The fourth season of the American television drama 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 ...

'' premiered on October 5, 2014, and concluded on December 21, 2014, 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 ...

, consisting of 12 episodes. The series started as a loosely based variation of the two-season run of the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i television series '' Hatufim'' (English: ''Prisoners of War'') created by Gideon Raff and is developed for American television by

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 ...

and Alex Gansa. The fourth season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 8, 2015, and became available for streaming on Hulu on August 1, 2016.

Cast and characters

Main

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 ...

as Carrie Mathison, a CIA intelligence officer assigned to the

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 ...

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 ...

as Peter Quinn, a CIA SAD/SOG (black ops) operative *

Nazanin Boniadi Nazanin Boniadi (; fa, نازنین بنیادی, ; born 22 May 1980) is an Iranian-British actress and activist. Born in Tehran and raised in London, she went to university in the United States, where she landed her first major acting role as ...

as Fara Sherazi, an intelligent, young, and professional Persian analyst *

Laila Robins Laila Robins is an American stage, film and television actress. She has appeared in films including ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' (1987), '' An Innocent Man'' (1989), ''Live Nude Girls'' (1995), ''True Crime'' (1999), ''She's Lost Control'' ...

as Martha Boyd, the United States ambassador to the

Islamic Republic of Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

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 ...

as Andrew Lockhart, the new director of the CIA *

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 ...

as Saul Berenson, Carrie's old boss and mentor, now working in the private sector

Recurring

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 ...

as Aayan Ibrahim, a Pakistani medical student * Amy Hargreaves as Maggie Mathison, Carrie's sister and a psychiatrist *

Sarita Choudhury Sarita Catherine Louise Choudhury (born 18 August 1966) is a British actress, known for her role as Mina in the Mira Nair-directed feature film '' Mississippi Masala'' (1991). Choudhury has played roles in American and international films and te ...

as Mira Berenson, Saul's wife *

Alex Lanipekun Alex Lanipekun (born 7 April 1981) is a British actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but left early to join the cast of the BBC drama '' Spooks'' as journalist-cum-spy Ben Kaplan, the role for which he is best known. Earl ...

as Hank Wonham, a CIA officer at the Kabul station * Akshay Kumar as Rahim, a Pakistani medical student * Shavani Seth as Kiran, Aayan's girlfriend and fellow medical student *

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 ...

as Dar Adal, a retired black ops specialist *

Michael O'Keefe Michael O'Keefe (born Raymond Peter O'Keefe, Jr.; April 24, 1955) is an American actor, known for his roles as Danny Noonan in '' Caddyshack'', Ben Meechum in '' The Great Santini,'' for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for B ...

as John Redmond, a CIA deputy station chief in Pakistan *

Maury Sterling Charles Maury Wallace Sterling (born September 1, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Max Piotrowski in ''Homeland'', Rafferty in the comedy film '' Beverly Hills Chihuahua'' and Lester Tremor in the action film ''Smokin' Ace ...

as Max Piotrowski, a freelance surveillance expert *

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). ...

as Dennis Boyd, Martha's husband and a political science teacher at Islamabad's Quaid-I-Azam University *

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 ...

as Aasar Khan, the counter-terrorism chief of Pakistan's ISI *

Nimrat Kaur Nimrat Kaur (born 13 March 1982) is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi films and on American television. She began her career as a print model and went on to act in theater. After brief appearances in a few films, Kaur starred in Anurag Ka ...

as Tasneem Qureishi, a member of Pakistan's

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 ...

* Art Malik as Bunran "Bunny" Latif, a retired Pakistani general *

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 ...

as Haissam Haqqani, a high-priority target and Taliban leader

Special guest

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 ...

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 ...

, who appears in a hallucination of Carrie's.

Guest

* Patrick St. Esprit as Aaron Gage *

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 ...

as Sandy Bachman, the CIA station chief in Pakistan *

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 ...

as Jordan Harris, a CIA case officer * Emily Walker as The Landlady, with whom Quinn has a brief relationship *

Nina Hoss Nina Hoss (; born 7 July 1975) is a German stage and film actress. Early life Hoss was born in Stuttgart, West Germany. Her father, , was a German trade unionist and politician (member of the Bundestag with The Greens). Her mother, , was an ac ...

as Astrid, Quinn's former lover who works for the German embassy *

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 ...

as Ellen Mathison, Carrie's mother *

John Getz John William Getz (born October 15, 1946) is an American character actor. After starting his acting career on stage, he has appeared in numerous television series and films. Personal life Getz, one of four children, was born in Davenport, Iowa, ...

as Joe Crocker

Episodes

Production

On October 22, 2013, ''Homeland'' was renewed for a fourth season, consisting of 12 episodes. Production and filming for the fourth season began in June 2014, shifting production to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. Executive producers for the fourth season are Alex Gansa,

, Gideon Raff, Alexander Cary,

Chip Johannessen George Frederick "Chip" Johannessen (born November 16, 1955) is an American writer, editor, and producer of several popular television series. He is credited with work on '' 24'', ''Homeland'', '' Dexter'', '' Moonlight'', ''Millennium'', and ''Be ...

Meredith Stiehm Meredith Stiehm (born 1968) is an American television producer and writer. She is the creator of the hit crime drama '' Cold Case'' and the FX thriller drama '' The Bridge''. She is President of the Writers Guild of America. Early life and ed ...

, Avi Nir, and Ran Telem.

Casting

, who had a recurring role in the third season as Fara Sherazi, was promoted to series regular for the fourth season. Several actors were cast for the fourth season in June 2014, including new series regular

, as well as

, and

, who all have recurring roles. In July 2014,

and Art Malik were additionally cast in recurring roles.

Reception

Critical response

The fourth season received positive reviews from critics, with particular acclaim for the second half. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, it has a score of 74 out of 100, based on 22 reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the season received an 82% rating based on 49 reviews with an average rating of 8.0/10. The critical consensus reads "''Homeland'' is back on top, with a renewed energy and focus not seen since its first season." Verne Gay of '' Newsday'' gave the season premiere an "A+" grade and wrote that the show "feels as fresh, important and relevant as yesterday's news – or tomorrow's news. A bracing, intelligent start." Matthew Gilbert of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' noted it has improved over its previous seasons, and wrote, "The rebooted ''Homeland'' promises to be an engaging, streamlined CIA thriller with a few big ideas about America and the war on terrorism." Mary McNamara of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' also noted the series improvement and wrote, "Early episodes are strong, if not as shattering as the inaugural season." The season finale was well-received, with Rotten Tomatoes giving the episode a 100% rating based on 12 critic reviews, saying "Subverting expectations, "Long Time Coming" makes for a smart, sharp, and satisfyingly subdued finale for an excellent season of ''Homeland''."

Accolades

For the

21st Screen Actors Guild Awards The 21st ceremony of the Screen Actors Guild Awards, honoring the best achievements in film and television performances for the year 2014, took place on January 25, 2015, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was broad ...

, the cast was nominated for Best Drama Ensemble,

was nominated for Best Drama Actress, and the series was nominated for Best Stunt Team. For the 72nd Golden Globe Awards, Danes was nominated for Best Actress – Television Series Drama. For the 67th Directors Guild of America Awards,

Lesli Linka Glatter Lesli Linka Glatter (born July 26, 1953) is an American film and television director. She is best known for her work on the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' and the Showtime series ''Homeland'', for which she's received eight Primetime Emmy Award no ...

won for Outstanding Directing – Drama Series for the episode "From A to B and Back Again", and

Dan Attias Daniel Attias (born December 4, 1951) is an American television director and producer. He is also director of his only feature film ''Silver Bullet'' from 1985, based on the novella by Stephen King. Attias' career has spanned four decades, dur ...

received a nomination in the same category for directing "13 Hours in Islamabad". For the

5th Critics' Choice Television Awards The 5th Critics' Choice Television Awards ceremony, presented by the Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA), honored the best in primetime television programming from June 1, 2014, to May 31, 2015, and was held on May 31, 2015, at Th ...

, the series was nominated for Best Drama Series and

was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. For the

67th Primetime Emmy Awards The 67th Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in U.S. prime time television programming from June 1, 2014 until May 31, 2015, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was held on Sunday, September 20, 2015 at the M ...

, the series received five nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series, Claire Danes for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series,

for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, and Lesli Linka Glatter for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for "From A to B and Back Again".

Criticisms

Laura Durkay 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 ...

'' criticized the show for perpetuating cultural stereotypes and

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...

. According to media reports,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

i officials were unhappy over the depiction of Pakistan in the fourth season. Nadeem Hotiana, spokesperson of Pakistan Embassy, said, "Maligning a country that has been a close partner and ally of the US is a disservice not only to the security interests of the US, but also to the people of the US." A source was quoted as saying, "

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 ...

is a quiet, picturesque city with beautiful mountains and lush greenery. In ''Homeland'', it’s portrayed as a grimy hellhole and war zone where shootouts and bombs go off with dead bodies scattered around. Nothing is further from the truth." The alleged Islamabad scenes were filmed in

. The officials also lashed out at "absurd" portrayal of terrorist treatment in Pakistan, saying, "Repeated insinuations that an intelligence agency of Pakistan is complicit in protecting the terrorists at the expense of innocent Pakistani civilians is not only absurd but also an insult to the ultimate sacrifices of the thousands of Pakistani security personnel in the war against terrorism."

References

External links

* * {{Homeland episodes 4 2014 American television seasons Television episodes set in Afghanistan Television shows filmed in South Africa