Bursting onto the scene back in 2011, Showtime's intrigue-filled political espionage drama Homeland debuted to nearly universal acclaim, with its first season winning enough awards to fill a trophy case. Unfortunately, season two was unable to carry on that wave of positive energy into Homeland's sophomore year.

While the ratings stayed high enough to justify a third season, that too was met largely with critical scorn and fan disappointment. Thankfully, Homeland did its best to right the ship last year, taking lead character Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) in a new direction, and climbing out of the creative rut the series seemed to have fallen into.

Can Homeland continue on its upward swing with this fall's fifth season? We'll know for sure next month, but for now Showtime has released a brand new full-length trailer for the next chapter in Carrie's tumultuous life. Check it out above.

Homeland Season 5 takes place two years after the events of Season 4, which fans will recall ended with revelations that shattered Carrie's faith in her cause and her country. Carrie now resides in Berlin and works as the head of private security for a philanthropist's firm. She's dating a lawyer, and things seem to be going well - that is, until the CIA suffers a massive data breach. The breach is traced to Berlin, which naturally sends Saul, Quinn, and company out looking for their former compatriot.

Homeland's Season 5 trailer plays the actual story pretty close to the chest, as the show has often hinged on catching the viewer off guard for dramatic effect. Still, the broad strokes seen above make several things crystal clear. The first is that Carrie's decision to leave the agency was more of an attempt to delay the inevitable than an actual end unto itself. As she says in the trailer, she always kind of knew that her past would catch up with her. Secondly, Carrie doesn't seem to have any friends left, except for possibly Quinn, who seems busy taking out targets for Saul. Thirdly, Carrie loves a bit of cocaine, which as we all know is a hell of a drug.

Homeland surprised many last year with its unanticipated leap in quality, and made hopeful fans wonder whether the show could possibly return to the heights of Season 1. That remains to be seen, but from the looks of things, Season 5 is going to be one tense affair.

Homeland Season 5 premieres Sunday, October 4th at 9pm on Showtime.

Source: Showtime