Claire Danes reckons Homeland is going to end after one more season, and she’s Claire Danes, so she knows what she’s talking about.
It’s one of those shows that was so huge and zeitgeisty for the first two years or so, and then just sort of carried on going. Like Bones or something. Damian Lewis stopped being in it years ago, after his double-agent blowy-uppy pacemaker-hacking plot ended. Hey, and it was Barack Obama’s favourite show. God, that was a simpler time, wasn’t it?
The current season is, madly, number seven. Danes told US radio host Howard Stern that they’re knocking it on the head after eight. She must be slightly relieved - the amount of stuff her character Carrie Mathison has had flung at her over the years is exhausting. She’s been on and off meds, in and out of deep cover, drunk, sober, watched lots of people she loved die, had a terrorist’s baby and shrieked lots.
“I mean, I’ll be ready” she told Stern. “She’s a lot, this Carrie freakin’ Mathison character. It’s a workout, so I’ll be ready for a reprieve from that.”
Over the years, Danes won two Emmys, two Golden Globes and a SAG Award for her portrayal of Mathison.
Despite her comments, the show’s network Showtime says a final decision hasn’t been made about the fate of Homeland post season eight.
If Danes is done with it, the show could still continue, of course - Scrubs went on without JD, The X-Files went on without Mulder, the US Office went on without Michael Scott. And they were all, oh, not very good at the end, no, oh. And they had to bring the good ones back at the end.
Showrunner Alex Gansa is also leaving, so realistically, if they make a ninth season it’ll just be a bunch of desks with nothing happening at them, then they blow up.
The real star of the show, though, was always Mandy Patinkin’s extraordinary beard. It looks like it should be the Wikipedia image for “luxuriant” (there wouldn’t be a Wikipedia entry for that, it is an adjective, but whatever). It looks like you could crawl right into it and sleep the richest sleep of your life.
Also extremely notable: the long-ass opening credits, which potentially paved the way for Game Of Thrones’ long-ass opening credits. But, unlike GOT, Homeland’s opening credits had an F-bomb in them, Mandy Patinki’s whispered “Carrie, what the fuck are you doing?”
Also, fun fact: remember in season two, there was a subplot where Brody’s daughter was involved in a hit-and-run with her rich boyfriend, the Vice President’s son? That was Timothée Chalamet, who’s now a peach-fucking Oscar nominee.
Him! On the right! Did it with a peach!
Homeland season seven ends on April 29th. Season eight will air in 2019.
(Pics: Showtime/screenshot)
