We don’t know much yet about “Homeland” season 3, which will debut on September 29, but we know that season 2 ended with Mandy Patinkin’s Saul as acting director of the CIA after most of the high level officers were blown up by Abu Nazir’s people.
And now I can exclusively report that the season will have two new regulars, both with ties to Saul: F. Murray Abraham as retired black ops specialist Dar Adal, and Sarita Choudhury as Saul’s estranged wife Mira. Both have been promoted from guest star status.
At the end of season 2, “Homeland” producers Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon said that they hoped to work out a deal with Oscar winner Abraham to bring him back, since their fictional CIA might try to deal with the loss of so many top agents and administrators by bringing veterans like Adal out of retirement.
The second season of “Homeland” had a lot of bumps along the way, but Patinkin as Saul remained the show’s constant, and the Saul/Dar beard-off was among the show’s best moments of 2012. Anything that gives Patinkin more to do – both at work and at home – sounds like a very strong move.