Homeland's third season ended with a real cliffhanger. After Nicholas Brody was ripped from lover Carrie Mathison's arms and hung off of a crane at a Tehran, Iran construction site, everything about the show changed. How will Homeland carry on without its star? It's quite shocking to see a main character bite the dust, but it's definitely not unprecedented. Season four's plot will know center itself on around Mathison and her very big, pregnant belly.

Everyone wants to know the fate of this love child. Will he or she be given up? That's probably not the most politically correct move, but it would add a layer of intrigue to Carrie's persona.

Also, will we be seeing much of Saul Berenson (played by the great Mandy Patinkin of course)? Indeed, Berenson will be a factor despite the fact that he got kicked out of the CIA in season three.

But is there any more information? TV Guide spoke to the always talkative creator of Homeland, Alex Gansa, recently. He had some beans to spill. Gansa said that "The Star," the title of season three's finale, sets up the fourth season nicely.

"There are ideas swirling around that you saw in the finale. Do we follow Carrie overseas and watch her do what she was trained to do as a case officer in a foreign capital somewhere? What to do with the baby? These are all open questions, and to say we know exactly where the story is going next year would not be truthful," he said.

Thankfully that's not all he had to say. Gansa tells us that Season four will be an emotional time for Mathison.

"I think the challenge of the next season is going to be to delicately weigh that. At what point does she move on, if ever? Is she going to find some sort of emotional connection with another man, or is she going to subsume all of that into her career? These are all interesting questions. How significant is this relationship with Brody and is it one she can transcend?" Gansa said.

Season four is shaping up to be a great piece of television.

Will you be tuning in to Showtime next fall to watch the fourth season of Homeland? Let me know in the comments section below.