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Spoilers for the series finale, “Prisoners of War.” Carrie does not simply defect to Russia: she appears to have turned against the CIA while secretly taking over the role of Saul’s murdered Russian source. The finale’s last coded message confirms that she is still sending Saul intelligence, but the mission comes at a steep personal cost.
What happens at the end of Homeland?
After giving up Saul’s Russian asset, Anna, Carrie is in Moscow with Yevgeny. Her public image is that of a traitor: she has written a book condemning the CIA and U.S. conduct. But the final scene reveals that this is also cover. Carrie sends Saul a coded message hidden in her book, telling him that she has taken Anna’s place and is working for him from inside Russia. Co-showrunner Alex Gansa described the ending as a continuing mission for Carrie and a chance to repair the relationship she had broken (TheWrap interview with Gansa, April 26, 2020).
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![Homeland: The Complete Second Season [Region 1] [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51N30jb9GEL._SL160_.jpg)
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Homeland: The Complete Second Season [Region 1] [Blu-ray] | $10.90 | Buy on Amazon |
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Homeland - Season 1 [Blu-ray] | $10.47 | Buy on Amazon |
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Homeland: The Complete First and Second Season Blu-ray DVD Set | $87.94 | Buy on Amazon |
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Homeland - Season 2 [Blu-ray] | $20.00 | Buy on Amazon |
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Homeland: Season 1 | $8.99 | Buy on Amazon |
Did Carrie really try to kill Saul?
No. Carrie’s apparent threat is a bluff intended to make Saul reveal the identity of his Russian source. Yevgeny’s side is demanding that identity in exchange for the flight-recorder evidence, and Carrie needs the name to complete the exchange. Gansa said, “I just don’t believe Carrie would actually do this,” explaining that the scene was rewritten as a ruse rather than a real attempt on Saul’s life. If Saul refused, Dorit was the fallback source of the information (TVLine interview with Gansa, April 26, 2020).
Why does Carrie go to Russia?
Carrie gives up Anna’s identity, sacrificing the asset to secure the evidence and avert a dangerous international crisis. She then takes Anna’s place as Saul’s source inside Russia. To make that work, Carrie must persuade the Russians that she is no longer a threat. Her public book attacking the CIA and American actions supports the appearance that she has defected, while concealing her continued intelligence work. Gansa framed the choice as both a professional mission and a profound personal sacrifice (TheWrap interview with Gansa, April 26, 2020).
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What was in the plane’s black box?
The flight recorder shows that the aircraft carrying President Warner and Afghanistan’s President Daoud crashed because of equipment failure, not because Jalal Haqqani attacked it. That finding overturns the assumption driving the crisis and ends the U.S.–Pakistan standoff that threatened to escalate into war. The recorder’s evidence is therefore the political turning point of the finale, while the exchange over Anna’s identity is the personal price paid to obtain it.
Is Carrie actually working for Saul?
Yes. The coded message in the final scene establishes that Carrie is secretly passing intelligence to Saul from Moscow and has assumed Anna’s role. Gansa called the ending an effort to give Carrie a mission without making her sacrifice disappear; as he told TheWrap, “We didn’t want to see her end in a way that killed hope” (TheWrap interview, April 26, 2020). Her ongoing work is clear in the finale, although the show does not spell out what happens to the operation afterward.
Rank #2
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Does Carrie love Yevgeny?
The finale leaves that deliberately unsettled. Gansa said the relationship is open to interpretation and that, in his view, Carrie’s feelings for Yevgeny can be genuine even as she betrays him. The ending does not require choosing between a wholly fake romance and an uncomplicatedly happy one: intimacy and deception coexist in Carrie’s Moscow life (TVLine interview with Gansa, April 26, 2020).
Does Saul forgive Carrie?
The final exchange suggests a first step toward repairing their relationship, not complete forgiveness. Saul’s fear that the United States would be blind to Russia is addressed by Carrie’s presence there. But Gansa said he did not expect Saul’s grief and anger over Anna’s death to disappear. Carrie has restored a professional connection by taking on the work Anna did; that does not undo the betrayal that made it possible (TVLine interview with Gansa, April 26, 2020).
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What does the finale leave unresolved?
Gansa said “the story goes on,” leaving the next chapter to viewers’ imaginations (TVLine interview, April 26, 2020). Carrie’s covert work for Saul is established; its eventual outcome, the future of her relationship with Saul, and the full truth of her feelings for Yevgeny are not. The ending offers hope through her mission, but does not present that hope as a clean resolution.
SHOWTIME’s official final-season description identifies the season as the series’ final one; it premiered February 9, 2020. The series was developed for American television by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon and based on Gideon Raff’s Israeli series Prisoners of War (Paramount Press Express / SHOWTIME, December 9, 2019).
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Rank #4
- Polish Release, cover may contain Polish text/markings. The disk DOES NOT have English audio and subtitles.
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