Spoilers below for those who want to enter Homeland Season 6 untouched.
Homeland fans have been waiting for the past five months to get any news at all about the aftermath of the Season 5 finale, which ended on a note too somber to call a cliffhanger that saw Carrie reading an emotional letter from Quinn while he was lying nearby on what seemed to be his deathbed. Few details about Season 6 had been previously released, but today ushered in a wealth of new information from showrunner Alex Gansa, including whether or not Quinn survived. Are you ready for it? He did, and actor Rupert Friend is definitely returning to the show in the fall.
Speaking at the For Your Consideration Emmy panel this week, Alex Gansa revealed that not only is Quinn coming back, but we’ll also get to experience a side of him that we aren’t expecting. He says Quinn will be dramatized in a way that will surprise viewers, and Rupert Friend backed that assortment up. He told EW that his character will be changed by this most recent brush with death(s), and that a more intimate side of his personality will come out.
Gansa also had a more amusing tease for Quinn’s time in Season 6.
I hope he enjoys eating through a tube.
I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Quinn doesn’t even eat food, and that he subsists solely on adrenaline and anxiety. In any case, his new approach to life will almost certainly have an impact on his relationship with Carrie, which has gone up and down over the years as romance lingers just beyond the horizon. Not that it would end well. Especially if she pictured this every time she wanted to make out.
For those wondering if Miranda Otto’s Alice somehow survived her own ordeal with knocking on death’s door, that bloody incident definitely killed her and she won’t be back. But she’s got her new gig as the lead of 24: Legacy, so you’ll be able to watch her handling terrorist-fueled affairs over there.
Homeland, a show known for its ties to real-life events, will take place between a presidential election and the subsequent inauguration, so that should be an interesting parallel with whatever happens in the U.S. election later this year. And Season 6 will take place wholly within the U.S., a first for the show since Season 2. Leaving the other side of the world for American soil means that more American characters will likely be around, and Gansa revealed that we will definitely be seeing some characters from Carrie and Saul’s past, although he wouldn’t go so far as to confirm that the Brody family would be among those familiar faces. So long as that annoying son isn’t around, I’ll be fine with some cameos from that family. They also can’t take over the next three seasons, either.
With all the season finales out there causing fans to worry about their favorite characters’ fates for the many months between seasons, it’s nice that shows like Homeland and Chicago Fire aren’t always into making fans wait for answers. Expect Season 6 to hit Showtime in October.
