1. Carrie 4.0
The first episode is called The Drone Queen. No prizes for guessing her identity. Bipolar Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) returns as the new Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Station Chief of Pakistan. It is a role of strategic importance in both the show and reality. Does this mean Mathison is no longer a basket case? Maybe giving birth has changed her, even if she isn’t a mother in the traditional sense. But, then again, neither is she a conventional spy — the Season 4 poster is a study in how to not blend in.
2. Cultural gaffes
It’s a given that the US film and television industry isn’t exactly a bastion for accuracy. Portraying Pakistan has not been an exception. In one scene in the Oscar-winning Zero Dark Thirty, for example, two Pakistani men speak Arabic in a Lebanese dialect. In another, there is a shot of a market street with sign boards written in Sanskrit, which has been absent in the country since partition. In Charlie Wilson’s War, Pakistani army generals wear ribbon and medal bars consisting of Soviet decorations. One hopes season 4 of Homeland will pay a tad more attention to detail. But authenticity may be hard to achieve with Cape Town, South Africa, standing in for Lahore. Pakistanis may end up as outraged as Lebanon’s Tourism Ministry was after Haifa, Israel, stood in for Beirut in Season 2.
3. Locally sourced actors
If past seasons are anything to go by — where several actors not of Arab descent have played Arabs — we’ll see a number of Pakistani characters, but we probably won’t see that many Pakistani actors. Pakistan will undoubtedly have a fair few actors vying for a spot. It is encouraging that Pakistani-born British actor Art Malik has joined the cast. Actress Nimrat Kaur from neighbouring India will also appear as a high-level operative working for Pakistani Intelligence, but let’s hope this show serves as a breakout vessel for homegrown Pakistani talent. Plus, with Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) out of the picture, there is a large Clydeshaped hole in bonnie Carrie’s life. The show has Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend), and there has always been a sense that he and Carrie may stir up something of a blood-and-treachery soaked romance. However, there is scope for a new Pakistani hunk to emerge. Fawad Khan or Ali Zafar could be high on the list; these two have taken their boy band looks across the border to Bollywood to substantial fanfare. Another option is Riz Ahmed. The British-Pakistani actor made his mark playing a bumbling terrorist in Four Lions and achieved critical acclaim as a more serious pseudo-militant in The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
4. Political innuendo
Though the general theme of the series is controversial, there is a lack of propaganda — which is a relief. Baddies and protagonists alike have complexity and depth. US policy and terrorist motivations all seem secondary to the plot. The topic of drone strikes should arise. US President Barack Obama will be watching — he has said Homeland is his favourite show. In fact, he once requested a signed DVD box set — on which Lewis jokingly wrote: “From one Muslim to another.”
5. Nail-biting suspense
Season 4 will likely keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Carrie’s new appointment should see her in the capital, Islamabad, among embassies and hotels that are catnip for dynamite-wielding terrorists. We can also expect action sequences out in the Pashtun wilderness — home to militant base camps and tribal belts. There isn’t much we can take forward in terms of plot-specific expectation, but there is one haunting possibility. Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin) — the CIA’s former head honcho — might just be the big sucker punch. There have been signs, starting with his antics during the lie detector test in Season 1. Imagine: the former director of the CIA as a global terrorist mastermind. It wouldn’t be the first time Homeland has caused jaws to drop.
