'Homeland' going to Germany for season 5

It’s official: Homeland is pulling out of the Middle East.

Showtime announced Monday that its acclaimed espionage drama is going to Germany for season 5. According to the network, Homeland will become the first American television series to ever to shoot a full season entirely in Germany. The new season will be filmed at Studio Babelsberg in Berlin.

We’re told the new season will pick-up two years after Carrie Mathison’s (Claire Danes) ill-fated tenure as Islamabad station chief. “Struggling to reconcile her guilt and disillusionment with years of working on the front lines in the ‘war on terror,’ Carrie finds herself in a self-imposed exile in Berlin, estranged from the CIA and working for a private security firm.

Last season Showtime found itself under fire for some of its Middle East-set storylines. Showtime president David Nevins told reporters in January that the show was considering avoiding a Muslim extremest storyline this year. “We’re not necessarily going to stay now and forever [focusing on] U.S. relations in the Muslim world,” Nevins said. “It’s a show ultimately about U.S. foreign policy, U.S. intelligence in the 21st century at a very difficult time. So we’re exploring a few different possibilities and may change it up a little bit … 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. I think that’s a story that will remain relevant for as long as they can come up with new stories.”

The 12-episode new season will premiere this fall.