Homeland season 5 plot details: Show to avoid controversial terrorist storyline; Who will Carrie fight next season?

According to a report in Entertainment Weekly, the Showtime drama Homeland is exploring a fresh antagonist for the season 5 storyline.

Showtime president David Nevins has said that the critically-acclaimed political thriller series may even find a new threat to focus on when the show returns.

"Where they're going to go next year is a little bit up in the air," Nevins told critics at the Television Critics Association's semi-annual press tour, adding, "We're not necessarily going to stay [with addressing] U.S. relations in the Muslim world. The real franchise of the show is how difficult it is to be America in the world in the 21st century, how difficult the choices are."

He continued, "I think that's a story that will remain relevant for as long as they can come up with new stories. It could be Africa, it could be Europe, it could be back in another place in the Middle East. I don't expect that show to fall into a formula. I can see it coming back to the U.S. at some point."

Nevins said that none of the current attacks will prevent the show from tackling sensitive international issues. "I hope [the attacks are] not considered at all," he said.

"I really, really don't want there to be any limitations. I don't expect there will be. They never shied away from anything difficult. I want them to go right into the teeth of it again."

Homeland was criticised by officials in Pakistan and Israel for its most recent season. Pakistan officials complained about how their country was depicted as a war-torn "hellhole" that secretly helps terrorists, while Israel objected to a line of dialogue about a former Prime Minister.

"I thought the Pakistani embassy handled it the way they were supposed to handle it," Nevins said.

"They made a statement through the press representing their side. That's how the game is supposed to be played. It seems like the substance of their complaints is the U.S. and Pakistani [governments] have a very long and successful relationship and they're united in the battle against terror—all of which are true. Some of the other sides [to Pakistan] the show brought up I think are also very defensible," he added.

Fans on a reddit thread have responded to this news of not involving the controversial terrorist plot.

DatClubbaLang96 user said, "I would be so down for something cold-war esque, but I'd want that to wait for season 6. Season 5 has to be season 4 part 2. There is so much more they can do regarding the US/Pakistan relations. Also, Haqqani and Tasneem have got to get theirs."

Another user replied, "The world is their oyster as far as I'm concerned. So many ''axis of evil'' to choose from. They could play up the China v USA superpower thing."

ningrim added, "Truth is the writers have avoided it all along. The terrorists' motives are always cast as vengeance for some act of Western aggression, when in reality they are motivated by a desire to kill apostates, heretics, and nonbelievers."

We will have to wait and see what Claire and his CIA team will battle next.