You know, I spent so long in the show being frustrated by Philip's lack of flashbacks I don't think I ever gave much thought to how Elizabeth's could have been done better. In the first season it fits because the show's still finding its way--that's when Philip gets that flashback with Irina that seems quite useless to me.

But yes, with so many of them, especially, it gets to seem very artificial and her telling the story usually works better because she's naturally going to filter it through her own beliefs. Plus KR can act the subject and all the ways Elizabeth disagrees with her own assessment.

It also makes me think how they give Elizabeth dreams to spell out her unconscious too. I do really like both dreams she has--the one about Pastor Tim and Paige and of course the one at the end--but it does make her psychology seem really simple. Almost like Spellbound-level simple!

It seemed especially egregious with that last story about the accident with the horse because it got to seem as if her entire life was made up of handy conversations and stories made to illustrate points that we already knew anyway. And yet they really loved doing flashbacks for her!