I loved the nearly silent farewell to Martha sequence. It was practically funereal, which is appropriate considering that her life as she knows it has ended. She went out on such a pitch perfect note, still thinking of Philip and telling him not to be alone, which is something a dying spouse would urge their soon to be widowed partner. Then she flew off into the darkness and essentially into oblivion. We don't know her fate. So sad. David Copperfield's speech during the Statue of Liberty illusion (imagine what it would be like if all of our freedoms and liberty were to disappear) was appropriate for Martha.
Since we'd been talking here in this forum about Philip's feelings for Martha vs. Elizabeth's feelings for Gregory, I was quite pleased to see the two of them argue about this in the episode. The buried sorrows, fears, resentments, and anger they've been skating over for years all blew up. Gregory and Martha were such a contrast. What they each meant for their respective Jennings partner is illuminating. Gregory and Elizabeth were attracted to each other's fierceness and zealotry. Philip and Martha were attracted to a sort of emotional neediness and loneliness. Despite that, the very real affection that the Jennings have for each other was obvious at the end. I wonder if Elizabeth will ever be able to say, "I love you," to Philip, or if she's just not able to express herself like that.
She certain tore into Paige. It seemed to me that she was still so overwrought from the blowup with Philip that she took it all out on Paige. I get that Elizabeth needed Paige to swallow her feelings and treat Pastor Tim like an undercover asset to be manipulated, but I still feel like Elizabeth went overboard to make her point. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Elizabeth was wrong or was being a bad mother. She could have been more diplomatic, but at the same time, she needed to impress on Paige just how serious the situation was. Their lives are in danger if they don't manage the Pastor Tim situation. They screwed up by telling Paige something she wasn't ready to hear. Paige screwed up by telling Pastor Tim. They all have to live with the consequences. Paige doesn't have the luxury of being delicate and letting her emotions prevent her from doing what needs to be done. Based on what we saw of Paige after the timejump, I think that this is going to backfire on them all. Paige is doing her duty, but she's not happy about it.
Elizabeth's brief foray into EST was amusing. The speech about 'loving your prison' was apt for her and Philip's situation. I think she heard enough to realize that dredging up these sorts of thoughts and emotions was contributing to Philip's discontent with the spy life. It's no wonder she tried to portray EST to Philip as some sort of long con to separate guillible people from their money. She doesn't want Philip to keep thinking like this. As she said to Gabriel, "It's very American." She doesn't want Philip contemplating how unhappy he is because he's imprisoned by his job. She wants him sharp, and focussed on the mission like a good Russian, KGB officer. I'll be interested to see if EST is mentioned again on the show. Right now, I'm thinking we've heard the last of EST, just as we've heard the last of Martha, but I could easily be wrong. Even if we've seen the last of the EST sessions, the effect they've had on Philip is not going to go away no matter how much Elizabeth may wish it. I'm trying to imagine Elizabeth ever going to grieve at the grave of one of her murder victims as Philip did with Gene Craft. Never gonna happen.
Other thoughts: I liked seeing how relaxed Gaad after the time jump. Early retirement looks good on him. OTOH, I found his 'start Operation Burov' speech to be clunky.
I wonder who Stan's new boss is? I assume we'll find out in the next episode.
Gabriel's confession to Claudia that he turned in his best friend back during the Stalinist Great Terror made me sad for him. That's a hell of a lot of guilt he's had to carry all these years.
Lassa Fever was the single scariest virus I'd ever heard of until Ebola made it to the news. There was a terrific book written about it back in the mid-1970s called, "Fever! The hunt for a new killer virus." It's a fascinating read (if you're in to this sort of thing, which I am). IIRC, after some victims of one of the Lassa outbreaks in Africa were flown to the US for diagnosis (on a passenger jet!), the CDC realized how easy it would be to start a worldwide pandemic of horrifying viral diseases. I'm looking forward to seeing how the show handles this.
Elizabeth's friendship with Young Hee is going to end in tears. I already feel bad for Young Hee. I have no sympathy for Elizabeth. Zero. Whatever emotional harm she does to herself as a result of whatever the heck she has planned for Young Hee will be entirely self-inflicted. She might learn something from it, but at what cost to Young Hee?
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2016-05-05 08:15 pm (UTC)Since we'd been talking here in this forum about Philip's feelings for Martha vs. Elizabeth's feelings for Gregory, I was quite pleased to see the two of them argue about this in the episode. The buried sorrows, fears, resentments, and anger they've been skating over for years all blew up. Gregory and Martha were such a contrast. What they each meant for their respective Jennings partner is illuminating. Gregory and Elizabeth were attracted to each other's fierceness and zealotry. Philip and Martha were attracted to a sort of emotional neediness and loneliness. Despite that, the very real affection that the Jennings have for each other was obvious at the end. I wonder if Elizabeth will ever be able to say, "I love you," to Philip, or if she's just not able to express herself like that.
She certain tore into Paige. It seemed to me that she was still so overwrought from the blowup with Philip that she took it all out on Paige. I get that Elizabeth needed Paige to swallow her feelings and treat Pastor Tim like an undercover asset to be manipulated, but I still feel like Elizabeth went overboard to make her point. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Elizabeth was wrong or was being a bad mother. She could have been more diplomatic, but at the same time, she needed to impress on Paige just how serious the situation was. Their lives are in danger if they don't manage the Pastor Tim situation. They screwed up by telling Paige something she wasn't ready to hear. Paige screwed up by telling Pastor Tim. They all have to live with the consequences. Paige doesn't have the luxury of being delicate and letting her emotions prevent her from doing what needs to be done. Based on what we saw of Paige after the timejump, I think that this is going to backfire on them all. Paige is doing her duty, but she's not happy about it.
Elizabeth's brief foray into EST was amusing. The speech about 'loving your prison' was apt for her and Philip's situation. I think she heard enough to realize that dredging up these sorts of thoughts and emotions was contributing to Philip's discontent with the spy life. It's no wonder she tried to portray EST to Philip as some sort of long con to separate guillible people from their money. She doesn't want Philip to keep thinking like this. As she said to Gabriel, "It's very American." She doesn't want Philip contemplating how unhappy he is because he's imprisoned by his job. She wants him sharp, and focussed on the mission like a good Russian, KGB officer. I'll be interested to see if EST is mentioned again on the show. Right now, I'm thinking we've heard the last of EST, just as we've heard the last of Martha, but I could easily be wrong. Even if we've seen the last of the EST sessions, the effect they've had on Philip is not going to go away no matter how much Elizabeth may wish it. I'm trying to imagine Elizabeth ever going to grieve at the grave of one of her murder victims as Philip did with Gene Craft. Never gonna happen.
Other thoughts:
I liked seeing how relaxed Gaad after the time jump. Early retirement looks good on him. OTOH, I found his 'start Operation Burov' speech to be clunky.
I wonder who Stan's new boss is? I assume we'll find out in the next episode.
Gabriel's confession to Claudia that he turned in his best friend back during the Stalinist Great Terror made me sad for him. That's a hell of a lot of guilt he's had to carry all these years.
Lassa Fever was the single scariest virus I'd ever heard of until Ebola made it to the news. There was a terrific book written about it back in the mid-1970s called, "Fever! The hunt for a new killer virus." It's a fascinating read (if you're in to this sort of thing, which I am). IIRC, after some victims of one of the Lassa outbreaks in Africa were flown to the US for diagnosis (on a passenger jet!), the CDC realized how easy it would be to start a worldwide pandemic of horrifying viral diseases. I'm looking forward to seeing how the show handles this.
Elizabeth's friendship with Young Hee is going to end in tears. I already feel bad for Young Hee. I have no sympathy for Elizabeth. Zero. Whatever emotional harm she does to herself as a result of whatever the heck she has planned for Young Hee will be entirely self-inflicted. She might learn something from it, but at what cost to Young Hee?