Question of the week #14

[treonb]

The writers of this show seem to have a love for full formal names when it comes to the KGB side of the Cold War. Philip is always Philip, never Phil, and Elizabeth is never Liz or Beth either--and this despite the fact that Russian names all inherently have multiple alternate forms that everyone simply uses as a matter of course. The same goes for Robert, the other Directorate S illegal who we've met, and for that matter, for Gregory (who's not Russian, but whose own culture isn't exactly known for its lack of informal names).

Given this, the question of the week is a two-parter: one, what do you think the writers are up to with this? And two, any thoughts on an explanation for this that works within the world of the show?

You can expect spoilers for the entire first season in the comments.

(There's no expiration date on these questions, so if you're reading this post months later and feel like jumping in, please do.)

Comments

[jae]

I haven't been able to find a place where Gregory's team calls him by name, sadly.

Both Elizabeth and Philip definitely never refer to him (whether to his face or in conversation about him) as anything else but 'Gregory', though.

-J

[treonb]

Ok, because for all we know, Gregory might have a nickname, but Elizabeth never uses it, and therefore by extension neither does Philip.

Does it make sense that it's a code name?

[jae]

Ok, because for all we know, Gregory might have a nickname, but Elizabeth never uses it, and therefore by extension neither does Philip.

*nodding* That works for me. But WHY would Elizabeth never use it? I like katiac's reasoning behind why she doesn't use short forms for herself or for Philip, but why would that extend to Gregory?

-J

[katiac]

Fascinating question. Throwing ideas out...

Would calling him "Greg" invite him to call her "Liz" and/or bring up discussion on the subject? Elizabeth seems to operate a lot on pushing stuff out of her head and preferring not to think about topics that are uncomfortable. This would be a big one.

Does she project some idea of how she feels onto Gregory? Like does she prefer to think that he would be as uncomfortable "settling in" to the idea of nicknames as she is because she connects that with being okay with the American way of doing things? Interestingly, she and Gregory can't really connect at all in a Russian sense, like she can with Phil, so I got the sense they connected in more of an anti-American sense, or at least that they both were so unhappy with the way things were in the US. Gregory having that same level of discomfort she does with being there would be something she'd connect with, nicknames just being another example, IMHO.

[jae]

Thank you for helping with this (and yes, in case you were wondering, this whole question was totally about me outsourcing the brainstorming about my conundrum about Gregory's name to you folks *g*)!

I guess it seems to me that if others were calling Gregory 'Greg' but SHE called him 'Gregory', that would draw attention to it rather than inviting a nickname for her own cover name. And then there's the fact that she would have initially met Gregory under a more temporary name anyway (like, she wouldn't have gotten involved in the SCLC under the name 'Elizabeth Jennings'). So the first option doesn't quite work for me, although I could still be talked into it.

The second one, though...maybe! I guess I have to figure out what that would have looked like to him, though, if she was introduced to him as Greg but she called him Gregory. And what the conversation they would have had about that would have been like.

-J

[jae]

I'm not sure what you mean by a code name. We do know from the conversations about him at the FBI that his real name is Gregory Thomas.

-J

[treonb]

you're right.. so scratch that idea.

I like katiac's reasoning too, especially as I now realize that Philip actually does use nicknames, and from what I can see, never actually introduces himself as anything other than Phil.

In the case of Gregory, I'd say it might be Gregory's side of things. Nicknames are very personal, and if he never introduced himself as 'Greg' than Elizabeth won't be the one to take that step.

[jae]

I just have such a hard time imagining that coming out of the culture he was raised in, he was always called 'Gregory' by everyone. That would be nearly as weird as a Russian never using short forms of their own names (which never, ever, ever happens). So that implies to me that it's Elizabeth who initiated the long form of the name with him. I just have to figure out why, and what that felt like, and what they talked about surrounding it.

katiac's reasoning on why she uses the long form of her own cover name is a great place to start, though (thanks, katiac!).

-J

[sistermagpie]

Gregory may have been called Greg at different points in his life but by adulthood have preferred Gregory and had others call him that too. Like maybe his mother always called him Gregory but his friends called him Greg or G or some other unrelated name. But it wouldn't be that unusual by the time he was an adult to insist on Gregory. Like Malcolm X was Malcolm rather than Mal. (At least I think he was Malcolm to everyone.)

[jae]

Like maybe his mother always called him Gregory but his friends called him Greg or G or some other unrelated name.

Ooh, ooh, that might work! Hmmm, thinking. :)

Thank you all for your input! This has been a real help.

-J

[katiac]

And to go along with SM, I think some people just prefer the full version of their name as adults, even if they weren't called that as a child. Everyone called my parents by nicknames their entire childhood. In fact, they still call them those nicknames. My parents hate those nicknames and never use them themselves. They just prefer the more "grown up" sound of the full names rather than the kiddy versions (and they do have names where the nicknames sound like children's names.)

I could also imagine that Gregory might have some want/need to be taken seriously and heard because of his background, and might like the stateliness of the full name. Philip, by contrast, loves to fit in and does it like a fish swims. So in my head, when he got to the US and started hearing other regular guys calling him Phil, or calling each other Joe and Steve, he would've liked the idea of Phil.

[sistermagpie]

I can see that being another thing that bugged Elizabeth and not Philip, the fact that they've probably had people shorten their name without thinking about it because their names have such obvious shortened forms. For Philip he probably liked it when guys he spoke to carelessly called him Phil because they couldn't be bothered with the whole name, and so he started using it. For Elizabeth she probably would take it as pushy if somebody casually called her "Liz" or "Beth" or "El" at the playgroup. So now she always introduces herself as Elizabeth and Philip's right there with the "Call me Phil" introduction.

[katiac]

For Philip he probably liked it when guys he spoke to carelessly called him Phil because they couldn't be bothered with the whole name, and so he started using it.

Yes, that's exactly how I always saw it. Like he probably went by Philip exclusively back in Russia, but once he got over to the US, he would just be soaking everything in, picking up those subtle variations in speech and habits.

[jae]

That totally makes sense!

-J

[katiac]

I could see it happening this way, where that was the first introduction and there was no need to go anywhere else in Elizabeth's mind.

And really, I think a lot of their relationship, by its nature, is based on projection. It's based on that very real way they connected, but then Gregory clearly projects how he feels about Elizabeth's family (that she would sacrifice the kids, leave them to run off with him) onto how he thinks Elizabeth feels. Elizabeth does the same thing, which is why it's so hard for her to get behind the idea that he's not going to want to go to Moscow. She's projecting that he feels the same way that there's nowhere better than Russia, that being back there after a long, faithful service would be a reward (and probably her dream.) Because they could only see each other sporadically, they would probably spend what little time they had reaffirming the one area they DID connect, rather than poking a lot into uncomfortable topics and potentially uncovering something that spoils the perfect little escape aspect of the affair for her.

And so since the nickname thing could potentially stir up some uncomfortable questions for Elizabeth, I could see why she would prefer just to not think about it, and enjoy the few hours they had together and get a break from all the uncomfortable questions she has to deal with in her daily life. Elizabeth, no matter who she's with, has the tendency to shy away from things that make her uncomfortable emotionally, only confronting them when she's forced to.