Why Homeland's Carrie Mathison Is A Badass

Homeland's sixth season will be released in a month, and fans are dying to know what happens. The trailer hints that Carrie will return to the US, and that Quinn will return.

Homeland's female protagonist Carrie Mathison is a character that you will either love or hate. The show's creators had originally envisioned her as a rather straight laced-CIA officer, but later decided to make her a bit more unreliable, and by doing so made her considerably fascinating. Throughout the series, we see her struggle to navigate the deadly concoction of mental illness and the terror of war. But even though she reaches the tip of the breaking point many times, she always turns the situation around. And that's what makes her such a badass.

The series starts with startling revelations about Carrie's character. We find out she is bipolar, and that she is hiding her disorder from the CIA out of fear that she may get fired if they find out about it. Over the course of the next few seasons, she falls in love with ex-Marine Brody, who is said to have converted to the al-Qaeda, and then gets pregnant with his child. She routinely goes off her medications, and almost drowns her child in a bathtub.

Though she is often portrayed as someone who is emotionally unhinged, she is also fearless. She always turns things around for herself, and pushes limits to follow what she believes is right

She tries to prove Brody's innocence, even though nobody believes he is innocent, and goes to a number of lengths to save him. One of the most poignant scenes of the series is when she watches him get hanged, and there is nothing she can do to save him.

Carrie Watches as Brody is Hanged Source: Daily Mail

When her mentor Saul is kidnapped by terrorist Haqqani, she goes to elaborate lengths to get him back. She stages her own kidnapping to scare Haqqani’s young nephew into leaving the country and meeting his uncle, who then produces Saul out in the open, confirming to the CIA that he has him. She orchestrates saving Saul against all odds, and even lies to him by facilitating a prisoner exchange, despite his protests.

Source: Elle

Carrie operates in an environment in which she can never be sure of who to trust. Her pills have been switched, her friends have become enemies, her father has passed away, she has had to pull the plug on her loved ones, and she has been the victim of bombings and violence. But throughout it all, she manages to save herself, and to listen to her inner voice.

Also Read: Nimrat Kaur To Be An Indian Army Officer In Ekta Kapoor’s New Web Series