Claire Danes
Claire Catherine Danes (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress. She is the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2012, ''Time'' named her one of the 100 most influenti ...
, is a fictional character and the
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
of the American television drama/thriller series ''
Homeland
A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethn ...
'' on
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
, created by
Alex Gansa
Alex Gansa is a screenwriter and producer best known as the creator, executive producer and showrunner of the Showtime series ''Homeland'', based on the original Israeli series ''Prisoners of War'' created by Gideon Raff.
He produced and wrote a ...
and
Howard Gordon
Howard Gordon (born March 31, 1961) is an American television writer and producer.
He is well known for his work on the Fox action series '' 24'' alongside the Showtime thriller ''Homeland'', which he co-developed with Alex Gansa and Gideon ...
. Carrie is a
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
officer who, while on assignment in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, learned from a CIA asset that an American
prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...
had been turned by
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
. After a
U.S. Marine
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...
sergeant named
Nicholas Brody
Nicholas Brody (often simply called "Brody"), played by actor Damian Lewis, is a fictional character on the American television series ''Homeland'' on Showtime, created by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon. Brody is a United States Marine Corps Gun ...
is rescued from captivity, Carrie believes that he is the POW described to her. Carrie's investigation of Brody is complicated by her
bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
and results in an obsession with her suspect.
For her performance as Carrie, Claire Danes has received several major acting awards, including the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leadi ...
, the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama is a Golden Globe Award presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The award honors the best performance by an actress in a drama television series.
...
Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama
The Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama is one of the annual Satellite Awards given by the International Press Academy
The International Press Academy (IPA) is an American association of professional entertainment j ...
, and the
TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama
The TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama is an award given by the Television Critics Association.
Winners and nominees
Multiple wins
;3 wins
* James Gandolfini (consecutive)
;2 wins
* Andre Braugher (consecutive)
* Jon Hamm
* Hugh Lau ...
. She is the second actress to win all the five main TV acting awards for her performance in the Lead Drama Actress categories.
Character biography
Background and personality
Carrie Anne Mathison was an
Arabic language
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
student at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
, where she was recruited into the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
by veteran officer Saul Berenson (
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce Patinkin (; born November 30, 1952) is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television and film. He is a critically acclaimed Broadway performer, having received three Tony Award nominations, winning ...
). Carrie developed a close working relationship with Saul, and is implied to have had a sexual relationship with CTC Director
David Estes
This is a list of characters appearing in the Showtime drama television series ''Homeland''.
Appearances
: = Main cast (credited)
: = Recurring cast (3+)
: = Guest cast (1-2)
Main cast
Recurring cast
;Notes
Main characters
The foll ...
(
David Harewood
David Harewood MBE (born 8 December 1965) is a British actor and presenter. He is best known for his roles as CIA Counterterrorism Director David Estes in ''Homeland'' (2011–2012), and as J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter and Hank Henshaw / ...
), her future boss, which contributed to the breakup of his marriage. In college, Carrie was diagnosed with
bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
, for which she secretly began taking
clozapine
Clozapine is a psychiatric medication and is the first atypical antipsychotic (also called second-generation antipsychotic). It is primarily used to treat people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders who have had an inadequate respo ...
supplied by her older sister, Maggie (
Amy Hargreaves
Amy Hargreaves (born January 27, 1970) is an American actress who has worked in film, television, video games and theater. She had a recurring role on ''Homeland'' as Maggie Mathison. In 1994, she starred in ''Brainscan'' with Edward Furlong. I ...
), a psychiatrist.
As a field operative in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, Carrie infiltrated a prison to meet with an imprisoned CIA asset named Hasan Ibrahim, who claimed that he had information regarding an imminent terrorist attack in the United States. Moments before his execution, Hasan told Carrie that an American prisoner of war was turned by
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
figure Abu Nazir (
Navid Negahban
Navid Negahban ( fa, نوید نگهبان; born June 2, 1968) is an Iranian-American actor. He has appeared on '' 24'', ''Homeland'', '' Mistresses'' and as Amahl Farouk / Shadow King in the second and third seasons of FX's ''Legion''. He has al ...
). Carrie's unauthorized dealings with Hasan led to an
international incident {{Refimprove, date=December 2011
An international incident (or diplomatic incident) is a seemingly relatively small or limited action, incident or clash that results in a wider dispute between two or more nation-states. International incidents can ...
, causing Estes to have her reassigned to the CIA's
Counterterrorism Center
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's Mission Center for Counterterrorism (often referred to as the Counterterrorism Mission Center or CTMC, formerly the Counterterrorism Center, or simply CTC) was established in 1986, and is a division of the CI ...
in
Langley, Virginia
Langley is an unincorporated community in the census-designated place of McLean in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Langley is often used as a metonym for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as it is home to its headquarters, the Geo ...
.
Season 1
Ten months after her reassignment, Carrie attends an emergency staff meeting and learns that
Nicholas Brody
Nicholas Brody (often simply called "Brody"), played by actor Damian Lewis, is a fictional character on the American television series ''Homeland'' on Showtime, created by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon. Brody is a United States Marine Corps Gun ...
(
Damian Lewis
Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is an English actor, presenter and producer. He is best known for portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', which earned him a Golden Globe nomination ...
), a U.S. Marine sergeant, has been rescued after eight years in terrorist captivity. Carrie tells Saul about Hasan's claims, and expresses concern that Brody is the POW he was describing. With the CIA having no cause to investigate Brody, Carrie conducts her own unauthorized surveillance using a one-month
FISA
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("FISA" , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and the collection of "foreign intelligence information" between "foreign pow ...
warrant delivered by Saul. Initially, Carrie finds no evidence of Brody's involvement with terrorism.
When her FISA warrant expires, Carrie takes to making personal contact with Brody instead. She bumps into Brody at a veterans' support group, where they strike up a conversation and immediately bond over their mutual experiences in the Middle East. Brody asks Carrie to have a drink with him one night, culminating in a drunken sexual encounter in Carrie's car. The next day, he is brought in to Langley for a
polygraph test
A polygraph, often incorrectly referred to as a lie detector test, is a device or procedure that measures and records several physiological indicators such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while a person is asked an ...
over the apparent suicide of Afsal Hamid (
Waleed Zuaiter
Waleed F. Zuaiter (; born January 16, 1971) is an Arab-American actor and producer who has performed in on-stage productions in Washington, D.C.; Berkeley, California; and New York City, as well as several film and television productions. He live ...
), a detained terrorist with whom Brody had a violent confrontation. Carrie, suspicious of Brody's replies, orders the interviewer to ask if he has ever been unfaithful to his wife. Brody says "no", beating the polygraph.
Afterwards, Carrie and Brody drive to her family's secluded cabin to spend the weekend together. However, after Carrie mentions his preference for Yorkshire Gold tea, which she learnt about through surveillance, Brody realizes she has been spying on him. She forces him to admit to his conversion to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, his meeting with and personal affection for Nazir, and his murder of a fellow POW named Tom Walker under duress by the terrorists. As Brody leaves, Saul contacts Carrie and informs her that Walker (Chris Chalk) is alive and was the POW who was turned. Carrie tries to apologize to Brody, but he rebuffs her and goes back to his family.
The investigation into Walker leads Carrie and Saul to Mansour al-Zahrani (Ramsey Faragallah), a Saudi diplomat who acts as Nazir's intermediary. Carrie blackmails al-Zahrani into arranging a meeting with Walker at
Farragut Square
Farragut Square is a city square in Washington, D.C.'s Ward 2 of the District of Columbia, Ward 2. It is bordered by K Street (Washington, D.C.), K Street Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW to the north, I Street NW to the south, on the east and wes ...
. However, the meet ends in disaster when Walker detonates a briefcase bomb carried by a double, killing al-Zahrani and three bystanders. Carrie is injured in the explosion, leading to a severe
manic episode
Mania, also known as manic syndrome, is a mental and behavioral disorder defined as a state of abnormally elevated arousal, affect, and energy level, or "a state of heightened overall activation with enhanced affective expression together wit ...
that causes her to be hospitalized. Upon learning of her affair with Brody, Estes — already under pressure by Vice President William Walden (
Jamey Sheridan
James Patrick Sheridan (born July 12, 1951) is an American actor known for playing a wide range of roles in theater, film, and television. He's best known for Randall Flagg in '' The Stand'' (1994), Captain James Deakins on '' Law & Order: Crimin ...
) to find a scapegoat for the bombing — dismisses Carrie from the CIA.
Carrie deduces the target of Walker and Nazir's upcoming attack: Walden's upcoming policy summit at the
State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
. When Walker stages a sniper attack on the dignitaries, Brody, Walden, and Estes are led to an underground bunker. Carrie realizes that the shooting is a diversion from the actual attack, in which Brody will bomb the bunker with a
suicide vest
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and subs ...
and kill everyone inside. Carrie appears at Brody's house and pleads with his daughter, Dana (
Morgan Saylor
Morgan Frances Saylor (born October 26, 1994) is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Dana Brody in the Showtime series ''Homeland'', 2019's '' Blow the Man Down'' and for her critically acclaimed portrayal of Leah in the 2016 ...
), to contact her father and stop him from carrying out the attack. An alarmed Dana calls 911, leading the police to arrest Carrie.
Brody relents from the attack at the last minute following a sudden phone call from Dana. The following day, as Carrie is being released into Maggie's custody, Brody confronts her and tells her to leave him and his family alone. Carrie, now discredited and doubting her own sanity, asks to be taken to a hospital for
electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive th ...
. Saul tries to stop the procedure, but she is undeterred. When Saul mentions that Nazir's son, Issa, was killed in a
drone strike
Drone warfare is a form of aerial warfare using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, India, Pakist ...
, Carrie — remembering that Brody cried out Issa's name during a nightmare — fleetingly ponders this connection before being given a seizure by the ECT treatment.
Season 2
Six months later, Carrie is working as an
English as a Second Language
English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL ...
teacher and living with her sister. When one of her former CIA assets, Fatima Ali (
Clara Khoury
Clara may refer to:
Organizations
* CLARA, Latin American academic computer network organization
* Clara.Net, a European ISP
* Consolidated Land and Rail Australia, a property development consortium
People
* Clara (given name), a feminine giv ...
), demands to talk with Carrie, Saul and Estes persuade her to fly to
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
for a meeting. Fatima gives the time and location of a planned meeting between her husband and Nazir in exchange for her defection. Saul and Estes' lack of trust in Carrie's judgment causes her to briefly have another breakdown. Carrie, Saul, and Estes set up an operation to capture Nazir, but Brody — who has been elected to
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
and is observing the operation with Walden in a
situation room
The Situation Room, officially known as the John F. Kennedy Conference Room, is a conference room and intelligence management center in the basement of the West Wing of the White House. It is run by the National Security Council staff for the ...
— tips him off and allows him to escape.
Carrie, her obsession with the case renewed, ransacks Fatima's apartment and comes out with a satchel full of documents. After a pursuit by a Lebanese mob, Saul finds a hidden compartment in the satchel that it contains a
memory card
A memory card is an electronic data storage device used for storing digital information, typically using flash memory. These are commonly used in digital portable electronic devices. They allow adding memory to such devices using a card in a so ...
with Brody confessing to the aborted State Department bombing. When the mission is over, however, she realizes that she will not be permitted back into the CIA, and attempts suicide by overdosing on her medication. At the last minute, she changes her mind and vomits up the pills. Moments later, Saul shows up at her door and shows her Brody's confession. The video convinces Estes to let Carrie watch Brody, and to assign a CIA analyst named Peter Quinn (
Rupert Friend
Rupert William Anthony Friend (born 9 October 1981) is an English actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in '' The Libertine'' (2004) and '' Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont'' (2005), both of which won him awards for best newcomer. He port ...
) to run the operation. Quinn has Carrie meet with Brody as part of a sting operation. During the meeting, Carrie intuits that he is on to her and blows her cover by confronting Brody about his treason, forcing Saul and Quinn to arrest him.
During her interrogation of Brody, Carrie catches him by surprise by admitting that she wanted him to leave his family to be with her. After Carrie systematically breaks Brody down and correctly surmises that Dana's phone call prevented the State Department bombing, he tearfully admits to his collaboration with Nazir and other al-Qaeda associates, and reveals that Nazir is planning an attack. Carrie gives Brody an ultimatum: either be exposed and sent to prison, or help the CIA in exchange for immunity. Left with no other options, Brody agrees to help the CIA.
The pressures arising from both his family's needs and his espionage work lead Brody to break off contact with al-Qaeda. Carrie takes Brody to a hotel to convince him to go back to al-Qaeda; she has hot sex with him while Saul and Quinn uncomfortably listen in. After Brody helps foil the attack, Carrie is captured by Nazir, who threatens to kill her unless Brody aids him in assassinating Walden. After Brody kills Walden at Nazir's instruction, Nazir releases Carrie, who leads the search of the abandoned mill where she was held. Realizing that Nazir is still hiding in the building, she leads a
SWAT
In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...
team inside and witnesses his death. Estes offers to reinstate Carrie and promote her to
Station Chief
A station chief is a government official who is the head of a team, post or function usually in a foreign country. Historically it commonly referred to the head of a defensible structure such as an ambassador's residence or colonial outpost. In G ...
. When Brody leaves his wife Jessica ( Morena Baccarin) to be with her, however, Carrie finds herself torn between her career and her love for him.
She goes with Brody to a memorial service for Walden at Langley, and tells him she wants to be with him. During the service, al-Qaeda operatives plant a bomb in Brody's car and detonate it, in an attack planned by Nazir in advance of his death. The blast kills Estes, Walden's family, and numerous senior government officials. Al-Qaeda also leaks Brody's confession video, thus framing him for the attack. Believing that Brody is innocent yet knowing that no one else will, Carrie drives him over the Canada–US border and sets out to clear his name.
Season 3
Fifty-eight days after the Langley bombing, Carrie has been reinstated to the CIA and answers questioning by the
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (sometimes referred to as the Intelligence Committee or SSCI) is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of ...
. During her testimony, she states that Brody had nothing to do with the attack. Information is leaked to the public about her previous immunity deal with Brody, as well as her sexual relationship with him. Saul acknowledges Carrie's bipolar disorder when he appears before the committee. In retaliation, Carrie leaks classified information to a reporter, leading Saul to have her temporarily committed to a mental hospital. She appears before a hospital committee to ask for her release, which her father and sister attend. When they tell her to begin taking
lithium
Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid ...
again, she flies into a rage and has to be forcibly medicated and restrained. She is then formally committed.
Weeks later, lawyer Paul Franklin (
Jason Butler Harner
Jason Thomas Butler Harner (born October 9, 1970) is an American actor.
Life and career
Harner was born in Elmira, New York and grew up in suburban Northern Virginia, where he saw a handful of plays at Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage. His mid ...
) visits Carrie in the hospital and offers to help her retaliate against the CIA, but she refuses. Franklin nevertheless secures her release and persuades her to meet with Leland Bennett (
Martin Donovan
Martin Donovan (born Martin Paul Smith; August 19, 1957) is an American actor. He has had a long collaboration with director Hal Hartley, appearing in many of his films, such as ''Trust'' (1990), '' Surviving Desire'' (1991), '' Simple Men'' (199 ...
), a lawyer representing the Iranian bank that financed the Langley bombing. Bennett makes a deal with Carrie: his clients will protect her from further reprisals in exchange for intelligence on the CIA's inner workings. The episode's final scene reveals that her entire ordeal is part of a secret operation she has been working on with Saul.
Jessica Brody begs Carrie to help find Dana, who has run off with her boyfriend Leo (
Sam Underwood
Sam Lewis Underwood (born 4 August 1987) is an English actor who portrayed the twins Luke and Mark Gray in the Fox thriller drama ''The Following'', Jake Otto in the AMC series '' Fear the Walking Dead'' (2017), and Adam Carrington in The CW se ...
). Carrie runs a ploy to slip her surveillance and tell FBI Special Agent Hall (Billy Smith), who is assigned to the Brody family detail, to find Dana. That night, Carrie is kidnapped and brought before Majid Javadi (
Shaun Toub
Shaun Toub ( fa, شان توب ; ; born February 15, 1958) is an Iranian-born American actor. He has played the character Yinsen in '' Iron Man'' (2008) and ''Iron Man 3'' (2013); Farhad in ''Crash'' (2004); Rahim Khan in ''The Kite Runner'' (2 ...
), an Iranian intelligence operative and one of the masterminds of the Langley attack. Carrie offers Javadi the agency's protection in exchange for information on the other bombers. Javadi agrees to help them, but evades his surveillance detail to murder his ex-wife and daughter-in-law. Carrie and Quinn arrive moments later and take him into custody. Meanwhile, Carrie learns that she is pregnant.
During questioning, Javadi says that one of Nazir's men detonated the Langley bomb, and that Brody had nothing to do with it. As Carrie delivers Javadi to the airport, he tells her that Bennett knows the bomber's identity. Carrie enlists Quinn to help clear Brody's name. To track down the bomber, she tells Franklin that Leland's firm has been linked to the bombing, provoking Leland into ordering the bomber moved out of the country. She takes part in a stakeout of the bomber's hotel room and watches as Franklin approaches with a silenced pistol. Carrie insists on intervening, as she cannot prove Brody's innocence without the bomber's testimony.
Black ops
A black operation or black op is a covert or clandestine operation by a government agency, a military unit or a paramilitary organization; it can include activities by private companies or groups. Key features of a black operation are that it i ...
agent Dar Adal (
F. Murray Abraham
F. Murray Abraham (born Murray Abraham; October 24, 1939) is an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he came to prominence for his acclaimed leading role as Antonio Salieri in the drama film '' Amadeus'' (1984) for which he wo ...
) orders her to stand down, but she ignores him and starts running toward the hotel. Quinn shoots her in the shoulder to stop her. Adal's team then drives her to the hospital.
Saul visits Carrie in the hospital and reveals the full scope of the operation: Brody will seek
political asylum
The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...
in Iran and assassinate the leader of the Revolutionary Guard so that Javadi can take his place. Carrie goes to see Brody, who is suffering through heroin withdrawal, and takes him to the motel where Dana is working as a maid. Brody tries to get out of the car and see her, but is subdued by the soldiers flanking him; Carrie then tells him that going through the operation is his only chance for redemption. After Brody weans off the drugs and regains his strength, Carrie takes him to see Dana, who says that she never wants to see Carrie or her father again. Carrie and Brody say goodbye as he ships out for
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
.
Carrie watches via satellite as a
Special Operations
Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...
team
United States Army Special Forces
The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army.
The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal mi ...
transports Brody to the Iranian border. The team encounters
Iraqi Police
The Iraqi Police (IP) is the uniformed police force responsible for the enforcement of civil law in Iraq. Its organisation, structure and recruitment were guided by the Coalition Provisional Authority after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and it is ...
officers who recognize Brody and open fire on them. The operation is endangered when the team's van hits a land mine, severely injuring the team leader and attracting enemy fire. Saul calls off the operation and orders Brody to turn back, but Brody refuses and runs toward the border. Carrie tells Brody that he will die on his own, but he insists that she find a way to get him back safely. Fortunately, Iranian border guards take Brody in, saving the operation.
Carrie travels to Tehran to make sure the assassination goes smoothly, and watches as Brody is taken to meet with the head of the Revolutionary Guard, General Deshan Akbari (Houshang Touzie). Brody does not get close enough to Akbari to inject him with
cyanide
Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms.
In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...
as planned, putting the mission in jeopardy. The situation worsens when Brody starts giving interviews to Iranian television denouncing the U.S.; over Carrie's objections, Saul orders Brody to be killed. Carrie calls Brody to warn him, and pleads with him to come with her to safety. Brody refuses, however, and manages to enter the Revolutionary Guard headquarters and kill Akbari.
After informing Carrie of his success, Brody goes with her to a safe house 100 miles out of Tehran. There, she tells him she is pregnant with his child. Saul assures her that Brody will be safely extracted, but his successor as CIA Director, Senator Andrew Lockhart (
Tracy Letts
Tracy S. Letts (born July 4, 1965) is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He started his career at the Steppenwolf Theatre before making his Broadway debut as a playwright for '' August: Osage County'' (2007), for which he received ...
), betrays their location to Javadi, who arranges their capture. Brody is convicted of treason and sentenced to death. Carrie tries desperately to secure his release, but to no avail. When she calls him in his cell, he asks her not to come to his execution. She goes anyway, however, and calls out his name as he is hanged in a public square.
Four months later, Lockhart promotes a heavily pregnant Carrie to Station Chief in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, but refuses her request to give Brody a star on the
CIA Memorial Wall
The Memorial Wall is a memorial at the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia. It honors CIA employees who died in the line of service.
Season 4
Carrie, now CIA Station Chief in
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, authorizes a drone strike on a
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
Numan Acar
Numan Acar (born 7 October 1974) is a Turkish-German actor and film producer.
Life and career
Acar was born in 1974 in Kozoglu, a small village in the Kelkit district of Turkey; he lived in the nearby city of Erzincan until 1982, when his famil ...
) is in hiding. The strike occurs while Haqqani is attending a wedding, resulting in his apparent death along with those of 40 civilians. Carrie travels to
Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...
to learn that Sandy Bachman (
Corey Stoll
Corey Stoll (born March 14, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Congressman Peter Russo on the Netflix political thriller series ''House of Cards'' (2013–2016), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination in 2013 ...
), the Station Chief in Pakistan, had been outed. Carrie and Quinn attempt to rescue Bachman, but they are spotted by an angry mob that kills Bachman. Carrie and Quinn manage to escape. In Washington, Lockhart permanently "recalls" Carrie from her post in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Carrie is struggling with raising her infant daughter, Frannie. She sees no point in being a mother with Brody dead, and interacts with the child as little as possible, often leaving her in the care of her sister Maggie. While bathing Frannie, Carrie is momentarily tempted to drown her. She leaves Frannie with Maggie, reasoning that her daughter is better off without her.
Carrie and Quinn meet Jordan Harris (
Adam Godley
Adam Godley (born 22 July 1964) is a British-American actor. He has been nominated for two Tony Awards and four Laurence Olivier Awards for his performances on the New York and London stages which include, ''Private Lives'' in 2001, ''The Pillo ...
), a former CIA case officer who reveals that Bachman had leaked intelligence and was protected by Lockhart. Carrie blackmails Lockhart into promoting her to Bachman's former post as the CIA's Station Chief in Pakistan. In Islamabad, Carrie attempts to turn Haqqani's nephew Aayan Ibrahim (
Suraj Sharma
Suraj Sharma (born 21 March 1993) is an Indian actor who made his debut in the 2012 film '' Life of Pi''. Directed by Ang Lee, the film was adapted from the novel of the same name, and earned Sharma critical acclaim as well as a BAFTA Rising S ...
), a Pakistani medical student whose family was killed in the drone strike, and who may hold valuable information. Quinn requests dismissal from the CIA, but Carrie convinces him to come to Islamabad when he finds evidence that Bachman's death was a setup.
Carrie learns that Haqqani is still alive, and sees him together with Aayan. Suspecting that Aayan is involved in terrorism, she sleeps with him in an attempt to recruit him as an asset. Carrie stages her own kidnapping to scare Aayan into leaving the country. She then watches via drone as he meets with Haqqani, who produces Saul, bound and gagged, from his car. Haqqani accuses Aayan of spying on him and shoots him in the head, killing him. Enraged, Carrie orders a drone strike, even though it would kill Saul. Quinn stops her, however.
Meanwhile, Dennis Boyd (
Mark Moses
Mark W. Moses (born February 24, 1958) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Paul Young in the ABC comedy-drama ''Desperate Housewives'' (2004–2011) and as Herman "Duck" Phillips in the AMC period drama ''Mad Men'' (2007–2014).
...
), the husband of the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, breaks into Carrie's apartment and photographs her medication and family photos. Boyd switches her medication with a hallucinogen. She has a delusional episode and attacks a security guard, and
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...
(ISI) officers take her into custody. Lieutenant colonel Aasar Khan (
Raza Jaffrey
Raza Jaffrey (born 28 May 1973) is a British actor and singer, who starred as Neal Hudson on the CBS TV medical drama '' Code Black''. He is best known for playing Zafar Younis on the BBC One spy drama series '' Spooks''. In 2014, he played ...
) questions her, but she hallucinates that he is Brody and breaks down crying in his arms. She receives a call from Saul, who has escaped from his captors. She helps him evade the local
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
, and talks him out of committing suicide when they find him. Ultimately, however, she delivers him to the Taliban so they will spare his life. Later that night, she meets with Khan, who tells her that Boyd is working with the ISI. Carrie sets a trap for Boyd with his wife's help, and he is taken into custody.
Carrie oversees a prisoner exchange: Saul for five Taliban members. When Saul comes into view, however, Carrie sees a young boy behind him wearing a suicide vest. Carrie goes herself to retrieve Saul, and persuades him to let the exchange go forward and come with her. As they go back to the U.S. Embassy, their car is hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Marines pull Carrie and Saul from the wreckage, and take them back the embassy, which has been invaded by Haqqani's forces. The White House orders U.S. forces out of Pakistan and relieves Carrie of her command. When Quinn kidnaps Farhad Ghazi (Tamer Burjaq), the ISI agent who kidnapped Saul, Carrie asks Lockhart to let her stay in Islamabad so she can bring him in. She finds Quinn and pleads with him to leave the country, but he refuses and escapes. She later stops him from assassinating Haqqani, and sees that Haqqani has Adal in his entourage. Meanwhile, she receives a phone call from Maggie, who tells her that their father has died. Carrie finds some solace in talking to Frannie, and decides to be a better mother to her.
Quinn shows up at her father's funeral, and the two share a kiss. She also sees her estranged mother Ellen Mathison (
Victoria Clark
Victoria Clark (born October 10, 1959) is an American actress, musical theatre singer and director. Clark has performed in numerous Broadway musicals and in other theatre, film and television works. Her soprano voice can also be heard on innu ...
), and finds out that she has a half-brother. She confronts Adal, and learns that Quinn has accepted a mission in Syria and that Saul and Adal are negotiating with Haqqani.
Season 5
The fifth season begins two years later. Carrie has left the CIA, and is living in Berlin with Franny and her boyfriend Jonas ( Alexander Fehling). She now works as head of security for the Düring Foundation, and is tasked by her boss Otto Düring (
Sebastian Koch
Sebastian Koch (born 31 May 1962) is a German television and film actor. He is known for roles in the 2007 Academy Award-winning film ''The Lives of Others'', in Steven Spielberg's '' Bridge of Spies'', and as Otto Düring in the fifth season of ...
) to prepare him for a trip to Lebanon. She meets with her former colleague Allison Carr (
Miranda Otto
Miranda Otto (born 16 December 1967) is an Australian actress. She is the daughter of actors Barry and Lindsay Otto and the paternal half-sister of actress Gracie Otto. Otto began her acting career in 1986 at age 18 and appeared in a variety of ...
) to assess the security situation there; Allison refuses to help unless Carrie gives her inside information on the Foundation, a request Carrie refuses. She arranges safe passage for Düring to Lebanon - where an attempt is made on his life. Carrie meets with a contact named Behruz (
Mousa Kraish
Mousa Hussein Kraish ( ; ar, موسى حسين قريش; born November 21) is an American actor and director, who has appeared in several Hollywood films including Steven Spielberg's 2005 film ''Munich (2005 film), Munich''. He is best known for ...
), who tells her that she, not Düring, was the target of the attack.
To find out who wants her dead, Carrie goes off her medication, claiming that her manic phases make her mind sharper. She and Jonas get into an argument when he finds out how many drone strikes she ordered while at the CIA, and he storms out. Soon after, he learns that Quinn kidnapped his son and then released him as a ploy to draw Carrie out. The following night, Carrie finds Quinn sneaking up on Jonas' house and shoots him in the back. Quinn was wearing body armor, however, and incapacitates her. Quinn tells her that Saul gave him an order to kill her. They stage a crime scene and take photos to fake Carrie's death, and Carrie prepares to go into hiding. Before she does, she insists on scouting the post office where Quinn gets his assignments in order to confirm whether it really was Saul who wanted her killed. After Quinn drops off his "proof" of Carrie's death in the P.O. box, a hitman arrives, targeting Quinn, and a gunfight ensues in which Quinn is wounded. Carrie leaves Quinn with Jonas, and goes to investigate. She learns that the hitman worked for Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), and realizes that Russia wants CIA intelligence that had recently been stolen by
hackers
A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...
.
She meets with Saul and asks him to give her copies of the hacked documents, but he refuses. She decides to go into hiding, and asks Düring to smuggle her out of the country. Just before she is about to leave, however, Düring gives her the documents from Saul, who now believes her. One of the documents concerns an operation she worked on in Baghdad with Allison 10 years earlier, and she finds out that Ahmed Nazari (
Darwin Shaw
Darwin Shaw is a British stage, film and television actor, and director. Formerly practicing as a medical doctor, he retrained as an actor at LAMDA in 2004 after studying theatre in New York City.
Early life
Shaw, the eldest of two boys, w ...
), a former asset who had been presumed dead, is still alive. She meets with Allison, who promises to help her. Carrie then asks her asset Numan (Atheer Adal) to hack into Allison's computer to find the case files about Nazari, and discovers a screensaver photo of Nazari at Allison's favorite bar. She deduces from the picture that Allison and Nazari are romantically involved, and that Allison is the traitor.
Carrie convinces Saul to put Allison under surveillance, despite the fact that he and Allison are in a relationship. They then lead her to believe that an SVR chief has defected to the U.S., and that he has documents revealing how the CIA had been infiltrated. Allison panics and goes to her handler, Ivan Krupin (
Mark Ivanir
Mark Alexandrovich Ivanir ( he, מארק איווניר; uk, Марк Олександрович Іванір; russian: Марк Александрович Иванир) is a Ukrainian-born Israeli actor known for his character roles on America ...
), which allows the CIA to put her under arrest. Carrie then sees a news report showing video of
Islamic State
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
terrorists poisoning Quinn with sarin, and threatening to unleash a chemical attack on a major European city in 24 hours. Carrie traces the video to an address in Berlin, where she finds Quinn, barely alive. Quinn ultimately lives, but is left in a coma.
Carrie asks her contacts for information on an underground doctor in the area where Quinn went missing. Following a tip from former
Hezbollah
Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...
commander Al-Amin ( George Georgiou), she tracks down one of the cell's supporters, Dr. Hussein (
Mehdi Nebbou
Mehdi Nebbou (born 10 January 1974) is a French actor.
Biography
Nebbou was born on 10 January 1974 in Bayonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France, to a German mother and an Algerian father. His brother is the film director Safy Nebbou.
He start ...
). Under threat of arrest, he brings her to an apartment belonging to Qasim (Alireza Bayram), one of the terrorists. In the apartment, Carrie finds extensive research on the Hauptbahnhof train station and heads there to investigate. She finds Qasim in the subway, and pleads with him to stop the plan to bomb the station. Qasim tries to reason with his cousin Bibi (René Ifrah), the ringleader, but Bibi kills him. Carrie then shoots and kills Bibi, neutralizing the threat. Back home, Jonas breaks up with Carrie, saying that neither he nor his son will ever be safe around her. Saul asks Carrie to rejoin the CIA, but she declines his offer. Düring essentially proposes to her, giving her a chance to co-head his Foundation. She does not answer him, and he gives her time to think about it.
Meanwhile, Quinn suffers a massive brain hemorrhage. Adal gives Carrie a letter Quinn wrote declaring his love for her. She visits him in the hospital, locks the door to his room, and removes his pulse monitor, implying a
mercy killing
Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different eutha ...
. The episode ends with Carrie pausing before anything happens to Quinn.
Season 6
Carrie has returned to the United States and is living in Brooklyn, New York with Frannie. She is working for a foundation that provides legal aid to Muslims accused of terrorism, and serving as an informal advisor to President-Elect Elizabeth Keane (
Elizabeth Marvel
Elizabeth Marvel (born November 27, 1969) is an American actress. Her most prominent roles include Det. Nancy Parras on ''The District'', Solicitor General of the United States, Solicitor General Heather Dunbar on ''House of Cards (American TV se ...
). She is also caring for Quinn, who emerged from the coma with neurological damage and
post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...
(PTSD).
When her client Sekou Bah (J. Mallory Cree) is killed in and framed for a terrorist attack, Carrie begins to investigate. She goes to talk with Sekou's family, leaving Quinn to watch Frannie. A group of protestors, angered by leaked reports that Carrie was Sekou's lawyer, gather outside Carrie's house; this triggers Quinn's PTSD, and he shoots one of the protestors and takes a reporter hostage. Carrie manages to talk Quinn down so he will be taken in alive. Dar Adal - the mastermind of the attack - exploits the situation by telling Children's Protective Services (CPS) that Carrie put Frannie in danger, in order to drive Carrie over the edge and discredit her in Keane's eyes. The plan works: CPS put Frannie in a foster home, and Carrie falls into an alcoholic despair that motivates Keane to question her judgment.
Saul raises Carrie's spirits by taking her to see Frannie, and asks for her help in setting up a meeting between Keane and Majid Javadi, who claims to have evidence that Adal is manipulating her. At the meeting, however, Javadi lies that Iran is not complying with its nuclear deal with the United States. Carrie discovers that Adal is part of a conspiracy of disgruntled undercover operatives who want to undermine Keane's antiwar foreign policy. She also finds out that Javadi had been working with Adal, and that Adal is the brains behind
alt-right
The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a far-right, white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity during the mid-2 ...
media personality Brett O'Keefe (
Jake Weber
Jake T. Weber (born 12 March 1963) is an English actor, known in film for his role as Michael in '' Dawn of the Dead'' and for his role as Drew in '' Meet Joe Black''. On television, he is best-known for playing Joe DuBois, the sleep-deprived ...
), who is peddling a false conspiracy theory that Keane's son Andrew, who died fighting in Iraq, was deserting his post when he was killed.
Adal betrays Javadi to Mossad, who want to arrest him on terrorism charges. As he is taken away, Javadi leaves evidence of Adal's treachery for Carrie, who takes it to Keane. Keane asks Carrie to testify that Adal covered up the infiltration by a Russian agent of the CIA Berlin station. Carrie is reluctant to do so, as that would ruin Saul's career, but ultimately agrees that it is the best course of action. She refuses to testify at the last minute, however, after her driver makes suspicious comments about her upcoming appointment with CPS. After she refuses, she gets an ominous phone call informing her that her upcoming supervised visit with Frannie has been cancelled. She realizes that Adal is blackmailing her, and calls the CIA to tell them that he has "won".
Quinn informs her that he found evidence that Sekou was set up, and that Porteous Belli (
C. J. Wilson
Christopher John Wilson (born November 18, 1980) is an American auto racing team owner and former professional baseball pitcher. Wilson pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers from 2005 to 2011 and the Los Angeles Angel ...
), an assassin working for Adal, has been spying on her. They go to the conspirators' safe house, where Belli attacks them. Quinn kills Belli, and finds evidence that the conspirators are planning to assassinate Keane. Moments later, however, the house is destroyed by a hidden bomb, taking the evidence with it. Carrie and Quinn rush to Keane's headquarters, which has just received a bomb threat. During the evacuation, Adal calls Carrie and tells her that the bomb threat is a ruse to get Keane out of the building, where she can be assassinated, while Quinn is to be framed as the killer. Carrie stops Keane's vehicle from leaving, seconds before the decoy vehicle is destroyed. Quinn smuggles Carrie and Keane out of the building in his car and sacrifices his life to save them when a special ops team, answering to Adal, opens fire on them. Adal is arrested and Keane is inaugurated as President of the United States.
Weeks later, Keane - who has become hawkish and paranoid since the attempt on her life - asks Carrie to work for her administration. Carrie agrees, but has second thoughts when Keane orders dozens of intelligence operatives, including Saul, arrested on suspicion of being involved in the conspiracy. Carrie tries to meet with Keane to dissuade her, but Keane's Chief of Staff David Wellington (
Linus Roache
Linus William Roache (born 1 February 1964) is a British actor. He is known for playing Executive ADA Michael Cutter in the NBC dramas ''Law & Order'' (2008–2010) and '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2011–2012). More recently, Roach ...
) has her banned from the White House.
Season 7
A few months later, Carrie is doing covert work for the CIA, and she and Frannie are living with Maggie and her family - a tense living situation, as Maggie's husband Bill (
Mackenzie Astin
Mackenzie Alexander Astin (born May 12, 1973) is an American actor.
Early and personal life
Astin was born on May 12, 1973, in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Patty Duke and actor John Astin. His brother is actor Sean Astin. He at ...
) works for the Keane administration. Carrie sets up a meeting between Senator Sam Paley (
Dylan Baker
Dylan Baker (born October 7, 1959) is an American actor. He gained recognition for his roles in the films such as '' Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' (1987), ''Happiness'' (1998), '' Thirteen Days'' (2000), '' Road to Perdition'' (2002), '' Spide ...
) and her old FBI contact Dante Allen (
Morgan Spector
Morgan Michael Spector (born October 4, 1980) is an American actor. Spector has appeared in the TV series ''Allegiance'' (2015), '' The Mist'' (2017), ''Homeland'' (2018), and '' Pearson'' (2019), as well as the films '' The Drop'' (2014), ''Chri ...
), who has evidence of corruption within the administration. To escape a man she thinks is following her, Carrie changes the meeting place and asks Maggie's daughter Josie (Courtney Grosbeck) to bring her the keys. The meeting falls apart when Dante refuses to testify in court, and frays her relationship with Maggie, who is angry that Carrie put Josie in danger. The rift worsens when Maggie finds out that Carrie has stopped taking her lithium in favor of black market
Seroquel
Quetiapine, sold under the brand name Seroquel among others, is an atypical antipsychotic medication used for the treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. Despite being widely used as a sleep aid due to its ...
.
While watching her surveillance feeds, Carrie sees an unknown woman ( Sandrine Holt) going into Wellington's house. Desperate to identify her, Carrie posts a screen capture of the woman on 4chan, asking if anyone can identify her. A hacker responds to the post, and lures Carrie into downloading a file which infects her laptop with ransomware. The hard drive is encrypted with a demand for a $5,000 payment in
bitcoin
Bitcoin ( abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distr ...
. The hacker then threatens to reveal Carrie's spying and raises his price to $20,000. Carrie tries to seduce the hacker by performing a striptease on her
webcam
A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in videotelephony, livestreaming and social media, and security. Webcams can be built-in computer hardware or peripheral d ...
, which entices the hacker to meet with her in person. At their meeting, Carrie beats the hacker with a baton, reveals that she is CIA, and threatens to kill him if he doesn't leave her alone.
Carrie learns from Dante that the woman in Wellington's house is Simone Martin ( Sandrine Holt), who is in a sexual relationship with Wellington as part of a plan to get U.S. intelligence for the Russians. She also appears to be connected to the mysterious death of Gen. Jamie MacLendon (
Robert Knepper
Robert Lyle Knepper (born July 8, 1959) is an American actor best known for his role as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in the Fox drama series '' Prison Break'' (2005–2009, 2017), Samuel Sullivan in the final season of the NBC series ''Heroes'' (2 ...
), one of the conspirators in the assassination attempt on Keane. Carrie breaks into Martin's house to gather information, but is arrested for trespassing. Dante intervenes and manages to get her out of jail. Carrie proposes to Dante a "completely illegal" plan to connect Wellington to Martin's dealings, and Dante agrees to help.
Dante, Max, and former CIA officer Thomas Anson (
James D'Arcy
James D'Arcy (born Simon Richard D'Arcy; 24 August 1975) is an English actor and film director. He is known for his portrayals of Howard Stark's butler, Edwin Jarvis, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series '' Agent Carter'' and the ...
) kidnap Martin and get her to confess her complicity in MacLendon's death, which leads to her testifying in Paley's hearings. Carrie has her doubts, however, and meets with Saul to discuss the matter; the two of them figure out that Dante is in fact a Russian agent and had orchestrated the entire affair in order to bring down Keane. Carrie seduces Dante and then drugs him so her team can surveil his apartment; they discover that Dante had been spying on Carrie as well. That night, Dante and Carrie have sex, when are interrupted by a team of Saul's agents, who take Dante into custody. Carrie and Saul have a CIA agent pose as Dante's court-appointed lawyer and non-lethally poison him, and promise to give him the antidote if he gives them the details of his plan. He tells them of a secret code that would signal GRU Operator Yevgeny Gromov (
Costa Ronin
Konstantin "Costa" Ronin (born 3 February 1979) is an Australian actor and cinematographer, best known for appearances in '' Red Dog'', as Gregorovich on the SBS drama ''East West 101'', as Oleg Igorevich Burov in the FX drama ''The Americans'' ...
) to dissolve his forces. Saul persuades Keane to broadcast the code by compromising
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
servers and violate the privacy of U.S. citizens by tracking who posts confirmations in response to the tweet.
Carrie goes to Maggie's house to try and reconcile, but instead learns from Bill that Maggie is meeting a lawyer to seek custody of Franny. When Dante accuses Gromov of poisoning him, he denies it and tells Dante to call Carrie and ask her if she was responsible. Dante calls Carrie, who is picking up Franny from school early. He realizes that Carrie is lying to him, but nonetheless he tells Carrie that Gromov is in the room with him; Gromov then kills him. Carrie opts to leave Franny at school in her rush to the hospital, but Franny runs after her and is almost accidentally run over by her mother in the parking lot. After learning that Dante is dead, Carrie has a
psychotic break
Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior t ...
at the hospital.
As Carrie prepares for a custody hearing, Saul asks her to lead an operation in Russia to exfiltrate Martin, but she refuses. She then has Anson break into Maggie's office to get proof that she illegally medicated Carrie for years in order to undermine her custody petition. She ultimately decides not to use them, however, after Maggie helps her realize that she will never leave the CIA and thus cannot give Frannie the attention she needs. She agrees to give Maggie custody of Frannie, and arranges to see her every two weeks. She then accepts Saul's offer.
In Moscow, Carrie and Saul meet with GRU representatives, including Gromov, in order to distract them while Carrie's team extracts Martin. The plan fails, however, as the team is ambushed by guards and forced to retreat. Carrie salvages the mission by personally infiltrating the safe house where Martin is being kept, and persuading her that the Russians now consider her a liability and only the CIA can keep her alive. Gromov arrives to murder Simone, so Carrie tricks them by disguising herself as Martin and taking them away while the real Martin escapes.
Carrie is ultimately captured and taken into Russian custody. Gromov wants Carrie to film a confession video stating that Martin was a CIA operative and that the U.S. orchestrated everything, while threatening to withhold her medication if she doesn't cooperate. Carrie refuses, and has sex with a guard after he promises to get her medication in secret. It turns out that the guard was lying, however, and reveals her duplicity to Gromov, who punishes her by refusing her medication.
Seven months later, Keane resigns from the presidency, and her vice president, Ralph Warner (
Beau Bridges
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor and director. He is a three-time Emmy, two-time Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee. Bridges was a ...
), takes over. He and Saul negotiate Carrie's release in a prisoner exchange; after months without being medicated, however, Carrie is barely lucid and doesn't even recognize Saul.
Season 8
Bibliography
* ''Carrie's Run: A Homeland Novel'' (2013) "( Andrew Kaplan)".
* ''Saul's Game: A Homeland Novel'' (2014) "( Andrew Kaplan)".
* ''Homeland Revealed Hardcover'' (2014) "( Matt Hurwitz)" (Author), (
Alex Gansa
Alex Gansa is a screenwriter and producer best known as the creator, executive producer and showrunner of the Showtime series ''Homeland'', based on the original Israeli series ''Prisoners of War'' created by Gideon Raff.
He produced and wrote a ...
) "(Foreword)". Matt Hurwitz is a writer for the reference book The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series, the Myths and the Movies.
* ''Homeland: The Unofficial Guide to Season One and Two'' (2013) Tvcaps (Author). TVcaps is an imprint of BookCaps™ Study guide.
Development
''Homeland'' co-creators Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa initially pitched the show to networks with the Carrie Mathison character being a rather straight-laced CIA officer. Once it wasn't picked up and they moved on to the cable channels, they were able to experiment with more complex and flawed main characters. Carrie was given
bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
and made more of an
unreliable narrator
An unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility is compromised. They can be found in fiction and film, and range from children to mature characters. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in ''The Rhetoric of Fiction''. While unr ...
.
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
eventually secured the rights to the show and embraced the more unstable version of the character.
From the initial conception of the character, Gordon and Gansa targeted Claire Danes to play the lead role of Carrie. The pair were very impressed with her acting prowess, especially in ''
My So-Called Life
''My So-Called Life'' is an American teen drama television series created by Winnie Holzman and produced by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. It originally aired on ABC from August 25, 1994, to January 26, 1995. It is distributed by The B ...
'' and ''
Temple Grandin
Mary Temple Grandin (born August 29, 1947) is an American academic and animal behaviorist. She is a prominent proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. Gra ...
'', but were skeptical as to whether she would accept a television role. Indeed, Danes was not necessarily looking to return to television, but she found the script and the character to be very compelling. In addition, the opportunity to be a part of the "renaissance" of high-quality dramas on cable television appealed to her.
To prepare for the role, Danes had to learn much about the CIA, as well as the nuances of playing someone who has bipolar disorder. Danes' personal research into the CIA touched on such topics as its internal culture, agency politics, and the implications of being a female agent. She also was granted access to
CIA Headquarters
The George Bush Center for Intelligence is the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency, located in the unincorporated community of Langley, Virginia, Langley in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States; near Washington, D.C.
The headqua ...
in Langley, Virginia, and was able to personally consult with the female CIA officer whom the Carrie Mathison character was loosely based on.
Reception
Reviews
Hank Stuever
Hank Stuever (born 1968) is an American journalist who writes about popular culture for the ''Style'' section of ''The Washington Post''.
Early life and education
Stuever was born and raised in Oklahoma City, where he attended Bishop McGuinn ...
of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' in his 2011 Fall TV roundup said that Carrie Mathison was "easily this season's strongest female character". ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
''s Emily VanDerWerff called Carrie "my favorite new character of this TV season", noting the way she attacks everything with reckless abandon.
In November 2011, ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' named Carrie Mathison as one of the best characters on TV, calling her "the thinking man's
Jack Bauer
Jack Bauer is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Fox television series '' 24''. His character has worked in various capacities on the show, often as a federal agent of the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) based in Los Angeles, and w ...
", and going on to say "We both root for Carrie's assuredness and are turned off by her brash, erratic, and occasionally reckless behavior".
In
Digital Spy
Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
's list of the top 25 best TV characters of 2012, Carrie Mathison was ranked #2.
Awards
For her portrayal of Carrie Mathison in the premiere season of ''Homeland'', Claire Danes received the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leadi ...
. She also won the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama is a Golden Globe Award presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The award honors the best performance by an actress in a drama television series.
...
,
TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama
The TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama is an award given by the Television Critics Association.
Winners and nominees
Multiple wins
;3 wins
* James Gandolfini (consecutive)
;2 wins
* Andre Braugher (consecutive)
* Jon Hamm
* Hugh Lau ...
Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama
The Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama is one of the annual Satellite Awards given by the International Press Academy
The International Press Academy (IPA) is an American association of professional entertainment j ...
."2011 Satellite Winners" PressAcademy.com. December 2011.
For the second season of ''Homeland'', Danes repeated her wins for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and the Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama. Additionally, she won the
Carrie Mathison at Showtime
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathison, Carrie
Homeland (TV series) characters
Television characters introduced in 2011
Fictional Central Intelligence Agency personnel
Fictional characters with bipolar disorder
Fictional characters from Virginia
Fictional attempted suicides
Fictional female secret agents and spies
Fictional human rights activists
Fictional agent handlers and case officers
Fictional spymasters
Drama television characters
Female characters in television
Fictional prisoners and detainees
Fictional Princeton University students
Fictional fugitives