Season one group rewatch: "The Colonel"

[jae]

This is the discussion post for "The Colonel" (episode #13, the season finale) 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. Feel free to join in even if you didn't get a chance to watch the episodes that preceded it!

Comments

[sistermagpie]

Philip. His biggest vulnerability is his feelings for Elizabeth, which have only gotten stronger since the separation. He told her that he wanted to do the meeting with the colonel because of the children. The children need you. You're their mother. And maybe he half believes that. But if his first loyalty was to his children, he would have done as Claudia suggested and gone home to them, left Elizabeth in the safehouse. (A very crummy safehouse, by the way, to bring a woman who suffered a gunshot to the abdomen.) He didn't follow the Center's orders because he wanted to protect her. If he wanted to protect his children, as soon as he found out the car pickup was the setup, he should have rushed home to collect Paige and Henry and headed for Canada. Instead, he drove like a madman to try to save her.

You know, when I first started reading this point I was ready to disagree--I was going to say that Philip's decision to stay with Elizabeth also had to do with the kids not being in danger. But the rest of what you wrote made me see that you're right, it's much more than that. He did, in fact, risk everything by rushing to save Elizabeth. His first thought was protecting his wife and his partner, not to rush home to get the kids out of the country and give her up for a loss. And as an agent he's used to making those kinds of decisions in the field.

And that's right in line with the pilot--he does the same thing there when he throws away what he thinks is best for the family (defection) because this guy hurt Elizabeth personally. Elizabeth doesn't want to admit it, but this instinct of Philip's means a lot to her. She'd always tell him to make a different choice but in her heart she appreciates how important she is to him personally.

And then, like you say, that sets up the kids being alone that night, giving Paige more time to stew over how both her parents have always had some pretty weird rules. While she might not be thinking it consciously I do think she has been able to see for a long time that whatever weirdness there is going on in their family, they're in it together. She might have deduced that the separation was what Elizabeth wanted, but I don't think she sees them as being in cahoots about whatever she's suspicious about now--not that she knows exactly what that is.

Interesting question about what Claudia wants for Elizabeth. I'm not sure she really thinks she should be taken out of the field. I think more likely she's just trying to make Elizabeth see the ways she's been corrupted so she can start self-policing herself.

[katiac]

You know, when I first started reading this point I was ready to disagree--I was going to say that Philip's decision to stay with Elizabeth also had to do with the kids not being in danger. But the rest of what you wrote made me see that you're right, it's much more than that. He did, in fact, risk everything by rushing to save Elizabeth. His first thought was protecting his wife and his partner, not to rush home to get the kids out of the country and give her up for a loss. And as an agent he's used to making those kinds of decisions in the field.

Yes, absolutely. Although in kind of a different way to look at it, perhaps he was also honoring what he said about them needing Elizabeth... he could've gone to get them and taken them to Canada, but at that point, their "normal" lives are essentially over forever. Not only do they have to live in hiding permanently, but they will (most likely) never see their mother again. So would they be "safe" physically with Philip? Sure, but very hurt, deceived, living a half life and grieving the loss of their mother. The only way any of them had any hope of ever being truly happy again was to risk that he might be caught going for her. I think that other possibility (a life without Elizabeth) was so unthinkable for him (for himself or for any of them) that it was really a non-choice at that point in his mind.

Elizabeth doesn't want to admit it, but this instinct of Philip's means a lot to her. She'd always tell him to make a different choice but in her heart she appreciates how important she is to him personally.

Yes, it's great because it's a mirror to what IMHO attracts Philip to her--that he can really trust her in a way he can't other people (Irina.) So that honesty both feels great at times and hurts at others. It clearly peeves Elizabeth at times when he gets protective and overreacts like in "COMINT" but then part of her also seems to relish that it IS personal with them and he does always put her first, whether they're on a break or not.

[sistermagpie]

The only way any of them had any hope of ever being truly happy again was to risk that he might be caught going for her. I think that other possibility (a life without Elizabeth) was so unthinkable for him (for himself or for any of them) that it was really a non-choice at that point in his mind.

I agree. As jae said, it's kind of a big blob in his mind. He isn't just saving Elizabeth because he's madly in love with her, he's also trying to keep his kids' life in tact for their own happiness. It's a gamble, but one he's prepared to make and has reason to think he might pull off, so it's worth the risk. (Much better a risk than The Clock caper!)