‘Homeland’ Season 3: What Characters Will Return?
Oh, how we love when a season finale proves every bit as literally explosive as people claim. But for 'Homeland' season 2 finale "The Choice," the explosion in question left a number of holes in the cast, and even more questions how the show will re-invent itself going into a third season next fall. Executive producers Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa have been making the rounds today to answer reporter questions, but what characters have been officially confirmed to return?
While 'Homeland's second season finale left a number of questions to be answered, one particular consequence of the deadly explosion that killed David Estes, the Waldens, and hundreds of others went unaddressed during the hour. Icy black ops agent Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend) made the initial choice to spare Nicholas Brody's life despite orders to kill him, but how did he react to seeing Brody's face plastered on TV screens, seemingly taking responsibility for the Langley attack?
We may not have seen Quinn's reaction in last night's "The Choice," but Gansa and Gordon definitively confirmed the character would return for the third season. Also possible to return is Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham's shadowy intelligence character Dar Adal, particularly now that the intelligence community has been "decimated," and might need re-building. Of course, even with the lingering threads, Gansa and Gordon confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the series would more or less reboot itself to focus on a new story. Says Gansa:
It's an open question, but I think inevitably that's going to happen. If you look at these two seasons, the Carrie-Brody relationship, we've told a significant part of that story. If there's a chapter three, it's going to have to be a reinvention of some kind. There is a point at which we will fall back on the franchise, which is Carrie Mathison and Saul Berenson trying to keep the world safe.
As far as season 3 is concerned, the door is certainly open for Emmy-winner Damian Lewis to return as Nicholas Brody, given the creator's decision to spare his character from death mid-season and explore the Carrie relationship.
"It was just [about] getting to the moment when Nazir and Walden were dead, and there was this deluded possibility that [Carrie and Brody] could be together," says Gansa. "The last season started with Carrie being the only who thought Brody was guilty and this one ended with her being the only one thought he was innocent."
We'll keep our ears to the ground for further details of 'Homeland' season 3, but what say you? Do you want to see the series re-booted, or focused on left-over stories like Quinn? Give us your predictions in the comments!