The increasingly mixed-up world of CIA agent Carrie Mathison and former POW/potential terrorist Nicholas Brody reached a crescendo last night as Homeland's second-season finale aired to much anticipation and scrutiny. The show's executive producers Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, as well as actor David Harewood (a.k.a. David Estes), held a conference call today to discuss the episode, as well as where Homeland might go in Season 3. What follows are some of the choice things we learned from that call, though obviously beware of spoilers:
Review: Homeland Season 2 Finale
"It was an open question all through this season," revealed Gordon. "There was a plan very early on to kill Brody in episode seven or eight of this year. But these are all fluid decisions, and you're really flying by the seat of your pants as you tell these highly serialized television dramas. You're on a high wire and ultimately you're making calls that you don't know if they're correct or not until you can look back on it with some objectivity."
I asked if the success of the show led the team to think Brody's story out further than they had originally planned. "I think that there was some of that in the decision to let Brody walk out of the story alive, so that we have the prospect that he could come back at some point if not next season," they said.
The producers also said that their story decisions are not being guided by something like, say, Damian Lewis (who plays Brody) winning the Emmy. "You just can't let the tail wag the dog, in terms of all the awards in the world [which] won't give rise to a character or a story that has run its course," said Gordon. (Chemistry between actors, however, can affect the writing, as the spark between Lewis and Claire Danes has helped keep Brody alive for as long as he has.)
When asked if everyone's favorite bad-guy killing a$$hole would be back, Gansa responded with one word: "Absolutely." Quinn's boss, Dar Adul (F. Murray Abraham), may also return, though that would be pending contract negotiations.
It's very early in the planning process for Season 3, so Gordon and Gansa say they have yet to figure out much of the plot for the next year. But they do seem open to playing with how -- and if -- Brody is presented next time around. I asked the producers if we'll reach a point in the show where Brody might recede into the background.
"I think it's an open question, but inevitably that's going to happen," said Gansa. "If you look at these two seasons, the Carrie and Brody story, we've told a significant part of that story. And if there's a chapter three, it's going to have to be a reinvention of some kind. So I think you're right that there is a point where we'll fall back on the franchise, which is Carrie Mathison and Saul Berenson trying to keep the world safe."
"There probably is another chapter in that story [of Brody and Carrie] but frankly, we don't know what it is yet," added Gordon.
The actors are contracted to appear for "a number of years," though that doesn't mean they will all be back.
"It's a nice sort of idea hanging over the next season: Where is Brody? What's he doing? The mystery of him," adds Gansa. "I do think that there is value in the fact that he's still alive and in the world somewhere, even if he doesn't make an appearance in Season 3. And I'm not suggesting that's going to happen. But even if he doesn't show up, the fact that he's still alive would mean something to Carrie. And I think that's important."
"I think one thing we might not do again is have Carrie stop or witness another attack in America," said Gansa. "We might try to find another propulsive thriller trope."
"A lot of people have told me that they still have a glimmer of doubt about Brody, and if you watch his behavior in the finale there are moments where it's a little uncertain as to whether or not he was responsible," Gansa said. "Don't forget, he was willing to blow himself up in the first season, so this very well may have been a suicide play. Or not. … This is the thing about Homeland. It's up to you guys to interpret what all this is, because I don't want to tell you what we think. But we deliberately left the door open a little bit for that possibility."
Regarding the back and forth about whether Brody could be guilty or not, another journalist on the call suggested that sooner or later the showrunners will have to "play fair with us" about Brody's intentions.
"I completely agree with you," said Gansa. "But that doesn't mean that there aren't people out there that still believe that's a possibility. And I just don't want to dissuade anybody from that. It's in Damian's performance. ... Both these people, both Carrie and [Brody] are damaged people and I think their behavior and their allegiances may not be as transparent as somebody less damaged. I think that's the only takeaway. I agree with you. If you look back on the season, you would have to think hard and your brain would start hurting to understand why he did certain things, if indeed, he was partially responsible for what happened."
Gordon stressed that their intention has not been to mislead. They feel that they've been playing fair with the audience, and they're often astounded by what people read into the text of the show. An example given was from Season 1, where Saul read the Jewish Mourner's Prayer over a terrorist suspect's body and was then suddenly deemed a suspect as the CIA mole in many viewers' eyes. (He did the same thing in last night's episode, by the way.) Speaking of the mole…
"We do have our ever-present mole who could've been responsible for moving the car in the [CIA] parking lot," said the producers.
When asked if a character we've seen is going to be revealed as the mole, the team would only "plead the fifth." Hmmmm…
Read my review of the Homeland Season 2 finale, "The Choice," right here.
Talk to Senior Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottIGN, on IGN at scottcollura and on Facebook.
Source : ign[dot]com
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