(CNN) The following contains spoilers about "Homeland's" sixth-season finale.

"Homeland" might have got the gender of its fictional president wrong, but as usual, the sixth season of the Showtime series -- which concluded Sunday -- also got plenty right in weaving real-world threads into its storyline, while still delivering the taut attributes of a thriller.

More than most shows in the genre, "Homeland" operates in gray areas, avoiding facile solutions or easy answers. Where most dramas preoccupied with terrorism gravitate toward the good and bad, this one often deals in murky choices between the lesser of two evils.

That was abundantly true of the season finale, which saw the end of what amounted to a coup attempt against the president-elect (Elizabeth Marvel) and a thwarted assassination plot. What followed, however, also validated concerns that she would overreach as president, flashing forward to the sweeping purge undertaken in response to those events.

The payoff left the program's heroine, Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), who ostensibly had the president's ear, at a professional and personal crossroads. With the series already renewed for two more seasons, it also sets up several tantalizing prospects as the show presumably arcs toward its finish.

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