Whatever failings season three of Homeland had, at least it ended well. “The Star” is an emotional, subdued finale that succeeds by remembering one of the key themes that made Homeland’s first season work. Beyond the spy hijinks and the Carrie/Brody romance, season one was motivated by a sense of powerlessness. Both Carrie and Brody felt like cogs in a cruel machine, only able to make a difference through destruction. That shifted in the largely implausible endgame of season two, and this carried over to season three.
What makes “The Star” such a potent, memorable finale is that it restores that sense of fatalism. Brody (and Saul) make a difference, only to be chewed up by the callous teeth of those cogs inexorably grinding away. It would’ve been easy to make Brody’s fate in this episode a surprise, a twist, but it never came across that way. The star-cross’d lovers discussion of a shared future was absent of hope; laced with doom.
Like the end of season one, “The Star” concludes this season with no clear next step in sight. Hopefully that will provide impetus for the writers to find a new direction for a show that well-and-truly needs one.
ccpopculture 
Are you confident?
We can say that Carrie was one of the most complex characters in the TV series – alongside Brody, Saul, Quinn, Dar Adal (and Astrid, Max, Fara, Virgil) … It would be possible to clarify the following questions:
– Would you like to see Homeland reveal how the CIA explained Brody in Iran and his death to the American press?
– Clearly, Javadi’s ability to receive credit for Brody’s capture helped his cause in Iran, but did the US government reveal Brody’s role in Akbari’s murder?
– Was your name cleared for the CIA attack? I’d love to know what you think.
– Another loose thread: Paul Franklin and the murder of the “real” CIA bomber. He ended up doing that scene … why ??
Carrie was publicly humiliated, beaten, doped, shot and put her life on the line countless times without hesitation, just to make others see Brody as she saw him … and she succeeded. Abu Nazir, the CIA, Jessica and the show’s own audience, no one came close to seeing Brody with the clarity Carrie has always seen. Carrie has always read Brody like no one else.
Ah, Carrie’s dialogue with Javadi was incredible, it will be one of the most memorable moments in the series, without a doubt!
“And what you wanted, which was for everyone to see what you see in him. That happened. Everyone sees it through your eyes now … ”
– How did Carrie see Brody? and how did the US come to see this? It’s the world?
Where’s Virgil?