quinn, last seen jetting off on a black ops mission to Syria, then Iraq, then god knows where (but certainly not Germany)? Are we looking at an entirely clean slate for Carrie?
According to Deadline, Season 5 picks up two years after Carrie’s tenure as Islamabad station chief: “Struggling to reconcile her guilt and disillusionment with years of working on the front lines in the ‘war on terror,’ Carrie finds herself in a self-imposed exile in Berlin, estranged from the CIA and working for a private security firm.” But just in case you thought either Saul’s influence or Quinn-in-peril would be enough to pull Carrie back in, let me remind you that they are shooting the entire season in Germany.
But don’t worry, it won’t be all “beer and sausage” as Danes joked at Paleyfest. A fresh start may be exactly what both Carrie and the show needs (the better to exorcise Brody’s ghost, my dears), but according to Showtime’s David Nevins, Homeland is, at its heart, a story about “how difficult it is to be America in the world in the 21st century, how difficult the choices are.”
Season 5 will begin production in early June at Studio Babelsberg in Berlin and will premiere in early fall on Showtime.
Source: Vanity Fair
