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Frank Mathison
Frank Mathison
Status: Deceased
Age: 60s
Date of death: 2014
Cause of death: Stroke
Nationality: Flag of the United States American
Spouse(s): Ellen Mathison (divorced)
Significant other(s): Bill Dunn (son-in-law)
Children: Maggie Mathison
Carrie Mathison
Tim (stepson)
Played by: James Rebhorn
Season(s): 1, 2, 3
First episode: "Blind Spot"
Last episode: "The Star"

Frank: “Let her go , Maggie.”

Frank Mathison is the father of Maggie Mathison and Carrie Mathison. He had bipolar disorder, for which he went to therapy and took medication.

Novels[]

The first mention of Frank Mathison's name came in the novel:

Frank Mathison is a character, who appears in the novel written by Andrew Kaplan:

Biography[]

Frank Mathison is the father of Carrie and Maggie. He lives with his daughter Maggie and takes care of the household there. (Carrie's Run) Frank suffers from bipolar disorder and is therefore manic depressive. (Saul's Game)

Season 1[]

He is always very happy when Carrie visits, but also understands when she can't stay long. Frank is a passionate golfer and loves watching baseball. He tries to live with his illness as best he can, but he believes that the pills are actually just killing him. Nevertheless, he follows his daughter's instructions. When Carrie becomes unwell, he also takes on a surveillance shift. He thanks Saul Berenson for looking after Carrie so devotedly. Despite Carrie's stubbornness, he is unable to prevent Carrie from becoming involved in the Nazir/Brody case during his supervision.

Season 2[]

Frank actually has a very good sense of his daughter Carrie's wishes. When she decided to go to Beirut and help the CIA, he was the one who understood and persuaded Maggie not to stop Carrie. As a result, he tries to find a good middle ground for Carrie. He makes sure that she follows the doctor's instructions, but doesn't put too many restrictions on her. For example, he allows Carrie to work on the Brody case even after she returns from Beirut and later moves into her own home.

Season 3[]

But Frank always tries to be a good father and never completely lets his daughter out of his sight. After the attack in Langley, he is very worried again. He doesn't like that Carrie isn't taking medication and she thinks she's feeling fine. He also notices that Carrie drinks a lot of alcohol to compensate for her frustration. When he reads in the newspaper that a CIA agent probably had an affair with Brody, he calls her directly to find out more, but initially doesn't have the opportunity to talk to her in peace about the developments.

After Carrie was admitted to the clinic, he is very angry with Saul and his behavior and therefore wants to support his daughter and Maggie at the upcoming hearing, which would harm the CIA. However, Saul is able to change their minds at the last moment and explain that Carrie is only standing in her own way at the moment and is safe in the clinic. So they don't bring their support but rather medication to the clinic, so Carrie also feels betrayed by her family. Frank is not present at another hearing because the appointment was canceled at short notice, even though it took place. Carrie asks him over the phone to tell Saul that she's giving up.

When Frank finds out about Carrie's pregnancy, he immediately becomes completely fatherly and caring again and wants to give Carrie every support and even do some craftsmanship and build a running chair. He is then very surprised and annoyed when Carrie admits that she wants to give the child away. He doesn't want Carrie to just run away like her mother. He spontaneously declares that he will take care of the child if Carrie doesn't want to keep it.

Season 4[]

And of course Frank keeps his word and looks after Carrie's daughter Franny as best as he can with Maggie and also accepts that Carrie, contrary to her plans to be in Istambul with Franny, is now staying in Kabul and basically doesn't care at all. However, his options are limited due to age and illness and so most of the work falls to Maggie. Frank ultimately dies while Carrie is in Islamabad. A little later he is buried in the presence of his daughters.

Only after his death does Carrie learn that her mother left the family not because of her father's illness, but because she repeatedly cheated on him and then finally became pregnant by another man. Carrie, who suffers from the same illness as her father, is then relieved to realize that she is able to have a relationship after all and will not have to die without a partner like her father.

Quotes[]

  • Frank Mathison: Enjoy. Drive safe. And...
  • Carrie Mathison, Frank Mathison: [together] F*** the CIA!
  • “Let her go.” - Frank
  • “You are not leaving this kid, not like your mother did to you!” - When Carrie had originally told Maggie and Frank that she wanted to give the baby away in episode The Star.
  • [ Chuckles] Hi.
  • [ Giggles ] Is that Frannie?
  • What- You know her?
  • Sure.
  • We see her all the time with Frank.
  • Oh.
  • Where's he been lately?
  • ...
  • Oh, no.
  • Yeah. It was sudden.
  • Oh, damn.
  • You were park friends?
  • Yeah.
  • Yeah.
  • You must be Carrie.
  • [ Chuckling ] How'd you-
  • Frank talked about you a bunch.
  • Oh.
  • No kidding.
  • I'm Billy.
  • Hi.
  • He was crazy about her, you know.
  • He was the closest thing she had to a father.
  • Or mother, for that matter.
  • He knew you'd come back for her.
  • He said that?
  • Oh, yeah.
  • I know you had troubles at first, which my wife did too, so we talked on that.
  • Really?
  • But Frank always said: “That girl's made of strong stuff. She'll get better. She'll be here for Fran.”
  • Boy, he really shared.
  • [Laughs] Looks like he was right.
  • Thank you.
  • Thanks for telling me that.
  • Is there a service?
  • Tomorrow. - A Long Time Coming
  • He had to have popcorn, soda and Sno-Caps at the movies.
  • Jigsaw puzzles-no less than 3,000 pieces.
  • And watching every single Orioles game, yelling at them to stop stinking up the diamond. - [ Laughing ]
  • These were some of Dad's favorite things.
  • Extremes, of course, because...because that's who he was.
  • He loved me and my sister like that.
  • Like crazy.
  • He had demons everyone here knows that but... he lived with them.
  • And he taught me how to live with them.
  • This past year, he helped me with my daughter.
  • He took care of her.
  • He loved her with that same... crazy love when I couldn't.
  • I don't think Frannie will remember him.
  • But I'm taking over now, Dad, and I'll remember for her. - Carrie talking about her father, Frank

Behind the Scenes[]

The character was written out of the show due to the death of actor James Rebhorn from melanoma in March 2014.

Appearances[]

Fiction books
Homeland:
Carrie's Run
Wiki da Homeland TV Fandom

Homeland: Saul's Game | | Wiki da Homeland TV Fandom

Season 1
"Pilot" "Grace" "Clean Skin" "Semper I" Blind Spot
"The Good Soldier" "The Weekend" "Achilles Heel" "Crossfire" "Representative Brody"
The Vest "Marine One"
Season 2
The Smile "Beirut is Back" State of Independence "New Car Smell" "Q&A"
"A Gettysburg Address" "The Clearing" "I'll Fly Away" "Two Hats" "Broken Hearts"
"In Memoriam" "The Choice"
Season 3
Tin Man Is Down Uh... Oh... Ah... "Tower of David" Game On "The Yoga Play"
"Still Positive" "Gerontion" "A Red Wheelbarrow" "One Last Thing" "Good Night"
"Big Man in Tehran" The Star
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