The takeaway from Sunday's "Homeland" finale is that even at a slower pace, Showtime's political thriller series can be "powerful," Variety says.

During the fourth season of the hit show, CIA operations officer Carrie Mathison, played by Claire Danes, got back to "what she does best", fighting terrorists and defending the nation. But, as the magazine points out, the final episode focused on more mundane and personal struggles, as Mathison tries to "adjust to dealing with the stuff of everyday life: being a mother, dealing with the loss of her father and the painful reconnection with her long-AWOL mother."

Among the key revelations of "Long Time Coming," the New York Times notes, was that Mathison's mother hadn't left the agent's father because life with a spouse with bipolar disorder made things too difficult. Rather, Ellen Mathison, who is played by Victoria Clark, admits that she just "wasn't very good at being married."

CIA operative and assassin Peter Quinn, played by Rupert Friend, meanwhile, prepares to go dark in Syria, the newspaper notes. He, too, addresses the bipolar disorder, which also afflicted Frank Mathison and, of course, Carrie. "I've always thought that being bipolar meant that you couldn't be with people," Quinn muses. "Not for the long haul, because they'll up and leave you soon enough."

The overarching theme, though, still goes beyond the personal, Variety argues: "How much do you compromise basic principles for the sake of making expedient progress?" is the question "Homeland" addresses, the magazine argues.

Among fans, reactions to the "slow" finale seemed split, according to Entertainment Weekly. "Some feel disappointed ... while others found the change of pace a refreshing and unusual approach," EW notes. Showtime producer David Nevins, meanwhile, tells the magazine that the "Homeland" needed "an episode back in Washington, and needed to deal with Carrie's family situation and her issues with motherhood."

Nevins, too, sustains that his show is abroad today's tough choices. "The season had some great action, but at its core it was really a political thriller about America's place in the world," he says.