'Homeland' Reveals Some Big Season 5 Plotlines

I don't know about you, but the summer TV hiatus is starting to wear on me. I mean, the summer in general is wearing on me because I hate the heat, but the lack of new episodes of my favorite TV shows is like adding insult to injury and I'm ready for fall, now, particularly because it means Homeland Season 5 will be starting, and I need to find out what's going on. What's up with Quinn's angst and is he ever going to come back from that mission? Is Carrie going to become a good mother/maybe not put her life in danger at every turn? What will Saul get up to? Basically, these are the important questions on my mind leading up to the October 4 season premiere, and the latest news from the Homeland camp isn't doing anything to temper my excitement and anxiety for what lies ahead.

Well, we're no longer entirely in the dark. Showtime president David Nevins recently revealed that Homeland 's fifth season will take on some pretty big issues, particularly ones happening in Europe at the moment. "The first episode's going to deal with Russia - what's Putin up to? What's going on with this tricky relationship there?" Nevins confirmed. "It deals with ISIS, Charlie Hebdo, (Edward) Snowden, cyber terrorism, surveillance. These are interesting elements to the season, which brings a lot of things together."

It certainly seems to be a big change in direction for the political thriller, but also a smart one. Last season's run in the Middle East featured some important stories that needed to be told, both for the sake of keeping up with current events and for furthering character development, but some viewers were likely reaching the end of their tether when it came to dealing with Pakistani and Afghani relations, regardless of how compelling and timely it may have been. Switching our focus to other important world events will provide a bit of a breather while still dealing with some important and interesting stories.

We already know that Homeland Season 5 will pick up after a two-and-a-half-year time hop and will find Carrie working at a private security firm in Berlin, which will provide ample ground for our protagonist to get into all kinds of terrible and dangerous situations, especially since it seems we'll be dealing much more heavily with technology and the Internet this time around, which is still largely uncharted territory. While it remains to be seen how all of these threads will tie together, I can't wait to see how they do and what anxiety-inducing moments we've got lying ahead of us. Unfortunately, there's still a bit of a wait, but hang on tight — it looks like we're in for an amazing season.

Check out the first trailer for the new season below, and try not to be too upset that there's nearly another three months before it premieres.

Image: Jim Fiscus/Showtime