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Maggie Mathison
Maggie Mathison
Name: Margaret Mathison
Status: Alive
Age: Mid 40s
Nationality: Flag of the United States American
Alias(es): Maggie
Profession: Doctor
Father: Frank Mathison (d. 2014)
Mother: Ellen Mathison
Sibling(s): Carrie Mathison (sister)
Tim (half-brother)
Spouse(s): Bill Dunn
Children: Ruby Dunn
Josie Dunn
Played by: Amy Hargreaves
Season(s): 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8
First episode: "Grace"
Last episode: "Prisoners of War"


"There is no medical diagnosis for what's wrong with you." - Maggie to Carrie

Margaret "Maggie" Mathison is the older sister of Carrie Mathison who provides her sister anti-psychotic drugs for her bi-polar disorder

Novels[]

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

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

Background[]

Maggie is usually the person that Carrie goes to for support when having personal problems. As a medical doctor (though not a psychiatrist), Maggie secretly obtains medication for Carrie to control her bipolar disorder. (Novel Homeland Carrie's Run)

Maggie is married to Bill and they've two daughters: Ruby and Josie. She uses her maiden name for professional reasons (Novel Homeland Saul's Game).

Season 1[]

Maggie is Carrie Mathison's sister. She works as a doctor and has two children, Ruby and Josie. Her father Frank, who suffers from bipolar disorder and therefore needs a lot of care, also lives in her house. She also tries to take care of Carrie a lot because she suffers from the same disease. She wishes Carrie would work less and spend more time with her and her family. Since no one is allowed to know about Carrie's illness, she provides Carrie with the necessary pills, but only wants to and can only give her pills for about a week. Her license to practice medicine is always at stake.

Maggie is very concerned about Carrie and is available 24/7. When Carrie decides to quit her job, Maggie is able to soothe her late at night and put her to sleep. Even after her injury in the bombing, she is immediately at Carrie's side and takes over the care after discharge from the hospital, in which she is also supported by Saul Berenson. In the end, all she can do is tell Saul the truth about Carrie's condition. Meanwhile, Carrie is so focused on the case and looking for what she's missed that even Maggie has a hard time keeping Carrie under control. She also later oversees Carrie's treatment, hearing so faintly and unknowingly that Carrie subconsciously realized the connection between Nicholas Brody and Abu Nazir while anesthetized.

Season 2[]

When Carrie is later approached by the CIA for help, Maggie is adamant that she flies to Beirut and gets back on the case because she just caught herself. But she also realizes that she can't hold Carrie back.

Season 3[]

Maggie continues to stand by her sister when she needs help. She and her father want to support Carrie at a hearing so that she can be released from the clinic. However, she is able to change Saul's mind and make it clear that Carrie is only harming herself. So Maggie then advocates medication, too, and Carrie feels betrayed. When the hearing is repeated, she doesn't come at all because she was canceled at short notice, although the appointment did take place.

Although Maggie still works a lot in the hospital, where Carrie is treated after her gunshot wound, she only finds out about Carrie's pregnancy very late because Carrie kept it a secret from her for a long time. She thinks for a long time about whether a child could be good for Carrie. When Carrie doubts being a mother and says she wants to give the child away, Maggie encourages her. She believes that having a child and the love one can have for them will also make Carrie better at dealing with her illness. She also pledges her full support to Carrie and has already brought numerous baby things to her with her father. She hopes that Carrie's decision, like her father's spontaneous reaction to take the child when Carrie prefers to go to Istanbul alone, is not final yet. As so often, she tries to have a calming effect on Carrie and to take her fears and worries seriously, but also to talk them out.

When Carrie has to go overseas for work she leaves Frannie in her sister's care as she feels unable to care for her due to her emotional fragile state.

Season 4[]

Maggie's premonition eventually becomes reality. Although Carrie had planned to take her daughter Franny to Istanbul and look after her there, Carrie ended up going via Istanbul to Kabul, so that Franny ended up in Maggie's care and, with the help of a nanny and some support from her father, she did the best she could. However, her relationship with her sister suffers more and more as a result. When Carrie is in the US and doesn't care enough for Franny and Maggie has to cancel two of her patients yet again, she gets really angry and vents her frustration at the constant sacrifices she has to make. Carrie promises to get better because she won't be returning to Kabul anyway. But since this intention lasts only for a short time, Maggie is frustrated again a short time later that Carrie leaves her with Franny and goes to Islamabad.

However, she selflessly continues to take care of Franny and keeps Carrie informed. It is also she who tells Carrie that her father has died. She organizes the funeral and is very happy to see her mother for the first time in 15 years. However, Carrie drives them away, leaving Maggie once again angry at Carrie's selfishness and selfishness. Maggie can't understand why Carrie can't forgive her mother while she doesn't care much for Franny either. Carrie sees that at least to some extent and so the relationship between the two improves again, especially since Carrie is staying in the USA for the time being and will therefore also take more care of her daughter.

Season 5[]

Maggie is always there for Carrie and especially Franny. When Carrie's life is in danger in Germany, Maggie receive Franny back in to keep her safe.

Season 7[]

Carrie and Frannie move in with Maggie after Carrie is fired from her job at the White House. Following President Keane's inauguration, Carrie finds herself unemployed and moves in with her sister, brother-in-law and nieces. When Maggie and Bill return home early from their night out to discover that  Josie left Franny with a friend while Carrie went out on an errand and asked Josie to assist her, Bill is angered and leaves the room. Maggie tells Carrie that she found some bills in her room showing that Carrie is $ 38,000 in debt and questions her about her pills for her bipolar disorder.

Maggie continues to be suspicious of her sister's late night activities, especially when she finds Max using Carrie's laptop. The two sisters argue and Carrie storms out of the house, taking Frannie with her. After the FBI and Saul break into Dante Allen's apartment while Carrie is seducing Dante and they frighten Franny, Maggie confronts her sister and tells her that she will seek custody of Frannie unless Carrie gets herself sorted out, which Carrie does not take too kindly to. However, Carrie's increasing inability to look after her child, as well as the repeated trauma to which she exposes Frannie because of her field work, leaves Maggie no choice but to seek custody of Franny. At the custody hearing, Carrie accepts an agreement allowing her to see Frannie every other weekend while the latter lives with her aunt and uncle.

Season 8[]

In episode Prisoners of War, Maggie has been told that Carrie is “back from Germany” and showed up at Saul’s wondering where her sister was. Her sister Maggie tells Saul that Carrie hasn’t contacted her or Franny since she’s been back.

Quotes[]

“I think you will be astonished by the love you have for her” - The Star

“From the day you were born, you’ve had a mind of your own. You never listened to anyone, even when you were little. You used to wave at planes, remember? And I would say, ‘Who are you waving at? They can’t see you!’ But you would just keep on waving. You were always so fearless, too, my God. I hated you for that. Why was I scared all the time? How come you got to be the brave one?”

“I am not extraordinary like you Carrie. I don’t run CIA stations in Afghanistan, or disrupt terrorist attacks in Berlin. I don’t advise the president of the United States. My job doesn’t require me to risk my life. I’m not a hero. But, as it turns out, safe has its advantages too: family, a stable home life. These are the things that I can offer Franny, things that you can’t. It’s a chance to be normal.”

“Carrie, you’re my sister, and I love you, I really do, but I don’t believe you. In six weeks, the ECT will wear off, and Saul will come knocking with some new crisis, and the whole crazy orchestra will start playing again.”

“Now go. Go do what you were born to do.”

Behind the Scenes[]

Appearances[]

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
Season 4
The Drone Queen Trylon and Perisphere "Shalwar Kameez" "Iron in the Fire" "About a Boy"
"From A. to B. and Back Again" "Redux" "Halfway to a Donut" "There's Something Else Going On" "13 Hours in Islamabad"
Krieg Nicht Lieb Long Time Coming
Season 7
Enemy of the State Rebel Rebel Standoff Like Bad at Things "Active Measures"
"Species Jump" Andante Lies, Amplifiers, F**king Twitter "Useful Idiot" "Clarity"
"All In" "Paean to the People"
Season 8
"Deception Indicated" "Catch and Release" "False Friends" "Chalk One Up" "Chalk Two Down"
"Two Minutes" "F**ker Shot Me" "Threnody(s)" "In Full Flight" "Designated Driver"
"The English Teacher" Prisoners of War


Notes[]

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