"Homeland" returned to the small screen with a powerful season five pilot episode. The story begins two years after the end of season four, and the scene opens with Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) in a Catholic church, praying. She's quit the CIA and is now leading a normal life. She's working as the head of security for a billionaire, has a new boyfriend, and is a doting mother. Her boss tells her that they're going to Lebanon--in the midst of the Syrian crisis--to help with the refugee issue. This new turn of events makes Carrie's life anything but ordinary, as she gets herself kidnapped at the end of the episode.
Claire Danes recently talked to People and made fun of her character's "five-minute" semblance of peace.
"In the beginning of the season, she is doing very well, she has a gorgeous, smart German lawyer boyfriend and she's really connected to her child and she's really happy ... for about five minutes. Then she's kidnapped ... again," the actress jokingly said.
Danes went on to say that Carrie has been kidnapped so many times already that this storyline has now become a running joke on the set.
"We were joking that Carrie should have a drawer full of kidnap hoods next to her delicates, she's got so many. Some mesh, some jersey," she adds.
Meanwhile, Alex Ganza, the show's co-creator, told The Hollywood Reporter that "Homeland" adopt more complex storylines this season. "It's a quieter, more internal story," he said. "It's a spy story this year."
Ganza also hinted the conflict within Carrie's character, which would be a major plot for season five. He said, "The people in the CIA think that she's a traitor for working at the During Foundation. And the people at the During Foundation don't trust her because they think she is still working for the CIA. That puts her in a betwixt and between position where she can't fully commit one way or another."
"Homeland" airs Sundays, 9 p.m. on Showtime.
