Prisoners of War | ||||
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Written by: | Alex Gansa & Howard Gordon | |||
Directed by: | Lesli Linka Glatter | |||
Production number: | 8WAH12 | |||
Running time: | 68 minutes | |||
Original airdate: | April 26, 2020 | |||
Viewers (millions): | 1.26 |
I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE ON YOUR SIDE BUT IT MUST BE VERY, VERY LONELY - Carrie
Prisoners of War is the series finale of Homeland. It aired on April 26, 2020.
Synopsis
Events surrounding Saul and Carrie's final mission come to a conclusion.
Episode guide
Trivia
Details hidden in Homeland
Mistakes
Factual error: At the beginning of the last sequence a city centre is shown with the caption "Moscow." In fact, the city shown is Budapest, with the Danube, Castle, St Matthias Church, Fisherman's Bastion and Chain Bridge visible.
Quotes
“I love my country. What I am is a marine.” (Nicholas Brody)
“Yevgeny wanted you to have the best for your operation,” Benson creepily assured Carrie.
“Everything you have ever asked of me, I have done. And now I’m asking you. Just let me off the hook here. Do not make me do this.”- Carrie for Saul
I had to try. - Carrie
If you wanna blame me, go ahead. (Gromov) / No, I do blame you! (Mathison)
“In 2018, former CIA case officer and station chief Carrie A. Mathison made what was in her mind the most patriotic move she could make: she outed an American spy to the Russian government… - Tyranny of Secrets: Why I Had to Betray My Country.
“Greetings from Moscow, Professor,” the note reads. “The Russian S400 missile defense system sold to Iran has a backdoor. It can be defeated. More updates to follow. Stay tuned.” A sly, knowing smile cross over Saul’s face and the Carrie and Saul dance continues. - Carrie to Saul
The dedication of Carrie’s book reads “For my daughter, in the hopes she’ll one day understand.”
Comments
"She dedicates herself entirely to the noble cause of protecting her country, but she doesn’t do it simply for noble reasons. She is terrified of forging intimate relationships with others—which is, basically, what constitutes a life—because she knows the kind of damage that her condition her wreak. Because she has such an anemic life, it is easier for her to risk losing it on behalf of her cause. While this is an advantage of sorts, she must live with the pain of her loneliness.” – Claire Dane
Everybody on staff wanted to revisit something with that family. We talked about it and talked about it. We couldn’t find the right story to tell that felt organic. If all of us had one regret about the stories we told, I think we didn’t really honor the effect on a family like the Brodys of what (Nicholas) Brody was accused of at the end of season 2. That’s the one story that we all felt we dropped the ball on a little bit. It didn’t have the weight that it should have. - Alex Gansa
"She has just finished her first book and, to celebrate, he takes her to see the jazz star Kamasi Washington in concert. It’s the discordant avant-garde jazz that has opened every show since 2011. It’s the very essence of Carrie’s Dionysian energy – chaotic, intuitive, transgressive.” –James Donaghy
I’m so glad, knowing where we are and the times we live in, there’s something nice about Carrie smiling at the end of the show. It’s hopeful.” – Alex Gansa
For Carrie, it was nice to see her at the end of this run doing what she was meant to do.” –Alex Gansa
Cost of doing business... “The most powerful scenes book-ended the attempted poisoning, with Carrie and Saul having it out about the same thing they always have it out about: loyalty, duty, trust. Both can justify any decision through those prisms — whether they’re being loyal to one another, the CIA, or their country.” [x]
“The big idea for when we were filming [the final scenes] both for Carrie and Saul was that there were these amazing flares of light in the background of Saul’s shot and in the background of Carrie’s shot. It’s another chapter opening up. It came out of incredible discussions since it is the last image. I love that there’s just something about the incredible, ecstatic look on both of their faces for very different reasons.” –Lesli Linka Glatter
Cast
Main Cast
- Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison
- Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson
- Linus Roache as David Wellington
- Costa Ronin as Yevgeny Gromov
- Nimrat Kaur as Tasneem Qureshi
Guest Cast
- Amy Hargreaves as Maggie Mathison
- Tim Guinee as Scott Ryan
- Sam Trammell as Benjamin Hayes
- Jacqueline Antaramian as Dorit
- Robin McLeavy as Charlotte Benson
- Merab Ninidze as Sergei Mirov
- Tatyana Mukha as Anna Pomerantseva
- Johnny Kostrey as Valeri
- Anton Narinskiy as Tolya
- Andrew Borba as Berkle
- Jon Lindstrom as Claude Geroux
- Joanna Fyllidou as Operative in Moscow
- Hugh Dancy as John Zabel
Co-Starring
- Patrice Quinn as Vocalist
- Dwight Trible as Vocalist
- Brandon Coleman as Vocalist
Special Guest Appearance
- Kamasi Washington as Himself
Trivia
- The episode takes its name from the original Israeli TV series which this show was adapted from (Hebrew title 'Hatufim')
- Although most of the season was shot in Morocco, production had to be moved to Los Angeles for this episode due to logistical issues.
- The final scene at the concert was filmed in Los Angeles Theatre, with the featured musician being Kamasi Washington.
- Gansa described the internal tension when crafting the finale: “The conversations got intense about how far Carrie would go and how far she wouldn’t go.. everyone — cast members, directors, writers — was in a froth…. To say there was some free-floating anxiety would’ve been an understatement”.
- Some details of the finale were still in flux as filming approached. 24 hours before the finale was shot, Gansa, along with Claire Danes, settled on the idea of Carrie’s authoring of a book denouncing the United States.
Videos
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