'Homeland' Is Coming To An End, So Prepare To Say Goodbye To Carrie

After months of speculation, fans learned on Monday that Homeland will end after Season 8, which premieres June 2019. At the Television Critics Association's summer press tour, Showtime president David Nevins made the announcement. While audiences may have had a feeling Homeland was coming to an end for some time now, it wasn't officially confirmed until Monday. Although the show's lead star Claire Danes hasn't commented publicly since the announcement was made, it seems she's OK with the decision and actually helped make the call to wrap the series and give it the proper ending fans deserve.

Nevins said that Homeland's executive producer Alex Gansa is committed to giving the award-winning political drama a "proper conclusion," according to TVLine. Further, Gansa and Danes reportedly came to the conclusion to end the series together. "Alex and Claire both started talking about it towards the end of last season," he said, according to TVLine. "I asked, 'Are you sure? Let's think about it.' But when they were resolved, it seemed like it was the right time. The two of them finally made the decision." In a statement, the executive producer commented, "I am sad to see the journey coming to an end, but it is time."

The decision shouldn't come as a shock to fans, since Danes has teased that the series would be ending in the near future before.

After Season 7 premiered in February, Danes hinted that Homeland would be concluding during an April interview with Howard Stern. "Yeah, that's it," she said, regarding Season 8 being the final chapter of the story. Although she said she was "conflicted" about the decision at the time, she did admit she was relieved to shelf her very intense character. "She's a lot, this Carrie-freakin' Mathison character," Danes said. "It's a workout... I'll be ready for a reprieve from that."

However, at the time, a Showtime representative said the decision to end the series after Season8 hadn't yet been made, according to TVLine. This seemingly caused Danes to backtrack from her statements to Stern in another interview that took place in June. "It's not absolutely finite," she told the TVLine podcast. "That's been the template in my mind, [but], at the same time, who knows?"

The thriller has certainly made its mark on television and pop culture since making its debut in 2011. Homeland has swept a number of esteemed awards, including Emmys, Golden Globes, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. Needless to say, fans seem to feel bittersweet about the show's upcoming finale.

It seems this plan has been in motion for quite some time, as executive producer Gansa revealed major shakeups for Homeland's final season back in April to Entertainment Weekly. Such changes include "a return to an overseas setting, a big time jump and ditching its President Trump allegories." After exploring bigger national issues in Season 7, Season 8 will return to a smaller focus. "We'll go back to a smaller intelligence-based season in 8," the executive producer said. "We get to pull out all the stops this year and then get to the emotional heart of things in season 8."

After seven years of investment, fans deserve an ending that's nothing short of being satisfying and emotional.