Totally hadn't thought about the Philip/Stan Philip/Elizabeth parallels but that's true. Stan's proved himself 'safe' in that he doesn't know they're spies yet, but Philip knows he was suspicious and that he's a guy looking for them. He's got good reason to think that keeping your enemies closer is a good idea. But at the same time he seems so genuinely wanting a friendship with the guy--and I also noticed this time that Stan gives a little meta-comment on Philip's character when he says that even though there's "something off" about him he thinks he's a good guy. Which in many ways is his character--he's a spy and an assassin, but deep down he's a good guy, basically.

The pilot's fascinating because they say it's a good idea to start every story by asking "Why is this night different from all other nights" -- i.e., why does the story start here? You want to start as close to the beginning as possible. The story starts with Timoshev being taken and the boat being missed. That's the thing that changes their lives. So it's so hard to know how much of what they're both feeling is new. With Elizabeth you've got her stress over this man coming back into her life and seeing how that effects the way she interacts with Philip, as it would. With Philip it's Timoshev that starts him thinking about defection in a real way, because that's his ticket. Did he ever think about it before? Would he have reacted the same way without Stan moving in across the street? Does Elizabeth's current behavior play into it too? It's hard to tell what everything in their lives was like the day before the pilot starts since Timoshev sends both of them down different private thought patterns hidden from the other.