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‘Homeland’ returns Danes’ prickly ex-agent to USA
The president-elect distrusts the intelligence community. No, you haven't wandered into a news story about Donald Trump. It's an important plot thread in the new season of Showtime's “Homeland.” Before you accuse the show of trolling the billionaire reality-TV star-turned-leader of the free world, remember the new season of the Emmy Award-winning drama was written and filmed months ago. (Also: “Homeland's” president-elect is a woman.) As the sixth season opens tonight, many months have passed since Carrie Mathison (Emmy winner Claire Danes) saved Berlin from a terrorist attack. Then her old boss, Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin), wanted her back in the CIA; a billionaire philanthropist wanted her to be his life partner. Carrie ended up at the side of her injured CIA colleague and friend Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend), who had been poisoned and tortured and was on the brink of death. Now we find Carrie and her daughter, Franny, back in the United States, living in Brooklyn. She works with attorney Reda Hashem (Patrick Sabongui, “The Flash”) to protect the civil rights of Muslims, and a hot case lands in their laps. FBI agents arrested a teenager who posts incendiary videos to the web and was planning a trip to Nigeria. Carrie suspects he's a victim of entrapment. Quinn lives but languishes in a VA hospital. His ordeal has left him with physical and cognitive deficits, and it's disheartening to watch this once-vital agent struggle to even walk. Carrie remains a lifeline, but one he'd just as soon sever. Saul and his sparring mate and rival Dar Adal (F. Murray Abraham) have concerns about the president-elect (Elizabeth Marvel), who cuts right to the chase with her objections to their intelligence operations. Saul remains optimistic she will learn to trust them; Dar suspects something else is going on. As Dar says, “Presidents don't get chances. They get tested.” Next week, Saul walks into Carrie's office and poses a question that might change how you view the season. It's smart writing for smart characters. Six seasons in and Danes and the writers keep Carrie a complicated character who sometimes does the wrong thing. Typically in a long-running series, a character — especially a female protagonist — tends to get her rough sides sanded down. Not Carrie. She still acts as a force for good, but she's stubborn and reckless as always. She's furious tonight when a nurse at Quinn's hospital suggests the obvious: that her presence agitates Quinn. Like all of us, Carrie has blinders when it comes to some things. This season looks to force her to come to terms with some of the choices she has made and continues to make. Next week, Carrie remarks to Saul, “You worry about the fate of the world. I got more important things to do.” Don't you believe her. In a gray world in which few can be trusted, Carrie's principles never waver.