Season one group rewatch: the pilot

[jae]

This is the discussion post for the pilot episode in the group rewatch of season one. When you rewatched the episode, was there anything you noticed that you didn't notice the first time (and any subsequent times) you saw it? What things about it did you perhaps view differently after having seen the later episodes?

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

Comments

And now, the rest of my comments ;)

[jae]

But I think Philip himself is in a bit of denial about what he's thinking about until Stan's appearance gives him a practical reason for defecting (we're blown). He still seems to enjoy his work as a spy--it's not that making him want to defect. It's I think genuinely just wanting his family to be real.

This is totally my read on Philip too.

I love it when P&E drink vodka or basically do anything Russian.

Meeee tooooo. Because, really, Elizabeth would need that connection to her culture (if not to her past), and even for Philip it would be something that can be shared with her. It's there in the pilot, and it's there in episode two with the caviar, too. I'm a bit sad that they dropped that thread in later episodes, actually.

The only time Philip shows any physical affection to Elizabeth in the ep is where he's testing. [...]

This whole paragraph was some brilliant analysis, and I want to love it and marry it and have its babies. ;)

-J

Re: And now, the rest of my comments ;)

[katiac]

Meeee tooooo. Because, really, Elizabeth would need that connection to her culture (if not to her past), and even for Philip it would be something that can be shared with her. It's there in the pilot, and it's there in episode two with the caviar, too. I'm a bit sad that they dropped that thread in later episodes, actually.

Absolutely agree with this. And interestingly, Philip is really kind of the only person she can share that with in a way because he's not only a fellow Russian, but also enough of a deviant that he's willing to go against the rules for her and discuss/share things they're not supposed to under the terms of their unbreakable American cover. Zhukov always spoke to her in English and instructed her not to say a word about her past. Telling Grannie she missed home or had never had caviar would be a sign of weakness to be watched or exploited. So Philip is kind of her once source where she can share that and know it has a safe place to nest.