On December 16, season three of Homeland, Showtime’s hit drama about the CIA and ex-marine turned terrorist Nicholas Brody, concluded with perhaps the most shocking twist in the series’ three year run: Brody was killed. Brody’s death, while necessary and perhaps overdue, was shocking because there have been several times when Brody has been only a few seconds from death, yet something always occurs that ends up saving his life. These teasers, coupled with the fact that Brody was a huge part of the show, made it seem as though Brody was invincible. However, there was no one to save Brody this time, as the CIA decided it would be too detrimental to save Brody from his public hanging by the Iranian government, his punishment for the killing of Iranian leader Danesh Akbari. Even though the CIA promised to get Brody out of Iran after he accomplished the mission, it was for the best of everyone that the CIA did nothing, as the show could never move effectively forward and continue to be a truly entertaining show if they let Brody live.

While Brody’s death was the most shocking event of the episode, it was not the only important event. Saul Berenson, the interim director of the CIA, has been fired from the CIA and is now working in the private sector, and Carrie Mathison, Brody’s love interest and mother of his unborn child, has been reassigned to take over the CIA outpost in Istanbul. With the death of Brody, the firing of Saul, and the relocation of Carrie, the fourth season will be completely different, as almost every previous plot line for the three main characters is finished. Thus, the main question that comes about is where will the series go now? Obviously the show will continue to follow Carrie as she moves to Istanbul, but what about Saul, Brody’s ex-wife and kids, and all the supporting characters that worked alongside Carrie and Saul in the CIA? These, along with the question as to whether the show can survive without Nicholas Brody, will be on everyone’s minds leading up to next season.

As for the entire season, the show started off slow for the first four episodes when it mainly focused on Carrie being in a mental hospital. However, when it was revealed that Carrie’s stay in the mental hospital was a trick to lure in Majid Javadi and force him to work with the CIA, the show picked up and once again had the intensity that compelled so many people to watch the show in the first place. While season three may have been a step-down from the fantastic first two seasons, this year’s Homeland stilled managed to be a gripping show that left viewers on the edges of their seats.