(The following stories contains spoilers through the first 10 episodes of “Homeland” Season 8)
“Homeland’s” final season finds Carrie and Saul dealing with yet another geopolitical crisis, this time averting a nuclear war between the United States and Pakistan. And in Sam Trammell’s Benjamin Hayes, they have — by his own admission — probably the worst (fictional) person you could think of to handle a major global crisis.
“[Showrunners Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon] were really looking in the last season to have somebody in the Oval Office that was kind of in over his head and not up to the challenge,” Trammell told TheWrap. “And then, to give that person the ultimate, geopolitical emergency.”
Hayes is not the first politician whose role is to serve as an obstacle for Carrie (Claire Danes) and Saul (Mandy Patinkin) during the eight-year run of the espionage thriller. But where most have had some nefarious backstory or ulterior motive, Hayes is simply someone who is just not cut out for the role he’s in, says Trammell. It explains how he quickly finds comfort in Hugh Dancy’s John Zabel, a hard-line political advisor who immediately ruffles the feathers of David Wellington (Linus Roache), the president’s chief of staff.
“He’s definitely somebody that I think [Hayes] went fishing and looking for somebody who kind of was can share more of my sensibilities, which is, you know, a little more hawkish, a little less trust, a little less patient with Saul’s strategy,” Trammell continues. “That’s the thing about this President. He doesn’t have a strong, strong backbone at this point. He’s kind of at a loss. He’s kind of freaked out and scared. He’s scared about the position he’s in.”
Trammell adds that Hayes is a mix of George W. Bush, Lyndon B. Johnson (after all, he’s the only modern president who had to assume the job following the sudden death of a president) and, of course, Donald Trump.
“Alex kind of imagined him as a young Paul Ryan to begin with,” he said. “There really is nobody specific at all that I could model him after. There’s definitely an element of a lot of different people.”
“Homeland” airs Sunday at 9 p.m. PT/ET on Showtime.
18 New Midseason TV Shows Ranked by Premiere Viewers: From 'Broke' to 'Listen to Your Heart' (Photos)
When it comes to broadcast TV, winter is typically no fall -- but a few of this year's new midseason shows could have made the cut for an earlier start, ratings-wise. TheWrap has ranked all of 2020's midseason series premieres -- so far -- by their "live" total-viewer tallies. Spinoffs of Fox's "9-1-1" and CBS' "FBI" had impressive starts, The CW's "Riverdale" offshoot and ABC's "The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart" did not. Scroll through our gallery for the Nielsen returns for the 18 midseason shows that have debuted this season and check back for updates as more premiere. Least-watched is first, most-watched is last. Readers can find our Fall TV version of these rankings here.
Rank: 17 Show: "Duncanville" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 1.5 million
Fox
Rank: 16 Show: "Flirty Dancing" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 1.8 million* (*Time period premiere. Special post-NFL doubleheader series debut, which aired live across all timezones, earned 3.2 million viewers)
Fox
Rank: 15 Show: "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist"* Net: NBC Total Viewers: 2 million* (*Time period premiere. Sneak-peek preview of first episode got 2.7 million viewers)
NBC
Rank: 14 Show: "Indebted" Net: NBC Total Viewers: 2.1 million
NBC
Rank: 13 Show: "The Baker and the Beauty" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 2.6 million viewers
ABC
Rank: 12 Show: "The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 2.97 million
ABC
Rank: 11 Show: "For Life" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 3.178 million
ABC
Rank: 10 Show: "Outmatched" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 3.202 million
Fox
Rank: 9 Show: "Council of Dads" Net: NBC Total Viewers: 3.9 million
NBC
Rank: 8 Show: "Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector" Net: NBC Total Viewers: 4.4 million
NBC
Rank: 7 Show: "Deputy" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 4.6 million
Fox
Rank: 6 Show: "Tommy" Net: CBS Total Viewers: 4.787 million
CBS
Rank: 5 Show: "Lego Masters" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 4.837 million
Fox
Rank: 4 Show: "9-1-1: Lone Star" Net: Fox Total Viewers: 5.8 million* (*Time period premiere. Special post-NFC Championship series debut earned 11.5 million viewers)
Fox
Rank: 3 Show: "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Net: ABC Total Viewers: 6.3 million viewers
ABC
Rank: 2 Show: "Broke" Net: CBS Total Viewers: 7.05 million
CBS
Rank: 1 Show: "FBI: Most Wanted" Net: CBS Total Viewers: 7.19 million
CBS
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Two spinoffs started off strong — two did not
When it comes to broadcast TV, winter is typically no fall -- but a few of this year's new midseason shows could have made the cut for an earlier start, ratings-wise. TheWrap has ranked all of 2020's midseason series premieres -- so far -- by their "live" total-viewer tallies. Spinoffs of Fox's "9-1-1" and CBS' "FBI" had impressive starts, The CW's "Riverdale" offshoot and ABC's "The Bachelor Presents: Listen to Your Heart" did not. Scroll through our gallery for the Nielsen returns for the 18 midseason shows that have debuted this season and check back for updates as more premiere. Least-watched is first, most-watched is last. Readers can find our Fall TV version of these rankings here.