Mandy Patinkin envisions a time when ‘Homeland’ can steer the world toward peace

Mandy Patinkin can’t say for sure whether “Homeland” will end with its upcoming eighth season, but he has given it some thought.

The actor, who for seven seasons has portrayed resident sage Saul Berenson on the Showtime series, paid a visit to the L.A. Times video studio this week to discuss the always prescient political drama. And the possibility of “Homeland” reaching its end had the actor weighing in on his hopes for his character and the show.

“I want Saul to have his dream come true, which is a world where people stop other-ing individuals, where hatred and bigotry take a rest and a vacation from existence, where healing can begin all over the world,” Patinkin said. “And I would love it if it took place in Israel —between the Israelis and the Palestinians, as a story of some nature, because I think it is the epicenter of the world we live in. And if we could create a dramatic version of some peace possibility option that is realistic, that actually might happen or could happen in real life — that even might be mirrored to the real world before we say ‘goodnight, Gracie’ — I think that would be my final wish for our show called ‘Homeland.’”

It would surely be different territory from that which Saul found himself in on the recently wrapped Season 7. After opening the season in jail, Saul eventually became a free man and was named National Security Advisor to the president — along the way he battled fake news and Russian interference. Sound familiar?

“I think, initially, we were much more a fiction-natured show, and then it slowly became and morphed into what I sometimes refer to as a Polaroid of the moment we’re all living in ...I feel our job is to create some poetic version of reality, not to be a reality show and not to be a Polaroid.”

If you want to hear more of what Patinkin has to say on the show’s mirroring of the current political climate, or want to hear him weigh in on the evolution of Saul and Carrie’s relationship over the show’s run, watch the full video below.

yvonne.villarreal@latimes.com

Twitter: @villarrealy