Homeland Creator: 'Quinn Is Alive' But 'Very Changed' — Plus, End Date Plan? 

‘s Peter Quinn was last seen crossing over to the proverbial light in the Season 5 finale, Rupert Friend is returning for Season 6 as a full-fledged series regular — but

Previously, showrunner Alex Gansa had teased, “How [Quinn] is gonna be dramatized this year is going to surprise people, and it may not be what you think.” Appearing on Thursday at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, he elaborated — some.

“Quinn is alive — I can say that much. But we want to be really careful about revealing what his condition is,” Gansa told reporters. “He suffered a major stroke last season… so he is a very changed and altered Quinn this year.”

“He had a fairly rough ride last season, no doubt about it,” Gansa acknowledged. “Quinn this coming season will really represent a very profound and familiar casualty of the war on terror for our audience. What he endured last year is different from what he’s going through this year” — especially given his current circumstance with Carrie, the EP teased.

RELATEDHomeland Season 6, Billions Season 2 Get Premiere Dates

Premiering Sunday, Jan. 15 and starting production next week, Season 6 will be set in New York City and chronicle the precarious two-month period between Election Day and the swearing in of new POTUS Elizabeth Keane (

‘s Hill Harper recently joined the cast as Keane’s Chief of Staff, and 

‘s Patrick Sabongui is set to recur as a CUNY law professor who works with Carrie and is a fierce advocate for the Muslim American community.

Incoming President Keane, Gansa shared at TCA, is “a little bit Hillary [Clinton], a little bit Donald Trump and a little bit Bernie Sanders.”

RELATEDHomeland Season 6 Adds The Flash Vet, Plus Hill Harper

Turning to the state of Carrie’s dynamic with sometime colleague Saul (played by Mandy Patinkin), “There has been a split that they’ve been working on repairing over the past couple of seasons,” Claire Danes noted. “Saul has committed himself even more fully to the Agency, and Carrie rejects core fundamentals of it. But they are so profoundly bonded, and that is nothing they will ever rid themselves of — nor will they ever want to.”

Regarding the acclaimed drama’s two-season renewal, Gansa declined to venture if Season 8 might be the end. Though he does know what the swan song would ideally look like, when it comes. “Pie in the sky, we would like to take the show back to Israel for that final season,” he said. “It would be great to end the run there, but it’s a big question, whether we could ever go back there.”

Danes meanwhile has her own idea for Carrie’s particular fate: “She becomes a master rollerblader!”

, or for any other show? Email insideline@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.

It’ll be so devastating if Peter Quinn won’t make it all the way through Season 8.

Last season was my least favourite so far but maybe that’s because season 4 was my favourite. So glad Quinn is alive because he’s on of the only reasons I still watch the show.

It’s become ridiculous how long HBO is making audiences wait for the new season. It used to begin in late September or October but maybe they’re delaying for the election. Still, do they expect audiences to care. I think they’ve proven Claire could carry the show without Damien Lewis bUT the story is getting a bit tedious.

Elizabeth Keane? Why would they have a new character with the same name as the lead of a current, popular show? HAven’t they heard of Blacklist?

I think the audience is smart enough to know what show they are watching. You want to ban all names used in other shows? There can’t be two people named John or Jack on TV?

I think last season’s ending was ambiguous at best. My interpretation was that Carrie was about to take Quinn off of life support but was stopped by the flooding of light into the room. As part of the season explored Carrie’s Catholicism, I thought it was a very symbolic staying of her hand.

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