I thought this episode was brilliant. Elizabeth’s fury at Paige for breaking protocol was breathtaking (and terrifying) to witness. Yes, Paige screwed up badly (as we’ve all noted here) but Elizabeth’s anger was so blazing that I thought that there was more to it than just angry officer chastising a young recruit. Paige is in terrible danger, much as Elizabeth wants to downplay that or kid herself that it’s just a temporary situation that Paige is working out in the field. Philip talked to Paige simply in the context of father/daughter. He was concerned about her feelings, but Elizabeth was all, “YOU DON’T GET TO TALK ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS!1!1!1! YOU CAN’T COME HOME AGAIN!1!1!1! THIS IS A WORK NIGHT!1!1!1! GET OUT OF HERE!1!1!1!”
Lordie, Elizabeth. Project much about your own inner turmoil? Was this the moment that Philip decided to work with Oleg? Or was it when Elizabeth physically recoiled at the very notion that Russia might be opening up to the West and then vented about how much she hates every single thing about America and never wants Russia to change and neither do the Russian people) Maybe Philip had been holding onto the hope that Elizabeth was open to change, but now sees that she is a hardliner through and through. She hates change. She will never change. She will go down in flames to ensure that nobody else in Russia will ever have a chance either. When Philip gently pointed out that she hasn’t had any contact with an actual Russian person back in the motherland for 20 years, she snaps back that neither has he. On this very fundamental, crucial issue of change they are utterly opposed.
Elizabeth’s (much calmer) talk with Paige later only reinforced the fact that Elizabeth is willing to die for her beliefs and her work. She is at peace with her likely pending death. Or is she really? Maybe she’s like the general she just killed, ‘caught up in something’ and unable to see a way out.
My favorite scene in this episode was the conversation between Stan and Oleg. That scene only lasted…what…two or three minutes? But there was so much history covered, and so much said (and unsaid). Even the way the scene was staged and the way the actors moved and looked at each other was perfect. Stan’s brief but to the point apology: ‘they took my tape and used it against you and I fought with them and finally made them stop,” was met with Oleg’s incredulous reply. “That’s it?” Oleg went through hell and Stan thinks that just apologizing puts that business in the past between them? It’s clearly not enough because Oleg is simmering with understated anger when he points out that they threatened him AND his family. It doesn’t matter if Stan apologizes now. The fact is, Stan taped Oleg secretly with the intent of using the tape against him if the need arose. Stan fundamentally violated Oleg’s trust. And then Oleg brought up Nina, another subtle / not so subtle reminder that Stan can’t be trusted. Will these two ever be able to move past these issues and get back to being spy bros? I don’t know. I hope so.
Did anyone else laugh when Sofia declared that the coworker she’d blabbed to was a Soviet and Soviets know how to keep secrets? I think this woman may be the biggest blabbermouth in the show’s history. She’s quite endearing, but she is also an utter hazard to herself, her kid, Gennady, the FBI… everyone. On the topic of who can/can’t keep secrets, I wonder if Elizabeth was always planning to kill the warehouse guy, or if it was a last second decision because he mentioned that his girlfriend was in company security. She knows that the odds are high that he would have told his girlfriend about the ‘audit’ he’d just participated in because he’d figure that since she was in security, she would have already known about it. Elizabeth knows how to keep secrets. She shared just enough with Philip that she thought he could safely know, but no more, even though I think she wanted to tell him more about her mission.
Other thoughts - I started to wonder how much of Claudia’s ‘lessons’ about Russia are truly meant to educate/indoctrinate Paige, and how much is meant to reinforce Elizabeth’s own nostalgia for the Russia of her childhood. What better than feeding Elizabeth the feel-good food that her own mom used to cook for her when she was a kid before mom gave her over to the KGB, to make Elizabeth feel good about now giving her own daughter to the KGB? I still don't trust Claudia at all.
- The show continues to tease that Renee may be a spy. If she is, which team is she on: KGB, CIA, or other? If by the end of the series we discover that she is just an innocent civilian who loves Stan, I will laugh because I think viewers have been conditioned to think that everyone is a spy. Either way, the fact that they including this, “Stan, I want to be FBI! Can you pull some strings to get me in?” scene hints that we’ll be seeing more from Renee.
- Did Philip put himself in financial risk to expand his business only because he needed more money to pay for Henry's schooling, or did he expand the business because he simply likes being a businessman, but in capitalism businesses must always either grow or die? We know that Henry got a scholarship to start at his fancy boarding school, but that may have run out after the first year. He's been there three years. Scholarships don't last forever. Maybe Philip took the financial burden for keeping Henry in school all on himself to avoid having to turn to the Center for money. I think the Center would have provided the funds but then they would have had even more leverage over Henry's fate than they already do behind the scenes.
no subject
Lordie, Elizabeth. Project much about your own inner turmoil? Was this the moment that Philip decided to work with Oleg? Or was it when Elizabeth physically recoiled at the very notion that Russia might be opening up to the West and then vented about how much she hates every single thing about America and never wants Russia to change and neither do the Russian people) Maybe Philip had been holding onto the hope that Elizabeth was open to change, but now sees that she is a hardliner through and through. She hates change. She will never change. She will go down in flames to ensure that nobody else in Russia will ever have a chance either. When Philip gently pointed out that she hasn’t had any contact with an actual Russian person back in the motherland for 20 years, she snaps back that neither has he. On this very fundamental, crucial issue of change they are utterly opposed.
Elizabeth’s (much calmer) talk with Paige later only reinforced the fact that Elizabeth is willing to die for her beliefs and her work. She is at peace with her likely pending death. Or is she really? Maybe she’s like the general she just killed, ‘caught up in something’ and unable to see a way out.
My favorite scene in this episode was the conversation between Stan and Oleg. That scene only lasted…what…two or three minutes? But there was so much history covered, and so much said (and unsaid). Even the way the scene was staged and the way the actors moved and looked at each other was perfect. Stan’s brief but to the point apology: ‘they took my tape and used it against you and I fought with them and finally made them stop,” was met with Oleg’s incredulous reply. “That’s it?” Oleg went through hell and Stan thinks that just apologizing puts that business in the past between them? It’s clearly not enough because Oleg is simmering with understated anger when he points out that they threatened him AND his family. It doesn’t matter if Stan apologizes now. The fact is, Stan taped Oleg secretly with the intent of using the tape against him if the need arose. Stan fundamentally violated Oleg’s trust. And then Oleg brought up Nina, another subtle / not so subtle reminder that Stan can’t be trusted. Will these two ever be able to move past these issues and get back to being spy bros? I don’t know. I hope so.
Did anyone else laugh when Sofia declared that the coworker she’d blabbed to was a Soviet and Soviets know how to keep secrets? I think this woman may be the biggest blabbermouth in the show’s history. She’s quite endearing, but she is also an utter hazard to herself, her kid, Gennady, the FBI… everyone. On the topic of who can/can’t keep secrets, I wonder if Elizabeth was always planning to kill the warehouse guy, or if it was a last second decision because he mentioned that his girlfriend was in company security. She knows that the odds are high that he would have told his girlfriend about the ‘audit’ he’d just participated in because he’d figure that since she was in security, she would have already known about it. Elizabeth knows how to keep secrets. She shared just enough with Philip that she thought he could safely know, but no more, even though I think she wanted to tell him more about her mission.
Other thoughts
- I started to wonder how much of Claudia’s ‘lessons’ about Russia are truly meant to educate/indoctrinate Paige, and how much is meant to reinforce Elizabeth’s own nostalgia for the Russia of her childhood. What better than feeding Elizabeth the feel-good food that her own mom used to cook for her when she was a kid before mom gave her over to the KGB, to make Elizabeth feel good about now giving her own daughter to the KGB? I still don't trust Claudia at all.
- The show continues to tease that Renee may be a spy. If she is, which team is she on: KGB, CIA, or other? If by the end of the series we discover that she is just an innocent civilian who loves Stan, I will laugh because I think viewers have been conditioned to think that everyone is a spy. Either way, the fact that they including this, “Stan, I want to be FBI! Can you pull some strings to get me in?” scene hints that we’ll be seeing more from Renee.
- Did Philip put himself in financial risk to expand his business only because he needed more money to pay for Henry's schooling, or did he expand the business because he simply likes being a businessman, but in capitalism businesses must always either grow or die? We know that Henry got a scholarship to start at his fancy boarding school, but that may have run out after the first year. He's been there three years. Scholarships don't last forever. Maybe Philip took the financial burden for keeping Henry in school all on himself to avoid having to turn to the Center for money. I think the Center would have provided the funds but then they would have had even more leverage over Henry's fate than they already do behind the scenes.