The fifth season of "Homeland" started on Oct. 4 and at first glance, the "reinvention" that the show's producer Alex Gansa is betting on might indeed lift the series out of the doldrums. 

In the premiere episode, "Separation Anxiety," viewers were treated to a rarely seen sight, that of a happy, healthy and smiling Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes). The ex-CIA agent is now working as the security chief for a German foundation. She also has a boyfriend and seems to be a hands-on mom. Best of all, it appears that she has found peace in the Catholic Church. 

Of course, this bucolic scenario was quickly ruined by her boss, Otto During (Sebastian Koch), instructing her to ensure his safe passage to a refugee camp in Lebanon and to check out a top secret document currently being peddled by journalist Laura Sutton (Sarah Sokolovich). Suffice it to say, Carrie's dreams of a quiet and simple life isn't going to happen anytime soon.

One particular storyline that the show's producers carefully weighed in on this season is about ISIS.

In an interview he gave to Radio Times, Gansa revealed that the decision to put Danes' character in Berlin was due to the feeling at the start of the year that "that part of Europe was the center of the world." 

"Homeland's" writing team initially played with the idea of limiting the plot to a good, old-fashioned U.S. vs Russia spy storyline as there were so many challenges to incorporating ISIS in the show's plot.  

"It has been difficult even to do the research required to portray the jihadist movement and dramatize it," Gansa explained to Radio Times. "Should we even acknowledge their existence, make them part of the story, and humanize them at some level?"

However, the current climate in Europe in general — and Berlin in particular — made it difficult to ignore the ISIS threat. After all, the city is currently playing host to countless Syrian refugees. 

Gansa said the terrorist group's presence is so ubiquitous that not featuring it this season would feel like they were willfully ignoring it. 

The group's presence has already reared its head, in the scene with Quinn (Rupert Friend) when he returned from Syria and in Carrie's mission to get her boss safely to a refugee camp. 

The storyline will undoubtedly move forward in episode 2 of "Homeland's" fifth season. The episode, titled "The Tradition of Hospitality," will be aired on Oct. 11 on Showtime.