Homeland season 6 finale: Did Peter Quinn die? Embracing Rupert Friend

The Homeland season 6 finale on Sunday night proved itself to be a jackhammer of an episode, and one that drilled itself into your brain. It gave you so much to think about — it was emotional, powerful, heartfelt, and difficult. It’s going to be an episode that you think about for a long time.

Homeland is not a love story. You got a further reminder of this courtesy of the death of one Peter Quinn. After spending all season trying to see him get better in the midst of suffering so much trauma, we saw in the first half of the episode his tragic death. The moment came about in the midst of a last-ditch effort to protect who was then President-elect Keane in the midst of an assassination attempt. She was about to be inaugurated, and there were many who wanted her head over the risk that she presented to the country and the intelligence community.

Peter Quinn was a hero. He died a hero. The moment of Keane asking Carrie for his name was one of the most powerful moments imaginable. Just when you think that Claire Danes cannot get better, she did then. In the aftermath of his death, we saw Carrie became distant to most of her friends and colleagues. She received a job offer from Keane to work in the White House, but she wasn’t sure in the moment if she could take it.

For now, we do want to stop in and celebrate Peter Quinn as one of the most fantastic representations of PTSD on television ever. He was haunted by ghosts that he was never able to completely free himself from … at least until now. He was also played with such bravery and range from Rupert Friend. We’ve stated that he should be an Emmy nominee, and what we saw during tonight’s episode proved it. Quinn managed to survive the events of last season, but this time, he was not as lucky.

Our hope is that in the aftermath of this Friend does find another full-time TV gig sooner rather than later. He is truly worthy, even if we’d love to see one that gives him an opportunity to do a little more lighter material after the heavy stuff here.

As for other events in tonight’s episode…

The big cliffhanger was seeing Saul be detained seemingly under the orders of Keane and those close to her. Meanwhile, Carrie was escorted off of the White House premises after trying to secure a meeting with her. Just when you thought Quinn’s death was chilling enough for an end to the season…

Be sure to share your reactions to Peter Quinn’s death in the comments.

Meanwhile, head over here to retrieve some other news pertaining to the Homeland season finale. (Photo: Showtime.)