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In A False Glimmer, the season finale of Homeland's Season 5:

Saul has Allison killed.

Putting aside the trope'ish nature of this execution (the CIA would never do this in real life), why is this course of action chosen?

Wouldn't it have been better to catch Allison, with the amount of evidence now against her, and have her instead locked up in prison for the rest of her life?

I would have thought that this would be a much more satisfying option for Saul, given the person would have to then deal with the consequences of their actions rather than taking the easy way out.

I saw the episode awhile ago, but this has been bothering me ever since!

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    "the CIA would never do this in real life" -- there's no suggestion that this was an official operation authorized by the CIA. Instead it is made to look very much like a clandestine operation conducted by Saul and two other guys.
    – user75186
    Commented Apr 27, 2020 at 3:41

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Saul was tying up loose ends, both personally and professionally.

I think you're right that it was a bit over the top to have her killed (especially since we've seen the super-max prison in past seasons, and Allison would likely have provided useful intelligence on the Russians), but Saul appears to have covered everything up, with a vengeance.

This review from Uproxx - Seven Questions We Have After The Season Finale Of ‘Homeland’ - puts it quite well [my emphasis]:

Why did Saul kill Allison? And why does he look so great in a skull cap? I digress. In particularly badass fashion, Saul and Co. apprehended Allison and her massive Russian drivers in the middle of a dark forest. But rather than take them into the station for questioning, they shot them approximately one million times. It’s possible that Saul was doing damage control for the CIA — as several characters have mentioned before, Allison’s exposure as a double agent would be a huge PR and logistical nightmare for the agency. But it’s also possible that Saul had something of a personal agenda. Allison made a fool of him on a sexual level, an emotional level, and a professional level. Even Saul’s not above seeking revenge. (Also: We never found out what happened between Saul and Mira, which might be helpful in figuring out why Saul acted like such a moron all season with Allison. Will we ever find out?)

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